70 years ago...in 1950, Harikrishnan Nadar and Thangammal gave birth to their second child amidst the humble background in Agastheeswaram in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. Raised around the non-lavish neighborhood, the child had grown with the ethos and hope to make his life count as an ever-lasting story. 70 years later...in 2020, that child has gone into interminable sleep in his hometown of where he was born, by accomplishing his hope of inspiring others through his successful and immense life. 

That child is H Vasanthakumar and in his seven decades of survival, he etched his journey through his boundless contribution in his public life, both as a businessman and politician. After completing the masters, Vasanthakumar came to Chennai in 1971 with the motive of assisting his elder brother Kumari Ananthan, who was a Congress leader. His stint to help his brother took a different and a potential turn after he found a place of seeding his growth. He started his career as a salesman at VGP at a monthly salary of Rs 70.

The company was engaged in selling the home appliances product and Vasanthakumar's job was to collect the installments of payments from customers. With bracing up the challenges, he coped up and moved forward with the hope of establishing his own business. Seven years later, in 1978, he started Vasanth & Co in South Usman Road in T Nagar, Chennai with the small capital of Rs 22, which he received as a donation, and with large hope. In what was started as a small entity has now emerged as the largest empire in Tamil Nadu with over 100 showrooms across and beyond the borders. 

His establishment was the seed for the current age retail chains in Tamil Nadu and while the evolution of the company's logo had played a vital role in taking the products to the people, he used his own face as the company's logo and his smiling face had decorated in major cities and small towns and Vasanthakumar's life had a close bond with the lives which born and raised in the 90s' as his establishment was the first stop and priority for the people when it comes of home appliances. 

His retail chain had taken the never-used before products to everyone's reach when the technology started walking on its own legs. His face and brand got etched in people's lives at the period when the villages and towns in Tamil Nadu had lesser access and knowledge on the television. His concrete outreach and his appearances on the advertisements had taken him close to people and it had later become tactics where some of the owners of the brands are appearing for the advertisements including Saravana stores and Lalithaa Jewelers. 

The rampant reach and wider approach of staying open to the current trends and expectations from the customers had kept his establishment strong amid the multi-poly competition. The company had stretched its arms in Puducherry, Kerala, and Karnataka and has built a promising grounds for enhancing the brand. From his rolling chair to his smiling face on the advertisements, Vasanthakumar had tried something new during his walks and with his hope, he had grown his company from one store to one-stop store as Vasanth & Co has been the largest home appliances retail chain in Tamil Nadu with employees over 1,000 people and reached and reaching over millions. 

With his commitment to helping others, he advanced the growth of people around him and along with his commercial enterprise, he has started Vasanth TV in 2008, which is now one of the growing television channels in Tamil Nadu. Vasanthakumar has been an admirer of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kamarajar which drove him to politics. He joined Congress party and he served as an MLA from Nanguneri Constituency in 2006 and 2016. In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he contested in Kanyakumari parliamentary constituency and entered the Parliament for the first time by defeating BJP's Pon Radhakrishnan.  

Besides being a successful businessman, he had emerged as a significant national politician as his close-to-people and serving mentality had made people accept, support, and vote for him as a politician. In a short span of time, he had become the acting president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, shaping himself as the next level leader. He has perfectly used the tag of politician bestowed upon him by voicing for people. Vasanthakumar has held 88% of attendance in Lok Sabha and he has raised and debated for the people's welfare and their betterment. In the last parliamentary session that was held in March, he demanded the Central government to announce the COVID-19 outbreak as the national disaster. 

Sadly, it had become his last parliamentary session as the businessman turned politician had died on August 28 due to the COVID-19 viral infection in Chennai at the age of 70. Earlier this month, he was tested positive for the pandemic and breathed his last on Friday by saddening the entire state, which grown up by seeing his smile and selflessness. It has become an irreplaceable loss for the nation as Vasanthakumar was the rare and precious personality who had shown his versatility by succeeding in wherever he walked and in whatever he did. One of the main reasons why he is close to everyone's heart is that he had taken his life and products close to the middle and lower class people and it was his brand that marketed and delivered the home appliances in installment system, which reduced the burden of many in paying more to have their dream products. 

Throughout his seven decades of survival, he had scripted his own journey through his hard work and unending commitment towards what he had taken. He served with a smile, devotion, and perseverance and hope to be a ladder for everyone's growth. On Sunday, his body was buried at his native place where he was born seventy years ago. He had returned to his final resting place by leaving tears, grief, and hope for everyone across and beyond his native land, which got a name through him. Born with nothing, gone with building an empire and an inspirational life journey that needs to be preserved.

The products that he sold got a place in our houses while he and his smile had got an everlasting place in our hearts. With just Rs 22 as the capital to start his business, he never lost hope and kept his trajectory towards success and trust and his establishment had quality and trust, not just as its tag line and slogan, but in its care and service through which he built an empire which was started with Rs 22 to what it is today and his empire is now worth Rs 10 billion.