Nallathagudi Srinivasa Ramaswami (November 1918,

Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj. While the early history of Cudda ...

- 19 February 1987) was an Indian

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

who worked for four decades with ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'', ''Mail'' and ''

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'', and became an assistant editor at all three newspapers. He wrote four books on

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

— ''Winter of Content'', ''Indian Cricket'', ''Indian Willow'' and ''From

Porbandar Porbandar is a city in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It is the administrative center of the Porbandar District and it was the former capi ...

to Wadekar'' — but was also well-versed in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

social commentary Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

and temple architecture. Ramaswami often wrote under the pseudonyms "Cardusian" and "New Ebor", the former in honour of

Neville Cardus Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus, CBE (2 April 188828 February 1975) was an English writer and critic. From an impoverished home background, and mainly self-educated, he became ''The Manchester Guardian''s cricket correspondent in 1919 and it ...

, that doyen of cricket literature, and the latter

Alfred Pullin Alfred William Pullin, known by the pseudonym Old Ebor (30 July 1860 – 23 June 1934), was a British sports journalist who wrote primarily about rugby union and cricket. He wrote mainly for British newspapers the ''Yorkshire Post'' and the ...

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

cricket correspondent for the ''

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'', whose pseudonym was "Old Ebor". He was most popularly known, however, by the initials NSR. One of the most subtle and observant writers on the game, Ramaswami's work is celebrated even today. "What he lacked," wrote

Suresh Menon Suresh Menon (born 10 January 1967) is an Indian actor, comedian and television personality. Career Menon has appeared in movies including Grand Masti, ''Phir Hera Pheri'', ''Partner'', ''Fool N Final'', ''Krazzy 4'', ''Deewane Huye Pagal'', ...

in an otherwise laudatory piece, "was what some modern writers consider more important than style or flair — a harsh line in criticism. His writing was suggestive rather than brazen, his criticism based on larger principles rather than on passing trends." Ramaswami studied at the PS High School in

Mylapore Mylapore, also spelt Mayilapur, is a neighbourhood in the central part of the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the oldest residential parts of the city. It is also called Tirumayilai. The locality is claimed to be the birthplace of the cel ...

, Loyola College in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and took BA Hons in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

from

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institu ...

. He played in the Madras leagues as a right arm

off spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right arm, right-handed spin bowling, spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal Delivery (cr ...

ner for YMCA,

Royapettah Royapettah is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India. Location Royapettah is located at the central part of the city of Chennai, with an elevation of 9 m (29 ft.) above mean sea level. The neighbourhood comes under Teynampet Zone (numbe ...

. He suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on 18 February 1987, and died the next day.

Books

* ''Winter of Content'' (1967) * ''Seven Pagodas: The Art and History of Mahabalipuram'' (1970) * ''Indian Willow: A Short History of Indian Cricket'' (1971) * ''From Porbandar to Wadekar'' (1975) * ''Amaravati: The Art and History of the Stupa and the Temple'' (1975) * ''Monograph on Temples of Mukhalingam'' (1976) * ''Indian Cricket: A Complete History'' (1976) * ''Tanjore Paintings: A Chapter in Indian Art History'' (1976) * ''Temples of Tadpatri'' (1976) * ''The Founding of Madras'' (1977) * ''Indian Monuments'' (1979) * ''Ramanathapuram District: An Archaeological Guide'' (1979) (with

R. Nagaswamy Ramachandran Nagaswamy (10 August 1930 – 23 January 2022) was an Indian historian, archaeologist and epigraphist who was known for his work on temple inscriptions and art history of Tamil Nadu. He was an authority on Chola bronzes. Nagas ...

) * ''Fort St. George'' (1980) * ''Tamil Nadu Cricket Association Golden Jubilee Commemoration Volume 1930–1980'' (1980) * ''A Monograph on Somapalem Temples'' (1981) * ''The Chief Secretary: Madras Diaries of Alexander Falconar, 1790–1809'' (1983) (editor) * ''House of God: Select Temples of South India'' (1984) * ''Political History of Carnatic under the Nawabs'' (1984) * ''India's Animal-Drawn Vehicles: An Inter-Disciplinary Survey of the State of the Art, Designs and Operations'' (1984) * ''Madras Literary Society: A History, 1812–1984'' (1985) * ''Pachaiyappa and His Institutions'' (1986) * ''Parrys 200: A Saga of Resilience'' (1988) (with S. Muthiah) * '' K. S. Venkataramani'' (1988) * ''2000 Years of Mamallapuram'' (1989) (editor) * ''Indian Philosophy and Culture'' (1996)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramaswami, N S 1918 births 1987 deaths Ramaswami Indian sports journalists Indian architecture writers Indian male journalists 20th-century Indian writers Journalists from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian historians 20th-century Indian male writers