Life History
1941
Thevasagayam Aseervatham, known to many as 'Kunam', was born in 1941 in a small island called Naranthanai, off the Jaffna peninsula in Sri Lanka.
He was the fourth of 10 children born to my grandfather, Savirimuthu Aseervatham and my grandmother, Theresamma Aseervatham. He was born into a gifted and a creative family.
1946
In 1946, he started primary school at St Peter's Boys Primary School in Naranthanai, where his father and future father-in-law (Nalliah uncle) were teachers.
After he completed primary school in 1951, he started his high schooling at St Anthony's College in Kayts, where his uncle James was a teacher.
According to his sisters, when they were little, he used to make them lots of colourful kites to fly, and tie swings on tree branches for them to play with.
From a very young age, he was a very obedient and respectful son, helping his parents and siblings without any complaints or hesitation. He was a very loving, protective, and gentle brother to his younger siblings.
When he was young, at church festivals and fairs, he would buy small toys to play with. And when the toys broke, he was always more interested in repairing them than buying new toys.
Even though he was unwell for many days during his schooling years, he worked hard and still managed to do well in his studies.
Throughout his younger years, he made many lifelong friends whom he kept in touch with over the decades (including his close friend Gratiaen and his future brother-in-law, Dunstan).
From a very young age, he showed potential in innovative thinking and an aptitude for creative arts. His intelligence, perseverance, determination and above all, loyalty, respect and unconditional love towards his family and friends, was the essence of his being. Indeed, a great man in the making.
These qualities became the pillars on which he based his entire life on.
1958
In the late 1950's, after he graduated from high school in Kayts, he moved to Colombo for his higher education in Electronics Engineering. And soon after completing his degree, he obtained an apprenticeship in a technical role and started working at Car Mart, followed by Volkswagen in Colombo.
After some time, he moved to Jaffna to be with his family and started working for his elder brother Victor at his enterprise.
1965
In the mid-1960's, with the support of his brother, he opened an audio-video and motor winding enterprise and began creating a name for himself.
1970
Through innovative and constructive thinking, hard-work and the knowledge he gained through constant world travels (which he loved), he introduced modern concepts and technologies to Jaffna, and created a signature electronics establishment called 'New Victors' in 1970. He mentored and trained many at his establishment, who have over the years successfully established their own businesses around the world.
Although he was a very handsome, tall, and stylish young man, who attracted many followers, he only had eyes for a tall, shy and beautiful girl, and ended up losing his heart to her, and winning her heart.
1971
So, in 1971, at the age of 30, he married Remy, the love of his life, my amma, and started a beautiful and fulfilling life together, having 3 sons along the way. With the support and encouragement of his new wife, New Victors started to flourish and become well-known all over Jaffna.
Amongst his many accomplishments in Jaffna, some of the most memorable were the introduction of the first Television, VCR, TV antennae, video camera, VHS video rental, arcade games, Nintendo games and the idea of copying customer selected songs from different vinyl LP records onto audio cassettes (which promoted music artists).
New Victors was also the first place to distribute (Sri Lanka wide) the newest Tamil and Hindi movies directly from India. They also played the newest songs, recordings of concerts and instrumental music on the latest 'stereo' sound system on large speakers outside their establishment. Every day a large crowd would gather in front, to enjoy the atmosphere and immerse themselves in the mesmerising music complemented by the stereo effect. Many felt it unified the community and brought people together. So, when people wanted to listen to music in Jaffna, they had 2 choices, tune into Radio Ceylon or visit New Victors.
He would also take his TV's and drive to poor rural areas around Jaffna, set-up the TV on top of the car and using a generator for power, he would play movies for the people to bring them joy. He also donated many television sets to charity organisations and community centres around Jaffna.
New Victors was also the only establishment in Jaffna at the time, to capture video recordings of concerts performed by prominent Indian artists such as T. M. Soundarajan, K. J. Yesudas and S. P. Silaja.
He also pioneered a newer and more efficient way to rewind thin copper wire onto electric motors.
He recruited and trained many hearing-impaired youngsters from Nuffield School in Jaffna, to provide them with the tools, training and motivation for a brighter future.
1974 - 1979
His love of toys (whether making them or fixing them), led him to build a radio-controlled model plane in 1974 and fly it around the famous Jaffna Stadium, which many people still remember to this day.
Every year he would travel to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, and many other countries in search of new technology, innovative ideas and latest electronics to import back to Sri Lanka.
In the late 1970's, he started to design and build a 4-storey electronics complex in Jaffna.
1983
Finally in 1983, he made his dream a reality and opened the purpose-built, air-conditioned building, where every inch was custom designed by him for specific departments with an atrium for 3 car park spaces.
He called his new building "New Victors - An Electronic City, Within a City".
He designed the entire building to perfection with a practical and logical thought process behind each decision. He custom-built the front of the second floor to accommodate two large speakers to play music to be enjoyed by the people outside.
He left the top floor built in such a way that extra floors could be added in future. The building still stands tall in Jaffna with an extra floor on top, exactly as per his vision and design.
This new building consisted of departments for video filming, recording and editing, video rental, audio recording, electrical motor winding, TV, VCR and watch repairs, photo-copying, canteen and even an arcade room, comprising over 30 gaming machines which he imported from Taiwan. Being socially conscious, he also forbid anyone under the age of 16 from entering this room as he did not want them to skip school to play video games.
He also had rooms with en-suite on the first and second floors to accommodate staff for free who lived far away.
Even in his business, his artistic talents flowed by way of creative professional videography and video production for weddings, birthdays, and other special events.
His philanthropic work as a prominent Lions Club member in Jaffna for many years, was a noteworthy point.
He treated every employee as a family member and this gained him well earned respect amongst many in Jaffna (including his customers and competitors alike). This also made him loved and highly respected by so many of his employees, even to this day. And many of them watched his funeral service live from all around the world.
His honesty, fairness, soft-spoken and gentle nature, gained him the praise that his name, 'Kunam', was a true reflection of his personality.
In 1983, the family had to travel to London for a year because of the riots in Sri Lanka. During that time, he worked for a company where he learnt how to repair washers and fridges. Then after returning to Jaffna, he included the repair of these into the New Victors business.
1987
After finally achieving his dreams of building an electronics complex, in November 1987, he had to abruptly leave Sri Lanka for Australia with his family to escape the escalating civil war.
On the flight to Melbourne (during the transit in Singapore) he went out daily to buy special tools for fridge repairs. He also bought a big book on refrigeration and was reading it in the flight to Melbourne. He was building up on the knowledge he gained in London on refrigeration.
This alone shows the presence-of-mind he had and the future planning he did amidst the chaos of the quick exit out of Jaffna travelling through a war-zone.
Within 7 months of arriving in Australia, with his knowledge in electronics and learning new skills, he established an electrical sales and service business (also called ‘New Victors’) and offered all the same services.
The new business was also developed from the ground-up, as he had to leave his old establishment and all his belongings back in Sri Lanka. This time however, instead of employing around 50 people to help him, he did almost all the back-breaking hard work himself for many years.
1991
In 1991, at the age of 50, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Even after the diagnosis and worsening health, his commitment to providing for his family and taking care of them motivated him to continue his business for another 10 years.
His ex-employees kept in touch with him regularly to keep him informed on how well they were doing in their own businesses and attributed their successes to him. This always made him very proud and happy. When he traveled around the world with his wife in the mid 1990's, his ex-employees would invite them to their houses and take them around their cities as any family member would do.
1998 - 2021
So finally in 2001, due to ill health and with a heavy heart, he shut down his business.
After retirement, with his determination and passion for life, he redirected his energy and focus towards his love for creativity and went onto producing over 300 works of art, and even held a solo art exhibition 5 years ago, in 2016.
His achievements were also praised in the local newspapers over the years.
For a man to slowly build up a business from the ground up after 15 years of toil, then to leave it all behind for the safety of his family and migrate to a new country and start from scratch, takes immense mental stamina, absolute dedication, determination, patience and relenting hard-work, coupled with the unconditional love for his family.
The support and strength he received from his wife was instrumental in all of this and in turning his dreams into a reality.
He worked tirelessly all his life since he was young, he went through so much pain and suffering with Parkinson’s Disease during his last 30 years, he worked relentlessly (especially in Australia) to provide for his family, he touched so many lives with his kindness, loyalty and care.
In the weeks after his passing, numerous tributes were received for him from all around the world and this has shown how many more lives he has touched and how many more people love and respect him so dearly.
This website was also created as a tribute for him, to honour his life and preserve the memory of his achievements for the world to see.
He was a loving son, devoted husband, dedicated father and father-in-law, adored grandfather, beloved brother, uncle, and brother-in-law, determined hard-worker and a passionate artist.
He lived a long, fulfilling life and achieved so much during his time and has left behind a legacy that will never fade – his sons, daughters and grandchildren.
He will be dearly missed and forever loved. Rest in Eternal Peace until we meet again.
