Madras Week Diary # 5

It rained cats and dogs on the night of the 27th as well and so I was quite sure when I got up at 4.00 am that Mint Street would be at its galeej and galabai best. I was not far wrong. We assembled outside the High Court at 6.15 am and were off by 6.30 am, with three vans, each manned by a volunteer – self in one, Karthik Bhatt in the second and Srijagannathan of Shubh Yathras, our tireless organiser of vans for the tours in the third. We began with the Mint and Crown Cinema. Mohan Raman who was with us in the walk (and more on him later), was able to add information on Raghupathy Prakash and his pioneering work in cinema (all three of his theatres – Crown, Gaiety and Globe (Roxy) are now demolished).

Our next stop was the house of Ramalinga Swamigal on Veerasami Street. The upper floor of this residence, where the saint lived is now care of caretakers who were not available and so we just saw the place from outside. Interestingly, there appears to be rather strong rivalry between two groups both of which claim the Swamigal to be their own. The rival gang hopes to make up for lack of control over the house by displaying a photo of his and demanding that we pay obeisance there too. Wonder what the Arutperum Jyothi would have had to say. Entry and exit to Veerasami Street is via Barracks Street which is a teeming slum. I was nearly assaulted by a challenged individual from here and so the photographer who was with us suggested an alternative route out. An added bonus was that we could see Murugan Cinema, at one time Kinema Central and the Prince Theatre. It was when it was Kinema that it hosted the first Tamil talkie – Kalidas on 31st October 1931. So off we went and here again, thanks to Mohan, we had some interesting nuggets. I was so reminded of my friend Stephen Hughes and hoped that he, Mohan and I could one day come back to this place for some more feast of reason and flow of soul.

From Murugan in it was back to the vans to the Sumai Thangi Ramar temple, with its exquisite Tanjore painting of Rama, perhaps the original object of worship before the stone idol was consecrated. This was where ‘Tiger’ Varadachariar cut his musical teeth, thanks to Bhajans organised by the Tachur Singaracharlu Brothers. From there it was on to the Thondai Mandala Thuluva Vellalar School, established in 1864. From there we boarded the vans to go the Hindu Theological School, founded by Sivasankara Pandyaji in 1888. We were welcomed in, given coffee and biscuits and yours truly was ‘shawled’ by the Principal in front of Pandyaji’s bust. To me it was thrilling to recite the story of how C Saraswathi Bai had her Harikatha debut here in 1909, giving male chauvinism a well-deserved kick in the butt. Of course, with young Bhatt, we managed to tell the story of the other stalwart Principals such as Kurichi Rangaswami Iyengar (who first implemented the noon meal scheme here, which in turn inspired Kamaraj and later MGR) and Kulapathi Balakrishna Joshi. We saw the Saraswathi idol that Pandyaji worshipped and the first payroll and attendance registers of the school.

Our next stop was the new Jain Mandir, commemorating the presence of the Jain community in this area for centuries. From here our troubles began for Mint Street is a one way from this spot and Narayana Mudali Street which was our exit was blocked by a bullock cart. One van managed to make it down the wrong way on Govindappa Naicken Street and reach our next stop at the Ekamreswara Swami temple. The second managed to negotiate the bullock cart thanks to the photographer who being a local could cajole the animal and its owner. The third van, as it followed the first down Govindappa Naicken Street, was caught in the act by the police. It was Mohan’s presence that saved the day! Film stars are immune to mundane traffic violations. Ironically he was not even in that van. Just the mention of his name sufficed.

At the Ekamreswara Swami temple, we walked around the surrounding agraharam, recounting the contributions of the Gujaratis to Madras – the Tawkers, the Goocooladoss Jumnadoss family, the Lodds, the Kushaldoss family, the Mehtas and the Joshis. Then we saw Mani Sunker Davey and Sons, selling textiles for over a 100 years at Luckmudoss Street. We moved on to the Kandasami Temple at Rasappa Chetty Street, built by the Beri Chettys and sanctified in song by Ramalinga Swamigal. Our last stop was the Chennapuri Annadana Samajam, which has fed the poor, the maimed and the orphans since 1890, thanks to the vision of Moogallur Cunniah Chetty.

Tired and hungry we went to Saravana Bhavan on NSC Bose Road. This incidentally, according to Karthik Bhatt was the showroom of Surajmall’s, the jewellers. Rather appropriate don’t you think?

Madras Week Diary # 4

It rained cats and dogs throughout the night of 26th and for a good part of early 27th as well. But having seen many Madras Week tours through in the midst of rain (the Justice Party tour of 2009 being the most memorable) I was not much bothered. And so we assembled at the Gymkhana Club at 6.15 am. The tour began at 6.30 am and I was still at Curzon’s at 7.20 am. The rest of it had to be rather quick paced. Serves me right for going overboard on telling the story of Lady Willingdon. The walk had its difficult bits. The traffic grew in volume (number and sound) and drowned out whatever I was saying through the megaphone. Parking the vans in the service lanes was tough. There were piles of shit everywhere… Who says Chennai is tourism friendly? Karthik Bhatt called off at the last minute owing to an eye ailment and so that meant Sarada and I had to keep in touch with the van drivers at every stop. Just for the record here is what we covered:

1. Thomas Munro, (right of Munro) 2. The Madras Gymkhana Club, 3. The Government House, 4. Cooum House, 5. Banqueting (Rajaji) Hall, 6. Gandhi Illam, 7. King Edward VII statue (3 to 7 are non existent), 8. the new Assembly cum Secretariat which is now to become a multi-purpose speciality hospital, 9. Curzons, 10. 100 Mount Road, the erstwhile home of The Hindu, 11. The rise of Woodlands as a chain, 12. Misquith (later Musee Musicals), 13. The Lyric (later The Elphinstone), 14. Lawrence & Mayo, 15. The Suguna Vilasa Sabha (earlier the Justice Party HQ and the Plaza Theatre), 16. The Cosmpolitan Club, 17. The Devi theatres, 18. Christ Church 19. Wrenn Bennet, 20. Wellington Talkies 21. Kardyll (Bharat Insurance), 22. LIC, 23. Pioneer Laundry and the Masonic Movement, 24. Murray & Co, 25. The Madras Club, 26. Indian Express, 27. Speed-a-way, 28. The Rane Group, 29. TVS (Madras Automobiles, AK Ramachandra Iyer etc), 30. Presentation Convent, 31. Thousand Lights, 32. Cuddon Building (VST Motors), 33. Agurchund Mansions, 34. Safire, 35. The Tawkers, 36. Swadesamitran

Left of Munro (beginning with Gemini) – 1. Francis Spring, K Subrahmanyam, SS Vasan, Gemini and Ananda Vikatan, 2. VTI, 3. Spencers, 4. Connemara, 5. IOB, the old Imperial Hotel (Amir Baugh), 6. The Eastern and Western Castlets (later Addison and Lady Willingdon Nursing Home), 7. Reliance Motors, 8. Saraswathi Stores, 9. Dhun Building and Tarapore Towers, 10. The Warwick Theatre, 11. Venkatapathi Naidu Building (Wiele & Klein), 12. The Umda Baugh (the Government Arts College), 13. Hazrath Moosa Shah Qadiri Mosque, 14. MES, 15. The Vizianagaram water trough, 16. New Elphinstone (and Jaffars), 17. India Silk House, 18. Higginbothams, 19. Poompuhar (old Lawrence Asylum Press), 20. Buharis, 21. The Mail, 22. P Orr & Sons, 23. The Hindu, 24. Simpsons (old Burghalls Stables and Oakes & Co), 25. D’Angelis Hotel, 26. Madras Mahajana Sabha building

I realise that while typing this I have lost the correct flow and the order is all jumbled up. I am also sure I have left out quite a few places in the above list. It was overall more than a mouthful and I was jolly glad when we tumbled into Saravana Bhavan, Mount Road, for a hearty breakfast. Ideally, Mount Road needs to be cut into five segments and each needs a heritage tour by itself. The Times of India reported the walk in detail. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Mount-Roads-takeover-tycoons/articleshow/9767517.cms They got the number of attendees wrong though. Our head count was 42.

That evening I spoke at the Gymkhana Club on the necessity of a heritage act in the city. A crowd of around 80 attended, which was not bad considering that the talk was not publicised in the papers, the Madras Week leaflet or the Gymkhana’s own magazine and SMS service. I should be flattered that all the attendance was entirely due to one single poster put up at the Gym.

As I went to bed, I was gratified by the thought that compared to Mount Road, Mint Street would be a jujube…, a mere bagatelle.

Madras Week Diary # 3

I dropped writing this somewhere in the middle of the Mad Rush week, largely to keep sanity intact. But I must say I enjoyed the insanity while it lasted. On the 23rd I was at Vruksha, a Montessori school, giving a group of small kids the story of Chennai. The ppt with pictures helped tremendously and it was nice to see the kids wanting to have ALL details of the buildings featured. In the evening I presented Crazy Chennai Part II at the Rotary Club of Madras South. It was not as much of a hit as part 1. I need to work some more on it. And a series of photos alone does not make for a good presentation. I did not make it to the Madras Week talk by by R Mohan that evening. I was told that the talk was fantastic and the spread put out by the hotel lavish in the extreme. But the turnout it seems was rather disappointing.

On Wednesday, the Madras University’s Music Department celebrated Madras Day. The room was an oven like space into which were packed in around 50 and more students, faculty and visitors. At one stage I thought both Muthiah and Sarada were going to faint. But all was well. The former it appears, had merely shut his eyes to catch 40 winks and Sarada was trying to locate a pen she had dropped. The Chief spoke on the history of the Madras Univ, I spoke on the life of C Saraswathi Bai and Swarnamalya spoke on Javalis associated with Madras. Her presentation was the best. Somewhere in his speech Muthiah hoped that the Univ would get new speakers for next year (he and I have done our bit for 5 years running). I second that, especially if the ventilation is going to be like the Black Hole of Calcutta.

In the evening we had Mohan Raman’s talk on ‘Three Women Directors of Chennai’ featuring TP Rajalakshmi, Bhanumathi and Savitri. There was a huge turnout at Savera. The talk went beyond the time limit but nobody appeared to notice. Mohan has the knack – of exceeding time and yet managing to engage with the audience. The Hindu reported on his speech in detail -
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article2398972.ece

After the talk, I was asked by Mohan to drop his mother home. A few turns around Mandaveli we realised that we were hopelessly lost, with her sense of direction being very close to mine. Sarada and I however enjoyed the journey for the lady had with her a fund of stories that kept us entertained while we searched for the house. Now we know where Mohan gets his talent. A raconteuse as mother and a top ranking lawyer as a father make for a deadly combination.

On Thursday, the 25th, I spent the morning at the Alumni Club with Chithra Madhavan, judging presentations by school teams. These were kids that had been on heritage tours guided by the famous five of Chennai Heritage, around the beach and Park Town. Chithra had also taken them to Dakshinchitra. The presentations were of varying quality and I was rather disappointed that Park Town, my favourite route was given short shrift by almost all the teams. This was noticed by S Muthiah as well, for he said as much in his speech. The best team was Bhaktavatsalam Vidyashram,both simplicity in presentation and a dance performance getting them good marks. The second was Children’s Garden School for managing to put together a dance on Chennai AND presenting it despite a complete breakdown of the audio system. The third was Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School.

In the evening, we had Geeta Doctor in conversation with artist Viswanathan and gallery owner Ashwin Rajagopal (of Ashwitha Art Gallery) at the Park Sheraton. The food was great as was the discussion. Freeloaders were present in plenty and I noticed one man downing six cups of coffee. What a digestion he must have. Cakes, patties and sandwiches vanished in seconds as the hotel staff looked on in stunned disbelief. But I did not then realise that retribution was just around the corner.

The 26th, Friday, was largely eventless as far as my diary went. I spent most of the day preparing for the two walks. The Mount Road one was a real challenge as it had 80 different personalities/institutions/events to be covered. The accounts staff in office had a tough time warding off those who still wanted to register despite our having announced that the tours were overbooked. Some shouted in anger over the phone, others landed in person to argue it all out and several sent me emails. But what was to be done? There was no way that we could accommodate more numbers, both in view of logistics (getting on and off vans takes time) and police permission.

But to come to the retribution bit – the evening’s talk was by PC Ramakrishna at the Madras Gymkhana Club. The talk was wonderful with PC in his usual way, making a perfect presentation on the history of English Theatre in the city. But for some reason, (and here I may have been at fault, or was it divine will?) there were no ‘refreshments’ on offer. The freeloaders were disappointed to say the least but bore it with stiff upper lip. To give them credit, they stayed on for the presentation and not one asked about the absent victuals. They must have borne it with the fortitude of a solah shukravar vrat. The Gym as a venue has some problems. To accommodate 80 or more people, the talk has to be held in the ball-room section of the ground floor. That means it is open to the noises made by diners and those walking by. I also saw a dog and cat walking in and out (not arm in arm but independent of each other during the talk). One even sniffed at PC’s trousers but he did not notice.

And so to bed, full of nervousness and excitement about the walk of the next morning. I am sure all this stress will not do my eyesight any good but then what is life without some stress in it?

Chennai, from the sea

I knew vaguely of the Royal Madras Yacht Club (RMYC) thanks to Venky Nayak, a friend of mine who once hosted a dinner at the club’s annexe which stands at an impossibly beautiful location – lands end, where the Cooum flows into the Bay of Bengal, just off the Napier Bridge and behind Flagstaff House. Of the RMYC’s main building, and the club’s 101 year-old heritage, I had only read of in Mr Muthiah’s writings.

A few weeks ago, I had a call from Gayathree Krishna (one of our heritage tour regulars) and Capt Vivek Shanbag, asking me if a sail from the harbour to the Gandhi Statue on the Marina would be of interest. This was a two-way commemoration – Madras Week and 101 years of the RMYC. I jumped at it.

The sail was held yesterday, with the club’s members setting off on speedboats and other craft (of which there was a bewildering array of terms and terminologies) and the guests going more sedately on a motorboat. This was the first time I had been inside the harbour. I was therefore blessed to be able to see the creation of Sir Francis Spring (the RMYC was also his baby) and the place where S Ramanujan, the great mathematician first worked. On display at the club building were newspaper clippings, trophies and photographs dating back to the 1930s.

The sea was smooth according to the veterans but to us landlubbers it appeared rough enough. It was an interesting trip and we were able to see several landmark buildings from the sea, a view usually not possible unless we fly. What was tragic however is that the sea front along First Line Beach and much of North Beach Road (along Fort St George) is completely devoid of any land view, thanks to a whole lot of ugly port buildings that have come up. The mind boggles as to what tourism potential was missed. Imagine what a European capital or for that matter a Dubai or a Shanghai would have done with it. We returned by lunchtime.

The sail was preceded by a brief talk by me on the Port and Sir Francis’ singular contribution to its successful implementation. Then we had the christening of a boat by Chandra Lulla and Sarada,with a bottle of Sprite! The RMYC does not have a bar licence and so champagne was out of question.

Thanks to Gayathree, Capt. Shanbag, Nawaz Currimbhoy and Ramesh Lulla for putting together this out-ofthe-ordinary morning. The newspapers have covered it this morning:

Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/City-from-the-sea/articleshow/9865209.cms

The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/leisure/article2425907.ece

A Madras Week 2011 Diary # 2

Yesterday (22/8/11) was a more relaxed day even though it was Madras Day. In the morning there was a Duchess Club programme where an Art Show comprising recent works with Madras as a theme. Some of them were wonderful. The show will be at Hotel Savera till tomorrow after which it will shift to the Art and Soul Gallery on the ECR.

In the evening, we had AR Srinivasan and YG Mahendra reminiscing about Tamil theatre at Taj Club House. We had an audience of around a 100 and the hotel had made very good arrangements. The Hindu has reported on the event
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/theatre/article2387141.ece

A Madras Week 2011Diary # 1

This humble serial is being offered as a humble dedication to my friend N Rajaram Brahma who having worked hard on Chennai’s Heritage had to go off abroad abandoning his beloved city. It is hoped that one day this migratory bird will return and we will celebrate Madras Week together along with other ‘saha’bodies such as Sridhar Joshi, Karthik Bhat, Mohan Raman et al.

My version of Madras Week began on 18th afternoon at Servion where I spoke on “A Town called George Town”. It was not one of my best and I detected a few yawns. I was a little hampered by a venue that was flooded with natural light (such a refreshing change from these dim lit glass covered venue) which made my pictures appear totally faded. Even I could not make out what was on the wall.

On the 19th morning I gave a talk on Chennai, the Crazy City with a suitably watered down version of my presentation on subject, to the students of 8th and 9th standards at the Asan Memorial School. A senior citizen who was present and who had seen it earlier in its full-blown version was rather disappointed that I had cut the salacious bits! I, being the prude that I am, thought it would be too much for the kids.

And so, fully on a bright Friday afternoon, we had the Press Conference for launching Madras Week at Taj Connemara. The hotel had put out a lavish spread and there were more organisers than the Press but when you saw the coverage next day you realised that these days electronic communications takes care of several things. Good for health too – less eating at Press Conferences, less to and fro travel and less verbiage. The Hindu and TOI in particular did us proud – http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article2374807.ece on Saturday.

TOI’s link – http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=2&edlabel=TOICH&mydateHid=21-08-2011&pubname=&edname=&articleid=Pc00205&format=&publabel=TOI

The evening of Friday was spent largely with the police. Not so much for any disorderly conduct as for getting permission for conducting the Heritage Tours. This was duly obtained, the document being in suitably archaic language (You shall not beat a TOM TOM or play musical instruments during the procession, being one such instance) but the process was completely pain-free. And so to bed as Samuel Pepys would have said.

On Saturday we had the first of the heritage walks with S Anwar leading 35 of us down Triplicane on the Wallajah Trail. It was fascinating and we covered the Chepauk Palace, the gates posts of the Palace which are at the TNCA entrance, the Mohammedan Library, the Triplicane Police Station (which was the old Langar Khana), the Big Mosque, the Anwari mosque, the Shadi Mahal, the Azeempet Arch, Amir Mahal and the Dastagir Sahib Dargah. We wound up at North Mada street to see the Mylapore Tank, which was donated by the Nawabs of Arcot. Breakfast was at Saravana Bhavan, North Mada Street.

That afternoon, I worked like a maniac on setting up a quiz on Chennai for a set of friends with whom Sarada and I form a quiz circle. That evening I was at the Anna University to give a talk on the life and works of Robert Fellowes Chisholm to the alumni association. They have this year introduced a heritage walk at the Anna Univ campus which was scheduled to be held on 20th morning and later was postponed to the 21st. My talk was to a small but highly attentive gathering. It was all rather hampered by an ancient LCD projector which was near to giving up its ghost (or should I use the more Carnatic expression – shuffling off its mortal coil?) and every photo appeared as an inky negative.

At night there was this rumbustious quiz with everything becoming noisier as ‘spirits’ rose. Went to bed at midnight to wake up all fresh and rosy at 4.30 am to get ready for Mohan Raman’s Kollywood Tour. It rained and rained the previous night and almost the first call was from Mohan asking if the tour was on. Well, after the downpours during the Justice Party Walk (2008?) and George Town by Night tour (2010), this was a mere drizzle and so I said of course we were going ahead.

At 6.30, Kodambakkam was at its galeej and galabai worst but those who had registered were all there. Young K Bhatt got a call from one of our registrants of the previous day saying she was waiting at the Labour statue and we had to gently break it to her that she was just about 24 hours late. Mohan’s walk was a riot. We tramped through mud and slush to hear him hold forth on the rise and fall of the great dream factories. There is a handful of them still hanging on. Breakfast was at Saravana’s Vadapalani outlet. The Hindu has reported on the tour today. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article2381749.ece

On both days we had fantastic co-operation from the police and on the second day, an officer accompanied us through the tour. The Hindu had me pontificating on Madras Week in its Downtown edition -
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-downtown/article2377763.ece

In the evening, Justice Prabha Sridevan spoke to a small but spellbound audience on the life of V Krishnaswami Aiyar at Chamiers, where Mathangi, our gracious hostess served tarts, sandwiches and coffee. It was appropriate that CV Karthik Narayanan, grandson of another legal luminary, Sir CP Ramaswami Aiyar, gave a memento to the speaker.

The signature campaign to save heritage is underway and people are signing up in droves. The online version should go up in a day or two.

Madras Musings Lecture Series 2011

21st Aug Sun – Justice Prabha Sridevan – Life of V Krishnaswami Aiyar,
a death centenary tribute – Chamiers, Chamiers Road

22nd Aug Mon -YG Mahendra and AR Srinivasan – Tamizh Theatre in Madras – Taj Club House, Club House Road, off Mount Road

23rd Aug Tue – R Mohan – Horse racing in Madras – The Residency Towers, Sir Theyagaroya Road, T Nagar

24th Aug Wed – Mohan V Raman – Three Women Film Directors of Madras -Savera, Dr S Radhakrishnan Road, Mylapore

25th Aug Thu – Geeta Doctor in conversation with Viswanath, artist and Ashvin Rajagopal,gallery owner- The Madras Art Scene- Park Sheraton, TTK Road

26th Aug Fri – PC Ramakrishna – Footlights-The English Theatre in Madras – The
Madras Gymkhana Club, The Island, Mount Road

27th Aug Sat – Harry Mclure & Richard O Connor – Anglo Indians of
Madras – GRT Grand, Sir Theyagaroya Road, T Nagar

28th Aug Sun – KRN Menon and P Unnikrishnan in conversation with
Sushila Ravindranath – A Boxwallahs Madras – Amethyst, Whites Road, Royapettah

All programmes are preceded by high tea.

Usual schedule – 6.30 – 7.00 pm – High Tea, 7.00 – 8.00 pm talks
Only on 27th the tea is from 7.00 to 7.30 and talk is from 7.30 to 8.30 pm

Heritage Walks get a band of dedicated women

Thanks to Sushila Natraj, my colleague on Chennai Heritage, I was able to train a group of five ladies in conducting heritage walks around the Beach and the Park Town areas. It has given me great satisfaction to pass my knowledge along. They have been taking school children on their tours and that means a new generation of heritage lovers is being created. The Hindu carried a write-up on these ladies. Here is the link http://www.thehindu.com/arts/history-and-culture/article2313350.ece

Heritage Walks for Madras Week 2011

Heritage Tours conducted by Madras Musings to commemorate Madras Week 2011

20th August 2011 – Saturday – 6.45 am – The Wallajah Trail – a tour by van and foot for two hours in Triplicane and surrounding areas, to look at vestiges of the glory of the Nawabs of Arcot. The tour will be conducted by S Anwar, well-known photographer and documentary film-maker who has been studying the contributions of the Nawabs of Arcot in great detail. The tour will conclude with breakfast.

21st August 2011- Sunday – 6.30 am – The Studios of Kollywood – a tour by van and foot for two hours in Kodambakkam and Vadapalani, looking at some of the great studios in the world of South Indian films. Tour includes going into studios as well. The tour will be conducted by Mohan V Raman, veteran film and TV actor, who has been devoting hours of study into the history of Tamil films and speaks frequently on the subject. The tour will conclude with breakfast.

27th August 2011- Saturday – 6.00 am – The Magnates of Mount Road – A tour by van and foot for two and a half hours on how Mount Road developed as a downtown for the city with newspapers, jewellers, cinema theatres, restaurants and business houses making it their home. The tour will be conducted by Sriram V, Associate Editor of Madras Musings. The tour will conclude with breakfast.

28th August 2011- Sunday – 6.00 am – Meandering down Mint Street – One of the longest streets in the whole world according to some, this is one of the oldest thoroughfares of Madras. Come and see what makes it an area buzzing with life and a melting pot of several communities. The tour by van and foot for two and a half hours will be conducted by Sriram V, Associate Editor of Madras Musings and will conclude with breakfast.

All tours require booking and payment in advance. Please make your bookings through email (editor@madrasmusings.com). Charges for all tours is Rs 450 per head. Once you have made your booking, you will be intimated on where to make the payment and get further details.