CHENNAI'S VERY OWN SHERLOCK HOLMES

Suave, Soft spoken, remarkably witty -hardly the kind of traits one would think of when speaking about a detective.  But these are the very traits that strike you after meeting V Kulothunga Cholan of Detective International (DIL).  His trademark hat and dark glasses have become very popular, especially after his hugely popular television serial 'Thuppariyum Chozhan', which was screened on Doordarshan.  Very few know that he himself had produced the tele-serial, as he wanted more people to know t how detectives work in real life.

Meeting him in person is an experience in itself.  Kulothunga Cholan speaks to us about his work and shares with us some of his interesting experiences and thoughts.

The difference lies between having 'power' and 'no power'.  The police are armed with powers to catch a person they suspect and elicit a confession from them.  The private detective or agency does not have such powers.  We have to use our intelligence to catch the person red-handed or collect evidence.  Here we are forced to use our intelligence and ingenuity.  Its not that the police are not intelligent, but because they have the power they choose the easier way of trying to solve the case.  Unfortunately, this does not always work.  You see witnesses turning hostile.

Most policemen that you see are gruff and sometimes even rude.  I or for that matter any private detective can't afford to be like that.  We have to be soft, friendly, amiable and gain the trust and confidence of everybody, so that we can elicit information more easily.

(smiles)...There seems to be an image that a detective should look like this.  I used to read a particular series of stories in a magazine called, 'Kalkandu', where the author described a detective as one wearing a long coat, hat and dark glasses.  I was partly inspired by that.  The second reason being that when I am wearing a long coat, hat and dark glasses as part of my regular attire, it does not make a person suspect that I could be having a bug under my hat or a recorder inside my coat.  It helps me with my undercover work. 

I can recall each and every one of my case.  Every one of them is interesting.  My trip to Germany was a special experience.  In a country where it is rare to find a person speaking any other language apart from German, it was a great challeng to go and investigate a case there.  I successfully did that, inspite of not knowing the language.

It is true.  You see people think that the work of a private detective is very dangerous.  Definitely not.  It has the same element of risk that would go with any job.  As far as I am concerned, the risk in this line is there only when you choose to face it.  Sometimes when I handle cases directly myself, I have chosen to face the risk, taken it as a challenge and I have enjoyed it.  It is like this.  A person driving a luxury car may be enjoying great pleasure while cruising at 100 kmph on the highways while his co passenger in the same car might be frightened to death.  In the same scenario two people react in different ways.  The risk and how it is faced depends on the person.  I am doing well today, because I chose to take those risks.

People somewhat associate a lot of mystery with a detective agency.  There is no such sort of thing.  This is what I try to convey to people I meet.  I have even printed on our visiting cards this message "Our agency is a fact finding or truth finding agency".  It is just that, nothing more nothing less.  We have been in the field for over 22 years now and we have been growing from strength to strength.

I spent close to 20 - 25 lakh of rupees to make "Thuppariyum Chozhan".  At that time a lot of people criticised me, but I knew that the need of the hour was to make people aware of the organisation and myself.  This tele serial provided us with huge publicity, as the return on the huge investment in terms of publicity through the media was tremendous.  I would not have got the same kind of awareness had I advertised in the papers or TV.  Not only that, people also became aware of how detectives work.

Most of the cases are personal matters or family related cases especially marital issues.  This would form the majority of the cases that we receive.

Very recently, a young lady had come to me.  She was having trouble with her husband who was philandering while neglecting her.  When she came to me she was very vexed and almost at the point of seriously contemplating suicide.  I assuaged her feelings.  She had come from another state and happened to come to know of me while she was in Chennai visiting her in-laws.  She wanted me to follow her husband and follow his activities.  She did not have access to money and she told me she would pay my fees in instalments by working.  I told her that having her husband followed and cutting his affairs with other women would be a costly affair and that would not prevent him from moving onto other women.  I told her that if she would cooperate I would reform her husband.  After a few weeks and a few planned incidents like calling her up late in the night and letting her husband know that she was speaking to another man and making him jealous, she confronted him before his father.  He admitted his mistake before his father when confronted and apologised to his wife.  The lady was so happy, she called me and told me what she thought the impossible had happened.  I did all of this without taking any fee and solved the issue just through consultation.  This is just a part of my service to society.

I have the feeling that private agencies will play a major role because in the future they will have very well established intelligence network on which the police and government will have to depend.

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