......Passionate about Latin America......

Yes... I am ...Passionate about Latin America.... I blog, write articles, publish books, give speeches and love Latin America . My Latin American interests cover politics, economies, business, history, literature, culture, football, food, music and movies.

I adore the Latin American spirit, which is

celebra la vida..segundo a segundo

nada se guarde…todo se brinde...

It means.. celebrate life ..second to second.. hold back nothing..give out everything.. This is part of of a pop song by Axel, the Argentine singer.

Speeches

I give talks on Latin America as well as Indo- Latin American relations and business in Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Export Promotion Councils, Think Tanks and Universities in the various cities of India and abroad. I have also given speeches in Latin America in Spanish and Portuguese.

Over one hundred videos of my speeches are in my Youtube channel

http://www.youtube.com/IndembassyAR 

Most of the speeches in the period Nov 2007-May 2012 made in Argentina are in Spanish. 

I also give motivational speeches to Civil Service aspirants and students.

Articles

My articles on Latin America and Indo-Latin American relations have been published in newspapers, magazines and business journals of India, Latin America, Spain and the US. The list is in the articles section.

Blogs

www.latinamericanaffairs.blogspot.com. this is about things of the heart: music, books, politics, culture, people and experience. Since December 2019, I have included mind matters too; on Latin American economies and Indo-Latin America business.

www.businesswithlatinamerica.blogspot.com on Latin American economies, trade, investment and Indo-Latin American business. But in December 2019, I discontinued this blog. Now I put the business stuff also in the Latinamericanaffairs blog. Still the contents of the old blog can be seen.

I started a website businesswithlatinamerica.com in 2005 with information on Indo-Latin American business and the markets of Latin America. The website was launched on 26 August 2005 with a salsa party for 300 guests at F Bar in New Delhi. The chief guest was Minister of State for External Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh. The event was co-hosted by CII and Eximbank. A live salsa band Waikiki from Cuba played at the party.

But I had to close this website in 2018 due to technical challenges.

I write occasionally on non-Latin American subjects in the blog http://floatingweed.blogspot.com/

Collection of my stories https://rengarajviswanathan.contently.com/

My Publications:

• Malgudi to Macondo - the journey of an innocent Indian through the seductive Latin America - August 2012 - published by Indo-Latin American Chamber

• Business with Latin America - second edition February 2005 - published by Export Import Bank of India (This was launched on 7 February 2005 at the night club "Just my kind of place" Taj Palace, New Delhi, with a Salsa party. The event was co-hosted by EximBank and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and Minister of State for External Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh were present.

• Business with Latin America - first edition February 2003 - published by Embassy of India Caracas

• Business with Andean Community - April 2001- published by Embassy of India, Caracas

• Guide for Business with Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay - five editions from 2008 to 2012

• Guide for Business with Venezuela - three editions 2001-3 - published by the Embassy of India, Caracas

• Guide for Business with Brasil - four editions 1997-2000 - published by the Consulate of India, Sao Paulo .

• A market study of Mercosur June 1997 - published by the Consulate, Sao Paulo.

Diplomatic Career

- Ambassador of India to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay - October 2007 to May 2012. Retired from there on 31 may 2012

- Head of Latin America Division in the Ministry of External Affairs of India - 2004 to 2007.

- Head of Investment and Trade Promotion Division in the Ministry, 2003 - 2004

- Ambassador to Venezuela 2000-2003.

- Consul General of India in Sao Paulo - 1996 to 2000. I was the first CG, who opened the Consulate.

- Previous postings include New York (mission to the United Nations), Mauritius, Libya, Pakistan and Portugal

Life after Diplomacy

I am a consultant to Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (since September 2022), a Mumbai-based company which has secured over 600 million dollars of EPC contracts in Latin America.

I am a Director (independent) in Caplin Steriles Ltd, a Chennai-based pharma company which exports to US.

I was an Independent Director (2013- 2023) in the board of Caplin Point, an Indian pharmaceutical firm which exports around 200 million dollars to Latin America.

I was in the UPSC interview board for selection of civil service candidates for two years, one week each year in 2014 and 2015.

I was Distinguished Fellow, Latin America Studies, Gateway House (Indian Council on Global Relations) Mumbai from 1 August 2013 to 31 May 2015

My writings in Gateway House are in the link http://www.gatewayhouse.in/author/r-viswanathan/

Since my retirement in 2012, I am settled in Gurgaon.

I keep up my “Passion for Latin America” by following Latin American news, reading books, watching Latino films, listening to Latino music, writing blogs and articles and giving speeches. I follow the advice of my Latino friends, “Don’t stop having fun when you are old…you become old only when you stop having fun..”

 Travel

I have visited all the 19 Latin American countries. I feel perfectly at home in the region whether it is Tegucigalpa or Tierra del Fuego. 

Since my retirement in 2012, I have made two visits each to Brazil, Argentina and Mexico and one visit to Panama to participate in business and academic conferences. The last one was to Panama for a business conference on 24 May 2023.

I keep traveling in India and abroad for lectures, tourism and golf.

Golf

Golf is my other passion…

I am a member of DLF Golf Club, Gurgaon, where I play six days a week. The club is 5 minutes drive from my home. I am also member of Delhi Golf Club.

Played in over 50 courses in the various cities in India.

Played in many courses in Latin America including snow golf in Ushuaia in Argentina. I played in 65 golf courses in Argentina.

Have played in more than 90 courses in the East Coast of US during the posting in New York. Since then I have played in more courses in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin

Skiing

skiied in Valle Nevado in Chile as well as in Bariloche, Las Lenas, Chappelco and Ushuaia in Argentina, besides some US ski resorts around New York area

Other interests

Tennis, ping pong, badminton, done some rollerblading, ice skating and river rafting too.

travel, reading, music and bridge. I play online bridge sometimes in BBO. My BBO id is ambvish

I enjoy cycling. I do it during the trips to my village. In 2019 July, I did sightseeing in Barcelona on a cycle one day. I do lot of cycling during stay with my sons in Zurich and Minneapolis http://floatingweed.blogspot.com/2019/06/cycling-in-minneapolis-22-may-to-16-june.html.

Life before diplomacy

Worked as Demonstrator (junior lecturer) in Chemistry at Bishop Heber College, Trichy 1974-5 and at Pachaiyappa's College, Madras 1975-77

M Sc chemistry from Pachaiyappa's College Madras, 1972-74

B Sc chemistry and PUC (Pre-University Course) from Pushpam College, Poondi, Tamilnadu 1969-72

Government Secondary School (sixth to eleventh standard), Mariammankovil, near Thanjavur

Elementary School (class 1 to 5), Rararmuthiraikottai village, halfway between Mariammankovil and Poondi. Map

Born in Alangudi Mahajanam village, 15 kms from Lalgudi. Map

The accidental Diplomat- profile published byThe Hindu newspaper of 4 April 2015 in pdf format

• I was born in Alangudi Mahajanam, a village 15 km from Lalgudi (sounds like Malgudi, the fictional small town in the novels of RK Narayan) and 35 km from Trichy in Tamilnadu. My mother is illiterate and my father semi-literate ( he could count cards in rummy and read the name of liquor shop). They had half an acre of land in which they grew rice. With three children ( I am the eldest) to feed, they gave me away to be brought up by my distant uncle in Raramuthiraikottai, another village 12 km from Thanjavur. My uncle had 7 acres of land and no children.

• I did my elementary school in Raramuthiraikottai village and high school in Mariammankovil. It was my good luck that the school got upgraded to High School and I was in the first batch from ninth to eleventh standard. My uncle did not believe that education would lead to a viable livelihood. He and my aunt were both illiterate. He wanted me to focus on the land and the cattle with the promise that I could inherit his property. He would, therefore, ask me to stop the studies at the beginning of every summer holidays of school. Fortunately, he did not enforce it. I managed to finish the schooling in the Government Higher Secondary School in Mariammankovil. After this, my uncle put his foot down and said with a finality in his voice, “ Enough of your studies. We cannot afford to send you to college. Get ready to look after the land and cattle”  That is when, Poondi College came to my rescue. I told him that the college was just 4 kms from the village. I promised to him that I would do the  farm work in the morning and during weekend. I fulfilled my promise till I passed out BSc in 1972. I convinced my uncle that the amount of  scholarship I would get with my high marks would be more than the college fees. Reluctantly, he agreed. And my escape thereafter, was unstoppable.

• I had done grazing of cattle, cutting and collecting of grass for the cattle, ploughing, driving bullock carts and all such typical work in the village, as done by all of my friends. I used to climb palm trees to pluck palm fruits(நுங்கு) and coconuts as well mango and other fruits. Luckily I never had a fall unlike one of my friends who broke his back.

• No one knows my exact date of birth. It was given to me by the village school teacher, when I was admitted in the first grade around the age of five. Even my name was given by the teacher at the time of admission in first grade. The village school had five classes from 1 to 5 managed by two teachers. All the five classes sat in the same big hall of the thatched roof building with mud walls. Students from one class could see and hear what was happening in the other classes.

• our house was a mud house with thatched roof. There was one multipurpose room which was living cum dining cum sleeping room with kitchen and a large wooden silo for storage of paddy. The front porch had a bench occupied by my uncle. Whenever he was there, I would always use the back entrance. We used firewood for cooking. My aunt would mop the floor inside the house every morning with water mixed with cow dung and spray the liquid mix in front of the house… Traditional way of disinfection. We used ash for cleaning the teeth and when we were outside would use neem stick as tooth brush.

• My uncle had seven acres of land distributed in different parts around the village. We had two crops of rice and in summer one crop of sesame seeds sometimes. We were entirely dependent upon the canal water coming from Cauvery river. We had one pair of bullocks for the bullock cart, another pair for ploughing and 6-7 cows and calfs. We had two full time servants one for farming and the other for the cattle. I had to join/substitute them when there was more work. On Sundays the cattleherd will go for ploughing and I will take the cattle for grazing.

• There was no electricity in the village. I studied with kerosene lamp till I finished my BSc. There was no tap water. We took from the well (100 metres away) for drinking and took bath in the river and ponds, which were about 500 metres away. There was no toilet in the house. The fields behind the house served the purpose.

• we had no clock in our house and no one was wearing watch in our neighbourhood. We marked time by the passing (between Thanjavur and Nagappattinam) trains at 6.30, 7.30. 9, 1.30 etc. The railway track was a km from the village .

• Breakfast was old rice fermented overnight in plain water. For lunch and dinner it was rice and vegetable gravy. On festival days and when there were guests, we had iddli, dosa, sweets and vegetable curries as well as meat or fish. I was lucky. We had three meals a day in our house. But some of my neighbours went hungry sometimes.

• The summer adventure in the school days was to ride the bullock carts carrying manure to the fields. Of course, most of my friends in the village did the same. we used to play kabadi in summer on the sands of the riverbed and around the banks of the ponds.

• I went barefoot to the school and got my first pair of sandals when I went to college. I bought my first pair of pants when I got award of money for the first prize I won in the annual state-wide Tamil (Maanavar Manram) exam during BSc.

• My dream was to go by cycle to school and college. But it remained only as a dream and I had to go by walk 4 kms to the school and 4 kms to the college too. Now I have bought a cycle which I use during my stay in the village.

• I used to always sleep in the first period of class in Poondi College, after walking/running the 4 km distance to the college against the sun in the morning immediately after working in the fields. The cool air from the fan and the lullaby of lecture aided my sleep. My friends used to make fun of me but were kind to share their notes after the lecture.

• After the Tamil medium schooling, I got lost in the English medium, when I joined Poondi Pushpam college, where I joined the Pre University Course(PUC). As a Tamil medium educated village lad, I was intimidated by the english medium boys from Thanjavur town. On top of that, the Maths professor asked me and another student to get out of the Maths, Physics and Chemistry course, since we had not done maths in our school finals. But I had already got old Maths books from a friend who had failed couple of times in PUC. So I persisted and continued in the Maths group and surprised myself and the professor with Distinction in the final exam. The inspiration for me was a kind Chemistry lecturer who started calling me as Mr First Mark, after I came first in one of the exams.

• I joined BSc chemistry in the same college, since I was advised that Chemistry would have more job opportunities. The same Chemistry lecturer advised and encouraged strongly that I should go for MSc in Chennai. I joined Pachaiyappa’s college but again got lost in the big college and city.

• Thanks to an inspiring Tamil teacher, I became interested in Tamil literature in class nine. My literary interest got further stimulated during my graduate studies. I had a dream of becoming a Tamil poet. In fact, I had applied for MA Tamil Literature in Pachaiyappa's College, Madras. But my Tamil professor from Poondi College advised me that Chemistry would offer better job prospects than Tamil studies.

• I worked as junior lecturer (the designation was Demonstrator..) of chemistry for one year at Bishop Heber College, Trichy and two years at Pachiyappa´s college, Chennai. I loved teaching. The satisfaction was instant... visible in the glint of the eyes of the students. But the salary of 500- 600 Rupees a month was not enough...

• I was looking for a better job, when a friend and colleague who was taking the civil service exam for the second time advised me to try. ... oops I got lucky. I was selected in the written test and was called for interview in Delhi. The first thing I did was sightseeing of the Delhi city and Taj Mahal. I was not sure if I would come again on the 2200 km train journey from Chennai. I was overwhelmed by the Capital city and the people from the north, who could not make out whether I was saying yes or no when I shook my head all the time.... I was thrilled when I passed the interview. After this, I met an IAS officer for the first time in my life. She said that a country bumpkin like me would not fit in the high-flying world of diplomacy. I took some time..hmm..lot of time to cope with, gain confidence and be myself. ..An accidental diplomat...Even now my mother and many of my relatives and friends do not know what does Ambassador or diplomat mean or do.

• It was love at first sight with Latin America when I went to Brazil in 1996. I lost my Malgudian innocence in Macondo (fictional town in the novels of Gabriel Garcia Marquez) filled with the spirit of Magical Realism of Latin America. This was like a second reincarnation. Since 1996, I have specialised in Latin America till my retirement in 2012 and continue it even now..