Srinivasa Ramanujan joined the Madras Port Trust as a clerk on March 1, 1912, according to the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai. Some accounts give 1911. According to two accounts, he got the post with the help of patrons. Madras Musings credits a recommendation from R. Ramachandra Rao, the Collector of Nellore. Another account credits the help of Narayana Iyer.
On January 16, 1913, Ramanujan wrote to G.H. Hardy in Cambridge. He described himself as “a clerk in the Accounts Department of the Port Trust Office at Madras on a salary of only £20 per annum.” On February 3, 1913, Hardy wrote to the India Office about bringing him to England.