WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

MUSINGSVol. XXV No. 9 August 16-31, 2015

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INSIDE

• Short ‘N’ Snappy

•QMC memories

•Multi-faceted Mrs. YGP

•Madras Week programmes

•Musing with Francis W.

(Continued on page 12)

Admiralty/Clive House.

Know your Fort

better

(Continued on page 11)

How anti-national

is all this?Madras Week enters its 13th

edition this year. It looksas though it is all set to becomeyet another annual highlight ofChennai’s social calendar, likethe Music Festival and TheHindu’s Lit for Life event. Thereis a sense of anticipation amongpeople even as the event ap-proaches and this is also re-flected in the increasing levelsof participation.

And yet there is a certainsection that persists in dubbingMadras Week as elitist and be-ing an apologist for the BritishRaj. One Tamil newspaper haseven gone to the extent ofclaiming that by celebratingMadras Week, the organisersare indulging in anti-nationalactivities! While it is gratifyingto think that someone is writ-ing about us for a change (andthat means we are getting no-ticed), the grave nature of thecharges forces us to reiteratewhat Madras Week stands forand what it hopes to achieve.

The article referred to statedthat it saw no reason why Ma-dras Week had to be celebratedgiven that several areas of thecity are far older than the 376years of Madras’ existence. Wehave never denied the antiquityof some of the villages thateventually came to form Ma-dras city. In fact, when the Gov-

ernment began setting aboutchanging the official name ofthe city to Chennai, we had sug-gested that Mylapore would bea far better option given that itwas one of the oldest parts ofthe city, far older than Madrasor Chennai. And don’t we al-ready have a Mylapore festivalthat is older than Madras Weekitself and is it not organised byone of the prime movers behindMadras Week? And have we

do with the colonial period. Butas we have always maintained,while these buildings may havebeen designed by British archi-tects, the construction – andmuch of the methodology andembellishments – were SouthIndian and done by local arti-sans. Sadly, we have lost thosetalents. So much for our abilityto protect our heritage!

At a time when it is largelythe negative news that hogs thelimelight and there is despon-dency all around, festivals suchas Madras Week play an impor-tant role in creating a feel-goodfactor. A city festival like Ma-dras Week inculcates a sense ofpride in the place where we live.It is that time when we learn toappreciate the positive at-tributes of our metro and alsotake cognisance of the areasthat need improvement.

As responsible citizens, wetake stock of the direction inwhich our city is moving andrejoice in its progress. “We donot take anyone’s money tocelebrate the event and neitherdo we thrust it down unwillingpeople’s throats. We are merefacilitators and those who wishto celebrate join us. Those whodo not wish to do so are not inany compelled to participate,”say those who celebrate the city.What is wrong with this?

It’s back to renaming streetsOur Corporation is at it

again. Having in its opin-ion solved all problems such aspotholes, illegal constructions,and garbage clearance, it foundtime hanging heavy on its handsand decided to work on chang-ing the names of several roadsof the city. It is high time thatthe powers that be realised thatsuch exercises are futile onesand the watching public islargely indifferent to such gim-mickry. In fact, what the peoplewant is delivery on several civic

issues and nothing other thanthat is going to be acceptable.

This is not the first time thatour city’s civic body has em-barked on this name-changingspree. The previous instancewas during the Tamil confer-ence when the then Mayor, in acase of misplaced zeal, announ-ced that all streets bearing thenames of Englishmen would berenamed after Tamil scholars.This journal had then broughtout a comprehensive list of suchstreets, explaining the history

behind each name. We had alsopointed out that while we werenot in any way against thehonouring of Tamil scholars,

� By The Editor

monotony of all areas of the cityhaving streets that bear thenames of political leaders ofthe recent past and currentprovenance.

More importantly, we hadsaid that while not all Britishnames were worthy of com-memoration, some – at leastnames of those who were haddone worthwhile service to thecity – needed to be retained. Inthis context we had argued forthe continuation of the namesof officers of the Corporation

such as J. Chartres Molony, J.R.Coats and J.W. Madeley. Wehad requested that the name ofF.W. Ellis who had done suchgood work in the context of theDravidian languages and on theTirukkural be allowed to re-main. We do not know if ourentreaties had any impact butshortly after a list was publishedin these columns, the idea of re-naming the streets was shelved.It has now resurfaced.

� Parade Square, as we saw in the previous issue, stands more orless in the middle of the Fort. Radiating from it are streets in alldirections. It must not be forgotten that the Fort was once verymuch a town with its residents. And these needed houses, all ofwhich were placed along the various streets that crisscrossed theentire precinct of White Town, as the Fort was known. Interest-ingly, as H.D. Love points out, the residents of Madras referred tothe Fort as the City and to what lay outside of it as Town. The EastIndia Company reversed the nomenclature – according to it,Madras was the city and the Fort was the town!

It was Elihu Yale who, as Governor in 1688, decreed that thestreets of Fort St George be given names. These names havesurvived till today. Thus, three streets emanate from Parade Squareand the Assembly in the southern direction, these being StThomas’ Street, which is at the eastern end of the Fort, JamesStreet, which lies behind it, St Mary’s Church connecting the two,

this could safely be done in newareas of the city where there areplenty of streets that are inthe need of names. This way,we had argued, we can alsosave ourselves from the

not been repeatedly highlight-ing the necessity to have localarea festivals on the same lines?

Is Madras Week really an oc-casion that just celebrates thecolonial past? Nothing can befurther than the truth behindthis charge. Is a Textile Tour ofT’Nagar colonial? Or is a walkdown Adyar Poonga to observebutterflies anti-national? Howthen can we explain the con-duct of a heritage walk thattraces the connection betweenMylapore and the FreedomMovement? Is a talk on 11th

century inscriptions in theTiruvottriyur temple somethingthat celebrates the British raj?Yes, we do have events that cel-ebrate the city’s architecturalheritage, much of which has to

� by The Editor

2 MADRAS MUSINGS August 16-31, 2015

To prohibit or notEveryone has gotten on to

the wagon. Or should TheMan from Madras Musings saythe bandwagon? He alludes tothe recent snowballing supportfor declaring our beloved Stateand City completely dry.Nature, or what we did to it,has already made the regionwater-free and now the pow-ers-that-once-were and thepowers-that-want-to-be-in-power are building a grounds-well of opinion in favour ofcompletely abolishing theother fluid – the one thatcheers. To Hell WithTASMAC appears to be theirmotto. It is noteworthy, how-ever, that the power-that-is iscompletely silent on thesubject.

MMM, who is abstemiousto a degree (his only weaknessin the wine, women and songtrio is the last named), couldnot care less either way but hedoes have a kind heart andwould like to point out to thelobby that demands the ban on

IT metropolis that thinks it stillis a garden city. MMM predictsthat it won’t be long before ourtipplers begin planning visits tothese cities on the slightest pre-texts.

MMM has had experienceof living in other cities thattemporarily went dry for vari-ous politically correct reasons(these moves are never altruis-tic). Those who HAD to drinkevery day in these places wereadvised to get a medical certifi-cate that stated that theyneeded to imbibe in order tostay alive. This in turn trans-lated into what was called apermit, which rapidly becamethe most precious documentpossible, spawning a whole cor-ruption industry in its procure-ment. The application form inthe national language of thenorth was evidently created bya rabid dry. The first columnasked the applicant to fill in‘The Alcoholic’s Name’ andthe second one ‘Name ofFather of Alcoholic’. These

SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY

brandy, the whisking away ofwhisky and abolition of arrackthat without these essentialcommodities, our State maycome to a complete halt. For,just as Napoleon (or was itWellington?) said that an armymarches on its stomach, ourState and our City operate wellonly when considerably lubri-cated.

Take for instance that megafestival that happens onceevery five years – the generalelection. How can this be aspirited affair without thedistribution of spirits? In theabsence of this perquisite, thecadre will be dispirited andnewspapers cannot claim thatthe campaign ended on a highnote. In short, the zigzag pathto the hustings will be filledwith hiccups.

The only option would thenbe to brew the stuff illegally.MMM has no personal experi-ence but he is informed bythose that are in the know thatthe formula for these home-remedies is taken directly fromthe three witches in Shakes-peare’s Macbeth (fillet of afenny snake, fingers of astrangled babe, etc.) and theend-result is invariably doubledouble toil and trouble. Thepotion gives such a kick tothose that imbibe it that theypermanently move to a higherabode.

Another option would be totake a tip from the wildebeestof Africa that migrate in largenumbers in search of wateringholes. In this Madras that isChennai is singularly blessedfor it has well endowed neigh-bours on both sides – theFrench town that has preten-tions of being a State, and the

terms alone, it was said, turnedseveral hopefuls permanentlyaway from the bottle. As theysay, the pen is mightier thanthe sword.

Dry tales

The possibility of Prohibi-tion also brings to the

mind of The Man from MadrasMusings the several interestinghappenings that took placewhen our State was last dry.That was during the time theOld Monk had a lot of influ-ence – and by that MMMalludes to the venerable oldsage (if you believed Kalkimagazine) and wily old fox (ifyou trusted the Dravidian par-ties). It was during his tenurethat State-wide Prohibitionfirst came into effect and thenit remained in force off and ontill the early 1970s when thevery Dravidian party that OldMonk helped bring to powerand which had by then elevatedhim to the status of Teacherand gave him a Royal Salute,decided to wet the state with avengeance. The Old Monktook it up as a Royal Chal-lenge but he was told todrown his sorrows in a buttof malmsey, as Shakes-peare would have said. Thevenerable sage retired inhigh dudgeon thereafter,his spirit corked and wasever bitter thereafter.

It was, however, whenProhibition was in forcethat it was noted thatbusloads of seemingly enor-mously pregnant women werecoming in from neighbouring laFrancaise towne to our city.Closer inspection revealed thatthe ladies were all of an ad-

vanced age and could not be inan advanced stage of preg-nancy. A still closer inspectionshowed that the reason for theembonpoint was a tube thatwas wound around the stom-ach and carried preciousliquids. The ladies were let offafter a strict warning which,MMM is sure, they obeyed.Not that there were no officialoutlets. These required theaforementioned permit and thevending contracts for theseoutlets were highly profitable.It is not as though nobody ben-efited from Prohibition.

Prohibition times were alsowhen those manning air andseaports were much in demandas also were those who were flyout to the Emerald Isle justsouth. These men, known col-loquially as sparrows becauseof the short flights they took atenormous risk, invariably re-turned with goodies that didyou good. And given that thosewere days when electronic sur-veillance devices had not yet

made their entry, it was easy toslip in a cask or two. Captureinvariably meant the caging ofthe sparrow for a temporaryperiod but then there were al-ways plenty of others. As to thecommodity they brought in,these were immediately confis-cated and were supposed to bedestroyed. But if that did hap-pen, those manning air andseaports would not have beenin demand, would they?

Foreigners were exemptfrom such laws. And they toofound their popularity skyrock-eting overnight. Given that wewere just emerging from ourpost-independence xenopho-bia, this was surprising. Butthen alcohol, like the politicsthat is currently driving the de-mand for prohibition, makesstrange bedfellows.

Tailpiece

And while on the subject ofProhibition, what do you

think of the picture reproducedbelow? The person who sent itto The Man from Madras

Musings says that it is on thebanks of the Cooum but MMMhas his doubts. In the mean-while – cheersh as they say inMadras.

– MMM

The changingworldof TambramsTamil Brahmans: The making

of a middle-class caste by C.J.Fuller and Haripriya Nara-simhan. Social Science Press/Orient BlackSwan. Price:Rs. 750.

As is evident from my name,or should be, I am a Tamil

Brahman. But I have lived 97per cent of my life in Delhiwhere I have gone to schoolwith post-partition Punjabichildren and, later on, mingledwith Jats and other assortedNorth Indians throughout myworking life.

It was only towards the endof my career that I worked in anutterly Tamil Brahman organi-sation, The Hindu group of pub-lications. I realised then thatbeing a Tamil Brahman was se-rious business. It certainly wasnot like the funny serials writ-ten about them in The Times ofIndia in the early 1990s. Thatseries had popularised the termTambram, much to the anguishof my aged relatives.

That aside, had Fuller andHaripriya not written this book,I would probably have at-tempted one on the subject. Itis, after all, a low-hanging andfascinating fruit. But they havespared me the labour and pro-duced a very scholarly studywhich shows not only Tam-brams their place, but also theworld the place that Tambramsnow occupy in Indian society:down from high-caste oppres-sors to middle-class survivors ina hostile environment in theirown State.

The authors say the Tam-bram population of Tamil Naduhas declined hugely from 2.4 percent in 1931 to just about 1.8per cent now. A quarter of themlive outside Tamil Nadu.

This is not a book for thefrivolous reader looking for aquickie on a flight. It is a seri-

ous academic work that laysbare the mysteries of Tam-Brahmism because, as socialgroups go, Tambrams are as dis-tinct in their practices, customs,shibboleths and prejudices as,say, the Hassidic Jews. Theycling to a mixture of piety andpracticality that survival underdifficult circumstances teaches.In doing so, they often appearas ridiculous as the Jews whohave been known to debatewhether electricity is fire and, ifso, whether it is all right to getinto a lift on the Sabbath.

Similar eccentricities can belaid at the doors of Tambrams.They were obsessed with auspi-ciousness. Whether it was time– rahukalam and yamagandam –or food – no tubers, etc. – or oilbaths and castor oil, the Tam-brams are a class apart.

The authors ably demon-strate the emergence of a bunchof professionals who have donevery well for themselves. Theirrecent history is that, for a hun-dred years from the 1870s, theytook to liberal arts educationand law, thus becoming promi-nent in the fields of educationand governance. Then, whenthe Dravidian movement beganto shove them aside in TamilNadu, they took to engineeringand medicine, though less tothe latter because of ritual pu-rity reasons.

When in the 1990s the restof India pushed on with affirma-tive action for the lower castes,they found themselves beingedged out of both educationalopportunities as well as govern-ment jobs in India. So they wentbig on the private sector. Manywent off to the US and havedone well there. Living outsidetheir natural habitat, they havestarted marrying outside theirfold too.

In consequence, old edificesare crumbling. There used to bea time when a Vadagalai Iyen-gar would not marry a TenkalaiIyengar and vice versa. Thatline was breached in the 1950s.Next, the Iyers and Iyengarsstarted marrying each other,which was a clear watershed.Now everyone else has becomefair game. So, as endangered so-cial groups go, Tamil Brahmanslead the way.

The book, however, fails tobring out adequately thegradual disappearance of a com-munity that was always a curi-osity. The end for the Tambramis in sight, but the book doesn’tsay so. Give it another 50 yearsand, as the Agatha Christienovel says, there will be none.(Courtesy: Rotary News)

– T.C.A. Srinivasa Raghavan

August 19-23: Onam festival(11.30 am, 12.30 pm, 3.30 pm &4.30 pm at DakshinaChitra)

Paithrikakalakalari, Kozhen-cherry, Kerala, performs Pada-yani – a ceremonial dance in-volving masks. The performancewill include Pulanirtham andMarutha Kolam. The uniquePadayani Kolam, Pulanirtham isan offering by the farmers to ex-press their gratitude to the God-dess for paddy production whileMarutha Kolam is performed tokeep away epidemics and inhonour of mother Goddess of thevillage, Marutha. As part of thefestival there will be demonstra-tions on the making (and sale) ofterracotta and bamboo jewellery.

August 16-31, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

Sitting: left to right: S. Krishnan, R. Santhanakrishnan, V. Prabhakar, R. Srinivasan (Capt.), M. Ekambaram(Vice-Captain), T. Bhaskar and P.M. Venkatraman. Standing left to right: K.V. Ranganathan, N. Narayanaswamy,M. Sundaram, D. Sadagopan, T.V. Girish, K.V. Ramanan and R. Jayaram.

The beginnings

The City’ssecond widows’home

● This historic picture goes back to the start of the first widows’ home in Madras.Sister Subbalakshmi started the Ice House widows’ home, Sarada Illam, forBrahmin widows. In this picture are seen its first three child widow graduatesfrom Queen Mary’s College, now celebrating its centenary. Ammukutty,Lakshmi and Parvathy (from left to right) – all came from Sarada Illam –joined QMC in 1917. Ammukutty and Parvathy took up teaching jobs inCoimbatore and Salem. Lakshmi Ammal taught in QMC. Not long afterwardsDr. Muthulakshmi Reddy started the second widows’ home in the city fornon-Brahmin widows, Avvai Home, the subject of this feature.

The first shelter for destitutewomen in Madras was a

home for Brahmin widowsstarted by Sister Subbalakshmi.There was also in the city ahostel for non-Brahmin womenand an orphanage for girls runby Christian missionaries.

On an evening in June 1930,three young girls from Namak-kal turned up in Dr. Muthu-lakshmi Reddy’s house seekingshelter as they had nowhere togo and their relatives would nothelp them either. They be-longed to the Devadasi commu-nity and had refused dedication,whereupon they had to leavetheir home. At the time,Dr. Muthulakshmi was livingin Vepery. As she thought itwas the right thing to do, shesent them to the non-Brahminwomen’s hostel, known to heras she was its medical officer.She thought the girls would bewelcomed there. On the con-trary, the warden of the hostelnot only refused admission tothem but also ill-treated thegirls because of their back-ground. Traumatised, theyreturned to Dr. Muthulakshmi.

Seeing their plight, Muthu-lakshmi and her husbandDr. Sundar Reddy took thegirls in. But this made Muthu-lakshmi want to do somethingon a more permanent basis. Itwas then that she decided tostart a home for the destitute asthey needed not only protectionbut also a future. As, slowly butsteadily, more girls trickled infrom near Namakkal and Sa-lem, a bigger place was required.

She registered Avvai Home un-der the Society’s RegistrationAct. Her sister C.N. Nalla-muthu, a lecturer in QueenMary’s College (later its Princi-pal), was made the Wardenwith a mandate to set up thehome. Dr. Muthulakshmi rent-ed a house (No. 1, KutcheryRoad, Mylapore) where the girlscould be housed. But soonsomething bigger was necessary.Dr. Muthulakshmi started look-ing for vacant land to build anew home.

Adjacent to the Theosophi-cal Society, on its west, therewas a vacant site that belongedto the Tiruvannamalai Sri Aru-nachaleswarar Devasthanam.The Devasthanam, when ap-proached, agreed to help herwith the land, but the rules didnot permit sale of land gifted toa temple. Therefore, a lease wasagreed upon at an unbelievablylow cost: For a period of 50years, 50 grounds at Rs. 10 amonth! She also took another27 grounds for her use at a sli-ghtly higher rate for 50 years.The lease included a clause bywhich it could be renewed after50 years for a further period of50 years.

Construction started in 1934with artisans supervised by thecontractor himself, a patient ofhers. By the end of 1936, thegirls were able to move into theorphanage.

Of the three girls who tookasylum in Dr. Muthulakshmi’shouse and later shifted to AvvaiHome, one became a doctor,another a nurse and the third aschool teacher!

As you walk into a sprawlingarea of lush green, Avvai Homepremises, through a not veryimpressive gate that belies thespace within, you feel as thoughyou are travelling back in aTime Machine. Dr. Muthu-lakshmi lived there. A dilapi-dated old house to the far leftwas once her home. On theright is a temple to GoddessSaraswathi. When the campuswas developed in 1936, next tothe Theosophical Society, therewere hardly any buildings in thevicinity.

The Home shifted to thepresent premises, where manygirls were brought in by theirwidowed mothers who couldnot support them and wherewomen and girl children dis-carded by society for varioussocial reasons took refuge.

C.N. Nallamuthu, a sister ofDr. Muthulakshmi, was the firstwarden of the Home. When thehome was in Kutcheri Road inMylapore, Dr. Muthulakshmi,with the help of one SeshaIyengar, got the girls admittedin the National Girls’ HighSchool. She was very particularthat her girls should get qualityeducation.

At the new Home in Adyar,

she made arrangements withthe Olcott Memorial Schooland Besant TheosophicalSchool (now The School, KFI)to educate the girls.

Dr. Muthulakshmi statedoften enough that her aim infounding the Home was toprovide orphan girls a safe placeto live in, and education and,later, a training leading to aworthy profession in life. Then,ideally, the Home would assistthem in getting married to suit-able persons. With such aims,the number of people wishing toseek a roof in the Home onlykept increasing.

The need to have its ownschool was acutely felt and anelementary school was startedin 1950 within the Avvai Homepremises. Then, in 1952, ateachers’ training institute wasestablished. The Teachers’Training Institute (TTI) had toclose in June 2011 when it wasfound that it did not meet theinfrastructure norms specifiedby the National Council forTeachers’ Education, Researchand Training (NCTERT)though almost all who passedout till its closure have donewell for themselves. Manyteachers appointed in the Avvai

Home School were trained inthis Institute and one suchperson became the headmis-tress of Avvai Home’s primaryschool.

The next step was a highschool and, with a handsomedonation from Mrs. Nalla-muthu, this became a realityand, in 1969, as a naturalprogression the school wasupgraded as a higher secondaryschool in 1978.

The school owes its growthto the untiring efforts of Man-dakini Krishnamurthi, daugh-ter-in-law of Dr. Muthulak-shmi.

Mandakini Krishnamurthi, amember of the Madras Legisla-tive Council from 1977 to 1983,was born in Madhya Pradesh(nee Mandakini DattatreyaDeshpande) and migrated toTamil Nadu where she marriedS. Krishnamurthi, son of Dr.Muthulaksmi, in 1945. On thepassing away of her mother-in-law in 1965, she took charge ofthe Home, its orphanage andassociated institutions and builtthem up to the present stature.She passed away in 1980 –(Courtesy: Adyar Times).

– K.R.A. Narasiah

In the article (MM, August 1st) V. Ram-narayan has stated that Jolly Rovers was

started by K. Balakrishna Rao. It was startedduring 1947-48 (as informed to Madras Musingsin writing a couple of years ago) by my father,late M. Ekambaram and some of his friends.

The photo which appears above was takenduring 1947-48. R. Jayaram is the survivingmember of the club today. He resides inChennai.

E. KrishnanKrishnan_e@hotmail.com

FOOTNOTE: What he had earlier writtento MM stated the following:

“The club was started by a group of college

students in 1947 and it was helped to join theleague by R. Srinivasan, who was with K.S.Ranga Rao, the then Secretary of MadrasCricket Association.

“The name ‘Jolly Rovers Cricket Club’ wassuggested by K.K. Shanmuganathan who wasone amongst us and the name was finalised.Shanmuganathan could not play for Jolly Rov-ers Cricket Club as he was successful in the AllIndia Forest Services exams and had to leaveMadras for the officers’ training.

“The students had no sponsors to run theclub and it was run with the pocket money ofthe students who started it.

“The club won the III Division ‘B’ ZoneChampionship in the very first year of enteringthe league.”

Our Readers Write

4 MADRAS MUSINGS August 16-31, 2015

Trying to copewith hostel food

Capper House, where Queen Mary’s College had its beginning.

� As Queen Mary’s College celebrates its Centenary, wecame across this recollection of the College and its hostelfood in the 1940s. This is in a memoir titled Tiffin* (a recol-lection of her life as well of recipes of the tiffin items shehad enjoyed) by RUKMINI SRINIVAS. These excerpts arepublished with her permission.

In the summer of 1946 I joinedthe liberal arts and humani-

ties department of one of thecountry’s premier women’s in-stitutions for graduate studies,the Queen Mary’s College inMadras.

I took the train from Poonato Madras Central Station,where my mother’s cousin metme in the early hours of themorning, gave me an earlybreakfast and put me in a cyclerickshaw, handing me a sheet ofpaper with handwritten direc-tions to the college. The twoblack trunks containing my per-sonal belongings were loaded onto another rickshaw, and I leftfor my college and new ‘home’,the college hostel, with trepida-tion.

Soon, I was at the imposinggates of the college on BeachRoad, overlooking the sandyMarina with the fishermen’sboats setting out for the day to-wards the brilliant sun. The Bayof Bengal was shimmering calmthat morning. Little did I knowthat with the onset of the tor-rential monsoons, the stormywaves would drive the sea intothe college campus.

I liked what I saw when Ientered the gates. A canopy ofrain tree branches spread acrossthe driveway and a well-laid-out rose garden on the lowerterrace of the campus was inbloom.

* * *On arrival, every student

had a brief interview with MissMyers, the principal (and hostelwarden, of the college. I wasnervous about the interview butMiss Myers allayed my fears.She was the spitting image ofMiss Levy, my English teacherwhom I adored at the ChristChurch School in Jubbulpore.She asked me a couple of ques-tions about my parents and myfamily, and wished me well inmy studies and for my stay inthe hostel.

I was South Indian andTamilian, and Madras shouldhave been ‘home’ to me, but itwas not. I generally foundpeople, including many of myclassmates in college, conserva-tive and caste conscious.Poona, by comparison, was cooland liberal. Women had morefreedom in Poona, where girlsand women rode bicycles toschool and work. Though I hadbrought my bike with me, Irarely felt comfortable riding itin Madras. To add to the feel-

ing of being an ‘outsider’. I alsomissed the comfort of familiarhome-cooked food.

Queen Mary’s College hadan excellent reputation for aca-demics, but the hostel food wasindifferent in quality and theatmosphere of the dining roomuninviting. There were two di-visions in the hostel mess: thecrowded, noisy ‘vegetarianmess’ and the orderly ‘non-veg-etarian dining room’. A veg-etarian by upbringing, I pre-ferred to join the vegetarianmess. Soon I realised that morethan two-thirds of the hostelinmates had joined the vegetar-ian mess even though many pre-ferred non-vegetarian food.They had their reasons.

Many in the hostel referredto the food served in the non-vegetarian dining room as ‘En-glish food’, which translates to

omelette and toast for breakfastinstead of idli and dosai. Theywere also uncomfortable withthe formality of the dining roomand the conversation wasmostly conducted in English.They decided they were not go-ing to pay for the tables withtable cloths, vases with flowersand uniformed bearers.

In comparison, the appea-rance and atmosphere of thelarge rectangular vegetariandining hall was chaotic andunappeatising. Six long rectan-gular wooden tables were ar-ranged parallel to each otherand students sat on woodenbenches. The dining hall couldseat only about forty students ata time, and there were severalbatches at every meal. Therewas an unwritten hierarchyamong the students – ourseniors dined before us. Thefirst two batches of studentsdined at cleaner tables and thefood was hot. The Malayalicooks and servers looked ex-hausted and overworked; thus,

order and cleanlines were verylow priorities for them. One ofthe resident staff did try to im-prove matters, but the numberswere so large that it was a no-win situation.

The weekday lunch and din-ner in the vegetarian mess wasill-planned. On most days, itwas potatoes in one form or an-other. Green vegetables were ararity.

After the third week of thefirst term, in my first year in col-lege, Krishnan Nair, an avuncu-lar man in his forties and thehead cook in the vegetarianmess, noticing that I ate verylittle, came up to me and ad-vised me on the importance ofeating well – he meant more –in order to be able to study. Itold him I did not like the foodserved for lunch and dinner andthat I preferred the breakfastmenu. I still remember theweekly breakfast menu – idlis,with coconut chutney andsambar, dosai with potato curryand chutney, uthappam, ravadosai with coconut chutney,semolina upma, wheat polenta,appam with vegetable kurmastew, and poori with potatocurry. My favourite breakfastwas the spongy, frilly edgedappam that came with thecreamy mixed vegetable kurma,

with the vegetables disintegrat-ing in a thick, spicy, coconutmilk sauce, and pooris with apotato curry. Krishnan Nairtreated me to one more appamand two more pooris than wasmy share.

I would eat heartily at break-fast and deliberately miss lunch.I found no variation or varietyin the menu for lunch and din-ner. The staple was boiled ricewith one dry vegetable curry,sambar with a few vegetables,rasam, buttermilk and, on somedays, appalam. Dessert wasserved on Sundays and festivaldays – fruit salad and ice creamon Sundays and payasam on fes-tivals. After the eclectic fare inmy parents’ home, I found thehostel menu boring and thefood poorly cooked.

In my second year in college,Krishnan Nair suggested that Ivolunteer as a member of thevegetarian mess committee sothat I could have some clout insuggesting changes in themenu. I was not reluctant to

take on the extra work involvedin the membership. In fact, Ienjoyed going to KotwalChowadi market, the wholesalevegetable and fruit market, withKrishnan Nair once a week,wandering among the moun-tains of vegetable sacks andfruit baskets. I introduced morevegetables into the menu andstarted eating better. I also in-troduced a more substantialevening tiffin, of appam withkurma and poori, and with po-tato curry instead of the two bis-cuits or two bajjis that the thenexisting menu provided. Theresult was an increase in themess bill, which made me un-popular with some of the stu-dents who protested, threaten-ing to stage a one-day hungerstrike. It was a delicate balanc-ing act for me between goodfood and capping the mess billat the end of the month. Fortu-nately, this was sorted out with-out compromising on the qual-ity of the food, and I was re-elected to the student member-ship for the next few years of mystay in the College.

* * *Once I had settled down in

my college, I started bondingwith the nine other girls in thelarge dormitory. I learned thatall, except one, came from smalltowns near Madras. SushmaKutty, from Trissur in Kerala,and I were the only two fromoutside Madras Presidency.None of them had heard ofPoona.

Four of the girls, in ankle-length skirts (pavadai in Tamil),and a short blouse with melakku,a length of material wrappedover the upper part of the body,looked in their early teens tome. The other five looked olderand were dressed in sarees.They all looked disapprovinglyat my clothes, a knee-highpleated maroon dress, and twoof them even asked, ‘Are youChristian?’

A couple of days later, Ishifted to wearing a saree,which helped me blend with thestudent community in the col-lege.

Ten days later at a hostelmeeting, all the new entrants tothe intermediate. BA and BSccourses were allotted tutors and

rooms. The tutors wereresponsible for the good beha-viour and academic perfor-mance of their wards. Theyassumed the role of surrogateparents. My tutor, Mrs. Manda-kini Bai, was the chairperson ofthe Hindi department. She wasbenignly firm and helpful. Shewas fond of me, maybe becauseof my fluency in speaking Hindiand, unsuccessful though, hadtried to get me to transfer toHindi from French.

I was allotted a room on thefirst floor in Stone House Block– a room for two – and my firstroom-mate was Juliet. I found,when I entered my room withtwo trunks and a hold-all, shehad already unpacked and wait-ing to see who would share herroom. I remember her as beingshort in stature, just about fivefeet tall, with a tanned com-plexion, curly-haired and stock-ily built. I was very impressedthat she could lift my trunkswithout much effort.

As we got talking, I learntthat her parents lived inTanjore, which was anotherreason to bond with her. Julietand I shared a room for the firstyear after we joined college inthe intermediate class. Over thefirst couple of weeks, we becamegood friends, and though thehostel room was small andcramped with two chests ofdrawers, two writing desks withstraight-backed chairs, and twobeds against each wall, andhardly any room to move, eachone of us had managed a spaceof our own. Juliet was very ad-justing and, as I realised soon,caring too. When my youngersister Sarasa also joined QueenMary’s College in 1947, Juliethelpfully moved to anotherroom in the same block and onthe same floor, and we contin-ued to be friends. She leftQueen Mary’s College at theend of the second year when shejoined the Vellore Medical Col-lege and, sadly, thereafter I lostall contact with her. I contin-ued to stay in the students’ hos-tel for the next three years till Icompleted the Bachelor of Arts(Honours) programme inGeography.

(To be concluded)

* Tiffin by Rukmini Srinivas(Rupa Publications India Pvt.Ltd., 2015)

August 16-31, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

Till August 21� Exhibition: History through Invitation – RMRL

from the collection of Sayeed Cassim 10 am-5 pm dailyfamily. Organised by the Roja Muthiah except SundayResearch Library (RMRL).

Till August 23� Exhibition: A photographic exhibition Crowne Plaza

on 60 years of Australian cricket history Adyar Park lobbyin the city. The Australian Consulate-General presents a photographicexhibition which chronicles memorableand historic moments from the ten Testmatches and four one-day internationals thatAustralia has played in Madras

Till August 24� A special Burra Hazri breakfast will be Vivanta by Taj

available at the Vivanta by Taj at ConnemaraConnemara to start its 125th year 9-11 amcelebrations.The sumptuous, pricedbreakfast brings to the table dishes fromthe menus out of the hotel’s fabled past.A special High Tea is also being offeredin the afternoons throughout the Week.

Till August 31Exhibition: Display of books, old and Madras Clubnew, on Madras. LibraryFor members and guests only.

August 19� Visit: Visit to Heritage Centre, IIT Madras IIT Madras

For details: Suresh: 9940421073 8.30 am-10.00 am

� Panel Discussion: IIT Madras: The IC & SR AuditoriumChennai Links and their Evolution. IIT MadrasPanel Members: S. Muthiah and 3-4 pmK.R. Narasiah. Moderator: Prof. Ajit Kolar,IIT Madras. For details: Suresh: 9940421073

� Illustrated Lecture: From Swadesamitran PIIto Dina Thanthi – The remarkable 4.30-6.00 pmjourney of Tamil newspapers and journals.A presentation by K.R.A. Narasiah.Organised by Press Institute of India.

� Nature Walk: IIT Madras. IIT MadrasFor details: Suresh: 9940421073 5.30-6.30 pm

� Talk: Chennai Heritage Lecture: GRTDr. Uma Ram and Dr. Sharada Srinivas – 6-8 pmBeing Women & Women Doctors in Chennai

� Film: Alliance Française of Madras, Edouard MichelinINTACH and PondyCAN screen a Auditorium, Alliancedocumentary: India’s Disappearing Française ofBeaches – A Wake Up Call. A film Madras, 6.30 pmproduced by Shekar Dattatri for PondyCitizens’ Action Network (PondyCAN).In just 15 minutes you discover why India’sbeaches are eroding at an alarming rate,

Madras

Week ’15August 16 to August 23

and what needs to be done to stop thisdisaster from spreading further. This willbe followed by a panel discussion onour beaches, featuring eminentpersonalities all connected with Chennai.

August 19-24� Exhibition: Photographs selected from City Centre

submissions to the Madras PhotographicSociety Contest.

August 20� Illustrated Lecture: Photography on Glass PII

– When photography came to Madras. 4.30-6.00 pmNarrated by S. Muthiah, projected byD. Krishnan. Organised by the PressInstitute of India

� Talk: The Journalist who became a RMRLConsumer Activist: Recalling R. Desikan, 5.00-6.30 pmby R.V. Rajan. Organised by Roja MuthiahResearch Library

� Talk: Chennai Heritage Lecture: Singing The Park Hyattin Chennai – Sanjay Subrahmanyan 6-8 pmin conversation with Sriram V.

� Quiz: An inter-school quiz competition Preliminaries:for students from Classes IX to XII on 1.30-4.00 pmPlaces of worship and religious Finals: 4 pmmonuments in Madras to highlight the richculture of the city. Quizmaster: S. Ram.Each team to comprise three participants;and a school can send more than oneteam. Organised by Thejus, T.Nagar.For details, call 2815 6370 / 94440 00060

� Knowledge Hunt: Visit British Council to For details:explore knowledge by taking part in a 1800-102-4353Knowledge Hunt. For informationcontact British Council atchennai.enquiry@in.britishcouncil.org

August 21-22� Madras quotient: Visit British Council and For details:

participate in a trivia quiz 1800-102-4353For information contact British Council atchennai.enquiry@in.britishcouncil.org

August 21-31� Exhibition: Rare and known photographs Vennirul Art Gallery,

and paintings of Madras. C.P. Art CentreInauguration:August 21, 5.00 pm

August 21� Illustrated Lecture : Media and PII

Advertising in Chennai – A fascinating 4.30-6.00 pmhistory. A presentation by R.V. Rajan.Organised by Press Institute of India.

Promotion and Publicity:PRISM Public Relations.

Check www.themadrasday.in and Madras Week Appfor up-to-date programmes.

NOTE: � Open to all, but terms apply. Limited seating at all venues on first-come, first-served basis.* All Chennai Heritage walks require booking and payment in advance. Please make your bookings through email

(editor@madrasmusings.com) and you will be informed on where to make the payment and get further details.

Updated till August 12th

6 MADRAS MUSINGS August 16-31, 2015

� Talk: Chennai Heritage Lecture: Chamiers, 6-8 pmEmergency in Madras, R. Swaminathanand S. Murari.

� Talk: Humour in Madras by Major V.V. Nahar Hall,Narayanan followed by a hilarious White’s Roadsession with Swami Siripananda. RoyapettahOrganised by Transactional Analysis 6.30-8.30 pm

� Madras Week Celebrations at Phoenix Market CityPhoenix Market City Mall. Stand up For details contact:comedy show by Evam followed by a 044 30083389fashion show, choreographed by Sunil Menon

August 22-23� Film: Madras-based Artists. DakshinaChitra

DakshinaChitra will also showcase 11 am-1pm onwardsphotographs of old Madras and 3 pm-5 pm.

� Exhibition: Display of photos of the great Luz House,cricketing family of Buchi Babu. Mylapore

� Exhibition: Twin Art Show: The event will PINE Banquet Hallshowcase the works of two special Savera Hotelpersons: artist Narasimhalu, who is (Inauguration:suffering from Cerebral Palsy, a gifted 6.30 pm,person adept at embroidery and painting August 21,with his foot. The other artist is by invitation only)R. Udhaykumar, who has Spinal MuscularAtrophy and whose right thumb andindex finger are all that moves in hiswhole body. Using them, he paints.Organised by HeART BEAT Foundation,Gallery Sri Parvathi and Nina Reddy of Savera Hotel.

August 22-September 5� Exhibition: Madras – A Reflection. An Forum Art Gallery

exhibition of watercolour paintings of 10.30 am-6.30 pmMadras by S. Potrarasan. Monday to Saturday

(Inauguration:11.30 am, Aug. 22)

August 22� Photowalk for kids: Bylanes off Starting Point:

Bhageerathaís place. Walk and click Vasanth & Co,from the Purasawalkam High Road Purasawalkam Highto the once quiet bylane, Vellala Street. Road, Opp. BSNLGet to know the history of the street Reporting Time:where famous personalities like 6.45 a.m.R.K. Narayan, R.K. Laxman, writers 1 hour‘Marina’ and SaVi lived. Visit the 2000 yearold Gangadeeswarar & Pankajakshi temple,the Srinivasa Perumal temple and theBhajanai Koil. Walk led by Ramaswamy Nof The Chennai Photowalk. Organised byYOCee. Contact Revathi: 9840544629

� Heritage cum Flora Walk inside the QMC Starts at 7.15 a.m.campus. Heritage Walk led by Dr. Uttra Assemble in frontPrabhu and V. Vasantha (both Alumnae) of Kalai Maligaiand the Flora Walk by A. Thilagavathy, facing Marina.Asst. Prof. of Botany QMC. Dr. UttraPrabhu 9840447830, V.Vasantha 9940140302,A. Thilagavathy 9486888849

� Heritage Walk: 3rd Annual Trace Origin Trip fee: Rs. 940of Madras to Pazhaverkadu (Pulicat). Inclusive of AC bus6.10 am: Starts Loyola College ICAM gate transport, breakfast,8.30 am: Breakfast and A/V Presentation lunch, snacks,9.00 am: Heritage Walk coffee and water.12.30 pm: Lunch and depart for Chennai. For details:

42139961www.aarde.ininfo@aarde.in

� Heritage Walk: Chennai Heritage Walk: 6-8 amThe Islamic Heritage of Triplicane Rs 500 per headled by S. Anwar. Walk ends with To register sendbreakfast. email to editor@

madrasmusings.com

� Heritage Walk: Fort St George. Assemble Starts at 6.45 amat parking lot opp. Fort's main gate. No 2 hoursregistration required. Walk led by VincentD' Souza. Free. No registration required.

Walk: A tour of two temples in Chintadripet 7am-8ambuilt by Dubash Adiappa Narayan.You will Walk led bysee fascinating relics from the 18th PradeepCentury and relish temple food from the Chakravarthy21st Century! Dress code: Men - preferably veshti/dhoti with ashirt/t-shirt. Trousers are OK. Women: Sarees/Salwars.Either way no shorts please!

� Seminar: On Architecture in Colonial C.P. RamaswamiMadras with the following speakers: AiyarInaugural address by S. Muthiah, Foundationfollowed by Dr. Nanditha Krishna: 10 am-1 pmThe New Architecture of Colonial Madras;Sriram V.: Architects and Contractors inColonial Madras; Dr. Razia Tony:Churches of Colonial Madras; Dr.Chithra Madhavan: Temples of ColonialMadras; and S. Anwar: Mosques ofColonial Madras

� Quiz: The Murugappa Madras Quotient St. Bede’sQuiz 2015. Quizmaster: Dr. Navin AuditoriumJayakumar. San Thomé.

1 pm onwards.

� Quiz: Quiz on Madras. For Tamil medium P.S. Schoolschools. No registration required. Campus Hall.Organised by Mylapore Times. 1.30 pm onwards.

Teams of 2

� Workshop: Terracotta tile making and DakshinaChitradesigning for adults. The participants will 10 am-5 pmlearn the process of making terracottatile and the making of traditional designon the tiles. For details: 98412 66149

Walk: Chennai Heritage Walk: Textile 2.30-4.30 pmtour of T. Nagar. Starts at Co-optex, 2.30 pm assembleTheagorayanagar where T.N. Venkatesh, IAS Co-optex,will flag-off the walk and will conclude Theagorayaat Nalli’s. It will be led by Sreemathy NagarMohan. Rs. 350 per head

To register sendemail to editor@madrasmusings.com

� Food Trail: Visits to some North Indian Starts at 4.30 pmsnack outlets in and around Mint Street ends at 6.00 pmto give you a taste of the rich food Start point: Kakadain this part of our city. Sweets (Near JainPrema: 24986651. No registration charges. Temple), Sowcarpet

� Talk: Chennai Heritage Lecture: AmethystThe River in the City – D.H. Rao speaks 6-8 pmon the Buckingham Canal

� Illustrated lecture: Dabba Chetty Kadai Gallery Sri Parvatiby Badri. Organised by Kalpakalakshmi 6.30 p.m.Charitable Trust.

� An opportunity for 8-15 year old budding For details:journalists to explore their interviewing 1800-102-4353skills. Register with British Council and 6.30-7.30 pmwin a chance to interview cricketerKrishnamachari Srikkanth and NikhilWhitaker, curator of the Madras CrocodileBank about their memories and views about Madras. Forinformation chennai.enquiry@in.britishcouncil.org

Talk: Sriram V on Street Names of Madras ClubChennai. Followed by a special Madras 7 pmDay dinner. For members and theirguests only.

Talk: Madras – Past, Present and Future Rotary Clubby Sujatha Shankar. For members and of Madrastheir guests only. Southwest.

� Dance: Madras Week Celebrations at Phoenix Market CityPhoenix Market City Mall. Dance For details contact:performance by Padmashree Shobhana 044 30083389

August 23� Nature Walk: Bird Walk at Perumbakkam Reporting time

Tank. Organised by Madras Naturalists’ 6.30 amSociety. Reporting Place: Bus Stand opp Group Size: 25

August 16-31, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

IT Park near Toll Plaza in Perumbakkam.Please bring along Binoculars & Cameras.Please email Vijay at gopivkumar58@gmail.comto confirm your participation. Confirmationstrictly on first-come basis.

� Heritage Walk: From Ireland to Madras 6.45 amshores – Story of the first 2 hoursPresentation nuns of BVM. Starting Open to all. Nopoint: VOC statue, outside Madras Port, registration reqd.opp. Customs House, Rajaji Salai, GeorgeTown. Walk through George Town, endsat St. Mary’s Cathedral, Armenian Street.Led by Vincent de Souza

Heritage Walk: Chennai Heritage Walk: 7-9 amFort St. George. Led by Sriram V. Rs 350 per head

To register sendemail to editor@madrasmusings.com

� Walking Tour: The 8th Annual Living 7.30 am Meet atStatues of Marina Beach. Brief dramatic the Kannagi Statue,enactments of the stories of six historical Marina Beachfigures (Kannagi, NSC Bose, Thiruvalluvar, (Bharathi Salai).GU Pope, Bharathidasan, and Avvaiyar)in Tamil and English.Please contact the World Storytelling Institute if you mightlike to perform one or more of the figures, or read aloudanything written by them. Organised by World StorytellingInstitute.For details: 98403 94282 or www.storytellinginstitute.org

� Tree Walk: NIZHAL’s Landmark Tree My Ladye’sSeries of Tree Walks. Vriksha Paryatan – Garden, Periamet.A tree walk (commentary in Hindi). 4.30 pmAdmire the rare Asoka and other heritage For registrationtrees. Meeting point: The gate on 9791029568 /Sydenham’s Road. 8870005455 /

9840604912

� Dance: Dancing in the Parlour. An 6.15 p.m.evening of Madras Presidency’s Sadir, Luz HouseMusic, History and Storytelling. MylaporeWith Sundari, Ranganayaki, Sivaramaiyya,Pilli Narasimha Rao Naidu and others.Concept and performance:Dr. Swarnamalya Ganesh andRanga Mandira ensembleContact: Ranga Mandira: 9840424703

� Talk: The Madras Mag and Luz House Luz House,invite you to an evening of conversations Mylaporewith writers/translators Padma Narayanan 4.45 pmand Kalyan Raman, on transportingthe nuances of Tamil words to anEnglish-speaking world.

� Talk: Chennai Heritage Lecture: Westin, VelacheryChandu Nair chats with three tech 6-8 pmprofessionals who have created MetroUtility Apps. (Note: This replaces Dr. ChitraMadhavan’s talk announced earlier.)

� Illustrated lecture: Bleeding Madras Gallery Sri Parvati(Mystery textile) by Sabitha Radhakrishna. 6.30 p.m.Organised by KalpakalakshmiCharitable Trust.

� Interaction: Third Chennai Authors’ and Odyssey, AdyarPublishers’ get-together to meet and 6.30-8.00 pmchat with readers

� Vocal: Madras Week Celebrations at Phoenix Market CityPhoenix Market City Mall. Vocal For details contact:performance by Sudha Raghunathan 044 30083389

August 24Play: Madras nalla Madras: A street play At British Councilperformance led by Arun Krishnamurthy 5.30 pm(Environmentalist Foundation of India)on the topic Madras nalla Madras. Followedby interaction between the British Council’sRegional Director, South Asia, Stephan Roman,S. Muthiah, Chronicler of Madras, andKrishnamurthy on the heritage and culture of Madras.

August 25Talk: Ram Ramakrishnan, entrepreneur, Hotel Saverawill pay tribute to the undying music of 6.30 pmM.S. Viswanathan. Organised by theRotary Club of Madras South.For members & guests only.

August 29� Talk and Walk: The City and its Cinema. Starting Point:

An introduction to the fascinating history of Entrance gate ofcinema in Chennai followed by a walk L.V. Prasadthrough Prasad Studios and Prasad Labs. Academy,The walk will offer a unique opportunity Saligramam.to see what an actual studio floor looks like. 9:30 am-12 noonThe walk will be led by Venkatesh Chakravarthy, RegionalDirector of L.V. Prasad Film & TV Academy. FreeFor registration: rajith.bala@gmail.com

August 30� Quiz: The Madras Open Quiz Details at

organised by the Murugappa Group www.murugappa.comin association with the Quiz Foundationof India. Quizmaster: Dr. Sumanth CRaman.Open to all quizzing enthusiastsin and around Madras. Exciting prizesfor the winning teams

August 31Talk: Meet Supdt. Christian Le Fanu, IPS, Vivanta by TajMadras Police. S. Muthiah speaks of the Connemaraexploits of a new detective hero, one 6.30 pmbased in Madras. Organised by MadrasBook Club. For members and guests only.

September 1Talk: The American Contribution to Madras. TAG CentreA talk by S. Muthiah. Organised by Rotary 6.30 pmClub of Madras South with seven otherRotary Clubs participating. Membersand guests only.

September 2� Reading: Readings on Madras by Chamiers, 6.30 pm

Madras Players

* * *

Contests� The Madras Song was launched by the The video along

Murugappa Group last year as a music with the lyrics ofvideo and went viral with over 3 lakh the song, rulesviews on YouTube . This year they are of the contest, asking people to come up with their ways to submit etcown versions of the song. It could be are all available onin any genre of music, sung solo or www.murugappamadrasperformed as a band. song.comBoth audio and video entries are welcome.

The bumper prize is Rs1 lakh. A whole host of other prizes for:

Voice with an edge award from CUMI Abrasives

The voice that will go places award from Parry Travels

The Super Band Award from TI Cycles

The Voice Worth Insuring award from Chola MS GeneralInsurance

The most refreshing cover version award from Parry’s ‘Fresh Tea’

The sweetest voice award from Parry’s Sugar

* * *� Contest: INTACH-Chennai Photo contest For details:

for college students. Identify heritage youngintachchennai@structures other than listed structures gmail.comfor your pictures.

* * *August 20

Contest: Baking MADras – The baking contest with a Twistorganised by The Murugappa Group in association with the OldMadras Baking Company and Hospitality partner: Raintree AnnaSalai. The event will consist of three rounds – the last of whichwill be a live cook off Cash prize of Rs.60,000, gift hampers andvouchers to be won. Last date to participate – 20th August2015. For details: Log on to the official Murugappa FacebookPage at www.facebook.com/murugappagroup

* * *

8 MADRAS MUSINGS August 16-31, 2015

August 24� Contest: Competition on Folk DakshinaChitra

Performance for Chennai college students. No participation feeColleges can send groups of six to ten For details:students. The theme would revolve around 98412 66149traditional folk performances. The best threefolk performing teams will be given prizes and certificates.

* * *

August 25Competition: Identify... a competition C.P. Arts Centrefor children based on buildings, buildersand architectural styles. For details: cprafoundation@gmail.com

* * *

Other Programmes� AWARDS: The Senior Citizens Group of For details

Besant Nagar plans to present ‘Pride of 98842 24480Madras’ awards to senior citizens duringMadras Week. The awards will be given to senior citizens in thecity who have made a difference to the city or who have gonebeyond the call of duty to bring pride to Chennai.

* * *Madras Youth Choir� Madras Youth Choir plans to perform at three or four public

parks in the city during Madras Week. It would like to havepartners who can organise their own events in the park space.So you can host a Madras drawing show and a Tree Walk thatruns with the choir singing, mostly songs on city/nation. Parks inT Nagar, Anna Nagar and Nageswara Rao Park, Luz are beingconsidered. If you are part of a youth/community group keen tolink up, please contact us at themadrasday@gmail.com

* * *� Trying to recreate San Thomé of the 17th Organised by

and 18th Centuries with a map a scholar Mylapore Timesshared. If you are keen to help this project,mail to: themadrasday@gmail.com. We needvolunteers who can help collect old photosof places in San Thomé which are 50/75/100 years old.

* * *Till August 23

Chettinad Food Festival at the Marina.Sivagami will demonstrate Chettinad cuisine preparations duringthis week. To attend the classes you may contact: The Marina,Nazim, Manager -9884396213, 044-42035265

* * *August 22Release of Special Postal Cover: D. Hemachandra Rao, philatelist,

collector, heritage enthusiast and civil engineer has chosen ashis theme for his Special Postal Cover – Coins of the MadrasPresidency. Visuals of the pagoda, panam and kaasu will befeatured on the cover. Thanks to a collector of coins, Rao hassourced some nice pictures of the coins. For details:themadrasday@gmail.com

* * *Film

A docufilm to screen at your Campus. 33 minutesThe Gudiyam rock shelters located near www.gudiyamcaves.inChennai where Stone Age people and theirculture thrived many thousands of years ago. This documentaryreveals some surprising facts about the archaeologicalfindings and geological formation of these rock shelters. Uniformview and appeal of all the experts strengthens the need forurgent call to protect, popularise and conserve this uniqueprehistoric heritage site

Young INTACH-Chennai suggests...

� Film: Screen 50-minute film History of Chennai by S. Muthiah(given free to schools by INTACH till August 22nd and Rs.150 acopy thereafter) during Madras Week for students in the Middleand High School.

(SCHOOLS: please contact youngintachchennai@gmail.com)

� Design: Design a Madras Day Flag and carry it along withplacards on Madras Day in a walk inside your school premisesduring breaks and outside school. Stop at points and talk topeople about Madras Day’s significance. Please send us theroute decided by your school. (Middle and Higher)

� During Madras Week many exhibitions and talks are beingconducted in the city. Organise a trip to an exhibition andhave the children write about it. (Middle and Higher).

� Ask students to bring old photographs of their neighbourhoodand Chennai and display them. (Middle and Higher)

� Organise a display of landmarks of Chennai by Middle Schoolstudents and get Primary school children to view them.

� Get children to write a story based on the history of Madrasand read it out in class.

For assistance: youngintachchenai@gmail.com

* * *

Madras Week Celebrations by City SchoolsWe have been informed by the following schools that they have organisedactivities to celebrate Madras Day/Week/Month from the first week of August:Alpha School, CIT Nagar; Chettinad Vidyashram, Rajah Annamalaipuram;Hussain Memorial Matric. Hr. Sec. School, Ambattur; Kids Central,Kotturpuram; KRM Public School, Perambur; Mary Clubwala Jadhav GirlsHigher School, Egmore; Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr. Sec. School,K.K. Nagar; PSBB, KK Nagar; PSBB Millennium, Gerugambakkam; SriSankara Vidyashramam, Tiruvanmiyur and Vidya Mandir, Mylapore.

These activities have included screening INTACH’S History of Madrasfilm, those suggested by Young INTACH, Chennai, and a variety ofcompetitions. Of special note were:

– KRM Public School, Perambur cycling along the Cooum’s course withthe Cycling Yogis.

– Sri Sankara Vidyashramam’s visit to Lathur Panchayat Union MiddleSchool near Kancheepuram,

– Kids Central, Kotturpuram, helping out at the Madras Literary Societyand exploring its campus, and

– Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr. Sec. School, conducting over fourdays a dozen competitions in which several other schools participate.

Events still ahead:

Alpha School, CIT Nagar (August 22nd)– Screening of INTACH movie – History of Chennai

Chettinad Vidyashram (August 22nd)– Students to bring old photographs of their neighbourhood and

Chennai and display them (Middle School).

Hussain Memorial Matric. Hr. Sec. School, Ambattur (August 22nd)– Preparation and display of placards, photos and cut outs on

Madras Day.* * *

KRM Public School, Perambur (August 21st)– Exhibition: Yukai Tanjoubi (Happy Birthday 10 am-2.30 pm

to Madras) School premises* * *

Mary Clubwala Jadhav Girls Higher School, Egmore (August 22nd)– Quiz and painting competition for deaf children about Colours of

silence ... general monuments, festivals and visits to places wherechildren went on excursion (Vedanthangal etc)

Addresses for the venues

Alliance Francaise: No.24, College Road, Nungambakkam; Amethyst: Next to Corporation Bank, White’s Road, Royapettah; Chamiers Anokhe: 106 Chamier’s Road,R.A. Puram, (diagonally opposite Sheraton Park); City Centre: Dr Radhakrishnan Salai; C.P. Arts Centre: 1, Eldam’s Road, Alwarpet; DakshinaChitra: East Coast Road,Muttukadu. Forum Art Gallery: 57, 5th Street, Padmanabha Nagar, Adyar. Gallery Sri Parvati: 28/160, Eldam’s Road, Alwarpet. The Marina: 39, College Road, Nungambakkam.Luz House: 176, Luz Church Road, Luz, Mylapore; Observer Research Foundation (ORF): 5th Floor, A-1 Tower (Rear Wing), 89, Dr. Radhakrishnan Road;Odyssey: 45 & 47, 1st Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar. Nahar Hall: Deshbandhu Plaza, 47, Whites Road, Royapettah; Phoenix Market City: 142, Velachery Main Road,Near Gurunanak College, Velachery; Press Institute of India: Second Main Road, Taramani, CPT Campus, (behind M.S. Swaminathan Foundation);Roja Muthiah Research Library: 3rd Cross Road, Rajiv Gandhi IT Expressway, CPT Campus, Taramani, (opposite Indira Nagar MRTS Station); Westin, Velachery: No.154, Velachery Main Road, Velachery.

August 16-31, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 9

Fromjournalist...

... to theatre personality...

... to educationist

Young Rajamma, the journalist.

� by Venkatesh Krishnamoorthi

Rajalakshmi (Rajamma, tomost) Parthasarathy is a

woman with many talents. Shehas left her mark on journalism,theatre, social causes and resto-ration of temples, besides play-ing a major role in education.The school she started, PadmaSeshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB),has grown into a group ofinstitutions of higher secondaryeducation of high repute inChennai today. Her life, how-ever, goes beyond education,and her contribution to art andculture equals her promotion ofthe cause of education.

In the field of arts, Raja-lakshmi chose to bask in theshadow of her late husbandY.G. Parthasarathy, a passion-ate player in Tamil theatre,popularly known as YGP. Manyknow her, therefore, as Mrs.YGP without the least idea ofher given name.

She was the first womanjournalist to enter the portals ofThe Hindu, “the staid and se-date newspaper”, as her biogra-pher Lakshmi Devnath puts itin A Class Apart. She was just25 when, as Rashmi, sheprovided comfort to anxiouswomen in an ‘agony aunt’column What Should I Do? inSport & Pastime (1948 - 1967),a weekly of The Hindu. Donninganother pseudonym, ‘Jalak’, shewrote in Tamil for Kumudamand as ‘Sumangali’ for Swadesa-mitran. Women’s Corner was hercolumn providing a rationalslant to women’s issues. Shealso wrote on fashion trends inSport & Pastime. A compilationof her columns has beenpublished as a book, Stree. “Iwas a rebel. I didn’t like old-fashioned ideas.” she says. Inone of her columns, she wrotetips for career girls as early as

ted ‘Pattu’ (Padmanabhan) – afellow actor and scriptwriterwith a flair for comedy writing.They struck a close friendship.Recalling the time, Rajammasays, “He was not happy asthere were few opportunitiesand SVS did not encourage the-atre after some time.” Seeingthe duo’s common passion fortheatre, she suggested that theystart a troupe on their own.Thus was born the Tamil the-atre group United AmateurArtistes (UAA) in 1952. UAAwas known for introducing En-glish mixed with colloquialTamil. It encouraged womenactors to come on stage. Cutdialogues – stopping a dialogue

mid-sentence countered by an-other – was another highlight ofUAA’s plays. Critics slammedit, but audiences loved it. EveryUAA script was vetted by Raj-amma: YGP would never fina-lise one without her feedback.It Happened at Midnight wasUAA’s first production. YamanEmaandan, Never Say Die andPavam Balaraman are some ofthe group’s social comedies, agenre that UAA had developeda niche for.

In the 1950s, Rajalakshmialso became the secretary of theMadras Natya Sangh, a branchof Bharatiya Natya Sangh.Initially, Rukmini Devi Arun-dale was the Sangh’s president.Later Dr. V. Raghavan, re-nowned Sanskrit scholar andIndologist, took over the reins.Natya Sangh was a nationalorganisation with internationalprominence. It often invitedpopular productions in theatreand dance from abroad to per-form in Madras. When Ragha-van was President, the Sanghalso adapted Sanskrit plays intoEnglish and Tamil. It wasRajamma who persuaded afourth form student then, J.Jayalalithaa, to act in one of

Natya Sangh’s plays, The WholeTruth. In a memorable endingto the play, the girl, after actingdead in the final scene, sprangup to take a bow along with theother actors.

UAA faced multiple chal-lenges such as no-shows with-out notice by actors, and occa-sional messing up of dialogueson stage. In time, UAA becamea home for many prominent ac-tors and Rajamma, as she wasfondly called by the entiretroupe, was the central figurearound whom things revolved.The YGP house was like asecond home to the UAAtroupe. Apart from regulars likeSandhya (Jayalalithaa’s

(Continued on page 11)

The UAA troupe – Cho Ramaswamy, Mrs. YGP, A.R. Srinivasan, Y.G. Mahendra and others – with the then Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran.

Rajamma, the educationist.

1950 when very few womenwere part of the workforce. Init, she cautioned the secretaryto be firm with the ‘flirtatiousboss’, advised the receptionistto be tactful and told theteacher ‘not to be frightened’.At the same time she asked theteacher not to be ‘carried awayby your colleague’s charms’.

She built impressive creden-tials as a journalist beforemoving on to other spheres ofactivity.

Rajamma’s childhood wasshaped by her mother Alamelufrom whom she drew inspirationand imbibed a host of qualities,the most prominent being theability to take control of anysituation. She says, “My motherwas broadminded, but an ortho-

dox woman steeped in our cul-ture.” Absorbed in books,Rajamma developed a sharpmind, and went on to becomethe first woman graduate in thefamily.

Yechan Gunja Parthasa-rathy (YGP) entered her life by

accident while she was in col-lege. She was a source of solaceand strength for Vaidehi, herclose friend at college andYGP’s sister, who was undergo-ing problems as a result of herlove marriage that had dis-pleased her in-laws. An innocu-ous letter of gratitude from YGPkicked off what was to becomea lifelong association. Not longafterwards, the book-lovingintrovert. Rajalakshmi, becamethe life partner of the witty andebullient extrovert YGP. As aresult of the association, she toobecame a connoisseur of thearts.

* * *Back from Delhi, YGP was

acting at Suguna Vilasa Sabha(SVS) in 1948, where he spot-

mother) and Vidyavati (heraunt), the troupe also featuredNagesh and Lakshmi, both ofwhom blazed the silver screenlater. Veteran actor ARS (A.R.Srinivasan) and Cho Rama-swamy began stage acting withUAA. Cho more or less becamepart of the YGP household. Inhis memoirs written recently inKumudam, he recalled hisfavourite activity – raiding herrefrigerator for food – and hisaffectionate bond that stillcontinues with Rajamma.

Not only actors, but alsoscriptwriters like ‘VietnamVeedu’ Sundaram, Venkat,Visu, Mouli – all made their de-but at UAA. When ArchibaldMcLeod, a famous director fromthe USA came for a year totrain actors at the Natya Sangh,

almost the entire troupe con-sisting of ARS, Jayalalithaa,Nagesh, Lakshmi, and othersmade use of the opportunity.One memorable play of the timewas Tea House of the AugustMoon (John Patrick) in whichRajamma acted and spoke inJapanese.

Rajamma had developed aflair for props, acting, story anddialogues. She was part of everystory discussion as she had astrong sense of the story. Hertwist to the story line inKurukshetram, in which ARSwas the lead actor, made theplay a roaring hit. Her involve-ment did have some comical in-terludes. In his typical punchy

satirical style with a touch ofimpishness, Cho says that allher suggestions were usually“rejected”. Scriptwriter ‘Viet-nam Veedu’ Sundaram at-tributes whatever English heknows to Rajamma. Mouli saysher suggestions had an underly-ing logic. Rajamma recalls,“YGP used to say, I was theirbest friend and worst critic. Attimes, I used to come up withabsurd suggestions, whichwould make people laugh.” Adrawback, she says, was herpenchant for ‘mile-long’ titles,which would be shortenedeventually.

Popular actor and stage vet-eran Y.G. Mahendra, Raj-amma’s elder son, who alsomade his stage debut at UAA,recalls a funny incident. YGPwas in the habit of awarding Rs.50 to the best title for a playwhose script was ready. For onesuch play, an engrossing thrillerby Mouli, Rajamma suggestedthe title Adi Mel Adi VaithaalAmmiyum Nagarum. In a jest,YGP announced, “I will haveto part with a part of my wealthfor advertising this title in

10 MADRAS MUSINGS August 16-31, 2015

(Current Affairs questions arefrom the period July 16th to31st. Questions 11 to 20 per-tain to Chennai and TamilNadu.)

1. Which new OS was globallylaunched in Kenya on July 30thby its India-born CEO?

2. Sanjiv Chaturvedi and AnshuGupta are the two latest Indiansto be conferred with which pres-tigious Asian award?

3. Chris Froome won which pres-tigious annual sporting event forthe second time recently?

4. How did Professor RichardHay and George Baker make Par-liament news recently?

5. Name the two Indian compa-nies in the latest ‘2015 Fortune500 Global Companies list’ at119th and 158th rank.

6. Name the eminent banker whois the President of the new BRICSBank that formally started its op-erations from its headquarters inShanghai on July 21st.

7. The fragments of, reportedly,the oldest version of which bookwere found recently in the Uni-versity of Birmingham?

8. Name the first post-apartheidcaptain of the South Africancricket team and a world-class all-rounder who passed awayrecently.

9. Name the Nobel Laureate,after whom a sub-atomic particleis named, who was recentlyawarded the Copley Medal, theworld’s oldest science prize.

10. Name the work, considered asequel to Harper Lee’s celebratedTo Kill A Mockingbird, that waspublished recently.

* * *

11. Which popular sporting out-fit is celebrating 50 years of beingmanaged by one organisation?

12. What happened to Madras onJuly 17, 1996?

13. By what name is Lock Cheri,near the Kilpauk-Purasawalakamarea, now known?

14. Who or what was Chengamsarakku?

15. Name the regular ship thatconnects Port Blair and Chennai?

16. What do the initials in thename of the well-known companyA V Thomas & Co. stand for?

17. Which century-old institu-tion in Chennai has the motto‘Lighted to Lighten’ and a crestmade up of sunflowers, a lit lampand its motto?

18. Where in the metro is a newCiclo Café with a cycling theme?

19. Which respected Chennaibusiness house was founded by M.Rajagopala Naidu?

20. Which institution came upbecause of a schoolgirl Nalla-muthu Ramamurthy’s prize-winning essay?

(Answers on page 12)

The King Institute of Preventive Medicine.

The vaccine depot, the precusor ofthe King Institute of Preventive Medi-cine.

W.G. King.

The pioneersof theKing InstituteThe King Institute of Pre-

ventive Medicine (KIPM)in Guindy was formally openedby Governor Lord Ampthill inNovember 1905. KIPM was al-ready functioning as a vaccinedepot supplying smallpox vac-cine lymph to people in the Ma-dras Presidency, supervised byLt. Col. Walter Gaven Kingfrom the 1890s. By 1905, he hadgrown it into a large provincialfacility, housing a well-

equipped bacteriological labo-ratory and a public health labo-ratory in addition to the origi-nal vaccine depot. It was namedafter King to celebrate his con-tribution in making it an insti-tute of excellence.

The vaccine lymph sectionmanufactured more than twomillion doses annually for sup-ply within the Madras Presi-dency through the Civil De-partment. Some quantities werealso supplied to the British andFrench armies within India andto Ceylon. During World WarI, large quantities of lymph weresent to the allied army person-nel in the East African theatre.The microbiological sectionmanufactured both curativeand prophylactic bacterial vac-cines to meet the requirementsof hospitals in Madras Presi-dency.

In 1919, at the behest of theBritish Government, KIPMmanufactured the anti-influ-enza vaccine on a large scale forthe first time in India, meetingthe civil and military needs inthe Presidency. Similar effortswere also made to mass-producevaccines to combat outbreaks ofcholera, typhoid and paraty-phoid, and issue them to thegeneral public at a nominalcost.

Given below are some notesbelow on the pioneers of KIPM.

Walter Gaven King enteredthe Indian Medical Service as asurgeon in 1874. He became aLt. Colonel in 1905 and retiredin 1910. Among the posts heheld were: Professor of Physics(Presidency College, Madras)and Hygiene (Madras MedicalCollege), Special Sanitary Of-ficer for Madras City, Central

Jail Superintendent of Manda-lay, Burma, Superintendent ofthe Government Lunatic Asy-lum, Madras, and SanitaryCommissioner of the MadrasPresidency in 1894. Later hewas a consultant at the Tropi-cal Diseases Clinic and Lecturerin Tropical Hygiene at King’sCollege, London. He wrote theCultivation of Animal Vaccine(1891), Plague Inspector’sManual (1902), Sanitary Rulesfor the Prevention of Plague inMunicipalities (1903), andSimple Sanitary Rules duringCholera Epidemics. KIPM pub-lished periodical reports onvaccination in the MadrasPresidency for 1902-03, 1903-04 (Government Press, 42 pageseach).

Sacrification method waspioneered by King, who basedhis words from a translation of atext on variolation with bothcow and human pox attributedto the Danvantri Nikandu (sup-posedly written 2000 years be-fore Edward Jenner). LordAmpthill reiterated this pointwhile inaugurating KIPM in

plague). The issue of a passportwas not new at that point oftime, since this procedure wasoperational in the Madras Presi-dency at least before 1869. Forexample:

“The Madras Sanitary Regu-lations made elaborate provi-sions for the prevention of chol-era during native festivals. Na-tive migrants to Madras frominfected areas were excessively

policed, put under close policesurveillance, and issued with‘passports’ and emergency pow-ers were introduced to sum-marily punish both male and fe-male offenders. By 1869, everyconceivable agglomeration wasbrought under systematic sani-tary control.”

* * *Lieutenant Samuel Rickard

Christophers will be remem-bered for his monumental con-tributions to medical entomol-ogy in general and to the sci-ence of mosquitoes in particu-lar. Christophers was the firstformal director of KIPM, beingappointed in 1904. While work-ing at KIPM, he confirmedCharles Donovan’s discovery ofthe Leishman bodies in thespleen of patients suffering fromvisceral leishmaniasis (kala azar).Christophers was later posted asthe Director of Central MalariaBureau, where he made impres-sive contributions to Malariol-ogy research and to the knowl-edge of mosquitoes. While atthe London School of TropicalMedicine, after his return toEngland, a revised edition of theIndian Anophelini was publishedin 1933 and it remains a mile-stone in the science of Indiananophelines even today.

* * *Captain Walter Scott

Patton, while serving on the sci-entific staff at KIPM, madegreat strides in medical ento-mology within the wider con-text of public health. BecauseDonovan, Professor of Physiol-ogy at the Madras Medical Col-lege, was blazing new trailsstudying kala azar, interest inknowing more about the kala-

azar inducing protozoan andthe transmitting agents wasnaturally strong at this time.Patton published a series ofpapers on this while working atKIPM.

For a period, Patton also of-ficiated as the Superintendentof KIPM. In 1913, he publishedthe Textbook of Medical Ento-mology along with FrancisCragg, who earlier worked atthe Central Research Institute,Kasauli (Punjab), and later wasan assistant to the Director ofKIPM. Patton will be remem-bered for his monumental bookInsects, Ticks, Mites and Venom-ous Animals of Medical and Vet-erinary Importance (1929-31),published after his return toUK.

Kandadai Venkatasubrama-nian Venkatraman was theDirector of KIPM in 1948-49and will be remembered for hiscontributions to the biology,epidemiology and managementof cholera.

Clinical specimens need tobe rapidly transported to thelaboratory to prevent growth ofany other contaminating mi-crobes. This can be achievedusing ‘transport’ media. Suchmedia prevent drying of speci-men, maintain the pathogen tocommensal ratio, and inhibitgrowth of any contaminatingmicrobes. Venkatraman, col-laborating with C.S. Rama-krishnan (Water Analyst, KingInstitute), developed theVenkatraman-Ramakrishnanmedium which efficiently an-chored V. cholerae in the faecalsample obtained from the sickfor more than six weeks at roomtemperature. This medium en-abled the transport of the bac-teria from outbreaks in remoteareas to laboratories to studythe epidemiology.

* * *

KIPM in Madras, along withthe Central Research Institute,Kasauli, and also Pasteur Insti-tute of Southern India, Coo-noor, have been serving India’spublic health managementneeds over the last 110 years.Starting as a vaccine depot in atiny shed, KIPM today providesstate-of-the-art medical resear-ch involving serology andimmunology and manufacturesvaccines for use not only withinIndia, but outside as well.

1905. King broke new groundby introducing trained sanitaryinspectors in the Madras Presi-dency. In the British MedicalJournal (1922), he says: “TheMadras Government was thusthe first in the tropics to requirecompulsory technical trainingof sanitary inspectors. AssistantSanitary inspectors attendcourses in physiology, bacterio-logical demonstrations, andtheoretical hygiene, under theprofessors of the Madras Medi-cal College, and practical hy-giene under selected sanitaryofficers.”

The Madras Plague Regula-tions and Rules for the City ofMadras (1902) and The PlagueInspector’s Manual (1902) wereissued during King’s administra-tion of sanitation managementin Madras. These includefacsimiles of a ‘passport’ systemthat was operational in Madrasto regulate the spread of epi-demics (e.g. cholera and

� Ramya Raman &

Anantanarayanan

Raman

August 16-31, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 11

The GreatIndian

Railways

� An occasional column by a British freelance writer on her eight years in Madras

The black train pulls in at the platform

Hissing into silence like hot steel in water

Tell the porters not to be so precipitate.

It is good, after a desperate journey

To rest a moment with yourPerils upon you.

– Vijay Nambisan ‘Madras Central’

In the early dawn, the long deep horn of the ShatabdiExpress to Bangalore reverberates through the

city and pulls me from peaceful dreams. I lie inthe tranquillity of my sleeping house in Kottur-purum and imagine the scene at Chennai Centralstation.

People are queuing to get past the ticket barrier.Women clutching semi-conscious babies nervouslytry to find the right coach number and seat, asking tomove or change with others so they can be close torelatives. The floor of the station littered with bodiessleeping, eating, and defecating. Boxes piled high withelaborate caging of string. A weighing machine withflashing neon light standing unused as porters hurrypast through the sea of coloured sarees with suitcasesbalanced on their heads.

For the privileged few in the calm and comfort ofthe first class A/C compartments, metal flasks will bedoled out with a tea bag, two packets of biscuits, whiteand crisp inside the bright yellow packaging. “Anewspaper, madam?”

I lie in my bed and imagine the smell of jasminethat frequently adorns the traveller, the hair oil, thesweat, and the soot. This is the great Indian railwaystation.

I remember with shame how when I first travelledto Coimbatore on the Shatabdi Express we contrivedto get a compartment to ourselves by buying up a four-berth sleeper. We placed pillows in the bunks to makethem seem occupied, a childish schoolboy prank thatcan only be excused by the English obsession withsolitude and my hatred of other people’s snoring. Thisis, after all, a moving residence with all the romanceassociated with extreme privacy.

Suddenly a woman appeared in the compartmentwith an entourage of relations and a tiny screamingbaby. Her family, seeing her off, was eager for her toshare with foreigners rather than potentially lecheroussingle men. She took one look at my horror-strickenface and fled.

One day, our family boarded this same train to go

on holiday to Ooty. We took our driver with us inorder for him to drive us on arrival, but he emergedthe next morning from his second class compartmentwith his suitcase and newly acquired hat to enjoy aholiday himself! He had employed a driver fromCoimbatore to show all of us the sights, but it wasnot till he climbed into the passenger seat next to thedriver that we realised he was taking a self-imposedvacation!

In Ordered South, Robert Louis Stevenson writes,

“Herein, I think, is the chief attraction of railwaytravel. The speed is so easy, and the train disturbs so littlethe scenes through which it takes us, that our heartbecomes full of the placidity and stillness of the country;and while the body is being borne forward in the flyingchain of carriages, the thoughts alight, as the humourmoves them, at unfrequented stations. . .”

One of the world’s largest railway networks, theIndian Railways was the brainchild of (you guessed it)the British. 23 million passengers a day travel from7,172 stations along 65,000 km of track, which begsthe question why are the roads still so busy!

Madras Central was designed by George Harding, aBritish architect, in the Gothic revival style, with thelater addition of the bell tower by Robert ChisholmThe original land on which it was constructed was

called John Pereira’s garden after the Portuguesemerchant who built a house here for recreation, butby falling into disrepair it became a gaming den andcock-fighting venue before it was purchased by therailways (debatably it still is!).

This splendid station served as the main gatewayfor all people who travelled to South India during theBritish Raj and although the station now hasbookshops, restaurants, Internet browsing and ashopping mall it would seem that the hygienestandards remain much the same as they were138 years ago when it was built. The station lacksseveral facilities, including drinking water, and hasonly ten toilets to accommodate the 350,000passengers that pass through it daily. These are notworth a visit. Despite this, Chennai Central stillretains the excitement and bustle that makes largestations so intriguing. The sense of mystery thattrain travel engenders for many of us is stark contrastto the stationary monotony and dangers of Indianroads.

One of my greatest disappointments is the way inwhich many Indians draw the blinds and settle downto sleep as soon as they board a train. I risk extremedispleasure from my travelling companions as Ipolitely request to flood the compartment withsunlight, although they think nothing of subjectingme to six hours’ snoring!

Surely the best thing about travelling by train isthe moving landscape passing the window? For me,looking out of the window is about living otherpeople’s lives vicariously, a succession of memorableimages like the sudden swell of hills, or the emergenceof giant boulders on the way to Bangalore.

Weary, wiry men with bullock carts ploughingthrough red earth, the fleeting view of a girl washinglong tresses of raven wing hair beneath a water pipe,the glimpse of a heron on a lotus pool, the shantytowns by the railway tracks where I can only guess atthe misery of daily life. All these images are what makeup life in India.

It has been on train journeys that I have had someof my most memorable conversations. The journalistlurking within me is nosey about other people’s lives.On one occasion I was eating a hard-boiled egg thatdistressed my vegan neighbour. This led to a discus-sion about vegetarianism and the caste system, whichwas highly educational. Indian train journeys andhumour go hand in hand, which is fortunate because,generally, it is better to laugh at the chaos than beenveloped by it.

Back to renamingstreets

(Continued from page 1)

Recently, it was announcedthat Halls Road would hence-forth be known as Tamil Salai.We do not know what the con-nection between the mothertongue and this road is. Andwhile we do not wish to criticisewhat must be a decision arrivedat after due deliberation, wecannot help wonder if any otherState in India has a road namedafter its official language. Is thisstrictly necessary or is it evenrelevant? And does the lan-guage benefit in any way by thisstreet renaming?

Our Corporation has admit-ted rather openly that morethan half of its 132 announcedpromises are yet to be fulfilled.It is in the throes of a severe fi-nancial crisis partly owing tostagnation in revenues. Several

infrastructural projects standincomplete. Is this an appropri-ate time to start off onsuch cosmetic activities asname changes? Or is this just todivert public attention fromnon-delivery on key para-meters?

What is interesting is alsothe number of enquiries that weas a publication have receivedasking if we propose to do any-thing about this name change.To this we can only say thatapart from expressing our opin-ion we have no other intentionto intervene. It is up to the resi-dents of the roads that are to berenamed to protest or acceptthe change, for they are the realstakeholders. Only if that isforthcoming will our civic bodystop such superficial activitiesand get down to grapple with itsreal problems.

The Hindu”! That play, titledPadmavyuham became an all-time hit of UAA.

Rajamma was a hard task-master. She would not hesitateto pull up Pattu for an ordinaryscript. When he producedone for Pettraaldhan Pillayashe told him, “You usually pourgold into your writing. In thisscript, you have just pouredink.” Needless to say Pattu con-verted that script into a master-piece.

***

Serious differences arosebetween YGP and Pattu andthe duo had to part ways in1962 much to YGP’s agony; hedid not stage a play for twoyears. (Courtesy: Sruti).

(To be concluded)

(Continued from page 9)

Fromjournalist toeducationist

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and Charles Street which lies at the rear. St George’sStreet radiates in a westerly direction from ParadeSquare and eventually connects with St. George’sGate, the principal entrance to the Fort on the westernside. Three streets link the Parade Square and the As-sembly to the northern end of the Fort. The eastern-most, corresponding to St. Thomas’ Street on thesouthern side, is Gloucester Alley. Behind it is YorkStreet, which is also known as the Middle Gate orNorth Gate Street as it connects to the North Gate ofthe Fort. To the rear of this is Choultry Gate Street,which once led to the Choultry Courts that were justoutside the Fort. This entrance is now blocked. At theextreme western end of the Fort is a thoroughfare thatruns south to north. This is known as Palace Streetand it has an interesting history of its own, of whichmore later.

Charles Street must have been an important thor-oughfare, for it houses some very stately buildings. Themost striking, and indeed the best-maintained buildingin the whole Fort today, is the headquarters of the Ar-chaeological Survey of India. It goes by the names ofClive House and Admiralty House. The residence datesto the 18th Century, a time when, apart from the Brit-ish, some Portuguese, Armenians and Indians alsoowned property within the Fort. One among these wasCoja Nazar Jan, a rich Armenian who settled in Ma-dras in 1702. It was he who built this residence and, onhis death in 1740, it passed on to Coja Sultan Davidand from him to his son, Aga Shawmier Sultan. It wasduring David’s time that the residence first began to becalled the Great House. Several covetous eyes werecast on the building and when in 1749 the Britishmoved back to the Fort after the French had vacatedit, this became the residence of Richard Prince, theDeputy Governor of Madras – he was the administra-tive head till 1752 when the Governor officially movedhis headquarters back to Madras from Fort St David inCuddalore. The house was restored to Shawmier whothen let it out to its most important occupant – RobertClive.

Among the few marble plaques that commemorateheritage structures in Madras, one is to be found onthis building. It reads that “Robert 1st Lord Clive livedin this building in the year 1753. Truly great in armsand in council, he founded an Empire.” By then Clivewas no longer a depressed writer or lowly clerk. He hademerged as the hero of the sieges of Arcot andTrichinopoly and was now back in the Fort as its Stew-

ard. Moreover, he was in love with Margaret, the sisterof his close friend Edmund Maskylene. She arrived inMadras in 1753 and Clive, ever the determined soul,doggedly wooed her till she consented. The weddingwas conducted on February 18, 1753 in St Mary’sChurch in the Fort, the Rev Fabricius, who did muchfor Tamil and for printing in India, officiating. Clive’smarried life was one of bliss and he lived the first yearof it at the ‘Great House’. But he was in ill-health andhad applied for home leave. This was granted in 1753and he left for England where he fought battles of apolitical nature before returning once again to India,this time to conquer Bengal. His second tenure hadvery little to do with Madras.

After Clive’s departure, Shawmier sold the house tode Castro, a Portuguese, who in turn sold it to the Com-pany for 6,000 pagodas. It became the guest house foraccommodating important visitors and it was in thatcapacity that it hosted Admiral Charles Watson, whoin 1754 sailed from England with a large squadron fit-ted exclusively for the protection of the “possessions inthe East Indies”. He appears to have stayed here forjust a year. In 1755, the building was assigned to thethen recently set up Court of Admiralty to try navalmutineers. The name Admiralty House stuck, thoughthe court vacated the premises by 1762 when it onceagain became a guest house. That year the Companysupplied at its expense “Furniture, Cotts, Linen and allother necessarys for the reception and Accommoda-tion of Strangers”, a housekeeper being appointed totake care of the establishment. By the late 1700s, Ad-miralty House became the Governor’s residence in theFort. With Robert’s son, Edward, the second Lord Clivepreferring to live outside the Fort when he was Gover-nor, the ‘Great House’ served briefly as the BanquetingHall. With a new building being erected in 1802 forthat purpose on Mount Road (the present day RajajiHall), the ‘Great House’ became the office of the Ac-countant General, in which capacity it was used till themid-20th Century when the ASI took it over.

An interesting aside is that the East India Companyconsistently defaulted on the rent to Shawmier be-tween 1749 and 1752, the arrear amounting to 1,866pagodas. He appealed repeatedly and it was only in1773 that Governor Alexander Wynch forwarded hisrequest to the Court of Directors in England. There hisprayer bore fruit with compensation being paid in 1775.Landlord travails evidently have a long history in Ma-dras!

INTACH’s publication Madras, the ArchitecturalHeritage by K. Kalpana and Frank Schiffer gives details

about the architectural magnificence of the house.“The house is truly great both in its external and inter-nal appearance. Squarish in plan, the upper floors ofthis three-storeyed building are the most spacious, con-sisting of huge halls with extremely high ceilings, andwere most probably living spaces with other service fa-cilities located on the ground floor. The focus is a largecentrally placed hall on all floors, the one on the firstfloor designed with a tall, two-floor high ceiling. Linedwith a series of circular columns along the inner edgesand wonderful fenestrations facing the street, the am-bience of this space is certainly fit for a king. Frontedby a small verandah-like ante space that faces thestreet, it is the expression of this face with strong archi-tectural details that is the capturing feature of the ex-terior and distinctly different from all other buildingswithin the Fort. Raised in the centre due to the in-creased height of the first floor, an ensemble of tall Ioniccolumns in the upper floor rests on a series of semicir-cular arched openings on the ground floor, with deepsloping wooden shades sprinkled on either side. Bridg-ing the gap between the columns is a combination oflouvred and glazed windows that catch the morningsun in a most dramatic manner.”

The write-up does not mention it but one of theexquisite features of this building is a staircase that risesfrom the ground floor to the top-most storey. In recentyears, the ASI has created a ‘Clive’s Corner’ in one partof this building. This has a reasonably aesthetic displayof various portraits and copies of documents pertainingto Robert Clive’s life. It is clear that, no matter who theoccupants of the building before and after him were, itwas he who gave it its place in history.

– Sriram V.

KNOW YOUR FORT BETTER(Continued from page 1)

Answers to Quiz

1. Windows 10; 2. Ramon Magsaysay Award; 3.Tour de France; 4. They are the two latest nominatedAnglo-Indian members of the Lok Sabha; 5. IndianOil Corporation and Reliance Industries; 6. K.V.Kamath; 7. Holy Koran; 8. Clive Rice; 9. Prof. PeterHiggs; 10. Go Set a Watchman.

* * *

11. Jolly Rovers; 12. It officially became Chennai;13. Lockma Nagar; 14. A woman of dubious repute,deriving the name from an area in George Town; 15.m.v. Nancowry; 16. Alfred Vedam; 17. Women’sChristian College; 18. Gandhi Mandapam Road inKotturpuram; 19. Rayala Corporation; 20. QueenMary’s College.