WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

MUSINGSVol. XXV No. 4 June 1-15, 2015

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INSIDE

• Short ‘N’ Snappy

•New hope for the Marsh

•City’s green landmarks

• Keeping the record straight

•An early American connection

(Continued on page 7)

Know your Fort

better

(Continued on page 2)

Detail showing the Sea Gate from an 18th Century engraving ofFort St. George, after paintings by Scott and Lambert.

A long haul yetfor Metro Rail

Are contractors bent oncleaning up PWD?

(Continued on page 2)

� by The Editor

� Before we enter the Fort proper, let us pause for a momentand run our eye over the moat that surrounds the entire precinct,or at least was supposed to. Today it is entirely overgrown withweeds, barring a few places to the rear of the Fort where it still hasstagnant water, but in its time this was a vital element of the de-fences.

There have been several versions of the moat in the Fort’s longhistory. Arriving here as early as in 1673, Dr John Fryer noted that‘on the south side they have cut a ditch of a sufficient depth toprevent scaling the wall’. This did not evidently last long for, in1676, when the Council at Fort St George wrote to the East IndiaCompany HQ seeking permission for strengthening the place, itraised the subject of a wet ditch. As this was in response to a sternmissive demanding that the Madras establishment reduce its ex-penses, the tone of the request was somewhat submissive. TheCouncil ‘humbly presented for your consideration’ the need tobuild, among several other things, a ‘good Ditch’. This was evi-dently sanctioned, for, a year later, when the sea made great in-cursions on the land, a detailed note was submitted on the subjectto the Company where there is clear mention of a ditch. Mrs FrankPenny, in her Fort St George, a Short History of our First Possession inIndia writes that this ditch was later extended to the eastern side aswell. She, however, maintains that this was no moat but a dry ditch.

The original Fort, as we saw earlier, spanned what would pres-ently include just the Assembly building and the Parade Square.As it expanded, the ditch vanished and the Description of Fort StGeorge or Madras (published in 1747 in the Gentleman of London’sMagazine) states that the “Fort is surrounded with a Rampart facedwith a thick Wall of what they call Iron Stone, being of the Colourof unwrought Iron, and very rough outside like a Honey-comb butwithout any Ditch or Fosse on the Outside.” But serious consider-ation was evidently given for the construction of a new moat thatwould surround the expanded Fort. As evidence of this we have AMemorandum of the Early History of Fort St George (published in1847), according to which, in 1743 an engineer named Smith sub-mitted plans for strengthening the Fort, and increasing its area by15 to 30 acres; he defined this additional area by a wet ditch, whichhe dug and faced with bricks. Mrs Penny writes that this was

The decks are cleared forChennai’s long-awaited

Metro Rail system to roll out.Those in the know agree thatthese have been cleared forquite some time now, but whoare we to cavil at the delay?Though a section of the mediahas gone to town over the inau-guration and has written of it asthe beginning of the end of alltraffic woes in the city, wewould advise a more cautiousapproach. For there is muchthat still needs to be completedif the service is to prove effec-tive.

Firstly, this is only a part ofthe service – the line being usedonly connects Koyambedu toAlandur. The rest of the routewhich, when fully executed, willconnect Central Station to StThomas Mount, will take quitea while before it is completed.The second line, from WimcoNagar to the Airport, also has

to be completed. It is only whenthis is done will the full benefitsof the metro service be enjoyedby the commuting public.

The delay in the executionof the project owing to variousfactors has caused an escalationof costs as well. Much will de-pend on the continuous fund-

ing of the project by the Stateand Central funding agenciesfor speedy completion.

Secondly, the completedsection has quite a few issuesthat need immediate attentionif the service is to see good pa-tronage. The major problem isof last mile connectivity. As iswell known, one of the chiefcauses for the failure of theMass Rapid Transport System(MRTS) was its complete isola-

tion from all other modes oftransport. If this is to be re-peated by the Metro, it wouldindeed be a futile exercise. Atthe initiation of the Metroproject, last mile connectivitywas one of the major promisesmade. Now it is not so clear.Certainly, there are no bus baysanywhere in the vicinity of thecompleted stretch that awaitsinauguration.

What of parking facilities? Ifthe Metro hopes to get car usersto switch to public transport, itwill have to provide parkingbays, or at least make arrange-ments in the near vicinity forthis. At present, no plansappear to be afoot to achievethis and those who live in thevicinity of the Metro stationsfear that their streets will soonbecome unauthorised parkinglots for the cars that await

The moat as it is today, as seen from St George’s Gate.

The first half of May was notas hot as it threatened to be

when it came to the weather.But as far as the Public WorksDepartment of our State wasconcerned, a considerableamount of heat and dust wasgenerated. This had to do withthe contractors who regularlybid for the PWD’s work threat-ening to release a list of the‘most corrupt engineers’ of theDepartment. The issue hassince blown over to an extent,but it has lifted the cover off adeep malaise that everyoneknew existed but refused to ac-knowledge so far.

The modus operandi of theTamil Nadu Public Works De-partment Contractors (Engi-

neering) Association in bring-ing to light this problem had allthe trappings of modern dayprotests. First came a flex ban-ner outside the Chepauk pre-mises of the PWD that said thatthe list of names of ten ‘most

media and went viral. Repre-sentatives of the Associationthen met senior officials of theDirectorate of Vigilance andAnti-Corruption and handedover the names. The matter issaid to be under investigation.

What ought to be a fightagainst corruption subsequentlydescended into bathos. Ques-tioned as to what prompted thisdrastic action, the Associationclaimed that it was quite fed upwith the evil ways of theDepartment’s engineers. Ittranspires that everyone wasquite happy with a commissionof six per cent that was thenorm for all contracts. But asudden hike in the money

corrupt engineers’ of theDepartment would soon bereleased. A couple of days later,the list was put up at the samespot and this was soon removedby the Police, an alacrity thatthey do not usually show whenit comes to dismantling bannersof other kinds. The list was,however, soon put up on social

� By A Special

Correspondent

2 MADRAS MUSINGS June 1-15, 2015

Chennai is said to have aninternational airport by

which term The Man fromMadras Musings presumeswhat is meant is nothing morethan that a certain number ofaircraft take off for foreignlands each day from here andas many flights arrive fromthose exotic locales. Certainlythere is very little in the viewof MMM that makes this faci-lity in any way international.Those who follow MMM’swritings (and may their tribeincrease) are aware that he haswritten frequently on theshortcomings of the place, be-ginning with its tendency todrop its ceiling tiles upon thefloor beneath, rather like thequality of mercy. Those likeMMM, who lack protectivenatural headgear, are advisedto go in only if they are wear-ing helmets.

flourishes at the Chennaifacility. By itself it is nothingother than one more queue,something that our airportspecialises in. But its outcome,a plastic ring around thezippers of the suitcase or bag, isa major nuisance, for, inMMM’s view, there is noscientific method of taking itoff.

MMM has been advised byseveral that the process is fairlysimple. All you need to do, theysay, is to give it a powerful tugat a strategic spot and the ringsnaps into two. As to wherethis weak link in that binder is,MMM has not been able tofathom. He has tried thetugging procedure only to findthe ring tightening and clamp-ing the two ends of the zipperas if it were a vice. What MMMhas therefore taken to doing isto carefully pack in a pair of

The tie that bindsA long haul yetfor Metro Rail

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-wish-

ers – especially from outside Chennai and abroad

who receive their postal copies very late – for an

online edition. Madras Musings is now on the web

at www. madrasmusings.comTHE EDITOR

SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY

Another aspect of theplace, which gets MMM’s goat,is the necessity to have allchecked-in baggages scannedbefore handing them over atthe counter. This practice,now done away with in all butthe most primitive of airports,

small scissors in an outerzipped enclosure of his suit-case. On reaching his destina-tion, MMM simply pulls outhis scissors and cuts the ringasunder, rather in the mannerof Alexander the Great cuttingthe Gordian Knot.

(Continued from page 1)

Cleaning up PWD(Continued from page 1)

passengers using the Metroservice.

By far the biggest issueappears to be the lack of pedes-trian access. The Metro hadcommitted to building foot-paths extending to around 500metres in the vicinity of eachstation. This appears to havebeen handed over to theCorporation of Chennai andthere are no clear-cut targetdates by when this will becompleted. If passengers areunable to walk to the MetroRail stations, the service is likelyto remain underused.

While these are all issuespertaining to the first phase ofthe service, the Parrys-Saidapetline has run into problems of a

different kind. The Russiancontractor who was responsiblefor the tunnelling along this linehas vanished, leaving behindequipment and a host of unpaidvendors. The latter have sincebeen petitioning ChennaiMetro Rail to make theirpayments. The vendors havealso been staging protests out-side the CMRL office. MetroRail will now have to identify anew contractor to complete thework, a task that is not easygiven the procedures involved.

Taken overall, Metro Railhas a long way to go before itbecomes the kind of service ithas been touted as. Much willdepend on speedy execution,the addressing of concerns of allstakeholders and, above all,efficient operation. Time alonewill tell if it is up to all this.

demanded made the contrac-tors see red. They also felt thatthe PWD, when faced with thecontractors’ refusal to pay up,had begun breaking up the con-tracts into small segments thatdid not have to go through thetendering process. These couldbe awarded to contractors whowould be willing to oblige theDepartment officials.

The social media release alsocarried what purported to be anaudio recording of an engineerof the PWD speaking to a con-tractor. In it he admonishes thelatter for his lack of ethics in notanswering phone calls which, aswe all know, is something thatall Government departmentsare experts at. In addition, thecaller practically beseeches thecontractor to pay up failingwhich his superiors would ha-rass the caller.

The Association of Engi-neers and Assistant Engineersof the PWD has roundly con-demned all this, and the releaseof names. This body is of the

view that the names could bemade public only after an en-quiry establishes beyond doubtthe complicity of the officialsconcerned. Meanwhile, schismshave appeared in the Contrac-tors’ Association, a section ofwhich has given the named en-gineers a clean chit and claimedthat there is no such malprac-tice in the PWD.

There matters rest for thenonce. It is up to the State Gov-ernment to look into the mat-ter and clear it all up if it is seri-ous about fighting corruption. Ifthere is a political will, even thesix per cent that has becomestandard practice ought to bedone away with. But there aregood reasons to doubt if such aclean-up will take place. It isnot so long ago that a JointCommissioner of the Corpora-tion of Chennai was transferredwhen he tried to break themonopoly of cartels and ques-tioned their business practices.That ended all further investi-gation in the civic body. Willthe PWD go the same way? Itwould be a pity if it did.

There is, however, one pre-requisite in the successfulexecution of this procedure –namely the packing in of thescissors. And last week, MMMhaving arrived at a hill stationto take a temporary break fromthe Chennai heat, foundhimself devoid of scissors. Theopening of the suitcase was anabsolute must and, so, MMMhad to come up with somecreative solution. Knowing thatprevious attempts at tugging atthe ring had proven futile, heattempted twisting it this wayand that, only to have it recoilthat way and this. MMM thentried inserting a teaspoon,provided rather thoughtfully bythe resort where he was stay-ing, into the ring and sawing atit. Nothing much happenedother than the spoon becomingcompletely bent in the mannerof Quasimodo.

Rather desperate by now,MMM put his finger into thering and tried tugging. He leaptback with a howl for the spoonhad serrated the inner edges ofthe ring and this caused a seriesof cuts on MMM’s finger. Athis wits’ end, MMM rang forhousekeeping and asked for aknife. But this was notforthcoming – the hotel clearlyhad its doubts when aguest suddenly called andasked for a knife, preferably asharp one.

It was then that MMMdiscovered a candle and amatchbox left by the bed. Thisbeing one of those hillsideresorts where power supplycould be erratic if the weatherturned nasty, such appurte-nances were essential. Onseeing these, MMM had abrainwave. It was the work of amoment to light the candle andhold it under the plastic ring.There was a cloud of smokeand a nasty smell but when ithad all cleared MMM foundthe ring had given way. Theedges of the suitcase zipperwere somewhat charred butthey could now be opened.Such then are the perils oftravelling out of Chennai byair.

Tailpiece

Now The Man from MadrasMusings knows how the

Tamil Nadu Electricity Boardalias TANGEDCO works. Thetwo photographs alongsidewere taken five hours apart.Ten men assembled to shift avertical bobbin of electriccables. What they achieved af-ter much shouting and manycups of tea is there for you tosee.

– MMM

June 1-15, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

Two great influencesin her life

Seeing Jayakanthan

I recall somewhat vaguelyhaving listened to a fiery

speech from Jayakanthan (MM,May 16th) at Pulla (Reddy)Avenue near my house. If Iremember right he was espous-ing Indian nationalism vis-à-visTamil nationalism. On thesame issue, at the same venue, Iremember hearing anotherperson, Viduthalai Virumbi, ata different meeting.

On Jayakanthan, the writer,all I can claim is having felt dis-turbed on his demise as I did fol-lowing that of anothermustachioed writer, GabrielGarcia Marquez. But regretfullyI must admit. I haven’t read thebooks of either of them.

I was among the audience ata function at Vani Mahal at thestart of the Tamil month ofChithirai in 2011 where Jaya-kanthan among others re-launched the Tamil magazineKanaiyazhi. At that time, aphysically frail K. KasturiRangan, the founder of themagazine, must have beenhappy when his daughter (mywife) handed him a copy athome. The very next month,Kasturi Rangan died and thecover of the June issue ofKanaiyazhi was dedicated to myfather-in-law.

T.K. Srinivas Chari99, Journalists Colony

ThiruvanmiyurChennai 600 041

Was there a goof-up?

Apropos the antics ofTNEB (aka TANGED-

CO) (MM, May 16th), Iwonder what is happening atGreenway’s Road, one of thefew boulevards in Chennai,tree-lined and well-maintained.Perhaps because it leads to a

couple of important destina-tions, good sense prevents mefrom pin-pointing!

Nevertheless, we enjoy itsbounty and morning walks tothe Boat Club area through thisstretch are a pleasant exercise.

All of a sudden, TANGED-CO gets into the act and over-night one half of this nicestretch is mercilessly disembo-welled. After a week, the bete-noire of the pedestrian, the bob-bins make their entry into thescenario and, happily, within acouple of anxious days ofwatching and waiting, the bob-bins are unburdened of theirendless coils of thick cableswhich found their way into thebowels of the trenches.

Even as we were about tosing the praises of TANGED-CO during our morning consti-tutionals about the alacrity withwhich the cables were rolledout and the trenches refilledwith earth, we rubbed our eyes,comprehending why the tren-ches were re-excavated and thecables were about to be coveredwith proper casing!

Was there a goof-up on thejob which resulted in thetrenches being opened up allover again? After an agonisingwait, the trenches have beenfilled with earth in a hazardousway.

This entire stretch of roadremains unfinished and vehiclescannot ply on them. Pedestri-ans find it difficult to cross theroad as a major portion is thusaffected. Ours is not to protestbut to endure in silence!

We will now have to waitpatiently till the powers that beat TANGEDCO finally decideto bring this stretch back to itsoriginal shape.

V. Kalidasvkalidas@gmail.com

In 1961, I accompanied SarahPaul and Parvathy Kailash-

pathy to a Seminar held atMt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel, onThe Role of Women in ThirdWorld Countries. Sarah Paulwas the Chief Inspectress ofSchools in Maharashtra, andParvathy Kailashpathy (origi-nally from Madras) was deepinto social services working outof Calcutta.

There were about 60 del-egates. Some English-speakingfrom Ceylon, Thailand, Nigeriaand others from French-speak-ing African countries, all ofwhom have, since then, achiev-ed their Independence andgone back to their originalnames.

Haifa is a beautiful city thatlooks over the blue waters of theBay, and its skyline is domi-nated by the imposing GoldDome of the Bahai Temple.There are strict rules in placeabout all new constructions –the view of the Haifa Bay can-not be blocked by any highrisebuilding.

It was during this visit thatall the delegates visited akibbutz (a communal farmingsettlement with a lifestyle thatis the backbone of Israel). AtKibbutz Dagania, we had asurprise hostess in Mrs. GoldaMeir – at that time the ForeignMinister of Israel.

Mrs. Meir had been travel-ling back and forth to Jerusalemas an observer and witness atthe trial of Adolph Eichman(a top Nazi and the brain be-hind the ‘Final Solution’ forJews).

Mrs. Meir was tall, broad-shouldered (carrying theburdens of the fledgling state)and plain-looking until I lookedinto her eyes – full of suffering,love, compassion and my entireconception changed in thatmoment.

The first question she askedme: “Which part of India doyou come from?” When I saidMadras, she said: “I have twovery good friends there. Mrs.Ammu Swaminadhan and Mrs.Mary Clubwala. Do you knowthem and will you carry twoletters from me to them?” Shewrote these out immediately.Her knowledge of India, itsleaders, most particularyGandhiji, our non-violent moveto Independence, was vast. Shehad come to know them andMrs. Vijayalaxmi Pandit at con-ferences in New York, Zurichand other capitals.

Rochelle Shah recalls...

Yes, of course, I knew ofthem, had met and been intro-duced to them also, but Icannot honestly say at thatpoint that I knew them. Theywere women of distinction,two women I looked up to inawe.

The first thing I did when Ireturned home was to send theletters with a covering note toboth of them. Within hours, Ihad calls from them thankingme, and inviting me to call onthem.

Mrs. Ammu Swaminadhanlived in a huge sprawling man-sion of red brick, on the corner

of Harrington Road and Gilch-rist Avenue. I arrived promptlyat 4 p.m. She was dressed sim-ply, in starched white, and wel-comed me with a smile. We saton the wide veranda, where teawas served with a minimum offuss. She could see that I was illat ease. Very gently she led theconversation with a few ques-tions, and then said: “Tell meabout Israel. Describe it for me.All I know about that countryis what I read in Leon Uris’ bookExodus.” My nervousnessevaporated.

She was a social worker anda freedom fighter, along withHannah Sen (whom I had metin 1948 when she was Principalof Lady Irwin College, Delhi).Her daughter was Dr. LakshmiSaigal who fought alongsideNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose inthe INA. (I eventually met Dr.Saigal in Madras when she was91.) Her son, the late GovindSwaminadhan, was a legal lumi-nary and the world-famousdancer/choreographer. Mrina-lini Sarabhai was her youngerdaughter.

We spoke and met quite afew times after that, but shewas never over powering ortaking over. She passed away in1978. A great personal loss tome.

When I called on Mrs. Club-wala, she insisted that I call herMary. She wanted to knowwhat had taken me to Israel,and as many details of her friend

Golda Meir. She told me how,apart from the conferences atthe highest level where theyrepresented their countries,they had a lot in common justas friends.

Mary was loved by all thoseshe worked amongst and for.She had been given the highcivilian awards by the Govern-ment. They did not stop herfrom working on and on. Shedidn’t sit, detatched, in an a/ccabin. She was there, in thefield, listening personally to theproblems of those in need andliving in subhuman conditions.Doing her utmost to alleviatesuffering, trying to get them atleast one good meal a day.Her goal was not charity, but totrain them to earn their ownway with their own talents. Toknow self-respect and dignity.To this end, she started theSchool of Social Work onCasa Major Road (which stillexists).

She had total recall. Neverforgot a face or a name. I mether at informal parties – alwayson time, simply dressed andminus an entourage. I becameclose to her. She was deeplyattached to her family, particu-larly to her son and only childPhil. She was shattered whenhe suffered a massive heartattack in February 1974, andwas gone before help could besummoned. I could feel thepain behind her stoic manner.I visited and wrote her a condo-lence letter, to which shereplied, “My heart is broken. Icannot say more...” I still havethat letter.

A year after Phil’s death, shepassed away in 1975. VillageRoad, Sterling Road, Wheat-croft Road were blocked bythe thousands of families whocame to pay their lastrespects, weeping and totallybereft. Traffic was halted,cars made no headway. Sheand her beloved son are buriedin the Parsi Cemetery inRoyapuram.

I was about 25 when I metthe two of them. Interactingwith them influenced my life forthe better. They did notlecture, give advice, point outmy flaws. But in their gentlesilences, their achievementsand from what they said andthe manner in which they saidit, I learned a lot of importantlessons about life, dedication,integrity and the strength ofhumility. Life for me has beenenriched through havingknown them.

Mary ClubwalaJadhav

AmmuSwaminadhan

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ñ THE EDITOR

4 MADRAS MUSINGS June 1-15, 2015 June 1-15, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

Wetlands are shallow aqua-tic ecosystems found

throughout the world. Allwetlands are subjected to sea-sonal changes in depth and wa-ter chemistry; as a result, theplants and animals associatedwith wetlands also change withthe seasons.

Pallikarnai Marsh is a wet-land in South Chennai. It is oneof the few remaining naturalwaterlands in Southern India.Although coastal in orientation,Pallikarnai Marsh is not entirelysaltwater. Half of the marsh maybe saline in character while theother half is fresh.

The salt-freshwater balance isvery dynamic, changing rapidlywith the seasons. While it tendsto be a predominantly freshwatermarsh during and immediatelyafter the monsoon rains, it tendsto become saline as the summerprogresses.

When the existence of thisextensive wetland was firstbrought to the notice of the pub-lic in 2002 by Care Earth, it wasnot known as Pallikarnai Marsh.To some, it was known as ‘Vela-chery marshes’ and other locallycalled it ‘Kazhuveli’. Care Earthchristened it the PallikarnaiMarsh based on its location inclose proximity to the Pallikarnaivillage.

After its discovery in 2002,Care Earth, with the support ofthe Tamil Nadu Pollution Con-trol Board, initiated the first sci-entific study of the PallikarnaiMarsh. The first discovery, al-though discouraging, was thatthe nearly 600 ha of marsh thatwas extant in 2002 was just 10per cent of its original extent.The discovery was more startlingwhen it was learnt that the 90 percent shrinking that the marshexperienced was in the past 30years. Unplanned developmentin South Chennai, encroach-ment, and unscientific solidwaste disposal were the three im-portant reasons for the shrinkingof the once extensive wetland.

The shrinking was accompa-nied by significant changes inhydrology in that the manychannels that brought in thestormwater were blocked. The

channels that drained the marshinto the Arabian Sea were alsoblocked, leaving OkkiyamMadavu as the sole lifeline thatlinked the marsh with the sea.

The marsh that was once acontinuous habitat was frag-mented by roads and railways re-sulting in major changes in thedepth of the marsh. Fragmenta-tion led to permanent changes inthe water-holding capacity of the

marsh. While some parts of themarsh went permanently under-water, others that were exposeddried up during summer. Areasthat dried up during summerwere soon invaded by the non-native ‘veli-kaathan’ tree and in-vasive wetland plants, changingthe character of the wetlandfrom a marsh to a swamp.

Despite fragmentation andthe resultant changes in thecharacter of the wetland,Pallikarnai Marsh continues toplay a major role as an ecologicalservice provider to SouthChennai and its residents. Themajor ecological services pro-vided by the Pallikarnai Marshinclude mitigation of floods,regulation of local temperatureand sheltering valuable biodiver-sity.

* * *The total assembly of micro-

organisms, plants and animals inany habitat is considered itsbiodiversity. The biodiversity of

Pallikarnai Marsh is not yet fullydocumented. What is known atpresent is just the number ofspecies in selected groups ofplants and animals.

Of that which is known, birdsare the most diverse class of or-ganisms. Around 140 species ofbirds use the wetlands as theirhabitat and of them nearly halfmay be migratory. Migratorybirds visit the Pallikarnai Marshfrom parts of North India andbeyond, coming from even thetemperate regions of Eurasia,some travelling as much as 6000km. These migratory birds spendthe winter months in the marshand fly back to their northernsummer habitats to breed.

Some of the common birdsthat visit the Pallikarnai Marshin winter are ducks such as theNorthern Pintail, Northern

Shoveller and Garganey. Thereare other aquatic birds calledwaders that visit the marsh inlarge numbers during winters.Waders are aquatic birds that donot swim but wade through shal-low waters as they feed on tinyaquatic animals.

Some of the common wadersthat spend their winter in thePallikarnai Marsh are LittleStint, Spotted Sandpiper, Ruff,Black-tailed Godwit and Grey-headed Lapwing. There are alsoflocks of Greater Flamingoes thatspend their winter in Marsh.

Other aquatic birds that arecommon in Pallikarnai Marshare resident species, or birds thatspend both winter and summerin the same habitat and alsobreed locally. Common residentsinclude the Black-winged Stilt,Pheasant-tailed Jacana, PurpleSwamphen and many species ofherons, egrets and storks. Thereare cormorants and ducks, likethe Spot-billed Duck which are

large ducks that resemble the do-mestic ducks and breed in thePallikarnai Marsh. Apart fromthese, there are also pelicans.The species of pelican found inthe marsh is the Spot-billedPelican, a large fish-eating bird.

Fish-eating birds are impor-tant indicators of the health ofwetlands. They are like tigers inforest. Fish-eating birds arecarnivores and carnivores arehigher up in the food chain.Pelicans, cormorants, herons,storks and terns that are foundin abundance in the PallikarnaiMarsh are all more or lessentirely dependent on fish fortheir food. When there aregroups of many different varietiesof these birds around, it indicatesthat there are lots of fish in thewetland.

Fish breeds abundantly onlywhen the water is clean, well-aerated and cool. PallikarnaiMarsh has numerous fish indiverse varieties. Nearly 50species of fish have been foundin the marsh. Fish are importantlinks in the aquatic food chain.When the number and diversityof the fish declines, so will thefish-eating birds. While it is noteasy to monitor the populationand diversity of fish in a wetland,monitoring the fish-eating birdsis easy.

Fish-eating birds are ‘flag-ships’ of wetlands. We need toconserve them. Birds are alsoattractive to watch and theseattributes have made thePallikarnai Marsh a favouritedestination for bird-watchers.

* * *

Bird watching is a form of rec-reation. There are other meansof recreation too. A clean andhealthy ecosystem is aesthetic.Clean and healthy wetlands areadmired for their scenic beauty.Although Pallikarnai Marsh maynot in its present state providemuch scenic attraction, it is pos-sible to restore the wetland andmake it attractive in the near fu-ture. When it happens, it can be-come Chennai’s most significantoutdoor recreation site. How-ever, a lot of effort and commit-ment are needed to achieve this.

The Government of Tamil

Nadu has taken considerableinterest in restoring PallikarnaiMarsh since it was first broughtto public notice in 2002.Although the process of restora-tion has been slow, the effortsdirected towards achieving thisend have been positive.

The first and foremost steptaken by the Government was toformally announce that themarsh would be a protected area.Soon after this a chunk of around300 ha of the marsh was handedover to the Tamil Nadu ForestDepartment. Following thisseveral encroachments wereremoved and land notified forother uses were de-notified. Overthe years more chunks of themarsh were brought underprotection so that at presentnearly 600 ha is formallyprotected.

Restoration plans have beendrawn up. In order to implementand monitor the restorationplans the Government has esta-blished the Pallikarnai Marsh-land Conservation Authority(PMCA). PMCA works closelywith the Forest Department andcivil society. Several initiativeshave been taken to create greaterconservation awareness amongpeople. Such initiatives includeactivities like awareness walks,bird watching programmes, anddrawing and elocution competi-tions for local school and collegestudents.

Care Earth Trust has pre-pared the master plan for resto-ration. Talks are on with theChennai Corporation for theclosure of the Perungudi garbagedump yard and restoration of themarsh completely.

The Forest Department hasfor the sake of better administra-tion created an exclusive Palli-karanai Range and established alocal office. The office premisesalso maintain an interpretationcentre providing valuable infor-mation on the biodiversity of themarsh to visitors. A ForestCheck Post monitors the marshand controls poaching ofanimals. – (Courtesy: AdyarTimes)

– R.J. Ranjit DanielsCare Earth Trust, Chennai

New hope forthe Marsh

The City’s greenlandmarks

Kalamkriya, the publishersof Living Landmarks of

Chennai, has been nurtured byChandra Sankar, who has beendoing some silent but significantwork in bringing to light our heri-tage – built, natural and cultural.Kalamkriya began life in in-houseprinting for the Sanmar group. Itsmain activity in its early years wasthe bringing out of several corpo-rate brochures. It changed focusover time to the in-house publi-cations of Sanmar. And some-where along the way, it began torelease a series of books that lookat various cultural aspects ofChennai and Tamil Nadu. Eachof these books is a labour of love,for they are distributed free ofcost to those who are interestedin reading them. They are also allbilingual – in Tamil and English.The publications released thus farare:

Proverbs for the New Millen-nium – Compiled from varioustraditional sources, this is acollection of Tamil sayings. Asecond collection has since beenbrought out.

Living Landmarks of Chennai byNizhal team (Published byKalamkriya Limited, 2015)

Madras city and the Presi-dency have attracted sev-

eral foreign plants for economicreasons in the last 300 years.James Anderson introducedmany in his creations – theMarmelon and NungambakkamGardens. Thanks to the efforts ofClements Markham, Cinchonafrom South America was intro-duced into India and later estab-lished as large plantations in theNilgiris. Emperor Akbar was agreat fan of pigeons and he main-tained a flock of 10,000 birdsbrought into India from EasternEurope, which later spreadthroughout India, including Ma-dras. In spite of such extensiveintroductions, plants of Madrasare fascinating because they rep-resent elements which can sur-vive and perform successfully ina warm and humid environmentthat has monsoon rains in Octo-ber-November.

The immediate impression ofthis colourful, slim book was thatit is a worthwhile addition to theknowledge of Madras city plants.The Nizhal team had smartly ap-proached the book’s concept bycalling it ‘living landmarks’,which struck me as brilliant. TheNizhal team lists the following asreasons for the choice of materi-als in this book: (1) trees of his-torical, cultural importance, (2)

indigenous trees seldom seen andrecognised, and (3) exotic treesrarely noticed. These reasonsseemed logical.

High quality colour images ofthe habits of chosen examplesare the greatest strength of thebook. Some of them are in blackand white, but are, indeed, re-freshing. Excellent close-up pho-tos of foliage and flowers addvalue. Details are presentedbriefly in both English and Tamilset as parallel columns in a page.Descriptions of 40 tree varietiesare supplied under their Tamil

� by Dr. A Raman

ARaman@csu.edu.au

names followed by biological andcommon English names.

I will use one example to il-lustrate the style followed: Pages8 and 9 refer to Bombax malabari-cum (Malvaceae) (current validname, Bombax ceiba) known asthe ‘red-silk cotton’ and ilavu(Tamil). Photos and legends re-fer to their occurrence in varioussections of Madras city, invitingany dendrophile to find the treeseasily. References of ilavu in clas-sical Tamil literature (e.g. Avvai-yar’s Aathichudi) and citing of theoft-used Tamil metaphor ilavukaatha kili make profound sense.Brief biological notes on the

colour change that occurs inflowers during blossoming, howfruits disperse seeds and the as-sociated fibres (ilavampanju), andpharmacognistic notes referringto the use of this tree and its partsin traditional Indian medicineadd value. I found the brief re-marks referring to the featuredtrees as found in scriptures andpuranas pertinent.

The cultural connections ofthe trees are splendidly exempli-fied to the extent that theywould interest a person with lim-ited biological knowledge butwith unlimited passion to knowabout trees. Inclusion of detailson some of the interesting exot-ics, such as the handsome Guai-acum officinale, originally fromSouth America, and the impos-ing Hura crepitans from CentralAmerica is helpful.

As an ardent admirer of fig(Ficus) trees, I was delighted toread the pages on Ficus bengha-lensis (ãl) and see photos of someof the magnificent examples inMadras. But why no mention ofFicus religiosa (arasu) is made inthis book left me non-plussed.Maybe, the Nizhal team thoughtthat arasu is so common in Ma-dras that it could be dropped;probably they have a point. Butthe cultural significance of arasucannot be gainsaid. Trees of Fi-cus mysorensis are found plenti-fully in Loyola College campusand they are graceful trees too,

particularly because of theirlarge, leathery leaves. Ficus krish-nae, presently known as Ficusbenghalensis or. krishnae, bearingastonishing cup-like leaves, growin the Madras Presidency Col-lege campus, thanks to the re-lentless effort of the botanist, thelate G. Masilamani, in propa-gating this taxon. I was hoping to

see a reference to Parkia biglan-dulosa. These African trees,known popularly as the ‘badmin-ton ball’ trees (see image for theelegant resemblance of their flowerclusters to badminton balls) toogrow in Loyola College, Madras.I have always wondered duringmy teaching days in Loyola abouttheir links to bats, only to realiselater that some species ofMicrochiroptera feed on the nec-tar of the florets of this tree andpollinate them! A reference tothe palai trees (Alstonia scholaris)is made in the book. Plenty ofthese trees are found along thewestern coastal plains of south-ern India.

This is a fascinating tree thatusually bears seven, rarely eightor nine, leaves at one node.Because of this type of a leafarrangement, this tree is ézhilai-paala (the seven-leaved pãlai) inMalayalam and saptaparnaa inSanskrit. The book refers to itslinkage to Indian tradition, rep-resenting a scholar (hencescholaris in its biological name).Although not concerned withMadras in any manner, one pointof heritage significance of thischarming Indian tree is that atVishwa Bharati Vishvavidyalaya– the university that evolvedfrom the rich mind of Rabin-dranath Tagore – students walkto the Chancellor to receivetitles and diplomas on the gradu-ation day holding a branch of Al-stonia scholaris. Incidentally,Palghat, the anglicised form ofPaala-k-kaadu, derives its namebecause this region includeddense populations (hence forest,kãdû) of A. scholaris (pãlai, pãlatree). In North Canara, A.scholaris is kéra, which implieswater (e.g. Arsikéré (the arsilake). According to local knowl-edge, trees of A. scholaris indicatewater in the lateritic soilsof North Canara and hencethe name kéra. In high like-lihood, this word kéra later

They’re free – to create heritage awarenessSiva Temples of Mylapore –

First published in 2002, this slimvolume of 18 pages looks at theseven ancient Saivite shrines ofMylapore. It carries the names ofthe principal deities, route maps,sketches and the legends behindeach temple.

Grandma’s Home Remedies(3 volumes) – The first of thesecame out in 2004 with significantcontributions from Leela Shekarand Srividya Moorthy. Thesecond and third, written respec-tively by Haimavati Ammal andAnnapoorani Viswanathan, werepublished in 2005. They bringout the simple medical recipes ofTamil Nadu that cure commonailments.

Traditional South India Hair-styles – First published in 2006,this book was the work of a team.It has sketches of various hairdosand detailed descriptions of howto do them.

Stars and Trees – First pub-lished in 2007, this book tracesthe link between the 27 asterismsof the Hindu constellation andthe tree that is sacred to each.

Many a temple has one of thesetrees that is sacred to its precinctand some even have gardens withall these trees. The book has inmany ways encouraged theprotection of trees.

Fifty Historic Residences ofChennai – Written by Sriram V,and with sketches by V. Vijaya-kumar, the book was released in2008. It studies the historybehind some of the heritage bun-galows of the city and the resi-dents who made them famous.

Temple Vahanas of TamilNadu – Written by PradeepChakravarthy, and with sketchesby V. Vijayakumar, this book waspublished in 2010. It focusses onthe processional mounts used invarious temples in Tamil Nadu.

Living Landmarks of Chennai– Released this year, this is thefirst colour production of theseries. Conceptualised by theNGO Nizhal, it brings to light thevarious tree species that thrive inour city, their locations and theirsignificance.

The one priced publication byKalamkriya is Mosquitoes andOther Jolly Rovers. Written byformer State cricketer V. Ramna-rayan, it is an important docu-mentation, as it looks at thehistory of league cricket in theState, whose various divisionsmade it a true home for the sport.Priced at Rs 295, this wasreleased in 2002.

You can ask for thebooks by sending e-mails tokkriya1@sanmargroup.com

– Sriram V.(Continued on page 6)

The Marsh today – and construction that edges it.

There’s bird life again.

A sign of protection.

Parkia biglandulosa. Note the bad-minton ball-like flower clusters.

The 450 years old banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) in the Theosophical Societycampus.

6 MADRAS MUSINGS June 1-15, 2015

(Current Affairs questions arefrom the period May 1st to15th. Questions 11 to 20pertain to Chennai and TamilNadu.)

1. Name the daughter of PrinceWilliam, of the United Kingdomborn on May 2nd. She is now thefourth in line to the Britishthrone.

2. Who prevailed in the ‘Fight ofthe Century’ at Las Vegas on May2nd?

3. Name the former CEO of ITgiant Hewlett-Packard whorecently became the first declaredfemale candidate to seek theRepublican Party's nominationfor next year’s US Presidentialelection.

4. Rishi Sunak, who won from theRichmond constituency in theBritish Parliament elections, isthe son-in-law of which legendaryIndian entrepreneur?

5. Which artist’s painting Womenof Algiers has become the mostexpensive painting to sell atauction, going for $160 million?

6. Name the guitarist and singer,called the ‘King of the Blues’, whopassed into history recently.

7. Name the ousted EgyptianPresident sentenced to death forhis part in a mass jailbreak in2011.

8. A type of fish called Opah, orMoonfish, was discovered re-cently. What first has it achieved?

9. The Union Government hasgiven its assent for disinvestmentof 10 per cent in which oil major?This could bring it Rs. 7932 crore.

10. In which Indian State capitalis Google to build its second-big-gest campus in the world and thefirst in Asia?

* * *

11. Name the freedom fighterwho climbed the 148-foot tallflagstaff in Fort St. George onJanuary 26, 1932 and unfurledthe Indian tricolour.

12. In Madras, Pully, Boatman,Trivatore and Ennore were allgates on the…?

13. Which academic institutionis housed in a campus called TheCloisters?

14. The book Four Score andMore chronicles the history ofwhich venerable institution inChennai?

15. Following which reforms of1919 did Madras become the firstprovince of British India to imple-ment a system of diarchy?

16. Rajagopala Tondaiman wasthe last ruler of which kingdom inthe Madras Presidency?

17. Why is Fort St. David in Cud-dalore named after the saint?

18. Which was the first residence,apart from Chepauk Palace, onthe beachfront between Fort St.George and San Thome?

19. The Krishnagiri and Sathanurdams are built across which river?

20. Yellaikalai Vistharitha Yezhu-thukalaignan is a documentary onwhich Jnanpith Award-winningwriter?

(Answers on page 8)

Keepingthe recordstraight

Till June 30: Baramasa, an exhibi-tion of contemporary artists ex-ploring the moods inspired bydifferent seasons (at ApparaoGalleries, Nungambakkam, andThe Leela Palace).

Till June 30: The Art of Chess, anexhibition of chess sets createdby contemporary artists (atApparao Galleries).

Till June 30: Paintings by Raja (atDakshinaChitra).

June 5-29: Art exhibition by N.S.Manohar, Kumbakonam (atDakshinaChitra).

June: Photography/art exhibitionby Gita (at DakshinaChitra).

DakshinaChitra workshopsFor Adults:June 6-7: Kasuti Embroidery

For Children:June 13: Stencil-making and

T-Shirt Printing (8-14 yrs)

A separate Record Officewas constituted in 1805,

when Lord William Bentinckrecommended the location ofthe records in a set of apart-ments of the old ‘Fort Square’in Fort St. George, and placedthem in charge of a Record-keeper assisted by 3 writers. In1826, they were removed to the‘Pillar godown’, known as the‘Old Banqueting Hall’, the siteof the present Council Cham-ber. In 1888, the records wereshifted to the ground floor ofthe Secretariat buildings (va-cated by the Government Presson its removal to the Mintbuildings), and arranged inopen record racks. The officewas then known as the “Gen-eral Record Office” (by reasonof its being common to andserving all departments of thesecretariat); and its establish-ment formed part of the ChiefSecretariat. In 1902, the idea ofcentralising all importantrecords of permanent interest inone place was started by S.C.Hill, officer in charge of theRecords of the Government ofIndia, during the Viceroyalty ofLord Curzon; and the Govern-ment of Madras in 1907materialised the proposal, bysanctioning the construction ofa separate building for the hous-ing, of not only the secretariatrecords, but also those of theBoard of Reveue and theCollectorates. The inaugura-tion of the present office wascarried out by C.M. Schmidt,the Registrar of the Chief Sec-retariat who continued incharge. In 1909, the MadrasRecord Office was constitutedon an independent basis with aseparate establishment; and in1910, a full-time Curator wasapprointed, Henry Dodwell,M.A., an officer of the Educa-tional Department, being thefirst incumbent of that office.

* * *The Madras Record Office con-tains the records of –1. The Government Secre-

tariat (except those of thelast 5 years which are re-tained in the RecordBranch of the Secretariat).The earliest date back to1670.

2. The Board of Revenue –older ones.

3. The Collectorates, upto1820.

4. Dutch and the Danish;Carnatic (in Persian);High Court (Select);

Accountant-Genera l ’ sOffice (Select); andSpecificiations, etc.

It also contains sets of Ga-zettes of the Government of In-dia and of the Fort St. George,Almanacs, Directories, Armyand Civil Lists and departmentlreports.

The main functions of theRecord Office are as follows:(i) Preservation of records. –

The records are arranged inopen racks, either as vol-umes or bundles of loose pa-pers between woodenplanks. There is a specially

trained staff to mend theolder records.

(ii) Supply of records. – Recordsare furnished to the officesconcerned on requisitions;but applications from pri-vate persons for copies ofrecords have to be made tothe departments concernedand not the Madras RecordOffice direct. Researchscholars are afforded specialfacilities.

(iii) Publications – The follow-ing have been issued:

(1) Press Lists (brief ab-stracts) of all Governmentrecords from 1670 to 1800,issued in 35 volumes.(2) Reprints (exact repro-dcution in print) of and se-lections from the ancientrecords of the 17th, 18th andthe early 19th Centuries,comprising Consultations,Despatches, Letter-books,Sundries, etc. 112 volumes.(3) Calendars (i.e. chrono-logically arranged abstractsto facilitate historical re-search) of the Madras re-cords subsequent to 1740, 2volumes.(4) Translation of the Diaryin Tamil of Ananda RangaPillai, Dubash of Dupleix,commencing from 1736. 8volumes.

* * *

As the repository of a con-tinuous record, comprehendingmore than 250 years of Britishconnection, the Madras RecordOffice affords ample facilitiesfor research work. R. Clerk in1789 and William Elliot in 1830examined the records to com-pile their Standing Orders,Garrow in 1837 andHuddleston in 1856 examinedthem for antiquities and the lat-ter produced his Notes and Ex-tracts from the 17th centuryrecords in five small volumes. In1860, Talboy Wheeler was de-puted to examine the recordswith a view to shroff them. Theresult of his examinations isembodied in his Handbook to theMadras Records, and Madras inthe Olden Times (containing in-teresting extracts from the verybeginning up to 1748). Hemade a collection of Sir ThomasMunro’s Minutes, afterwardspublished by Sir A.J. Arbuth-not. The next enquiry into therecords was initiated in 1886 byC.G. Master (Member of Coun-cil, and a descendant of SirStreynsham Master, Governor

of Madras from 1678); and C.D.Macleane, Under Secretary toGovernment, was selected toexamine the records. The ‘Dis-posal number system’ was theone fruit of his labour. About1894, A.T. Pringle, AssistantSecretary, undertook to con-tinue the work of Huddleston,and produced four more anno-tated reprints of the 17th cen-tury records. The translation ofAnanda Ranga Pillai’s Diarywas undertaken by Sir FrederickPrice, and is continued byDodwell. In 1908-11, A.Galletti edited and published 15volumes of Dutch Records.Dodwell, as Curator, prepared aReport on the Madras Recordsand issued two volumes of Cal-endars of records covering 1740to 1754. Among the outsiderswho utilised the MadrasRecords for historical purposesmay be mentioned: ProfessorForest who made copious ex-tracts regarding Clive, ColonelLove who produced in 1913 hismonumental Vestiges of OldMadras, and Mrs. Frank Pennyfor her work on Fort St. George.

� To celebrate 375 yearsof Fort St. George, SriramV, Associate Editor ofMadras Musings, recentlyspoke at the Madras BookClub on ‘Books on FortSt. George’. Much of theresearch for those bookswas done in the MadrasRecord Office, now theTamil Nadu Archives.Ramineni Bhaskar Raosent us this piece on theRecord Office whichappeared in the MadrasYear Book, 1923.

The City’s greenlandmarks

evolved into Kerala, although‘Kerala’ is widely believed toderive from nãlikéra (the coco-nut).

On pages 80-81, referencesto plaasa (Sanskrit) or purasaa(Tamil) occur. I would haveliked to see the name of thesuburb spelt ‘Purasappakkam’and not by the corrupted namePurasaiwalkam.

My knowledge of Tamilgrammar is less than average;yet, I felt that the words pasumaiand chinnangal in the book title

need a liaison letter ch at theend of pasumai.

The book Living Landmarksin Chennai is an excellent con-cept with a wealth of details.Overall, the book meets itspromise of being a plant hand-book for popular readership,linking trees to heritage andculture of Madras for a commonperson, compressing many de-tails in the short space madeavailable for textual material.The author and publishersrichly deserve our thanks andkudos for developing an attrac-tive and useful handbook forthe residents of Madras.

(Continued from page 5)

Grassmere – home of the Tamil Nadu Archives.

June 1-15, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

� St. George’s Anglo-

Indian Higher Secondary

School, Shenoy Nagar, is

celebrating its 300th year

this year. One of the

strongest supporters of

the institution is the focus

of this article.

The Trust that helpsa 300-year-old school

Know your Fort better

(Continued from page 1)

Moat between St. George’s ravelin and Pigot Bastion with High Court in thedistance. (Courtesy: Ismena R. Warren, from The Story of Fort St Georgeby Lt. Col. D.M. Reid.)

The moat in all its glory in c. 1900 (Courtesy: Vintage Vignettes.)

supplied with water from the Cooum but ‘as no walls or bastionswere raised above this moat, it was not of much use as a protec-tion.’ That this was not in any way a deterrent is attested by thehistorian Orme who observed that when the French came in 1746,‘the naked ditch remained neither an obstruction nor defence.’

The hectic construction activities of the 1750s, in the after-math of the return of Madras to the British, saw attention beingpaid to the moat. When the French returned in 1758 under Comtede Lally, action was seen around the water body, which by thenwas complete along the western and northern faces of the Fort.Mrs Penny quotes from a letter of Henry Vansittart to RobertClive, written in the final days of the siege, which the British suc-cessfully withstood, ‘They had opened a narrow passage throughthe counterscarp of the ditch by a mine, and had beat down somuch clay from the face of the demi-bastion, that there was a slopethat a nimble man might run up, and that is what M Lally calls abreach; but his people were wiser than he, if he proposed to assaultit, and they refused. This was probably near the St George’s Gateof the Fort, located at the northwestern angle, for David Leightonin his Vicissitudes of Fort St George (1902) has all the action withthe French in that area.

The present moat or ditch owes its existence to the extensiverenovations to the Fort, commenced in the 1760s rather ironicallyafter the last siege to be ever faced by it had ended. John Call, whowas then the Chief Engineer, envisaged a wet ditch, 50 feet broadand seven feet deep, to be commenced from St George’s bastion,which marks the northwestern angle of the Fort.

All accounts of the moat/ditch, except Leighton’s, agree thatthe first versions did not have water. Dismissing the Leighton ver-sion as an error, we are left with the question of where the waterfor the moat came from, when it first became a wet, as opposed toa dry, ditch. The water initially came from the Elambore River thatran along the western side of the Fort. In the 1700s, when the Forthad become rectangular, the river had been diverted to form themoat. A few years later, the Fort had extended beyond the river,which divided into two, one arm ending inside the Fort and theother flowing along the west face and then into the sea. During the1760s, when the final reconstruction of the Fort began, the riverwas partly filled to facilitate the present shape and the water wasmade to flow around to form the moat. The river was to suffer

several changes to its natural course, becoming a part of Cochrane’sCanal, which eventually became Buckingham Canal.

That the water for the moat came from the river and later theBuckingham Canal is clear if you wander off in the direction of StGeorge’s Gate. There you will see a rusting lock, with most of itsshutters having vanished. This was lowered and raised to regulatethe tide in the moat. Now, with the Buckingham Canal and theCooum both having lost their water, the moat has gone dry. Butthe part closest to the lock still retains some water and, therefore,plenty of vegetation and some bird life. When Mrs Penny wroteher book, the wagtail was apparently the most common bird in themoat, building its nests in the crevices of the wall, where the waterplants afforded it sufficient privacy. Fishing in the moat too was acommon recreation for the soldiers in the Fort, as evinced by pho-tographs taken in the early 1900s. Another feature, long gone, isthe wooden drawbridges that connected mainland to the Fort,across the moat. These were present at the Wallajah, St George’sand North Gates and, according to Mrs Penny, these were ‘a terrorto the inexperienced horse when his ears are assailed by the thun-der of his iron-shod hoofs on the wooden platform as he crosses toenter the low, deep gateway.’

In the 1990s, during routine conservation work in the Fort, atunnel was discovered running parallel to the moat betweenWallajah Gate and the northwestern point. This has regular open-ings at intervals at ground level connecting to it by flights of steps.The tunnel, with a height of 2m and a width of a metre, has sincebeen interpreted as having been constructed for the facilitation ofarms movement. The water in the moat kept the gunpowder cooland prevented it from heating up and exploding in the Madrassummer. That this was no secret even in the 1940s is evident fromLt Col Read’s The Story of Fort St George (1946). He calls theattention of the casual visitor to the regular openings that he termsas loopholes. The tunnel, according to him, was used to positionsharpshooters who through the loopholes could shoot any enemywho came close to the walls.

The southern side of the moat was filled up in the 1860s tomake way for the military hospital that stands in the shadow of theFort amidst a clump of trees. The rest of the moat is still intact butit is in a state of decay. In October 2014, the Archaeological Sur-vey of India and the Army announced a joint plan to clear themoat of vegetation, free it of the drainage from the Fort and re-store it. This is yet to make headway.

– Sriram V.

Anglo-Indians are anindependent lot. They’ve

had to be, because as a distinctminority community they haveupheld separate traditions fromthose around them. For many,this spirit of free thinking andsometimes sheer bloody-mind-edness has brought great suc-cess, but for others it has led toproblems: irregular family lives,broken homes and neglectedchildren.

In 1994, Alex Jacob came to

homes who had missed parts oftheir schooling or were heldback by emotional problems. Sothe charity set up an OpenSchool with counsellors andprogressive teaching to helpthem pass the exams needed forentry into further education orvocational qualifications.

Today, the charity also runsboarding accommodation forgirls and a separate boarding fa-

cility for boys. It also pays feesfor Batemans children to go tolocal Anglo-Indian schools,universities, colleges and voca-tional courses. Batemans admitssome needy children from otherbackgrounds, but Anglo-Indianyoungsters remain a priority.

These include children likeRobert whose father and bro-ther disappeared, leaving himand his illiterate mother livingand working on a constructionsite. Then there is Eileen, whocame to Batemans after herfather disappeared, her motherlater dying when she was atschool. Batemans gave her ahome and an education thro-ughout a difficult childhoodand today she is a confident gra-duate working for a communi-cations company. Many othershave suffered abuse, bereave-ment and neglect – but are nowthriving thanks to Batemans.

In recent years, Batemanshas operated separately from St.George’s, but many of the oldtraditions still continue. For ex-ample, Batemans children at-tend St. Mary’s Church at FortSt. George every Sunday, just asthe children of St. George’shave done for more than 200years. And many ‘old boys’ fromSt. George’s now support Bate-mans in recognition of the workthey do for the Anglo-Indiancommunity. As for Alex, she ismarried to an Anglo-Indianfrom Madras, with whom shehas three children.

Batemans has successfullyhelped scores of children to be-come emotionally and finan-cially independent and pre-pared for a life in modern India,whilst enabling them to hold onto their Anglo-Indian heritage:the children sing and perform,bake and make European foodand learn to eat with a knife andforks as well as with their hands.

So what next? Alex and theMadras-based Batemans teamare passionate about expandingthis help to more children.However, increasing costs inMadras make this challengemore difficult. While develop-ment has brought rising wealthfor some, it has also led to morepoverty to many.

To secure its future and toexpand, Batemans intends tobuild its own school on Madrasoutskirts with boarding facilitiesthat will help 350 children andyoung people at any one time.

The plans include an openschool, primary school, teachertraining, boarding and roamingeducational provision. For fur-ther details www.batemans.org.uk – (Courtesy: Anglos in theWind)

served in India, so, in some waysshe was following in their foot-steps. On her return to En-gland, she set up a charity calledthe Batemans Trust, to supportchildren living in St. George’sboarding home, to train teach-ers and to pay fees for childrenwho otherwise probably wouldnot go to school.

However, Alex was painfullyaware that some children werebeing overlooked, not leastAnglo-Indians from broken

(By A Special Correspondent)

Madras from the UK to help theAnglo-Indian children at St.George’s School in ShenoyNagar. Several generations ofAlex’s military family had

St. George’s School today.

8 MADRAS MUSINGS June 1-15, 2015

Published by S. Muthiah for ëChennai Heritageí, 260-A, TTK Road, Chennai 600 018 and printed by T J George at Lokavani-Hallmark Press Pvt. Ltd., 122, Greams Road, Chennai 600 006. Edited by S. MUTHIAH.

Madras Musings is supported as a public service by the following organisations

Published by S. Muthiah, Lokavani Southern Printers Pvt. Ltd., 122, Greams Road, Chennai 600 006. Printed by Anu Varghese at Lokavani Southern Printers Pvt. Ltd., 122, Greams Road, Chennai 600 006, and edited by S. Muthiah.

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Hotels Resortsand Palaces

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An early Americanconnection

Answers to Quiz

1. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge; 2. Floyd Mayweather, Jr.; 3. CarlyFiorina; 4. N.R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys; 5. Pablo Picasso; 6. B.B.King; 7. Mohammed Morsi; 8. It is the world’s first fully warm-bloodedfish; 9. Indian Oil Corporation; 10. Hyderabad.

* * *11. ‘Arya’ K. Bhashyam; 12. The Black Town Wall; 13. Stella Maris

College; 14. Music Academy; 15. Montague-Chelmsford reforms; 16.Pudukkottai; 17. Because the Governor of Madras at the time of its pur-chase in 1690, Elihu Yale, was Welsh and named it after the patron Saintof Wales; 18. Capper House; 19. Thenpennai; 20. Jayakanthan.

Arrived at Madras after apassage of 111 days from

Salem (MassaClusetts). Dis-tance run per log, this passage,14,240 miles.

On arriving at Madras, theGovernment Boat comes along-side. The officers come onboard and receive such infor-mation as is required, respectingthe vessel, cargo, passengers,etc. and on their return and re-port, a boat is sent off. No per-son is permitted to land beforethis is done, nor before the shipis brought to the proper anchor-ing ground, opposite the Cus-tom House. On landing, reportis made at the Custom House.

Madras (called by thenatives, Chilli-patam) is thecapital settlment of the Englishon the Coast of Coromandel. Itconsists properly of two towns –Fort St. George and the BlackTown. In the Fort, which con-tains a regular built town, are allthe offices of government (ex-cept the Custom House), thestores of the European mer-chants, etc. In the Black Townlive the natives. All Govern-ment orders issued from Fort St.George – and the Europeansgenerally use the same, insteadof Madras.

Madras... is a place of large

– As recorded

in the Journalof the Belisarius,

1799-1800

� By Dudley L. Pickman

trade, which is carried on fromhence to all parts of India – toEurope and America. Therewere 50 to 70 vessels here, load-ing and unloading, all the timeof our stay. Many of them weresmall, and very few belongedhere.

Rice is brought in large quan-tities from Bengal, some Chinagoods from Canton, pepper fromSumatra, and European goodsand liquors direct from Englandand Maderia in the (British EastIndia) Company and India ships.

thence, such as long cloth, isery(izarrees), handkerchiefs of dif-ferent kinds, and book muslin...In quality the manufactures ofMadras far exceed those of Ben-gal.

Fort St. George is a hand-some brick fortification. Itappears very strong, but is prob-ably too much extended tomake as able a defence as mightotherwise be done. It contains aregular built town, containingseveral houses, many stores,shops etc. besides an EnglishChurch, the Government of-fices, and accommodations forthe troops. The buildings (are)of brick, generally lofty and spa-cious. No black is permitted togo into the Fort in a palanquin;they must walk in from the

The principal exports are inpiece goods, at Madras, Pulicat,and Ventepollam handker-chiefs, blue guineas, camboys orchecks, nicanies or stripes,punjum cloths (white) etc. Pep-per, spices, sugar, etc. importedfrom other parts of India aresome-times re-exported. Thefinest goods of India are manu-factured in the neighbourhoodof Madras, and exported from

gates. All the European mer-chants have their stores in theFort. They generally live a fewmiles from the Fort in thecountry.

The town outside the Fort iscalled the Black Town. It is ir-regularly built. The streets arenarrow and unpaved, many ofthem dirty, though not verygenerally so. The habitations ofthe poorest class of natives aremade of mats – are about thirtyor forty feet circumference andsix or eight feet high – the doorthree or four feet by two. Theycook in them – the smoke goingout between the mats. In one ofthese dwells a whole family;there are but a small proportionwho live thus miserably. Manyhave low one story houses, builtof brick and plastered outside.The rich natives have large,handsome houses, with consi-

derable gardens adjoining. Onewhich costs 6,000 poundssterling was not thought extra-vagant for a man not in the firstclass of wealth. The Portugueseand Armenians who live inBlack Town have generallyhandsome houses, some ofthem three stories. They are allof brick or stone, and are builtas airy as possible. The secondstory contains the drawing anddining rooms.

The natives are very dark,with coarse black hair, whichgrows to a considerable length.They are employed by the

Europeans in every capacity,from the lowest menial servantsto head dubashes, where theyhave almost the entire directionof their business with thenatives. As writers and accoun-tants, they are very neat andcorrect. They are employed inall counting houses and publicoffices, but generally are over-seen by an European book-keeper. (Excerpted from YankeeIndia American Commercial andCultural Encounters with India inthe Age of Sail 1784-1860 bySusan S Bean)

(To be concluded)

Belisarius of Salem, attributed to Guiseppi Fedi, Italy, c. 1797. DudleyPickman sailed as supercargo of the Belisarius, owned by the Crowninshieldfamily, on the voyage to Madras in 1799. (Peabody Essex Museum. Gift ofG.S. Silsbee, 1898.)

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