A close camaraderie existed between TNR and TPS. TNR decided that it was the Tiruvengadu “tambi” who would marry his cousins and he was to repeat this again ten years later. The brothers-in-law also paired up for concerts and these were big crowd pullers. The Arts College in Salem was more or less built on the collections made from the TNR-TPS concerts and this was acknowledged by Thiru M Bakthavachalam, later the CM of Madras in a speech.

Pillai married Rajambal, TNR’s cousin in 1923. Then why did he marry her sister, Lakshmikantham ten years later? Apparently TNR was behind this and he told Pillai in his forthright way that he had given Deivanai to Subramania and now should he not marry Valli as well.

In behavior and nature, they could not have been more different. TNR was flamboyant while TPS was the opposite. He built up with his finances and took care of the family. TNR could rub people on the wrong way and could not care less while TPS had any number of friends. However, both were united in fighting for respectability for the nagaswaram performers as a class. Each respected the other’s music and TNR was the view that had TPS’s nagaswaram more volume to it, nobody could have stood up to him. He could be flippant about TPS as well. When once asked to play the “magudi” for which TPS was well known, an irate TNR declared that there was a ”paambaati” (snake Charmer) in Tiruvengadu who was better at it.

TNR enjoyed visiting TPS’s home and one day in 1956 he went to Tiruvengadu and declared his intention to stay on for 2 weeks. He had a peaceful holiday, far from his domestic and financial worries and returned to Madras a much refreshed man. But death was just around the corner, for he passed away within a few weeks.