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Colours of Life

Celebrating Iyer

The Tamil that we speak is a distinct dialect and unique to our community. It is said that the name of our caste is derived from the title Ayya which is used by Tamils to denote respectable people. Indra K. Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo, chess champion Vishwanath Anand and cartoonist R K Laxman are Iyers like us.

Prominent Iyers
Journalists and writers
Professor K. V. Krishna Iyer, Indian historian, Author of standard reference books on Kerala History.
"Kalki" B. Krishnamurthy, Tamil journalist, novelist, freedom fighter and founder of Tamil weekly "Kalki".
R. K. Laxman, Cartoonist and humorist. R. K. Laxman is the younger brother of R. K. Narayan.

Advocates and social activists
Sir Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar, Lawyer and member of the Constituent Assembly of India, which framed the Constitution of India.
K. S. Parameswara Iyer, Lawyer. Served as advocate general and was president of the law association.
V. R. Krishna Iyer, Indian judicial expert and Justice, Supreme Court of India. Minister in first Kerala ministry.

Indian Independence Movement:
Kalki Sadasivam, Freedom fighter and husband of famous singer M.S. Subbulakshmi.
Sathyamurthy, Freedom fighter and leader of the Congress in the erstwhile Madras presidency.
G. Subramania Iyer, freedom fighter and founder of "The Hindu" English newspaper.
Subramanya Bharathy, freedom fighter, Tamil poet and social reformer. Often regarded as the national poet of Tamil Nadu.

Sports
Vishwanathan Anand, Chess player. First Indian to be ranked number one in international chess.
K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan, Indian cricketer and all-rounder. Member of the Kerala state cricket team in the Indian domestic Ranji Trophy tournament.
Subramaniam Badrinath, Cricketer. Captain of Tamil Nadu cricket team and a player in Indian Premier League representing Chennai Super Kings.
Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Tennis player. First Indian woman to play a round in Grand Slam.

Artists and musicians
Anuradha Sriram, Tamil playback Singer.
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Playback singer. Holds the Guinness Record for maximum number of songs recorded as a playback singer.
Alathur Srinivasa Iyer, Carnatic vocalist
Bharathwaj, Tamil music director.
Bombay Jayashri, Tamil playback and Carnatic classical singer
Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, violinist.

Entertainers:
K. Balachander, Tamil film director
Trisha Krishnan, Tamil and Telugu film actress
Gemini Ganesan, Tamil film actor
Kalpana Iyer, Miss India, Hindi and Tamil actress
Vidya Balan, Hindi Actress
Mani Ratnam, Film director
G. V. Iyer Director-Producer of Sanskrit movies like Adi Shankaracharya,Ramanujacharya and Bhagawad Gita
Jayaram, Tamil and Malayalam film actor

Politicians and administrators
Janaki Ramachandran, Wife of M.G.Ramachandran and the first woman Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Easwara Iyer, Lawyer and politician.
L. Ganesan, President of Tamil Nadu state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mani Shankar Aiyar, Former Union Minister of Panchayat Raj, Youth Affairs and Sports.
T. N. Seshan, 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India.

Scientists and academics
L. K. Ananthakrishna Iyer, Anthropologist.
Sir C. V. Raman, Indian physicist. Awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the dispersion of light.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, American physicist of Indian origin. Awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics. Nephew of Sir C. V. Raman.