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WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI
INSIDE
• Short ‘N’ Snappy
• Madras Week nostalgia
• Pictures of a celebration
• The Surf of Madras
• Runners & Cricketers
MUSINGS
Vol. XXVI No. 10
September 1-15, 2016
Does Marina
really need
a sailing
academy?
(By The Editor)
I
t appears that the threats to
our city’s beloved beach will
never cease. The State Government recently made an announcement that a sailing academy at a cost of Rs 7 crore, will
come up at the Marina Beach,
ostensibly to help create an environment where “world-class
facilities for water sports” can
exist. The question is, given
that the eastern face of our
State is one long coastline, can
this facility not be put up elsewhere?
Our beach grew to its
present size thanks to the construction of the harbour in the
1880s. And it must be admitted
that threats to it have also
grown since then. In the early
1900s, there was a plan to build
a railway on it. In the 1980s
there was thought of having the
MRTS cross it. A decade or two
later there were plans to construct condominiums for the affluent on the waterfront and
sometime later a Union Cabinet
Minister announced that a
commemorative tower would
be built there. Fortunately, all
these plans came to nought, but
it appears that the flow of ideas
has not yet ceased. Clearly, the
sight of such a vast open space
makes people in power come up
with schemes aplenty.
The latest in the series is this
idea of a sailing academy. The
waterfront is already getting
congested. Beach Road, which
was at one time a vast and
empty stretch, is getting increasingly clogged with vehicles. In the summer months,
the Police are forced to declare
as one-way various stretches of
this thoroughfare in order to
CMYK
deal with the influx of visitors.
There is a terrible service road
that all vehicles bound for San
Thome are forced to take,
morning and evening. This is a
thoroughfare that is most likely
in violation of coastal regulation zone (CRZ) rules, for it
runs close to the sea. The fishing hamlets that have been here
for centuries have already complained several times about it
but to no avail. Now the original residents of the area will
have to put up with the sailing
academy as well. Will it not add
to the congestion already prevailing here?
Chennai already has two institutions dedicated to sailing.
(Continued on page 10)
A different kind of celebration by the US Consulate General during the Madras Week.
O
ne of the most imaginative events marking
Madras Week this year was a series of
videos by the US Consulate General in Chennai
which featured American staff participating in
everyday Madras activities like eating with their
hands in a ‘mess’ and tying jasmine flowers in a
house.
A group of American staff and their families,
which also included children, went to the
Kasivinayaga Mess in Triplicane, and ate the
food served on banana leaves with their hands.
“Eating a meal with your hands from a
banana leaf is always special, isn’t it? And it’s a
celebration, especially in South India! We are
trying to connect with the every- day rhythm of
Madras life by highlighting Madras culture,
food, and traditions. This is the first video in
the Madras Week video series. SEVEN more to
come. Keep watching and make your Madras
connections! Happy Madras Week,” read the
caption of the video posted by the US Consulate General on YouTube.
The group seemed to have done their homework, because they even had their banana leafetiquette on point. Before the meal was served,
the leaf-plate was sprinkled with water and then
cleaned using their hands, like they had been
doing it for ages. Then, with no forks or spoons,
they ate a hearty meal, complete with chor
(rice), sambar, poriyal (stir fried vegetables with
grated coconut) and pappadam.
With a couple of toddlers in the mix, balancing eating with their hands and making sure the
kids ate too, did take some manoeuvring, but
everyone seemed to have a great time. There
were even some self-congratulatory exclamations on how the sappad sans cutlery should be
done again.
(See pages 5-8 for more Madras Week
coverage)
Do we deserve civic improvement?
(By a Special Correspondent)
S
adly, the answer is NO. We
have for long blamed our
city’s Corporation and other
civic agencies for their ineptitude in keeping our city
shipshape. We have rested content after complaining about
the garbage, the poor roads and
the lack of pavements. But,
when the authorities begin improving some of the facilities,
we respond by rampant vandalism. Does this in any way become the residents of what is
said to be the cultural capital of
India?
Take for instance the boards
bearing street names. We have
had this initiative being implemented for the past two years.
All of a sudden, long forgotten
streets began to come to life,
neighbourhoods regained an
identity, and finding locations
became that much easier. The
boards were mounted on elegant metal frames with the
names pasted on them using
adhesive sheets, thereby ensuring that when errors were
pointed out, correction was
swift. The sheets were luminescent and so visibility at night
was also easy. Our streets had
never had it so good in a long
while. But what we are now noticing is that in many places,
these signboards have become
convenient sites for pasting
posters. For a change, the political parties are not to blame. In
case you have not observed, the
number of posters of that ilk has
come down drastically in the
past few months, it being reliably learnt that informal orders
are in place to that effect from
up top. What we now have are
posters that are commercial in
nature, pasted by newsagents,
quack medication vendors and
others. Surely these people can
practise some discipline? In
many places, the luminescent
sheets have been ripped off,
leaving a white board in place.
After a while, the boards vanish, the metal frame is then pilfered and sold for scrap.
Those at the bottom of the
economic scale are probably doing these act of vandalism. They
probably need that space for
advertising and also make
money by selling the metal
frame. But what about the wellto-do? They appear to be no
better. We have seen a revival
of pavements in some localities.
Efforts are being made to clear
these of encroachments, re-lay
the stones and make them comfortable for pedestrians. In order
to prevent people from parking
cars on them, many of these
sidewalks were fitted with
bollards, some of metal and others of granite. This apparently
has not been to the liking of
those who reside in the immediate vicinity, as that means
(Continued on page 3)
2
MADRAS MUSINGS
September 1-15, 2016
Madras Week – from Valsaravakkam to the Vatican
A
nd so, Chief, here we are
at the end of Madras
Week 2016. And what a week
it has been. And what a range
of events – from talks on
temples in Vietnam to books
on science fiction, all launched
in the name of Madras Week.
Never before has any event so
united such a diverse collection of people under one banner. As for the walks, Chief –
what a number and what variety – street walks (sorry Chief,
what you think MMM means
is not what MMM means),
food walks, tree walks, insect
walks, saree walks, fort walks,
port walks, temple walks, walk
walks. And then you had these
combo walks – saree and
temple walks, talks and walks,
walks and talks, only walks,
only talks, talks on walks,
walks on talks … MMM simply lost count after the first ten
or so. So did the people who
spoke, got spoken to, talked,
walked and gawked. To
MMM, it was almost a December Music Season redux with
almost as much debate over
quality versus quantity.
Just like the December Music Festival, Madras Week gets
its share of media attention,
with reporters stalking event
after events. And their thirst
for information was phenomenal. When was Madras
founded? Who was the Mughal
Emperor who built the palace
that became the GPO? Where
were the stables at Kodambakkam that gave it the name
Ghoda Baugh? Was it not
cruel of the British to build a
moat just to keep Indians out
of Fort St George? Who was
Mr Cenotaph after whom
Cenotaph Road is named?
Such wonderful queries,
Chief.
We also had apart from
walkers, talkers, gawkers and
stalkers, some mockers as well.
This year saw some people
protesting against Madras
Week, and that is a sure sign
of its success. You, Chief, and
along with you MMM and
other coordinators of Madras
Week have been accused of
being in the pay of Rome. A
rather prolix diatribe has it
that we are all in it to paint our
erstwhile colonial masters in a
rosy light thereby getting orthodox Hindus to convert to
Christianity. This tract was
titled ‘Madras Weak’; MMM
believes that the appropriate
word to come in next is usually
‘sic’.
Yet another write-up, this
one an online petition, had it
that Madras was a bustling metropolis even before the British
came. MMM believes that
Francis Day took the 19M bus
to travel to the Nayak for negotiations and after they signed
the deal they went to Buhari’s
to celebrate.
These detractors were, however, enough to excite the media, which is forever hunting
around for controversies.
MMM received several calls
from the electronic media
wanting what they refer to as
sound bytes. He bit them all off
soundly and refused to rise to
the bait. Controversies forsooth! The debate, if ever there
was one, raged before an entirely indifferent public and
those who opted to celebrate
Madras Week, continued doing so.
Having said that, Chief,
MMM would like to remind
you of his share when Il Papa
sends you what he promised in
return for our celebrating
Madras Week. And no, MMM
will not settle for a bible and a
rosary. Meanwhile he looks
forward to Chennai Week in
September when Telugu will
get its due.
A retired professor marched up and having introduced
herself to MMM proceeded to
the mic from where she introduced Madras Week, herself
and MMM in that order. She
then went on to say that it was
a matter of great regret to her
that Madras Week is entirely
male oriented and has failed to
celebrate any woman of the
city. This said, she glared at
MMM who shrank into his
clothes and pretended to be invisible. Around 400 pairs of
eyes, all female, looked at him
accusingly. Thereafter, the
prof announced that to correct
this, the college and the other
co-celebrants had selected
three groups to research the
lives of three women. MMM
would now have to sit through
these, presumably by way of
expiation.
The first presentation was
on an Irish woman who was a
reformer and freedom fighter
north is still puzzling. There
were, after all, hundreds of
other deserving women from
Madras.
Food For All
T
he Madras Week programmes that ye olde
magazine conducts were also
rapturously received, Chief,
though you, rather selfishly in
MMM’s view, chose to make it
only to those events that interested you – nawabs, cricket and
governors on governors general
who played marriage broker.
MMM being more duty conscious went to all. So did a gang
of food predators that came
only to eat at each of these
events. And, by Francis Day!
they did succeed in irritating
everyone else who attended –
the hapless staff at the hotels
that hosted the events, the
other guests and, at times, even
the speakers. One of the last
SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY
A historic wave
T
he number of historians
and chroniclers that our
city sprouted during Madras
Week defied count. There was
a time, Chief, when you were
the only one. Now anyone with
access to a fast internet connection to browse Wikipedia is
a historian or a chronicler or
whatever is the appellation of
choice. The newspapers described even MMM as one!
And in that capacity MMM
went to town. He even sat in
judgement over presentations
on our city’s history – all downloaded from Wikipedia, with
MMM checking the same
source for veracity!
And so it was that MMM
made his way to a women’s college where he was asked to sit
in judgement over presentations to be made by students
and faculty on three great
women of Madras. MMM was
rash enough to say ‘yes’ but
then the invitation was from a
person who had dedicated
much of her life to selfless social work. MMM had always
admired this person and so
there was no way he could have
said ‘no’. The college itself was
in one of those places in the
mid west, in a large suburb of
our city that could have well
qualified to be a Union Territory by itself. MMM drove on
and on and on. When he eventually, reached the place, he
was accorded a warm welcome
and taken to the dais from
where he looked down on several hundred female faces.
in India. This was by a teacher
from another college. This was
long and loquacious, the kind
that omits no detail, however
slight. After half and hour,
and much shifting in his seat,
MMM realised that the
speaker had come only to the
subject’s 50th year and there
were a good 33 left, all of them
action filled. Fortunately
someone sent a paper to the
stage and then the rest of
Besant’s life was condensed
into a further ten minutes.
The other two speakers
spoke for shorter durations.
The second one was on a
woman who reformed the life
of widows. This was a most
unstructured and meandering
one that was besides full of
howlers, English and factual.
The third was on, of all people,
a titled woman who was from
up north and whose connect
with Madras was at best tenuous. She studied here at Presidency College and married a
fellow student who, after joining the ICS, wound up a distinguished career by becoming
a knight and the Governor of
the Reserve Bank. He was one
of the many victims of the legendary rudeness of a Union Finance Minister who was also
from Madras. It was only
much later that it struck
MMM that the respective
lengths of the various presentations was directly proportional to what was there on
them on Wikipedia, that one
source which has given birth
to several ‘historians’. The
choice of the woman from up
named, a gentle soul who is
rather high up in Government
circles made it quite clear that
he would not want to be associated with the event if these
feral creatures turned up.
MMM being of a more socialistic bent of mind preferred to
mentally entertain himself by
identifying which animal
species each of these food
predators reminded him of.
Here is a shortlist:
Woolly Mammoth – A large
hairy creature with weak eyesight who makes up for it by a
strong sense of smell that detects when the food is served.
He then uses his powerful
trunk (which no doubt has
evolved into his hands) to twist
and manipulate his way into
the crowds and fill his plate.
The Boa – The female of the
variety is deadlier than the
male and in keeping with this,
the Boa is of the distaff side.
The glare from her jewellery
blinds the others in the refreshments queue and, taking advantage of it, she slithers her
way in. She also hissed angrily
and spat venom about the way
in which women panellists at a
discussion on fashion in
Chennai were dressed.
The Vulture – Tall and
beaky, with a drooping expression, this is a gentlemanly
predator that waits for other
more aggressive ones such as
Woolly Mammoth and the Boa
to make way before it swoops
in on the kill.
The Gorilla – Big made,
with a paunch and shambling
gait, it has a large mouth that
can chomp away at the toughest of food offerings, including,
in MMM’s view, a couple of
plates and knives. It hovers
around the refreshment
counters long before the offerings are brought in, thereby
cunningly reserving for itself
the first place in the queue.
Having begun eating when the
food counter opens, it continues doing so till the time the
programme has wound to a
close. It also belches loudly in
appreciation of what it has
eaten.
The Love Birds – This
couple is always seen together.
Two hearts that beat as one,
two minds that think alike.
They cleverly divide the labour
– he stocking up on the
savouries while she forages
among the sweets. Then he fills
in the water while she loads up
on coffee. They then retire to a
cosy nest where they cluck
happily at their success, all won
by hard use of claws and beaks.
They then bill and coo as they
eat.
The Porcupine – A saturnine creature that not only
rushes at the food but also insists on asking all the embarrassing and prickly questions.
It kind of met its match at a lecture on the life of a diva where
it asked the speaker as to what
the attitude of the late terpsichorean was towards the birds
and bees. “Pro sex and anti babies”, was the terse answer
which shut the Porcupine up.
The Owl – A rather effeminate creature, it has a pair of
round, thick glasses that it
peers at everyone through. But
watch it fly from counter to
counter, filling its plate in a
hurry and you could get Olympians inspired.
The Sea Anemone – It gets
this name from a badly fitting
wig it wears. A fixture at events
since the time of Francis Day,
it has lived entirely by attending corporate events, claiming
to be a journalist. It is invariably in the company of a hermit crab that rarely asks questions or converses, but does itself well at the browsing and
sluicing.
Given these creatures, we
could well have the Chief playing the role of Noah. The only
consolation is that these do not
come in twos, except of course
for the love birds, and the sea
anemone-hermit crab duo. But
it is MMM’s considered view
that there is romance blossoming between the Vulture and the
Boa. There was a certain
tendresse in the manner in
which he handed her her coffee,
one for which he had to valiantly fend off the Woolly
Mamoth and the Gorilla. She
too hissed not unappreciatively.
Watch this space next year.
– MMM
September 1-15, 2016
MADRAS MUSINGS
3
Madras – in a dedication & a news report
Observant reader
I
n ‘Quizzin’ with Ram’nan’
(MM, August 16th), Question number 8 reads as: “On
July 17th, the youngest Prime
Minister (aged 37) of the country was sworn in. Name him and
the nation.”
Actually it was Pema Khandu who was sworn in as the
Chief Minister of Arunachal
Pradesh on July 17, 2016.
S. Hariharan
shariharan96@hotmail.com
Quiz master Ramanan writes:
Mea culpa! The observant
reader is correct. It should have
been Chief Minister and not
PM as given by me.
Father remembered
T
his is with reference to the
Question 9 in the quiz in
MM, July 16th.
The question relates to the
presidentship of the CACCI –
Confederation of Asian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Prior to Lakshmi Mittal, it
was held by my father Dr. D.C.
Kothari, who spearheaded this
body in the late 1980s.
He was also president of
FICCI in 1970, he was also the
only second Indian, and to date
ever to be ISO President –
1981-1983. This is the prestigious International Standards
Organisation (of ISO 9000)
fame.
Maya D. Kothari
D
r. A. Raman writing from Orange, N.S.W. Australia sends
us a couple of his findings which he says should interest
readers of Madras Musings particularly during “The Madras
Week period”.
During my recent research on the evolution of pharmacopeia
in India (and Madras), I chanced upon the Pharmacopoeia
Officinalis & Extemporanea by John Quincy, M. D., published
in London, in 1722. I was pleasantly surprised to read the dedication note (essay?) by Quincy in that volume. He dedicates
this pharmacopoeia to Joseph Collett of Madras. Those interested in knowing more about John Quincy are referred to the
Dictionary of National Biography (1885-1900), vol. 47, https://
en.wikisource.org/wiki/Quincy_John_ (DNB00).
Dedication by Quincy to Collett runs to four pages. The text
is interesting from the perspective of its wordiness and flamboyance. To illustrate my point, I quote a short section from his
dedication ‘essay’ here:
‘… We are Inhabitants on a transient Syftem of Matter,
that is neceffarily, from the conditions of its Exiftence, as
liable to Accidents and Decays, as it is to a total Diffolution.
And the Labour I have been at towards making eafy fuch
Inconveniencies, I cannot but with a particular Satisfaction
make you Tender of, as this great Diftance. You have combated with all the Inclemencies and Tempefts of Seas and
Climates, to fill up that Station and Meafure of Duty,
affign’d by Providence: and with a pliable and wellgovern’d Conftitution, rather than a ftrong one, have you
been preferv’d through a Life of Toils and Danger. …’
[Note: read the above replacing ‘f’ by ‘s’ wherever necessary.]
kotmaya@gmail.com
DPI Campus buildings
A
s I read the report about
the DPI’s Campus (MM,
August 16th) remembered my
first visit there in 1949 as a student of Teachers’ College.
There used to be a lovely garden in the front (it has disappeared long ago to make way for
the parking of vehicles. There
were three buildings in the huge
campus besides the MLS
Library Building.
Behind the main building
was the annex which the correspondent refers to as housing
CARE. The quarters for the
DPI was at the far end, on the
banks of the canal. When
N.D.Sundaravadivelu became
DPI, he preferred to live in his
own house. S.V.Chittibapu, the
then Joint Director, occupied
MADRAS MUSINGS
ON THE WEB
To reach out to as many readers as
possible who share our keen interest
in Madras that is Chennai, and in
response to requests from many
well-wishers ñ especially from
outside Chennai and abroad who
receive their postal copies very late
ñ for an online edition. Madras
Musings is now on the web at www.
madrasmusings.com
Many of us would be familiar with the name, Joseph Collett,
who was the President of Fort St. George in 1717-1720. Quincy
considered Collett his mentor and the dedication of his book to
Collett, therefore, does not surprise. Notable is that John
Quincy had never been to Madras. Most of us should be familiar
with the suburb ‘Collettpet’ in Tiruvotriyur, which is named
after Joseph Collett.
the mansion. When the State
Council of Educational Research and Training was established, the DPI’s quarters became its office, in spite of its
unsuitability.
The first new construction
in the campus was the office of
the Examination wing of the
Department, later to become a
separate Directorate in 1968.
At the far end on the banks
of the canal, were some old
buildings which were rumoured
to be the barracks of Lord Clive.
Now a good number of buildings have come besides a Hindu
Temple, a small church and
prayer hall. The old world
charm has been completely lost.
Similar seems to be the fate
of the DMS Campus.
S.S. Rajagopalan
– THE EDITOR
30, Kamarajar Street, Chennai 93
M
any of us, I am sure, would have known of the Madras
Gazette started as a weekly by Robert Williams (Company
Solicitor) to compete with the Madras Courier in Madras. I
found the masthead of this weekly in the British Library website
and am sharing it here with Madras Musings readers. The date
in the masthead indicates that the Madras Gazette was operational in 1809. Several library records indicate the starting date
of this weekly as 1795. But I found that a landmark event in
Indian medical practice (not done in Madras) was reported first
in the Madras Gazette in 1793. So I argue that this weekly functioned at least from
1793, if not earlier.
The citation ‘volume
XV’ in the reproduced
masthead also reinforces the view that
the start date was
1793 and not 1795.
The Madras Gazette (1793) reported
a fascinating case of
the earliest rhinoplasty (nasal reconstruction) by a
Vaidyan following
Susruta’s surgical procedures, done on
Cowasjee (Kawasjee)
in Poona in 1792.
Cowasjee was working
as a cart man for the
British army and, during the Mysore battle,
Tippu’s army commanders sloughed off Cowasjee’s nose. Although this story is widely alluded to in various medical journals and text books, details of this reconstructive procedure
done on Cowasjee in 1792 was reported only in Madras Gazette
only (see the original figure published in the Madras Gazette,
1793).
The story goes thus: Thomas Cruso and James Findley,
Bombay surgeons and Lt Col Ward witnessed the procedure
carried out by the Poona Vaidyan. A wax model representing a
nose was placed on the forehead (of Cowasjee) and a line was
drawn around it. The Vaidyan cut around that line except a
strip between eyebrows. After other surgical procedures, the
incised skin flap was placed on the reconstructed nose. Curious
that the skin flap securing was done by applying linen strips
smeared with ‘cement’ made of ‘Japan earth’ and water. In the
image of Cowasjee, a faint, angular line on his forehead can be
seen. Obviously all was well with Cowasjee and he became a
medical icon, widely spoken about in various then functional
intellectual journals, including those of medicine all over the
world!
Dr. A. Raman
– araman@csu.edu.au
Do we deserve civic improvement?
(Continued from page 1)
they can no longer enjoy free
parking space. Many have
therefore taken to sawing away
the bollards. As a result you can
see several pavements now
sporting stumps that can trip
the unsuspecting pedestrian.
Many residents also encourage
vendors and hawkers to set up
shop on these sidewalks. These
are seen as conveniences.
If these are the reactions to
commendable initiatives by the
Corporation, we cannot expect
our citizenry to do any better
when it comes to issues where
the civic body is dithering at
best. Garbage segregation at
source, that Holy Grail, was
supposed to take off last month
after many earlier attempts that
remained non-starters. The
present steps appear to be no
better. How have our citizens
reacted? The way they have
been doing for years, they nowcontinue dumping garbage at all
available street corners, empty
plots of land and all water bodies! Even the best neighbourhoods have not given a thought
to this.
Is this how citizens of a
world-class metropolis are
expected to respond to civic
initiatives and issues?
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able to help you faster and disappoint appoint you less.
ñ THE EDITOR
4
MADRAS MUSINGS
G
I
September 1-15, 2016
Madras Week Nostalgia
Madras – you
are home
n Madras, or Chennai, we are
simultaneously inhabitants of
a neighbourhood with its
shrines and local lore as we are
to the larger idea of the city.
On August 22nd, 377 years
ago, a local chieftain displaying
customary hospitality to a guest
granted a strip of sandy land to
Francis Day of the East India
Company. Day was looking for
a place to set up a factory and
source cheap cotton cloth. That
land, comprising a few fishing
villages on the east coast of India, secured by Fort St. George
and named Madras, became the
nucleus of a sprawling nine-mil-
lion strong metropolis that
keeps expanding. The gracious
act by chieftain Venkatadri
Nayak was the proverbial inch
which the East India Company
increased to a mile, five villages
and then entire kingdoms
G by
Tulsi Badrinath
spreading over the Indian subcontinent.
In the narrative of the
founding of Madras are hidden
several truths special to the city.
We were at once modern and
ancient. We were global before
the word became fashionable,
the waves of the Bay of Bengal
connecting us with other continents. In our interactions with
people of different faiths, we
saw no reason to lose our stability and peace. In our neighbourhoods, we combined the closeknit ties of a village with the urban amenities of a city. And our
generosity of welcome remains
exemplary to this day.
If commerce formed the basis of the early settlement,
bringing travellers from all over
the world linking the British
Some of the work displayed (above and below) at the splendid Chennai
Weekend Artists’ exhibition during Madras Week.
with the Portuguese and other
Europeans, as also the Armenian traders, their presence only
enriched the fabric of faith in
the city. Not far from the
temple-settlement of Mylapore
is the Basilica of Saint Thomas,
housing relics believed to be
those of the Apostle of Christ.
The land for the tank at the
Kapaleeswarar temple was
gifted by the Nawab of Arcot, a
symbol of the amity that exists
in the city between different
faiths.
The global link continues to
this day with the Americans of
Ford, the Koreans of Hyundai
and the Japanese of Honda
fame. Known for the excellent
medical care it offers, Madras is
the destination of hope for
many patients, especially from
the West Asia and Africa.
It is this long interaction
with people of other cultures
that has given Madras its ability
A Mylapore landmark that’s no more
I
n the context of Madras Week celebrations it might be of
interest to recall a Mylapore landmark that has disappeared
without a trace.
It was once a unique part of an integrated supply chain and
was much ahead of its time for its linkage, design and practical
utility. I refer to the Thannithurai Market. Thannithurai in Tamil
translates as ‘waterfront harbour’.
I was in P.S. Secondary School, between 1940 and 1944, and
would watch boatloads of grain, vegetables, fish and fruit arriving
at the waterfront on the Buckingham Canal. As the canal was
just by the side of the school, the latter even came to be referred
to as Kaavaakkarai School – ‘canal side school’. To us boys having seats near the windows on the western side of classrooms, the
spectacle of unloading and reloading was more riveting than the
class proceedings. We were told that the cargo came by this canal
all the way from Bunder, 300 miles away, in present day Andhra
Pradesh. Bunder was another name for Masulipatnam, Masula
for short. The cargo discharged from the boats was re-loaded on
to push carts and moved manually for just less than a furlong
(‘furlong’, was the term used then for 220 yards or the equivalent
of 200 metre or so) to wholesalers having covered stalls and storage spaces in the Thannithurai market adjacent to the present
day Hanuman Temple.
The wholesalers were, imaginatively, placed on the eastern half
of the market premises, nearer the water front, and the retail stalls
were located on the western half with entry from the present road
leading to Luz. Competition was fierce, given the large number of
retailers – each retailer soliciting custom by promising fresher material at lower prices and correct weights!
The market itself was a sprawling area, but of a simple single
level comprising raised platforms with tiled roof. The unit measure was a veesai, weighed out by hand-held balances. The
weighed quantity could be manipulated by a deft pressure one
side or the other of the holding hand. The weights bore certification stamps but the bottom of each weight could also be scraped
out to remove some of the metal to give a lower weight.
Karuveppilai (curry leaves) and Kothamalli (coriander leaves)
were given gratis to those bought major items.
My mother armed with me enough knowledge on how to test
good quality from bad, on bargaining strategies and on how not to
get outwitted on weights! It was my duty in the house to procure
vegetables from Thannithurai twice a week. I used to cycle with
two jute shopping bags hanging on either side of the handle-bar of
the cycle and return home laden with both bags full. I would also
bring back a few annas (each anna was six present-day paise) out
of a mighty sum of two rupees that my mother gave me while
cautioning me to keep it secure and not let it drop on the wayside.
The power of money, the simplicity of life and the fantastic
concept of a supply chain linked by a cheap mode of transport,
that the waterway was, are the only memories left of this bygone
era. The Thannithurai Market space is now occupied by a highrise apartment complex with no trace whatsoever of a fine local
but great institution.
– N.S. Parthasarathy
to absorb the modern, the new
into its way of life that is
grounded in solid tradition. At
the same time, it is unafraid to
embrace radical thinking of political and social reform along
the lines of the Self-Respect
Movement.
While outwardly the
Gregorian calendar marches on,
the city keeps its compact with
a timeless Tamil calendar that
is based on agrarian and lunar
cycles. Full-moon nights are
special, as is the harvest festival
of Pongal. We fear the evil eye
here as much as we do the
dreaded rahu kaalam, when
time is not in our favour. The
just-passed month of Aadi is
devoted to the Goddess and the
coming of the monsoon. In the
special month of Margazhi,
which falls mid-December,
roads and lanes are converted
into canvases of tar when giant
kolam-patterns are drawn daily
with rice flour, some spreading
across the entire width of a
street. More than two thousand
concerts of classical music and
dance are offered to the gods in
this most celestial of months.
When the city of Madras expanded outwards from the 100acre nucleus of Fort St. George,
it did so by aggregating villages
into its outer limits. The local
histories of these villages go
back centuries, and there is a
very strong link via customs to
these origins. Here, we are simultaneously inhabitants of a
neighbourhood with its shrines
and local lore as we are to the
larger idea of the city.
Adyar, for example, the area
I have lived in most of my life,
has its own rich history and
even ecological and geographical features unmatched by other
areas. It takes its name from the
river Adyar that widens into an
estuary before flowing into the
sea. On one bank, a swanky
cluster of high-rise apartments,
very Nariman Point – and on
the other, the dense wooded
(Continued on page 9)
September 1-15, 2016
G
MADRAS MUSINGS
5
Four pages recalling a celebration
Sriram V’s Madras Week Diary
Saturday 20/8/16
W
ent to the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation to speak
on Sir CP in Madras. Saddened to know that thanks to
continuous raising of road levels and the floods of last year,
water weakened the oldest part of The Grove, the historic
residence of the family. One part had to be brought down and is
being rebuilt.
Went in the afternoon to participate in the Dr. Sir A.
Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar Rolling Trophy Quiz conducted by
the Madras Gymkhana Club. Went as part of a team comprising
Sharanya Jayakumar, Dr. Navin Jayakumar and Gautam
Venkataramani. Went with thousand guilty feelings – is this too
heavy weight a team? Ought I to go? And in a Gauravam like
twist there was my young son in the Madras Cricket Club team.
On going there felt much better as every team had heavy
weights. Our team won the trophy.
Sunday 21/8/16
W
as at Fort by 6.30. The people rolled up by 6.45 and at
7.00 we were at the gate only to be rather brusquely
informed that nobody can be let in till 10.00 am. Heightened
security owing to Assembly session was the excuse, this despite
a letter permitting us to enter that Vincent D’Souza had been
moved heaven and earth to get for us. After some entreaties and
requests we were let in and then everything proceeded smoothly.
In the afternoon, Sarada went to participate in Sreemathy
Mohan’s Golden Furlong of T Nagar, comprising Sundari Silks
and RMKV. Apparently the shops had made wonderful arrangements to receive everyone and explain their wares. Snacks were
served and there was valet service from one location to another.
(How wonderful it would be if we had a battery operated car
service within the Fort to take people around.) This combined
with Sreemathy’s natural exuberance made for a great tour. In
many ways, Sreemathy has made possible the involvement of
the retail trade in Madras Week. This began last year when she
did a Textile Tour of T’Nagar during Madras Week 2015.
In the evening off to Hotel Maris for the first of the Madras
Musings lecture series. This was by Kombai S. Anvar and the
topic ‘Madras under the Golconda Sultanate’. There was a
record turnout and Maris, which is known for its traditional
South Indian fare, put out a wonderful menu for its high tea –
vadai, bonda, poli, kasi halwa, some species of bhajji and great
coffee.
Wednesday 24/8/16
K
arthik Bhatt called to say he addressed the Hindustan
Chamber of Commerce on the history of Chennai. He was
gifted with a toaster. An ideal present for the good Bhatt is
shortly to enter the holy state of matrimony. He can now rule
out toasters from the gifts list at the bridal shower.
I brooded quite a bit over the way the food vanished yesterday at the Crowne Plaza, the 80/20 rule being enforced – 20 per
cent of the attendees hogged 80 per cent of the food and if I am
not mistaken the plates and forks as well. I then came up with a
strategy to handle the food riots this evening as and when they
break out.
In the afternoon went to the beach to try the Indian Express
bus ride. Came away unimpressed. The bus was shabby to begin
with. It was hot inside and so I clambered to the open deck.
Several others were there, including an MC who decided to
make it the most cheapo event possible. There were too many
hangers-on from the bus company, the newspaper and an eatery, all talking on cell phones and shouting instructions to each
other. The obligatory Sri Krishna sweets packet and a bottle of
water was given to us and the bus lurched off down the Marina
service road. Half way past the Gandhi statue it reversed and
came back to starting point. Nobody had a clue as to what was
going on. I got off at the Gandhi statue and communed with the
Mahatma for a while (he is my all time hero) and then drove off,
a sadly disappointed but wiser man. It’s a pity that such a good
idea as that bus ride should have come unstuck in the execution.
In the evening went to Chamiers for Sadanand Menon’s talk.
The place was bursting at the seams even at 6.00 pm. By 6.30 it
was getting fuller. I then put my food regulation plan into action. Having announced that refreshments were served I stationed myself with the serving staff and kept an eagle eye on
how much each of the freeloaders was having. The Vulture tried
his best to get a second cutlet but was quelled by a single look.
The Gorilla for some reason abstained from eating. I guess all
that hogging at the Crowne Plaza must have affected his stomach. Not so young as he was once, I suppose. In his heyday he
could polish off high teas on all eight days with a rare élan and
be none the worse for it. The camp one made eyes at me but to
no avail. (See Short ’N’ Snappy for more details.)
Showing the banners
T
he Inner Wheel Clubs of Madras circulated 12
banners to eight schools and then displayed
them at Nageswara Rao Park during Madras Week.
Members were present during peak usage hours
distributing sweets to visitors and telling them more
about Madras. The response was encouraging.
There were people doing spot jogging while reading
the banners, people taking photographs for their
children (and they were asked to bring their children – and many did).
Sushi Nataraj
sushi_1952@yahoo.co.in
Some warm words
F
ormer chief urban planner Arockia Doss calls
me. To say how happy he is to see Madras Day
flower and go places. He says he likes the fact that
so many people are involved. And hopes it impacts
on the city’s major issues and projects. Doss was one
of the bosses at CMDA and tried to accomplish a
few things. Now retired and recovering from a painful spinal problem, he keeps a tab on the city from
his bed.
It’s encouraging when senior people appreciate
the process called Madras Day.
*
*
*
Buhari’s & samosas
A
t Mount Road some one mentioned Buhari’s
and its mutton samosas on the sidelines of a
recent Madras Week event. That is when I got to
know that the famed samosas
were being sold at all Buhari
outlets ( there are lots of them
now and mostly doing well).
But you had to get there by
4 p.m. I was driving past one
in Adyar and it was 3.45 p.m.
So we stopped by and picked
up a pack - cost Rs. 65.
I recall the times in the
1970s when we gobbled them
up at Buhari’s on Mount Road
– they were sold at 10 paise a
piece, crunchy ones and filled
to the edges with mutton.
They are still tasty.
I had thought of hosting a
Mount Road Walk this 2016
season. When I do it I start at
The Hindu office gates and
These posters on Chennai are by Ravi Nair, architect.
end at Buhari’s or LIC. There
are loads of stories here.
In case anyone is interested, they may contact him at:
ravinaair@yahoo.co.in or +91 98410 99944.
Vincent D’Souza
Love that place!
M
y love for Nungambakkam Railway Station and Sterling Road is increasing day by day. So much
to look back: Loyola College,
the interior roads off Sterling
Road, and how Nelson
Manickam Road subway was
built in 1983 !
Saranya Narayan and Usha
Variyath Kumar unravelled
the heritage of tree-laden
Sterling Road which leads to
Tank Bund Road and further
to Nungambakkam Railway
Station and beyond. People,
institutions and memories
were delightful fodder for this
presentation.
Hitesh
6
MADRAS MUSINGS
September 1-15, 2016
Rao’s one-man show
One man who single-mindedly celebrates the city is civil engineer
and philatelist D. Hemchandra Rao. He does all he can to design
and produce a Special Postal Cover every Madras Day, keen to
mark the day for posterity.
Often, Rao has to debate with the Postal Dept. and raise monies to do this.
This year, his cover is themed on the first lighthouse in Madras
– atop a merchant exchange inside the Fort which is 220 years old
this year.
Rao also released a set of My Stamps on the city’s four lighthouses – great stuff for collectors.
You should get hold of a cover or a stamp. The cover costs Rs.70.
Contact Rao at 98408 70172
The walking experience
This year, there were over thirty Walks during Madras Week, which only indicates that many more
people are willing to research and curate walks, at least at this time of the year.
The city, though, does not have volunteers who offer Walks through the year, so tourists do not
get to see the less known, or the other, side of the city.
The positive side about the Walks has been that many young people (see above) have been signing
up to explore parts of the city.
And educational too – a young bunch of architects have curated their themed walks that explore
Mylapore, which predates the city and is struggling to retain its old houses.
Tiripura Sundari (extreme left) of Nam Oor, Nam Veedu, Nam Kadhai and the group of walkers she led through the
lanes of Aminjikarai.
Selfies during the Heritage Walk at High Court organised by INTACH,
Chennai.
You do not need history-rich places to base a Walk on. Anything that reveals the area, the city, the
town to curious people can make for an immersive tour.
So I wish we had more Walks in Chennai and more people who volunteer to research and curate
Walks.
In recent times, this is happening. In small measure though.
Foodie Sridhar V. has curated half-a-dozen Food Walks. He not only takes people on Walks (he
does not charge guests but you must pay for what you order and eat!) but also maps them so tourists
and you and I can pick up the map and make your way to the food joints in Sowcarpet and in Mylapore.
Sreemathy Mohan continue her series on showcasing the textiles destinations in our city. The
second in the series took place during Madras Week 2016.
Another Walk enthusiast, Kishore has shown interest in curating a Walk in Gandhi Nagar. In the
past, senior residents of this area have hosted Walks in this area but only for a particular cause.
Kishore’s interest was triggered by an old Gandhi Nagar layout map that was published on social
media. We have chatted about recording social history here but I also hope he can curate a Walk.
We need to have at least 20 people who specialise in Walks in various parts of our city. More so in
areas like Perambur and Royapuram, Vepery and Pallavaram.
Then, we will be able to showcase the less-known side of our city to people who want to know more
about our histories.
– Vincent D’Souza
Food Walk organised by Sridhar V. at West Mambalam.
Marshall’s Road, Egmore, walk led by Sudha Umashanker.
Textile Walk of T. Nagar: led by Sreemathy Mohan which included Pothys, RMKV and Sundari Silks.
September 1-15, 2016
MADRAS MUSINGS
7
Chennai authors and children get Odyssey space
On left, Odyssey’s ‘Author of Chennai’ display at its entrance and, above, a children’s drawing competition that it
organised in progress.
Odyssey bookshop’s Ashwin has done a great service for city-based writers. He showcased their books that are
still in print at his Gandhi Nagar store during Madras Week.
And you could hear the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ that the authors kept uttering at this promotion.
At a prominent space in the store, the tables occupied some 30 odd titles. Ashwin also offereds a cloth bag
that featured the covers of these books to shoppers who bought two books by Chennai authors.
And on some evenings, young writers were present chatting about their work.
Odyssey’s Madras Week-long programmes included many events for children too.
An exhibition on Tirukkural by architect M. Dhanasekaran which was organised by Madras Literary Society... and a couple of the exhibits.
The youth choir reaches out
An antiquarian and his trams
O
n the last day of a special exhibition on the trams
of Madras*, Winston Henry, antiquarian, is a busy
man. He’s showing people around an his exhibition but
doesn’t hesitate to answer a call from anyone interested
in his collection. Chirpily, he begins to explain his tryst
with trams in his nine years of collecting.
Buildings
were
done, books were done
– it was time to find a
new subject of study.
“Old books held the
key to photographs,
maps and clippings of
newspapers,” he says.
Access isn’t easy, but
Winston has an easy
leg in thanks to years
of collecting and running his heritage establishment – the W&H
Book Search that
houses 10,000 books.
*
The Madras Youth Choir performed for Madras Week at Prathyasha, a
home for HIV infected children run by Mellow Circle Choir. MYC taught the
children a song Poo Vaenuma, which they performed.
Madras was, in 1895, the
first in the country to
have an electric tram
system.
Above: A tram opposite the High Court, 1935. Top: A tram dating to 1940. Insert: A
tram ticket stub from 1940. Pictures courtesy: Winston Henry.
8
MADRAS MUSINGS
September 1-15, 2016
Age no bar to knowing your trees
Nizhal – Friends of Trees organised several Tree Walks this year. In these two pictures, young volunteer Harshita is
seen providing information about a Purasai tree during one of the walks.
Storytelling on the
Marina and at the Savera
The former with the Story Telling Institute and the latter
with Jeeva Raghunath
The Asan Memorial School exhibition featuring the Keralites of Chennai.
The Armenians of Chennai, an exhibition at the Russian Cultural Centre during Madras Week.
Pictures from two of the many contests during Madras Week – above winners
of the Multimedia Presentation Contest for City Schools conducted by Mylapore
Times and, below, the winners of the INTACH Quiz.
September 1-15, 2016
MADRAS MUSINGS
9
More Madras Week Nostalgia
Wood Apples on
Cathedral
Road
I
t was 1960. Amidst the chirping of birds and screeching of
crows, Sister Thanga Mary was
teaching multiplication tables
to a restless and disinterested
bunch of girls of Class 2 at St.
Ebba’s School for Girls in
Mylapore.
Thud… came another
sound of a wood apple that had
succumbed to the forces of
gravity at the end of the corridor where the classrooms
ended. She could sense the distraction among her students
and could almost hear them
salivating as soon as the bell
rang announcing the end of the
mathematics class, the girls
would rush out and pick the
fallen wood apples from near
the pond, clean the exteriors,
break each open and cherish
the sweet and sour fruit along
with its crispy seeds.
Cathedral Road stretches
from the Music Academy, past
St. Ebba’s and Stella Maris College, to the erstwhile Woodlands Drive-in (currently
Semmozhi Poonga) before pass-
ing below the Anna flyover and
merging with Nungambakkam
High Road.
In the early 1990s, at Stella
Maris College too, where I was
a student, there were wood
apple trees, tall and lined up
against the compound wall on
the green patch of land behind
the canteen that also doubled
up as the NCC ground.
G by
Jayanthi Gopal
Unlike my mother who, as a
little girl at St. Ebba’s, grew up
eating the sweet and sour wood
apple fruit, I do not remember
having the luxury of too many
wood apples falling on the
ground or being relished by me
or my college mates. The trees
were far and few between and
lined up along the compound
wall adjacent to the highly
populated Teynampet High
Road perpendicular to Cathedral Road. The gardener took
dedicated care of the landscaped garden and the trees on
the campus, so that nature’s
bounty was beyond the reach of
the some 3000 and odd students
who studied at the College.
Fast forwarding a couple of
decades later, in 2013, I visited
my alma mater. No, I am not
someone who gets involved
with alumnae networks and college reunions. Actually, I was
summoned on official work to
the US Consulate General in
Chennai. I did not want to take
chances with the high and
mighty at that feared office, so I
arrived early for my appointment. About three hours early!
To kill time, I walked across
to
Semmozhi
Poonga,
Chennai’s newest botanical garden. Blame it on my luck, but it
was a Tuesday and the Poonga
was closed for its weekly holiday.
Stella Maris was only about
a couple of minutes’ walk from
the poonga. It was vacation time
and there was hardly any activity in the College. This suited
me well, because socialising
with strangers is not exactly my
cup of tea. SMC had not
changed a bit, at least externally, since my time. The grey
façade of the main block which
Madras – you are home
calm of the Theosophical Society. This view symbolises to me
the old of Chennai and the new
of Madras.
It is in walking down the
streets and alleys of localities
that you savour the many delights of Madras. Hot idlis and
fresh chilli bhajjis made in the
numerous food carts on the
streets; tender coconut water
spurting at the flash of a sickle;
jasmine flowers sold by a very
human unit of measurement:
the flower seller’s fore-arm;
fresh-from-the-sea vanjaram
fish-fry; tea and biscuits at the
stall.
Closer home, the fragrance
of filter coffee wafts from the
kitchen three houses away. I
can tell the time of day by my
neighbour’s coffee-drinking
habits. Two houses away, an
octogenarian plays the flute every evening, stubbornly coaxing
notes from bamboo. Next door,
the sound of retching announces a pregnancy faster
than words. As in a village, no
one’s life is private. No one is
anonymous either. And per-
Till September 30: Faces of Creativity, an art exhibition by Yusuf
Arakkal. Showcasing 135 Indian
artists’ portraits from Amrita
Sher Gil to the present, including the work of the artists from
the South like Santhanaraj,
Dhanapal, Adimoolam, Haridasan and others. (at DakshinaChitra.)
September 10: R. Gopu will speak
on Babington’s Surprise – The
Third Rajasimha inscription at
Mamallapuram. The talk is about
an inscription in ‘Rustic Nagari’
script at a mandapa in the Tiger
Cave area of Mamallapuram, in
addition to two well-known inscriptions there in Pallava
Grantha and Nagari. At Madras
Literary Society, 11.00 a.m.
Members free. Rs. 50 for nonmembers.
(Continued from page 4)
haps it is this quality that makes
Madras truly special. We know
our neighbours.
In the mad rush of daily existence, we might sometimes
forget to demonstrate this fact.
But it only takes a disruption
such as a power-cut, a tsunami
or the recent floods of November and December 2015 to remind us of our ties to the local
community. Of the many tales
of adventure and survival that
were told after the floods, the
dominant narrative was one
where people, whether
neighbours or strangers, came
together to help.
I heard the most touching
story of a small-time building
contractor who risked his life to
help an elderly, cantankerous
bachelor to safety, even though
days earlier he had been on acrimonious terms with him for
being paid too little. It is this
spirit that makes those who left
to live elsewhere still return to
Madras, year after year. It is this
that makes us, who live here by
choice, call it home.
Wood apple tree at Stella Maris College.
houses the arts department
flanked by the science blocks
was exactly as it was all those
years ago. It must have been the
same in my mother’s day. Nothing much had changed.
Huge tracts of land that may
once have been wood apple orchards were carefully preserved
by institutions like St. Ebba’s
and Stella Maris. Christian institutions pretty much owned
most of the land along Cathedral Road.
The trees on the Stella Maris
campus have now been labeled
and given botanical names by
the environmentally-conscious
students who came after my
years in college.
I went to check if there were
wood apple trees still there near
the canteen. A new block had
come up there, but I did manage to spot a wood apple tree.
A raw and ill-formed wood
apple fell from the tree, perhaps
as a souvenir for me to carry
away as a memory of my college
days. I was thankful for that.
It was Woodlands Drive-in
that hosted the most wood
apple trees on Cathedral Road.
When the 99-year-old-lease
Woodlands had ended in 2008,
the dispute over control of that
land was keenly watched by old
citizens of the city who feared
commercial development as
one of the few lungs in the city.
Among those who expressed
their opinion was a group of urban planning experts and environmentalists who sought to
protect the wood apple trees
and other precious varieties of
trees that the locals were so familiar with during their visit to
Woodlands over the previous
40-60 years.
Thankfully they won the
battle. But I was told the major
objection came from the adjacent US Consulate General
whose security staff objected to
any highrises surrounding the
consulate general. And, so, in
November 2010, Semmozhi
Poonga, Chennai’s own botanical garden, came into existence
with 500 varieties of species of
trees and shrubs newly nurtured
and, more importantly, about
80 trees already in existence,
some of them more than 100
years old, to be protected.
This nostalgic reflection on
wood apples was triggered by
finding to my surprise, while I
stocked up vegetables and fruits
during the weekend for the
week ahead in Bangalore. I saw
a fruit-seller selling wood apples
from his cart. At Rs.10 a piece,
this was cheap given the cost of
fruits in our neighbourhood.
The wood apple trees on Cathedral Road from the time my
mother grew up in the 1960s
and I grew up in the 1990s may
be on the verge of extinction,
but elsewhere they are growing
and thriving, albeit for commercial interests.
Many more people enjoy the
sweet and sour taste of the
Vilampazha Pachidi (wood apple
pachidi). Amma and I relived
our respective childhoods that
evening after shopping in Bangalore by breaking open a wood
apple and eating it raw.
10
(Current Affairs questions
are from the period August
1st to 15th. Questions 11 to
20 pertain to Chennai and
Tamil Nadu.)
1. Which globally popular travel
company has decided to merge its
China operations with its rival
Didi Chuxing, with the new entity being valued at $35 billion?
2. Who recently transferred to
Manchester United for a world
record transfer fee of £89m?
3. Why did the Greenland Shark
make news recently?
4. Name the ‘Iron Lady of
Manipur’ who ended her much
publicised, 16-year-long hunger
strike for the repeal of the Armed
Forces (Special Powers) Act in
her State?
5. On August 3rd, the historic
Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 was approved by
the Rajya Sabha. What does it
pertain to?
6. Who is back as the Prime Minister of Nepal after holding
office in 2008-2009?
7. How did Havildar Hangpan
Dada of the Assam Regiment
make news recently?
8. Who on August 15th became
the only second Indian artiste,
after M.S. Subbulakshmi, to perform in the General Assembly
hall of the United Nations?
9. What big change with regard
to the annual Budget did the
Finance Minsitry give nod to on
August 14th?
10. Which ‘Maharatna’ entity recently launched a Rs. 100-crore
start-up fund to mark as its Diamond Jubilee year?
***
11. Name the eminent Gandhian, the daughter of ‘Sriman’
Srinivasa Iyengar, who translated
the Ram Charit Manas into Tamil
and set up the Srinivasa Gandhi
Nilayam for destitute children?
12. What is the present name of
the modified version of the building once called Somerford?
13. Name these two eminent
Knights of the city: one a
founder-chairman of ICICI and a
representative at the UN and the
other a Chairman of UNESCO
and WHO.
14. What is located in a building
once called Grassmere in Egmore?
15. Who is said to have authored
Nannul, which is considered the
most significant work on Tamil
grammar after Tolkappiyam?
16. What is common to Nutmeg,
Ottimo-Cucina Italiana, Tranque-bar and Royal Vega?
17. Madras’ biggest fire that
killed 400 occurred 130 years ago
during an annual carnival.
Where?
18. What major discovery did
John Smith, an Officer of the
28th Cavalry of the Madras Regiment, make in April 1819?
19. Which suburb of Chennai is
the initial M in the former Chief
Minister, M. Bakthavatsalam’s
name?
20. In 1922, which composersinger made his appearance felt in
Chennai thanks to the munificence of one A.K. Ramachandra
Iyer?
(Answers on page 12)
MADRAS MUSINGS
September 1-15, 2016
Riding the
surf
of Madras
M
adras, like the rest of the
Coast of Coromandel,
possesses no harbour. The communication between the shipping and the shore is carried on
exclusively by Masoola boats
and catamarans. The form of
the boats is exhibited in the accompanying sketch, taken from
the beach at Madras: they are
here represented, as they usually appear when waiting for
employment, lying high and dry
on the sand; that on the left
shows the manner in which
they are pushed off; the men
who are employed in launching,
climb into the boat, with astonishing ease, as soon as it is
afloat. These boats, which are
from twenty to thirty feet in
length, and about six feet in
depth and breadth, are constructed of strong planks, bent
by means of fire; stitched together, through holes drilled all
round the edges, with thread or
cord of coir, the outer fibrous
covering of the coconut; inside
the boat, the stitches enclose a
sort of calking or wadding of
straw, rendering the seams water-tight. Masoola boats are
generally manned by ten hands,
eight men at the oars, one at the
helm, and a boy to bale out the
water: they strike their oars
with great regularity, keeping
time by a song kept up by one
voice, the whole company joining in chorus at the end of each
stanza.
There are usually three
waves to be passed between
smooth water and the shore ;
these waves frequently rise to
the height of six feet and upwards, and, breaking with a
curl, the highest part of the
wave falls over first, leaving a
kind of hollow underneath. Un-
‘Masoola boats’.
“A wave, a wave,” and pull
away with all their might, till
the wave has expended itself ;
while the passenger does well to
cover himself from the spray
with his boat cloak. They then
rest, waiting for the succeeding
wave, which is passed in the
same manner, till the boat is
thrown almost dry upon the
beach, and the men jump out to
secure it from being carried
back.
Excerpted from Madras, Mysore and the South
of India: A personal narrative of ‘A Mission to
those Countries’ by Elijah Hoole, published in
London by Longman, Brown in 1829.
less well managed, even a
Masoola boat would be overwhelmed: any other kind of
boat would perish.
The boatmen, accustomed
to the surf, are very skilful in
avoiding its violence: when they
come towards the first wave,
they rest on their oars in total
silence, and the helmsman directs the boat into the most
favourable position; when it begins to rise on the wave, they at
once burst out singing, Ale, Ale,
In passing the surf, I have often noticed that the wave, before it is expended, strikes the
boat so severely, as to excite
some apprehension ; and there
have been instances of the boat
having been dashed to pieces by
its force, with the consequent
loss of the lading, and endangering of the lives of the persons
on board. The boats employed
in embarking or disembarking
passengers are therefore often
attended by catamarans.
A catamaran (in Tamul
kattamaram, from kattal, “ to
tie or bind,” and maram, wood,”
literally tied wood, or timber
lashed together) is a raft, from
twelve to fifteen feet long, by
three to five feet in breadth,
composed of three spars or logs
of light wood, lashed together;
and managed by two or three
kareiars, or beachmen, persons
of the same caste as those employed in the Masoola boats.*
Landing in Madras in the early days.
Is sailing academy needed?
(Continued from page 1)
The Royal Madras Yacht Club
is more than a century old and
thriving. Younger, and doing
well too, is the Tamil Nadu Sailing Association (TNSA). The
latter has in fact petitioned the
Central Government for better
facilities in the harbour. Why
cannot the State Government
channel its funds through these
organisations? Would it not be
better to strengthen existing facilities rather than set up what
could become a rival entity?
Lastly, has everybody forgotten the havoc wreaked by the
tsunami just around 12 years
ago? The beach was one of the
worst affected in Chennai city
and if casualties and loss of life
were kept to a minimum it was
only because there were no permanent structures in the vicinity. With a sailing academy
coming up here, are we not
throwing open possibilities of a
disaster on a larger scale?
It would be best to leave the
beach free of all such ‘developmental projects’.
It is worthwhile pointing out
that while we are full of schemes
as a people, there has been no
luck in building adequate
number of even the most basic
of amenities such as toilets.
That is what is needed here
given that this is a popular spot
for the masses. A sailing
training centre catering to a
few, even if felt necessary, can
afford to move outside the city
where the training can be
concentrated on and not the
sideshows.
When the surf is so high that
Masoola boats cannot venture,
catamarans are used to communicate with the shipping, usually anchored two to four miles
from the shore: the men secure
letters, or small parcels, in their
conical caps, formed of the leaf
of the palmyra-tree: larger packages, covered with canvass or
wax-cloth, are lashed to the
raft; and they fearlessly venture
into the most tempestuous seas.
Though sometimes washed
from the raft, their dexterity in
swimming and diving enables
them to regain it ; and the loss
of a man, in this perilous occupation, is of rare occurrence.
Besides these important services, the catamarans are generally used in conveying the
mails, in stormy weather, from
the coast of Coromandel to
Ceylon, a passage of sixty miles.
They are also used by the fishermen, all down the coast. On
fishing excursions, they generally go in a party, setting out
early in the morning, well supplied with nets and baskets.
When outside the surf, they
carry a neat three-cornered sail,
and proceeding many miles to
sea, do not usually return till
evening.
I remember to have seen the
Captain of a vessel, driven by a
heavy storm from her anchorage off Negapatam, while he
was ashore, set out in quest of
her, seated on a chair lashed on
one of these catamarans. He
thus crossed the straits, which
divide Ceylon from the Continent, and succeeded in finding
his ship.
* The kareiars, or persons thus employed on the beach at Madras,
amount to many hundreds, residing
chiefly at Royapooram, a village to
the north of the town : they are
generally Roman Catholics. A
Masoola boat can make three or
four trips to merchant vessels in the
course of one day. The regulated
charge for each trip is fifteen
fanams, or near two shillings and
four-pence sterling. Vessels of war
anchor at a greater distance from
the shore; consequently, a trip to
them is charged double the
amount, and two trips only are
made in the day. When in full employ, therefore, these men do not
gain more than one shilling each
per day. Small as this sum appears,
they have of late years contributed
out of it to liberally, as to raise for
themselves a large and substantial
church, in Royapooram, the erection of which cost several thousand
pounds.
G Thanks to R. Bhaskarendra Rao
for sending these excerpts.
September 1-15, 2016
MADRAS MUSINGS
11
Chennai
Runners
– & others
O
ver the last few years, the
number of the city’s residents engaged in a daily run has
seen a steady increase, despite
Chennai’s weather, with 365
days of summer seemingly an
impediment to the experience.
The most prominent of the
clubs mushrooming in the city
is Chennai Runners, which has
over 2000 active members and
18 chapters across the city. It is
an open-to-all club that uses
many tools to keep its members
updated – Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, and Google
groups. Almost every location
has a dedicated running group
in its surroundings which will
train, mentor and motivate you
to run. Other groups in the city
include Zen Runners (employees of Cognizant), Dream Runners (a community of families
from Besant Nagar) and Cool
Runners (a group of runners
from the YMCA).
Chennai’s is a lovely running
community, cosmopolitan to
the core. Even if your legs are
not strong enough, various running groups will train them to
become strong. Once you are
part of any of these groups, you
will get hooked to running for
life. They will guide you and advise you, help you run better
and faster.
Isn’t Chennai too hot for
running?
We have four months of
pure bliss for runners. November to February, when the
weather is just perfect for running. The preceding four
months, from July to October,
are not bad either because it is
the rainy season and it hardly
rains in Chennai for 20 days out
of those 120 days. That leaves a
hot and humid period from
March to June, but early mornings between 5.00 and 7.00 is
still bearable. You have the
roads all to yourself, and the sultry and warm Chennai weather
is the coolest then But the good
by A Special
Correspondent
G
news is that if you train in the
tough conditions of Chennai,
you are assured of doing well in
an event in any other city in India/World.
Where are the places to run
in Chennai?
For starters, there are the
beaches. From the iconic lighthouse at Marina Beach, you can
cut a straight path all the way
down past the Napier Bridge to
the west, Theosophical Society
for an enjoyable five-km run.
The sea breeze and the potential for people-watching make
this a great option.
On Sundays, while the rest
of the world sleeps in, many
runners meet at the Anna University parking lot at 5 a.m. By
From the Marina lighthouse to the War Memorial and back!
5.15, the parking lot is empty.
They pass through the Boat
Club, and then move ahead to
Elliots Beach via the quiet lanes
of Theosophical Society. This
10 -16 km (depending on where
you turn back) running route
brings you back to Anna University. There is inside the University a well shaded 2.5 km
loop that is quiet and beautiful,
with proximity to the 400 m
track for speed workouts.
If you are a beginner you
may have many questions?
What do we wear? For
short-distances and short duration (say 30 minutes), a loosefitting cotton shirt/kurta and
exercise shorts/pants are good
enough. For long distance, you
may be better off spending on a
couple of synthetic shirts that
have the ability to rapidly wick
sweat away. As for shoes, you
need to experiment a little and
follow your body’s cues.
Is it okay to walk during a
run?
Absolutely! There is no requirement that you should run
continuously. In fact, most runners, irrespective of the race
category, invariably take walk
breaks. Also, many a time,
walking is a great way to
begin.
Latest on the Cheyyur Project
A report from the Madras Naturalists’ Society
which had opposed the project because it
threatened to degrade the Cheyyur Lagoon.
G
T
he 4000 MW coal-fired Cheyyur Ultra
Mega Power Project (UMPP) will be financial disaster for the consumers, the Tamil Nadu
Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd
(TANGEDCO) and the State government according to a report by the US-based Institute of
Energy Economics and Financial Analysis
(IEEFA). It suggested that Tamil Nadu abandon the Cheyyur project and focus on eliminating the transmission and distribution losses.
It said the issue was not the availability of
power generating capacity, but the grid transmission and distribution losses. For the year
2014-15. The Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses were 24.4 percent
which was much higher than the global grid average (6-8 percent). Loss incurred in transmission and distribution of electricity is one of the
important factors of TANGEDCO’s indebtedness,” said Jai Sharda, a financial analyst at
IEEFA, and one of the authors of the report. He
was speaking at a media meet early by August,
in which activists fighting against the project
also took part.
According to the report, India’s overall
power deficit had fallen from 3.3 percent in
2014 to 1.2% in 2016 and Tamil Nadu would
not face power deficit for the next three to four
years. “Tamil Nadu is set to become power surplus and has no need for such a massive
baseload capacity enhancement,” said the author Sharda.
The report estimated that power from the
Cheyyur plant would cost Rs. 5.93 a unit, which
was higher that the average per unit cost of
power generated from the solar power plant (Rs.
4.01).
“Apart from land acquition, the fuel-cost
pass-through would expose consumers and the
electricity board to tariff volatility and further
increase in coal cess would add to this votality.”
Jair Sharda said.
This was necessarily reported by the Madras
Naturalists’ Society Bulletin. The MN’s was one
of the the NW, that had appeased the project
stating the private plan would degrade the
Cheyyur Lagoon.
Am I too old or heavy to
run?
Pretty much anyone can run.
Running seems to arouse all
sorts of fears in people like is it
bad for my knees? Consult a
doctor, ease slowly into the activity, practise moderation, and
take precautions for specific
conditions. Runners across
ages, gender, weights, and
those with ashthma, diabetes,
etc., swear by how much running has helped him.
Running is a great enabler
and a great leveller. Enabler
because it opens your eyes very
quickly to benefits of being fit
and taking care of your health,
and Leveller because any one
can run, the roads are free, you
don’t need fancy gear or gadgets
(jump stop by at Marina beach
on any given morning and you
will catch sights of mamis jogging in a salwar/saree and a
maama running barefoot in a
veshti/lungi.
The Wipro Chennai Marathon
Some of the most enjoyable
running events are conducted
in Chennai. These included the
Dream Runners Half Marathon, Dawn to Dusk, Dusk to
Dawn, Cool Runners Half
Marathon and Chennai Trail
Marathon and the marquee
event of the city, the Wipro
Chennai Marathon.
In a short span of time, four
years since the first edition of
the Wipro Chennai Marathon
was started by Chennai Runners in 2012, the event has
grown leaps and bounds. While
close to 6000 runners participated in the inaugural edition,
the 2015 edition saw over
16000 runners hit the streets!
The success of this event has
also resulted in other events
getting popular. On any given
Sunday you can be assured that
the Marina Beach area will be
hosting a running event! Many
of them in aid of social causes,
like the Terry Fox Chennai run
(for Cancer awareness) and the
Dawn to Dusk Marathon held
for the causes of Liver Diseases.
– (Courtesy: Matrix, the journal
of Sanmar Group.)
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12
MADRAS MUSINGS
September 1-15, 2016
When Tests
were NOT
played at
Chepauk
C
ricket in the city is so
inextriably linked with
Chepauk (or M A Chidambaram Stadium) that it is sometimes difficult to remember that
Test matches were played no
there but at an unlikely venue –
the Corporation Stadium, the
site of the present Nehru Stadium – for nearly ten years in
the 1950s and 60s. Chepauk
had hosted Tests from February
1934 to December 1952 before
the shift to the Corporation
Stadium in January 1956 for the
Test against New Zealand. The
last Test played there, in February-March 1965, was also
against New Zealand. In between India played seven other
Tests – against the West Indies,
England, Australia and Pakistan.
Just nine matches but there
was action, records and historic
events packed into them. The
very first Test saw the famous
413-run first wicket partnership
between Vinoo Mankad (231)
and Pankaj Roy (173) which is
arguably Indian cricket’s proudest statistical achievement on
grounds of longevity. It stayed
as a world record for 52 years
before Graeme Smith and Neil
McKenzie raised the bar to 415
for South Africa against
Bangladesh in 2008. Inciden-
tally, Mankad’s 231 was then
the highest individual score by
an Indian in Tests. India won
that game by an innings and
109 runs, at the time their biggest margin of victory, after piling up 537 for three declared,
then their highest total in Tests.
I also recall Hasib Ahsan’s
marathon bowling for Pakistan
in 1960-61. The off-spinner
G by
Partab Ramchand
partabramchand@yahoo.com
sent down 84 overs for figures
of six for 202 as India piled up
539 for nine declared, setting a
new record for India’s highest
total in Test cricket. Also remembered is the fire that
erupted in the eastern stands
(they were makeshift thatched
roofs those days) which caused
play to be abandoned some 20
minutes earlier on the fourth
day when a section of the spectators spilled on to the field of
play.
The following season saw a
historic event – India clinching
their first series triumph over
England. Having won the
Fourth Test in Calcutta by 187
runs for a 1-0 lead in the fivematch series, India duly kept its
Indian Openers Pankaj Roy (left) and Vinoo Mankad, who put on a then world record 413-run partnership for the
first wicket, returning to the pavilion during the Fifth Cricket Test against New Zealand at the Corporation Stadium,
Madras, in 1956.
appointment with history by
winning the Final Test by 128
runs, Salim Durrani’s tenwicket haul being the highlight.
There was another world
record set in the next Test
played at the Corporation Stadium. Against England in 196364, left arm spin bowler Bapu
Nadkarni sent down 21 successive maidens during England’s
first innings on his way to the
eye-rubbing, mind-boggling figures of 32-27-5-0. The following season saw the Nawab of
Pataudi emulating his father’s
feat of scoring a hundred in his
first Test against Australia. The
skipper’s knock was, however,
in vain as Australia overturned
a 65-run first innings deficit
into a 139-run victory with Graham McKenzie having match
figures of ten for 91. The major
highlight of the last Test played
at the Corporation stadium was
an unbeaten 102 by Vijay
Manjrekar in his last innings in
Test cricket. But perhaps the
biggest drama concerning Tests
at the Corporation stadium was
off the field.
Polly Umrigar, the appointed
captain for the Fourth Test
against the West Indies in January 1959, resigned the night before the scheduled start following a misunderstanding over selection matters. Parleys between Umrigar, senior players
and Board officials went on
throughout the night in an effort to get him to withdraw his
resignation. But Umrigar remained adamant and, finally, a
few hours before dawn Vinoo
Mankad was appointed in his
place. The spectators who knew
nothing of the drama only saw
the closing act – Mankad walking out with Gerry Alexander
for the toss.
Incidentally many Indian
players never played a Test at
Chepauk, their international careers being restricted to matches
at the Corporation Stadium.
The list includes Vijay
Manjrekar, Nari Contractor,
Bapu Nadkarni, Ramakant
Desai, M.L. Jaisimha, Budhi
Kunderan and Naren Tamhane.
Answers to Quiz
1. Uber; 2. Paul Pogba (from Juventus); 3. They are now the longest-living vertebrates known on Earth, scientists say; 4. Irom Sharmila;
5. The adoption of the Goods and Services Tax; 6. Pushpa Kamal
Dahal ‘Prachanda’, 7. He was awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India’s
highest peacetime military decoration, 8. A.R. Rahman, 9. The Railway budget will be merged with the General budget, 10. ONGC.
*
*
*
11. Ambujammal; 12. Chettinad Palace; 13. Sir A. Ramaswami and
Lakshmanaswami Mudaliars; 14. The Tamil Nadu Archives; 15.
Pavananthi Munivar; 16. All are restaurants at the ITC Grand Chola;
17. People’s Park; 18. Ajanta Caves; 19. Minjur; 20. Papanasam Sivan.
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