Pillai was a late riser.Awake usually by 11 am he would have his bath and perform a fairly elaborate pooja, which would get over by 2 pm on normal days, but go on till 3 pm on festival occasions. He would then have his meal. He was particular about what he ate, but ate in small quantities.

The afternoon was invariably spent in answering his correspondences or in reading magazines. If there was no concert engagement in the evenings he would invariably attend theatrical performances of SG Kittappa, Nawab Rajamanickam or the TKS Troupe. He never practiced on the nadhaswaram at home and his sons remember hearing it only on Vijaya Dasami Day. He did not teach his children to play the instrument and was later to express sorrow about this lapse in an interview. He did however have two disciples who had learnt by being part of his troupe namely Kottur Rajarathinam and Chinnamanur Ganesan.

Nadhaswaram artists invariably performed for the entire duration of the night and hence retired to bed very late at night or in the early hours of morning. Pillai was no exception. He generally went to bed at 2 am.