Salem, April 6 -- An audience of over 150 educationists, entrepreneurs, and well-wishers from the steel city Salem, as well as Coimbatore sat with rapt attention as Mr. C. Valliappa, the protagonist of 'The Sona Story' shared deeply personal and candid reflections at the launch of The Sona Story: The Textile to Tech Journey of a Chettiar Industrialist C. Valliappa, authored by journalist Chitra Narayanan and published by Bloomsbury India.

Salem, the city where Sona group's education institutions were seeded and flourished, was a fitting setting for this heartfelt celebration of a life lived with impact and integrity.

In a fireside conversation with the author Chitra Narayanan, Mr Valliappa shared vignettes from his journey - from the da...