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Vol. XXIII No. 9 MUSINGS August 16-31, 2013 Metro Rail’s impact – on churches... (By A Special Correspondent)

unnelling for the Metro in stretch where this building identified heritage structures Tthe Broadway area recently stands and it is doubtful if it can along the routes that Metrorail resulted in two historic chur- withstand tunnel boring below will be taking. Why cannot the ches developing cracks. With its foundations, unless some HCC insist that Metrorail, to- these being certified as non- special efforts are taken to sup- gether with IIT, undertake a threatening to the structures, port it. But that is unlikely to study of each of the structures? work has progressed. Metrorail happen as Metrorail does not The effort must detail what are has also promised that it will re- have a publicly available policy the weak points in each and pair the buildings immediately. on what steps it takes to protect identify what steps need to be All this is to the good. But the heritage buildings before work taken to prevent any structural “Appa, I love the Rupee... like a good batsman, it is constantly week-long drama merely ex- begins in the vicinity. Beyond damage. The recommended improving on its previous scores!” posed the fact that heritage asking owners and users to stay safeguards can be put in place structures in the city do not away from the premises, it does before work begins. That way area, stout denial was the sole It is reliably learnt, in fact, that have any proactive protection little. It merely installs some vi- everyone would be happy. reaction. And whatever little several owners will be happy to as the following lines will show. bration monitors in the vicinity The current episode has, action has taken place in con- see their buildings fall conse- The first building to develop and by the time the readings are however, thrown up one posi- nection with the two churches quent to Metrorail work so that fissures was the Wesley Church. noted, the damage is done. tive development. This is the is entirely due to the strong in- they can redevelop their prop- The matter received due public- Steps for protection, if any, are first time that Metrorail has ac- volvement of the parishioners erties. That too is an under- ity in the press. The response taken only after cracks develop knowledged that cracks are due who have demonstrated a standable point of view. In a was predictable. It is reliably and there is a hue and cry. to its activities. Earlier, when strong sense of ownership and city where there are no rewards learnt that Metrorail was of the Even now it is not too late. similar incidents took place on pride in their heritage. Not all for holding on to heritage, what view that such cracks were only There cannot be more than 100 Mount Road and the Esplanade heritage structures are so lucky. else can be expected? to be expected. But with a sec- ond church, the Arcot Luther- an, too showing signs of stress, experts from the IIT had to be Why can’t tanks be called in. This was after the pa- rishioners of both shrines ex- pressing distress at what had put to good use? happened. The IIT certified the fissures were superficial and Metro promised to get them re- et another threatened wa- civic pride and a passion for Kapaliswarar tank. The rest are Tiruvanmiyur. The locals were paired. Matters have ended Yter crisis has receded a little. maintaining the surviving apologies. Those within temple delighted that the tank was re- there now. The Heritage Con- With copious inflows in the up- temple tanks have not yet precincts, such as the Madhava vived by external agencies but servation Committee of the per reaches of rivers that run come. As a consequence, these Perumal tank, are somewhat once this was done, they were CMDA, which is supposed to across the State, Chennai too water-bodies are merely gaping better off in terms of cleanliness quite happy to let it go to seed. be responsible for the protec- has cause for cheer. In the ab- holes in the earth. as compared to Chitra Kulam There was no sense of involve- tion of such historic structures, sence of an immediate crisis, A temple tank is not merely which has remained a glorified ment in what should have been was conspicuous by its silence. why can we not turn our atten- something that is used for ritu- puddle for decades. Even the a community project. Not even a line expressing con- tion to some long-term prepa- als. It plays an important role in Kapaliswarar tank, though it is Elsewhere in the city there cern could be elicited. To what ration? Why can’t the various maintaining the neighbourhood full of water, has had to be cor- are chronically water-starved purpose is such a body? temple tanks in the city be spots, such as George Town. It cleaned up and made ready to may come as a surprise to many What is being forgotten is G that Broadway is replete with receive the monsoon waters, as by A Special Correspondent that there are at least six major historic structures and there are and when the rains come to our water tanks attached to city? in George Town. Not one has at least 16 of them down the ecology. In hot weather spots doned off to prevent the water and as for the biggest, the principal thoroughfare. Among Chennai and its environs are such as Chennai, it cools the neighbourhood and visitors Kasi Viswanatha Swamy temple the listed ones, the Church Mis- blessed with several temple environment and provides fresh from dumping their garbage tank, also known as the Krish- sionary Society’s Parish Hall is tanks. Barring very few, most breeze. Above all, it recharges into it. But that it has survived nappa Naicken Tank, it has in a particularly enfeebled con- are mere cesspits and a shame the groundwater in the sur- itself is a miracle. It was only in been steadily destroyed over the dition. It has already required to a citizenry that is becoming roundings. With so many pluses the 1990s that a temple trustee years. What was a relatively shoring up of one wall using increasingly religious. Several going for it, why are temple had recommended that the clean water-body till the 1990s steel supports. An edifice that is have been filled up in the past tanks so neglected? space, then dry, be cemented is now moss-covered and more than a century in age, it and converted into bus termini Perhaps the best instance of over and put to use as a venue empty. In ancient Purasawal- belongs to the CSI’s Tucker’s and shopping complexes. this is . It has no less for a laser show! A laudable at- kam, the Gangadheeswarar Church, which stands opposite. Though that concept has died than five temple tanks. But the tempt at tank restoration that Work is yet to begin on the out thanks to better awareness, only one with water is the ended in failure was the one at (Continued on page 8) CMYK 2 August 16-31, 2013 G A reader writes... Ballot-time in clubland y the time you read this, looks, heavy breathing and pro- angry women, brooding men Bthe greatest election that fuse sweating. After this and a resigned-to-their-fate set Medhurst, mankind has ever known will follows a litany against the of the elderly. Not a chair was be over. The Man from Madras competition in the field. Then in sight. There was no water Musings alludes to the battle the final shot: “But with your either. And as for ventilation for the ballot at one of those support I definitely will make – perish the thought. If this Elizabeth gentlemen’s clubs in the city. it.” By then another potential was the fate of the ‘adhaa- A hallowed home-away-from- vote has been espied and so off rables’, those who were doing home for over a century and he bounds, his figure not giving the ‘adhaaring’ were not much more, it has recently seen more the least indication of such better off. They had the latest and Loveless activity in the bar, by which agility. MMM is not certain cameras and laptops, it is true, MMM speaketh of the legal about the electoral verdict but as for the rest of the variety. Accusations of torts but these candidates will defi- amenities that go to make up am an Australian working on the loss and under the threat of and malfeasances hold court, nitely emerge fitter and more an ergonomic workplace, Ia biography of my ancestor, a court martial from the poten- not to forget soccage and svelte. there was none. A sole fan that the English missionary, Dr. tial revolt, George Martin ar- barratry in fief. But that is the Some have taken to swirled slowly distributed hot Walter Henry Medhurst, and way of all things in Madras- canvassing in such earnestness air. The only light was from ranged for Elizabeth, then just turned-Chennai, isn’t it? that they smile and shake the laptop screens and the my research required me to 14 years old, to marry a fellow Anyway, it is not the build- hands with just about anyone. seating was something left recently visit Chennai. army officer, Lieutenant George up that led to the present elec- One of these even embraced a over from the Chinese torture I was particularly interested Braune. The couple got married tions, held under the watchful passing waiter thinking him to chambers. Bedrolls strewn in Dr. Medhurst’s wife, Eliza- at Chitradurga on October 14, eye of the law that MMM be a member. The shock was about indicated that the beth, and her early years grow- 1808. George Martin entrusted wants to speak about. The too much to bear for both and Adhaarers lived on the pre- ing up in South India, because Elizabeth’s younger sister behaviour of the electoral they had to be revived with a mises. A permanent odour she was to become an important Sophia to their care and he re- hopefuls has, on the other few quick ones. proved that they cooked, ate partner in the missionary life of turned to his army duties. hand, given plenty of grist to But, as MMM says, it is only and answered nature some- a question of time. The results the Medhursts. She was born in Elizabeth dutifully bore her MMM’s mill. Several of these, in 1794, the daugh- husband two sons, the first ter of George and Elizabeth when she was 16 and the family Martin, her father being an of- was living at Machilipatnam. ficer in the Madras Army. Tragedy struck again in 1815 SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY During her early life, when the younger son died she and her younger on the day that Elizabeth sister Sophia had was to celebrate her 21st moved around to who invariably looked through will soon be out and everyone where close by. birthday. As if that was MMM all along, have now will revert to hauteur, stiff-up- Into this despairing dark- various regi- not bad enough, her suddenly become friendly. per-lip and spreading embon- ness MMM stepped when his mental sta- husband was away What was once an eye like points. Until the next battle for turn came. It was like some- tions. In on a campaign at Mars, so to speak, has become the ballot, that is. thing out of a noire Bengali 1803, her fa- Kurnool. an eye like Ma’s, full of the film. The man doing the ther was a Whether he milk of human kindness. Being ‘Adhaared’ Adhaaring asked MMM to Captain, died of wounds Having descended from their show his documents. He based at the sustained lofty heights they have begun ame a day when The Man shook his head as though he Fort in Tri- during ac- taking cognisance of lesser Cfrom Madras Musings’ was not satisfied and then left good lady announced that he chinopoly. tion or from beings, of whom MMM is also the room taking all of MMM’s one. had to get an Adhaar card. papers with him. After a stage In 1807, some other The hopefuls have been MMM was not exactly enthusi- wait, a more superior being ar- the newly cause is not calling up over phone. They astic but in the face of the Iron rived and having looked at appointed The reverend Williams Charles Loveless recorded. have sent letters and emails. Lady’s steely resolve he capitu- MMM twice, reluctantly con- Governor, We do One group of aspirants has lated. All kinds of dire eventu- ceded that he, MMM, was of Sir George Barlow, sparked a know that he died on Novem- banded together and taken to alities befell those without an Adhaar standard. MMM was crisis in Madras when he de- ber 26 at Gooty. Elizabeth sending combined appeals. Adhaar card, said the good asked to step in front of the cided against the previous prac- would not learn of the death of The lone operators are more lady. You did not get gas camera and smile. But try as tice of the Commander-in- her husband for several weeks, colourful. Some have printed connections, banks froze your he might, MMM could not. Chief of the Army having a seat expensive brochures on them- accounts and you became He is now, therefore, perma- receiving the news as a dreadful persona non grata with the in the Governor’s Council. The selves, replete with full family nently enshrined in Govern- Christmas present. By that time details (ideal husband, doting powers that be, she added for ment records as one prone to Governor also made a number her father had returned to India Dad, good to dogs, happiest good measure. The Adhaar melancholia. Then came what of other changes to allowances and word came that he had also among books and great guy to team camped but briefly in was known as ‘fingering’. for senior officers which, he be- died at Bellary in June that year. have around the home) and each neighbourhood she MMM was asked to place his lieved, were being abused. In So at 21, Elizabeth became social achievements (laid warned, and they had a thumbs first and then all his short, these activities initiated an orphan, a widow and lost roads, built bridges, planted tendency like the Arabs (or was other fingers on a gadget that an atmosphere of revolt within one of her children. All of this trees, dug wells and was good it the Assyrians) to suddenly recorded their patterns for- the Madras Army and George in a land where she had no fam- to widows and orphans). But fold their tents and leave. And ever. Next time there is a Martin, a Lieutenant-Colonel ily other than her son and her more than all this, it is the once they had gone it was smash-and-grab raid in the apparently like the moving fin- now, was one of three officers younger sister. She moved to personal encounters that they neighbourhood, the Govern- specialise in. ger in Nebuchadnezzar’s feast. ment would know where to who signed a covering letter to Madras, placed her sister in an The Cheshire Cat is what Not all your piety nor your wit look. A cold nod indicated the General outlining what orphanage and went to live comes chiefly to mind. MMM could bring them back. that MMM could leave. could be construed as seditious with missionaries at what is now has to merely be in the vicinity And, so, off MMM went Outside, the women contin- demands. The crisis came to a the William Charles Memorial of one of these suitors to feeling rather like Childe ued to be angry, the men head but, before a resolution Church in George Town. There become aware of a powerful Roland who came unto the brooded, the children wailed could be achieved, General Hay she taught and looked after the and steely grin (is it because of dark tower. Nothing could be and the old remained passive. Macdowall, the Commander- children, receiving board for gritted teeth?) being directed closer to the truth. Dark was MMM smiled. in-Chief, resigned and returned herself and her son for her ser- at him. Shortly thereafter, the the mot juste. The venue was a to England, only to die when his grinner emerges in full and school, which had probably vices. Then known as the Mis- been designed by an architect Afterthought ship was lost at sea. Meanwhile, having fixed MMM’s eye with sionary Chapel, it was founded a steady gaze and enveloped who specialised in prison cells. oming away, his docu- George Martin was sent back to in 1806 by William Charles MMM’s hand in a vice-like It was with great apprehension Cments intact, The Man London to explain to the Direc- Loveless of the London Mis- grip, proceeds with his pitch. that MMM walked in. In his from Madras Musings could tors of the sionary Society and was the first Pausing briefly to remind fevered hands he clutched a set not help wondering as to why the army’s side of the dispute. church to be built outside Fort MMM as to how he has been of documents, the most impor- any interaction with the The crisis ultimately died down St George. Elizabeth’s young kind to MMM in numerous tant one being a small census Government has to necessar- and Martin returned to India as son George was able to attend ways in the past, he speaks of slip that proved MMM was for ily be sans any physical conve- st a full Colonel with the 13th Ma- the school which the missionar- how he plans to make the real and not a mere wraith or nience. Surely in this 21 dras Native Infantry in 1813. ies operated just next door to Club another Eden, a sceptred phantasm. century, those in charge can Outside the chamber waited be more sensitive to basic In the middle of this crisis, the church. isle and a paradise on earth. All this is accompanied by an increasingly restive amenities? Elizabeth’s mother fell ill with a steady gyrations, beseeching populace – wailing children, – MMM fever and died. Distraught from (Continued on page 11) August 16-31, 2013 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

August 16 G Nizhal Tree Walks. Nizhal is organising tree walks. The walks Madras will last for about an hour. Rediscover the verdant parks and magnificent trees in your neighborhood with friends and family! Week ’13 The Azhinji at Tree Park, the Thaandri at Semmozhi 18th to 25th Poonga, the Putranjiva at and many more such gems! Online through www.facebook.com/Nizhal.shade August 1st walk: Kotturpuram Tree Park. 5.00 p.m. (Tamil) Updated till August 9th For registrations please call Usha at 97910 29568 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. August 10-24 August 16-17 G Storytelling. Storytelling about Beach and Ocean Eco-Systems. 9 Story- G Exhibition. Exhibition of photos, books, drawings and assorted tellers (members of the Chennai Storytelling Association) at six items. Supported by Madras Heritage Lovers’ Forum. locations around Chennai. From 10 am-4.30 pm At St. Joseph’s High School, Erukkenchery August 10: Glow Worm Club, , 4217 0507. 4.30-6 (MKB Nagar) p.m. August 16: Little Millennium, , 98400 91290. 4.30-6 p.m. August 17-22 August 17: Hippocampus, Adyar, 94440 49175. 4.30-6 p.m. G Walk into the British Council. Answer our Trivia questions on Madras to win daily prizes. Organised by the British Council August 21: Kalaa Manjari, , 98404 21305. 4.30-6 p.m. August 23: Burgundy’s, MRC Nagar, 4900 1000. 4.30-6 p.m. August 17-31 August 24: InKo, 98401 77215. 4.30-6 p.m. G Exhibition. A photo exhibition on Madras by photographer S. At each location, there would be a mix of stories such as animal Kanakaraj. At Studio Palazzo Art Gallery, fables, grandmother stories, fairy tales, episodes from epics, myths, historical stories, and personal experiences – all on the theme of August 17 Beach and Ocean Eco-Systems. There will be discussions G Chennai Heritage Walk. Adyar and around led by Sriram V. The after the stories. 9 Storytellers are participating in this project. tour is partly by van and partly on foot and end with breakfast. A few of them will perform at each location. The tour is charged and prior registration is necessary. Payment August 12 details will be emailed on receipt of registration. 6.00 a.m. Registration by email at [email protected] G Music Competition: Papanasam Sivan songs. PSBB, KK Nagar, and Madras Heritage Lovers’ Forum have organised their pro- G Nizhal Tree Walk. Nageswara Rao Park, Luz Church Road. grammes for students of the Central Cluster and neighbourhood 4.30 p.m. (English) schools. For registrations please call Usha at 97910 29568 between 10 a.m. The neighbourhood schools include PSBB Millennium, and 6 p.m. Online registration through www.facebook.com/ ; PSBB ; Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ashok Nagar; Nizhal.shade Springfield, KK Nagar; MAK, KK Nagar; Devi Academy, Valsaravakkam; AVM School, ; Karthikeyan Matricu- G The Mint Food Trail. A food trail organised to discover the food lation School, Vadapalani; Government Cariappa School, delicacies of in and around Mint Street. Start point: Vadapalani; and Government School, MGR Nagar. These schools Kakada Sweets, New No 348 Old No 343 (Near ), will participate in all the PSBB and MHLF programmes. For de- Mint Street, Sowcarpet. tails: Shanthi Chandrasekhar: 23663165/ 23664251 (9 a.m. to 3 How to get there: Reach Flower Bazaar police station. Turn left to p.m.). join NSC Bose Road. Turn into Mint Street on right side, walk for August 13 5 minutes and you will see Kakada Sweets on the left side. The Walk will take you to 4/5 great North Indian snack outlets in and G Oratorical Competition. Topic: How I Visualise Chennai Ten Years around Mint Street to give you a taste of the rich food offers in from Now and Impact of Metro/Monorails on Heritage. Duration: 3 this part of our city. You will also get a feel of Mint neighbour- minutes each. Organised by PSBB and Madras Heritage Lovers’ hood. No registration charges. But you will need to pay for the Forum. snacks you wish to sample. Note: Since this is a very crowded area At Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr Sec. School, K.K. Nagar. with no parking facility, we suggest you come by auto and walk to 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. start point. August 14-20 Starts at 4.30 pm. Ends at 6.00 p.m. To register, Contact Pratibha Jain: 24986651 (during office hours). Email: G Blog Competition. Blog on a topic each week and win a Tablet. [email protected] The topics are: August 1-6: Madras to me is… G Talk. An illustrated talk by Dr. R. Bhanumathi on Natural Heritage August 7-13: An iconic Symbol of Madras... of Chennai covering diverse flora and fauna. Organised by ELAI. August 14-20: Greatest British contribution in Madras to Modern Gallery Sri , 28/160, Eldams Road. 6 p.m. India... Send your blog entries to [email protected] with your G Photowalk for children. Open to children studying in classes 5 to name and date of birth. Blogs in Tamil are also welcome. Watch 12. Starts from the Luz Church and ends at the Madhava Perumal our facebook page for weekly winners. temple, Mylapore. In this walk children will get to pick up trivia Organised by the British Council about the history of the landmarks on the way and get to capture August 14 interesting scenes. Children with a camera (any type) and love for Chennai can join. Organised by www.YOCee.in, the website for G Philately Quiz on Chennai. Each team: 2 students. Organised by children and led by N. Ramaswamy of http:// PSBB and Madras Heritage Lovers’ Forum. chennaidailyfoto.wordpress.com. Parents are also welcome to join At Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr. Sec. School, KK Nagar. 10.30 their children in the walk. a.m. to 12 noon. Promotion and Publicity: Check www.themadrasday.in for up-to-date programmes. PRISM Public Relations. 4 MADRAS MUSINGS August 16-31, 2013

Prior registration required. Limited to first 25 registrations. Con- G Storytelling at The Children’s Space. Asha Sampath of Tale tact 98405 44629 – Revathy for registration. 4.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. Spin, Kavitha and Debjani of Once Upon a Time... Tells a Tale’ (approx.) will tell stories about Namma Chennai. Followed by a storytelling G Exhibition. Go Green – Exhibition of products and services for activity. Open to children and adults. sustainable living organised by Inner Wheel District 323 and The At the Children’s Space Mookambika Complex (basement), Hindu At Hyatt Regency. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Alwarpet, Chennai 18. Contact: 87544 70178. From 5 to 6 p.m. G Musical Presentation. Glory of Karpagambal by Kausalya G Chennai Heritage Talk. A Superstar of by Mohan Shivakumar. At Tattvaloka Auditorium, . 6-7.30 p.m. V Raman. At Grand Chola, 6.30 p.m. Entry restricted to first 150 persons. August 18 August 19-23 G Heritage Walk. Fort St. George Heritage Walk. Led by Vincent G Exhibition: Reflections – an exhibition on the heritage and monu- D’ Souza. Meeting point – Parking lot opposite the main gate of ments of Chennai, by the students of The Pupil. Organised by the Fort. Late comers will not be able to join the walk due to Parampara, the Heritage Club of The Pupil has organised Madras security reasons. Free. But participants should register by sending Memoirs for the students of neighbourhood schools. an e-mail to: [email protected]. Neighbourhood cluster schools include: Loyola International School, Starts at 6.45 a.m. Duration 2 hours. ; Chennai Public School, ; Chennai G Heritage Ride. The bicycle ride will start from Uni- Public School, Annanagar; Sundar Matriculation, Poonamallee; versity of Madras (I.C.E Entrance) and end at St. Peter’s Church, Sana School, ; Schram Academy, ; Christ . Helmet is mandatory. Please wear bright coloured cloth- Matriculation School, Seneerkuppam; National IT School, ing to enhance visibility. The ride is free of cost and has no reg- Mangadu; Devi Academy, ; PonVidyashram, istration fees. You are responsible for your own safety. Obey all the Valasaravakkam; Mangadu Public School; PSBB Millenium, traffic rules. The road will not be closed for the event. Ensure that Gerugambakkam; Maharishi School, Thiruverkadu; Vellammal your bike is in a good and safe-to-ride condition. Vidyalaya, Maduravoyal; Pioneer Matriculation School, ; For more information, details and registrations please visit https:/ Kalakshetra Matriculation School, Kattupakkam; and RMK School, /www.facebook.com/groups/cyclingyogis/ or contact Senthil Phone Thiruverkkadu. No: 9884246822, Mr. Ramanujar Phone No: 9884023123 Prize distribution on August 23, at 1.30 pm. Starts at 5 a.m. and ends around 7 a.m. At The Pupil Saveetha Eco School, 4/68, Thiruverkadu Road, Seneerkuppam, Poonamallee. 10.30 am to 12 noon. Registration G Chennai Heritage Walk. The Islamic Heritage of Mount Road led on or before August 12. For more details, Shameem Banu S. 044- by S. Anwar. The tour is partly by van and partly on foot and end 26802013/14/15 or 9952399966. with breakfast. The tour is charged and prior registration is necessary by email at [email protected]. Payment details will be emailed G Competition. Identify this iconic place in Madras. Log into on receipt of registration. 6.00 a.m. www.facebook.com/British CouncilIndia. Be the first to identify to Presentation: Y.G. Mahendran and A.R. Srinivasan will present a win daily prizes. Organised by the British Council. dialogue-presentation on Adventures in Tamil Theatre. At Tag Centre, 9.30 am (Open only to members of the South August 19 India Heritage group). G On-the-spot Painting Competition. Topic: The Place I Like in G A Special Musical Nizhal Tree Walk. The walk will be led by the Chennai. Organised by PSBB and Madras Heritage Lovers’ Forum. Nizhal team (Latha Nathan and Dr. Babu) and Carnatic musician Materials to be brought by the participants. Chart paper will be Dr. Sowmya along with her disciples. Meeting and assembly point provided by school. will be the Kalakshetra Road entrance to the campus. At Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr. Sec. School. K.K. Nagar. 9 8 a.m. at Kalakshetra. a.m. to 12.30 p.m. G Katha Kalakshepam. Alwar or Nayanmar. G Nizhal Tree Walk. Tower Park. For registration please At Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr. Sec. School. K.K. Nagar. 9 call Usha at 97910 29568 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Online a.m. to 12.30 p.m. through www.facebook.com/Nizhal.shade G 4.30 p.m. (English) Quiz: A City, Its People & Places. Std. 7-9. Two teams per school in cluster. Each team: 2 participants. Registration on or before G Exhibition: Inauguration of exhibition of C.L.D. Gupta’s “Line August 12. drawings of Madras, Queen of the Coromandel”. Inauguration by At The Pupil Saveetha Eco School, Poonamallee. 10.30 am to 12 P. Chellapan. Public lecture by S. Muthiah. Exhibition will be noon. Registration on or before August 12. For more details, open on all days from the time of inauguration till 24th August. Shameem Banu S. 044-26802013/14/15 or 9952399966. At Roja Muthiah Research Library, . 5.00 p.m. G Chennai Heritage Talk. Advertising in Pre-Independence Madras by G Art Competition and Handwriting Competition. Children above A.R. Venkatachalapathy. At Chamiers. 6.30 p.m. 5 years can take part in an Art and Handwriting competition to be held at Kalaa Manjari between 2-6 p.m. This is open for all NON August 20-31 GLOBAL ART children .The topic will be given on the spot and G Exhibition. The Madras Region Before the British. will be related to Madras Week Celebrations. All children will get At the Vennirul Art Gallery, C.P. Art Centre. 10 am to 7 pm. participation certificates. Kalaa Manjari, 6/12, First Street, Venus Colony, Alwarpet. Regis- August 20 ter before 16th August. Registration Fee: Rs. 100. Contact: 2431 2676/98404 21305 G Chennai Heritage Talk. FM in Chennai by Rajeev Nambiar (CEO, Hello FM). The Park. 6.30 p.m. Crafting along the Marina – Scrapbook making. Open to children Quiz: The Madras Dozen, a quiz on the heritage buildings of Madras of classes 6 to 9. A walk taking in the statues on the by S. Muthiah. Organised by Rotary Club of Madras South and starts from Kannagi Statue. At the end of the walk children will two other clubs. Hotel Savera, 6.30 p.m. Open only to Rotarians. get to do a scrapbook on their walking tour. Children need to Multimedia Contest on Heritage of Chennai. Multimedia pres- bring their own pens, colour pencils, sketch pens, scissors and glue. entation contest for city schools. Subject: Old Houses of our City. Resource person: Krishma Shankar, Memoirs of Paper Craft. The contest encourages city school students to explore Chennai’s At 4.30 p.m. Open only to first 25 registrations. SMS with name history and heritage and present the subject in multi-media form. and age to 9840544629 for registration on or before August 15. Guidelines: Students must first locate an old house (tiled or Madras August 16-31, 2013 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

terrace house or a bungalow) which is over 60 years old in your G Talk. Namma presents The Nawabs of Arcot by S. Anwar. area. The house must be a residence. The team must record the At Namma Veedu Vasanta Bhavan, 100 Feet Road, Vadapalani. location and ownership history of this house. They must photo- 7.00 p.m. graph all the unique and key features of its architecture, inner Poetry Recitation in Tamil. Heritage in Verse. 2 participants from spaces and vintage properties used by its residents. The team must each school. gather details about these unique features (roof and walls, rooms The Pupil Saveetha Eco School, Poonamallee. Std. 5-9. and open spaces, etc) and list the purposes they serve to its residents. For more details, contact: Shameem Banu S. at 044-26802013/14/15 Rules: The contest is open to school children studying in classes 8 or 9952399966. to 12. A school can send only one team. Each team MUST have G Presentation and exhibition of sketches on Madras by The Chennai three members and all the three members must take Weekend Artists. At Amethyst, Whites Road. From 6.30 pm onwards. turns to make the presentation. (No substitutes please!) Once the house is located for study, please call the organiser Ms. Revathi R August 22-23 at 98405 44629 and get the project approved and team members G Project. Prathiba 2013 – Singaara Chennai. Inauguration: Dr. Suresh registered. This must be done before the work on the project is Sethuraman. Valedictory: S. Muthiah. Organised by PSBB Millennium started. The duration of the complete presentation – PowerPoint School, Gerugambakkam. and Oral – should not exceed 10 minutes. Participants should be Venue: PSBB Millennium, Gerugambakkam. prepared to answer questions of the judge/s. On the day of Contest, the team must bring a copy of the CD to August 22-September 1 the venue of the contest and get it checked (before 9 am). We G Photo Exhibition: Through the Looking Glass: 1945 at The Gatsby advise you to carry a backup digital copy. The organisers will pro- Village, 359, , . 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. vide a PC and a projector at the venue for your presentation. The best THREE presentations will be awarded TROPHIES, gifts and August 22 certificates. All participants will be given certificates. Prizes will be awarded on the same day at about 4 pm. Prizes will be awarded Seminar: Wallajah, Pigot and Tanjore: Did they transform trading to based on quality of research / presentation of pictures-visuals / expansionism? An all-day seminar. Speakers: Stephan Rowan of the presentation style. British Council, S. Anvar and S. Muthiah. Organised by the British Council and hosted by Prince of Arcot. At Srinivasa Sastri Hall, Luz, Mylapore 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with 30 At . 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For invitees only. minutes. lunch break. This contest is open to the first 20 school Exhibition. People and Places in Chennai. Organised by the Depart- teams to register. Registration on first come first served basis. ment of History & Tourism, Stella Maris College. Organised by Mylapore Times. Venue Sponsor: South Indian At the OAT From 10 a.m to 3 p.m. National Association and Ranade Library, Luz. An Inter-departmental Quiz Competition in Room M.01 at 1 p.m. Quiz on Heritage buildigs of Chennai conducted by Mr. S. At Stella Maris College. Open only to the students of Stella Maris Muthiah. Organised by Rotary Club of Madras South, Madras College. Temple City and other clubs. 6.30 p.m., Hotel Savera. Only for Rotarians. G Film: Screening of documentary Sekkizhar Adi-p-Podi by T.N. Designing a T-Shirt: A Chennai Flavour. One team per school. 3 Ramachandran and Ravi Subramaniam. At Roja Muthiah Research participants per team. T shirt designing on a white T-shirt. Regis- Library. 5.00 p.m. tration on or before August 12. Prize distribution on August 23, at G Talk. Envisioning a Pedestrian-friendly and ‘Walkable’ Chennai. Kadambari 1.30 pm. Required materials to be brought by participants. Badami, Transparent Chennai, talks about achieving the dream through At The Pupil Saveetha Eco School, Poonamallee. Std. 7-9. Regis- participatory planning, public-government partnerships, citizen em- tration on or before August 12. For more details, Shameem Banu powerment, and the project. S. 044-26802013/14/15 or 9952399966. Press Institute of India, CPT Campus, Taramani. 5.30 p.m. Rangoli: Colours of a City. Two teams per school. Each team to G comprise 3 participants. Required materials to be brought by par- Chennai Heritage Talk. Panel discussion on Changing Professional Pro- ticipants. At The Pupil Saveetha Eco School, Poonamallee. Std. file of Chennai – chaired by Chandu Nair. Park Sheraton. 6.30 p.m. 5-9. Registration on or before August 12. For more details, Shameem G Illustrated Talk/Presentation: Girls of Ice House – 1914-1928 by Nithya Banu S. 044-26802013/14/15 or 9952399966. Balaji and Kaveri Bharath. This presentation will be in the form of a G Exhibition: Photographs, paintings and sketches of important places narrative with photographs. A set of anecdotes about the girls who in . Organised by The P.G. and Research Depart- lived in the Ice House, when it was a home for child widows. Interac- ment of Historical Studies, Sir Theagaraya College, Old Washer- tion and discussion will follow. menpet, Chennai 21 At Spaces, Besant Nagar. 6.45 pm onwards. For further details Nithya August 21 Balaji 98414-96723. G Drawing and painting: City of your Dreams. Group 1: Standard 4-6. Music Performance and Lec-dem. ’s Music Group II: Standard 7-9. One team per group Each group comprises 3 Department organises Nalayira Divya Prabandham and Multilingual participants. Participants to bring white chart paper. Compositions on Lord Parthasarathy of . At The Pupil Saveetha Eco School, Poonamallee. F50 – Thanthai Periyar Hall. 11 a.m. A Travelling Exhibition: Clean Adyar, Clean Cooum, Solve Madras’s G Pulli Kolam Contest. 30 minutes. 13 dots. Materials to be brought Water Problem at The C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation. 10.30 a.m. by the participants. No colour allowed. Organised by PSBB and The exhibition will visit schools and colleges from August 22-30. Madras Heritage Lovers’ Forum. Quiz Competition. On places, personalities and events relating to At Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr Sec. School, KK Nagar. 11 Chennai. The P.G. and Research Department of Historical Studies, a.m. to 12.30 p.m. Sir Theagaraya College, Old Washermenpet, Chennai 21. At Sir Theagaraya College. G Talk. Musicians of Kalakshetra. Resource/Speaker: Dr. Gowri Students’ Seminar. Evolution of North Madras. Sir Theagaraya College. Ramnarayan. Kalakshetra. 4:30 pm G Chennai Heritage Talk. Dialects of Madras – Badri Seshadri August 23 Amethyst, 6.30 p.m. G Quiz: A Madras 25 – a quiz on the heritage buildings of Madras G Nizhal Tree Walk. Panagal Park, T Nagar. 5.00 p.m. (English) by S. Muthiah. Organised by the Indo American Association. 6.30 For registration please call Usha at 97910 29568 between 10 a.m. and p.m. Presidency Club. For IAA members and guests only. 6 p.m. Online through www.facebook.com/Nizhal.shade 6 MADRAS MUSINGS August 16-31, 2013

G RMRL Public lecture: Re-inscribing religion as nation: Naveena G RMRL Public lecture: Thiru Vi. Ka’s Chennai by Prof. A.R. At Roja Muthiah Research Library. 5.00 p.m. caiva (Modern Venkatachalapathy, Madras Institute of Development Studies. Saivites), Tamil nationalism and the Dravidian movement by Prof. At Roja Muthiah Research Library. 5.00 p.m. Ravi Vaitheeswaran. G Choral Music Performance. Indian Choral Music performance by G Film. Going Away – a film set in an Anglo-Indian milieu in St. Madras Youth Choir – Junior and Adult groups. Theme: Heritage and Thomas’ Mount. A trailer and a presentation by Harry MacLure, Nature. Organised by Madras Youth Choir. writer and director. Press Institute of India, CPT Campus, Taramani. Nageswara Rao Park. 5-6 p.m. 5.30 p.m. G Freedom Jam Chennai 2013. Music Bands in Concert. Two rock G Chennai Heritage Talk. Creating a tree park in Kotturpuram by bands and other additional acts – duos and trios of different styles. Shobha Menon. At Savera. 6.30 p.m. Desirock band Mother India and Jive band alias Baja. There will also Book launch: Pure Vegetarian by Prema Srinivasan. Published by be a slide projection of photographs of Madras. Phoenix Market City, Westland. . 5.30 p.m. By invitation only. 6-9 p.m. Hosted by Phoenix. Curated by Sidhartha Patnaik G Talk: Illustrated lecture on Temples In and Around Chennai by Dr Chithra G August 24: A Piano Evening. A Franco-German tribute to Madras Madhavan. At Tattvaloka, 6 p.m. 76, Eldams Road, Teynampet, Chennai Week features by Christine Chareyron and Anil Srinivasan. At the 600 018 Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Auditorium. 7 p.m. Elocution. Is Chennai a City of Neglect? Two participants from each school. Prize distribution on August 23, at 1.30 pm. At The G Chennai Heritage Talk. Motorsports in Madras by Ejji K. Umamahesh Pupil Saveetha Eco School. Std. 6 to 9 At Hyatt Regency, . 7 p.m. August 25 August 24 G Madras Day Heritage Ride. The bicycle ride will start from Univer- G Chennai Heritage Walk. A taste of Triplicane led by Sriram V. sity of Madras (I.C.E Entrance) and end at Sri Kapaleeswarer Temple, The tour is partly by van and partly on foot and ends with breakfast. Mylapore. Helmet is mandatory. Please wear bright coloured clothing The tour is charged and prior registration is necessary by email at to enhance visibility. The ride is free of cost and has no registration [email protected]. Payment details will be emailed on receipt fees. You are responsible for your own safety. Obey all the traffic rules. of registration. 6.00 a.m. The road will not be closed for the event. Ensure that your bike is in a good and safe-to-ride condition. G Heritage Tour. Tracing origin of Madras at . Starts at 5 a.m. and will end at 7 a.m. For more information, details Trip cost: Rs.500 includes A/C-bus trip, breakfast, snacks, bottled and registrations please visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/ water and guided walk. Limited seats. For details: 9940079444 cyclingyogis/ or contact Senthil Phone No: 9884246822, Ramanujar email: [email protected] Phone No: 9884023123 6.15 a.m.: Departure from Loyola College rear gate (Mahalingapuram) G Heritage Walk. Fort St. George Heritage Walk. Led by Vincent D’ 8.30 a.m.: Breakfast at Pazhaverkadu (Pulicat) Souza. Meeting point – Parking lot opposite the main gate of the 9 a.m.: Visit to Pulicat Interpretation Centre Fort. Late comers will not be able to join the walk due to security 9.30 a.m.: Heritage Walk reasons. Starts at 6.45 a.m. 12.15 p.m.: Departure from Pulicat for Chennai Duraiton 2 hours. Free. But participants should register by sending an Organised by AARDE Foundation. e-mail to: [email protected]. G Walk. The Banyan Walk will take you on a journey of adversity Tour: A tour of Stone Sculpture Gallery, Government Museum, led For information contact: Archana at 9840523235. 9 a.m. by Dr. Chithra Madhavan. 11 a.m. Rs. 250/- per person. To register, contact [email protected]. Registration on a first-come-first-served and recovery, starting at the Transit Care Centre in , to basis. the open shelter for homeless men in San Thomé and ending at the Rural Mental Health Programme in Kovalam. You will hear G Chennai Heritage Talk. Chennai Weekend Artists and their works – stories of difficult lives, of dreams lost, but also of hope and new exhibition and talk. GRT Convention Centre, 3-5 p.m. beginnings. The Walk will also include interesting stories about G Chennai Heritage Walk. Roaming around Royapuram led by Sriram V. the history of the areas where The Banyan is located. The tour is partly by van and partly on foot and ends with breakfast. G Talk: Madras under the Cholas by Dr. R. Nagaswamy. At the C.P. The tour is charged and prior registration is necessary by email at Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation. 10.30 a.m. [email protected]. Payment details will be emailed on receipt of registration. 6.00 a.m. G Quiz Competition for school children from 6th standard to 9th standard. Theme: Heritage of Madras. Organised by Amaravathi G August 25: Nature Walk: The Madras Naturalists’ Society (MNS) Nagar Residents Welfare Association. will organise a Nature Walk at Marsh. Reporting place: Forest Dept. Office on Velachery-Thoraipakkam Road. Ambal Matr. School, . 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. For details contact Dr. Kr. Thooyavan, Chennai. Cell: 9840645855 6.15 a.m. For assistance, please call Vijay: 98400 90875 Group size: 30. G Children and music of Chennai with Pradeep Chakravarthy. Organ- ised by Association of British Scholars. (When coming from Velachery, take the service road along the 2nd At Lady Andal School grounds. Between 10.00 and 11.30 am Flyover on the Velachery- Road and turn left at the junc- tion under the Flyover onto the Velachery-Thoraipakkam Road, travel Tour: A tour of Bronze Gallery at Government Museum, Egmore led by around 300 metres. and take the U-turn after the Toll Plaza sign and Dr. Chithra Madhavan. 2 p.m. Organised by Namma Mylapore. Rs. 250/ - per person. To register, contact [email protected]. Regis- the Office is on the left immediately after the turn. When coming tration on a first-come-first-served basis. from OMR, the Office is 200 metres after the Toll Plaza.) G Puppetry Session for Children on Wildlife. An interactive ses- G Nizhal Tree Walk. Nanmangalam Forest Park. 8.00 a.m. (English) sion on Wildlife of Chennai and their importance with puppets for For registration please call Usha at 97910 29568 between 10 a.m. and children conducted by Dr. R. Bhanumathi of Pavai. At Nageswara 6 p.m. Rao Park, Mylapore. 4.00-4.30 p.m. Online through www.facebook.com/Nizhal.shade G Nizhal Tree Walk. Semmozhi Poonga, Cathedral Road. 4.30 p.m. G Nizhal Tree Walk. Sivan Park, K.K. Nagar. 4.30 p.m. (English) (English). For registration please call Usha at 97910 29568 between For registration please call Usha at 97910 29568 between 10 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Online through www.facebook.com/Nizhal.shade 6 p.m. Online through www.facebook.com/Nizhal.shade August 16-31, 2013 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

G Talk: Ravi Varma and his Engagement with the August 27 (1878-1906) by Rupika Chawla. Organised by Chennai Art Club. At Hyatt Regency, Mount Road. 4:30 to 6 p.m. Book launch: The Anglo Indians – A 500 Year History by S. Muthiah and Harry MacLure. Organised by Niyogi Books and Madras Book Remembering Sr Mary Theodore OAM: An Australian birth, a Madras Club. Book release by Dr. Beatrix D’Souza, former MP. life – a programme to honour the late Sister Mary Theodore OAM Hotel President. 6.30 p.m. For members and guests only. from MITHRA. Organised by the Australian Consulate General in Book launch: Master of Arts – A life in dance by Tulsi Badrinath. Chennai. At the Cosmopolitan Club Golf Annexe, . Chief Guest: Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Organised by the Duchess Club. 5.30-6.30 p.m. Hotel Savera. 11.30 a.m. Only by Invitation. G Walk: Waves of conversion. Tiruvanmiyur in 7-8th Century. Led by Pradeep Chakravarthy in the . The August 28 30-minute walk will explore the modernised Marundeeswarar temple and understand how religion and politics mingled for mutual benefit G Discussion. Madras Newspapers – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. in the 6-9th Centuries. A panel discussion moderated by Sashi Kumar, Chairman, Media Development Foundation. Participants: S.R. Madhu, R.V. Rajan, Please dress appropriately for a house of worship. No shorts please! Shreekumar Varma and Dr. Jaya Shreedhar. Press Institute of India, Participants above the age of 40 cannot register unless they CPT Campus, Taramani. 5.30 p.m. are accompanied by a school (class 8 and above) or college student. August 29 No more than 30 participants, registrations on or before August 1st noon. No transport/food arrangements for the walk. Quiz: A Madras 25, a quiz on the heritage buildings of Madras 7.30-8.00 a.m. For details: [email protected] conducted by S. Muthiah. Organised by Association of British Scholars. British Council. 6.30 p.m. G A walking tour. 6th Annual Living Statues of Marina Beach. Walk- ing Tour. Brief Dramatic Enactments at each Statue in English and then in Tamil: 1) Kannagi, 2) NSC Bose, 3) Thiruvalluvar, 4) GU August 30 Pope, 5) Bharathidasan, 6) Avvaiyar. G Facilitated by World Storytelling Institute, 98403 94282. Talk: Cricket, Carnatic Music and Coffee – by V. Ramnarayan. Meet at Kannagi Statue on Marina Beach.7.30 a.m. Organised by Association of British Scholars. British Council. 6.30 p.m. MAP UR WAY – Map making workshop. Kalaa Manjari After School Activity Center and Bambaram Toy Library are organisng August 31 a Map-Making Workshop for children. They will be explained the brief history of maps and cartography, its various uses and how to Memorial meeting for K.S. Padmanabhan. Organised by Madras make a simple map of one’s neighborhood with the help of power Book Club. For members and guests only. Taj Connemara. point presentation. After the workshop, the children will be taken 6.30 p.m. for a walk in the neighborhood and based on their observa- G tions, they will, as a group, be asked to create their own maps of August 31: Talk: Ramakrishna Pisipaty speaks on Human Activities the area with the various landmarks. in the Early Madras Region – citing recent excavations. At the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation. 10.30 a.m. Kalaa Manjari, 6/12, First Street, Venus Colony, Alwarpet Contact: 2431 2676/98404 21305. Reg. fee Rs. 100. Children above 10 years can participate. September 4 G Heritage Walk. Tiruvottriyur. The Chennai Bloggers Club is Book launch: Degree Coffee by the Yard by Nirmala Lakshman. organising a Heritage walk at Tiruvottriyur led by Gokulane Ravi. Organised by Madras Book Club. Taj Connemara. 6.30 p.m. For The meeting point will be the Theradi bus stop, Tiruvottriyur. The members and guests only. walk will cover Thiruvottriyur Thyagaraja and Vadivudai Amman Temple and the four Mada Veethi’s around the temple. September 7 Walk starts at 8 a.m. for an hour. Contact Gokulane Ravi on 9884645438 on the day of the walk or a day before. Madras Quotient ’13. A quiz organised by the Murugappa Group for schools. Grand prizes. Quiz Master: Naveen Jayakumar. Lady G Quiz. The Madras Quiz. Quiz is devoted 100% to all things Madras/ Andal Auditorium, Harrington Road. 2.00 p.m. onwards. Chennai and is open to all. Teams of two can participate. No prior registration required and no fee. Written prelim round followed by final. Quizmaster: Dr. Sumanth C Raman. Prizes for top six finalists. OTHER COMPETITIONS And to Best School / Seniors / Ladies teams too. Online Writing Contest: Create a museum on Madras – Online writing At Hotel Ramada Chennai Egmore. Gandhi Irwin Road, Next to contest. Open to students of class 8 to 12. CMDA Building, Egmore. 2 p.m. onwards. How can we create a museum on our city? What objects can be dis- played? The themes that would best classify our city, the dioramas that August 26 can be created of the city and how to use technology for such a museum and for what subjects? Put all your ideas together and mail it to: G Exhibition conducted by Madras Heritage Lovers’ Forum, and [email protected] ‘Reflections of Our Heritage’ by PSBB students. Prizes for all the Rules: The article should not be of more than 300 words. Ideas should competitions organised by PSBB and MHLF will be distributed by be in separate paragraphs and under relevant sub-headings. Entries should chief guest Nanditha Krishna, Director, CP Ramaswami be submitted only through online form provided at www.yocee.in/ Aiyar Foundation. Silver Jubilee Hall, PSBB. 10.30 a.m. to madrasweek/ 12 noon. Prizes for the best 10 entries. 25 shortlisted entries will be compiled as an e-book and will be available for download from Sep. 1, 2013. Last G Presentation. Heritage Lost: Lessons from Pallikaranai. Nityanand date to submit entries: August 24. Jayaraman on Chennai’s vanishing wetlands, natural events and * * * national disasters, with pictures by Shaju John. Essay Competition: On the role of Madras City in the Freedom Struggle. Press Institute of India, CPT Campus, Taramani. 5.30 p.m. Organised by The P.G. and Research Department of Historical Studies, Sir Theagaraya College, Old Washermenpet, Chennai 21. 8 MADRAS MUSINGS August 16-31, 2013 Getting Madras Week off to a start – in words. Taking a look Speaking of heritage at at bridges a Sunday breakfast

ow many of us would have walked down by the side of an undays are usually lazy days, Thimmappa, of Madraspatt- I thought I’d get into the de- Hold bridge in our area and taken a close look at the Sat least that is how you feel nam, Chennapatnam and Geo- tails about Khalas Mahal (the architecture that is best seen from the other side? in the early part of the morning. rge Town, of St Mary’s Church one bright spark now) and the My friend Hemachandra Rao, a civil engineer and heritage enthusiast, has spent the past two years taking a close look at So, you don’t expect a packed in the Fort, the oldest British Palace when I noticed bridges of our city built over a hundred years ago and still in attendance at a Rotary break- building in Madras, and of some the elderly lady who introduced service. fast meeting. There were hardly of the early institutions esta- me nodding her head gently. He has stopped at , Central Station and Basin 15 Rotarians when I arrived in blished by governors like Elihu My time was up and the Bridge among many other places, walked into slush and doubled time for breakfast – idli, vada, Yale. Rotarians wanted to say their across garbage piles to document what appears to be his current pongal, sambar, coffee – about And then, about how during goodbyes and leave. They had fascination. 8.30 am. But in the half hour the height of Queen Victoria’s given me an hour (much more Of late, Rao has been spending time at the State following, the number doubled reign, the Indo-Saracenic style than the allotted or usual time Archives in Egmore, digging into what were called PC or Public and, by the time the hosts of architecture was considered given to speakers) and now they Consultation files, trying to get to the very foundation of all the old bridges that the British built for Madras. draped a ponnadai around my the form best suited to convey wanted to catch up on fellow- So when we made a trip to some parts of north Madras re- shoulders, it was house full. imperial majesty in the Indian ship. For a Sunday morning it cently, Rao asked us to slow down at a few places to show me empire, and about the genius of wasn’t so bad after all, I what he had discovered on his earlier journeys, including an old Robert Chisholm, Henry Irwin, thought. quay off the Canal near Basin Bridge, and some massive, decay- G by and Paul Benfield before them. ing godowns in the same vicinity. Sashi Nair About Senate House, its clas- With a man like Rao beside you, you begin to learn more sic restoration and its present Why can’t about your city. One destination on that trip was Erukkenchery, sad state, about Bharat Insur- a 15-minute drive from Basin Bridge on a day when the roads The members were made up ance Building or Kardyl Building temple tanks seemed to be empty. built for W.E. Smith, pharma- We headed to St. Joseph’s School located in a large plot of of a motley group comprising be put to good land bounded by small and tightly-knit colonies with roads that advocates, professors, builders, cists, a classic example of ne- were mere lanes. teachers, businessmen, students glect, and about the fate that use? We were there to explore ways in which a few communities and others. I was introduced by awaits the Royapuram Railway (Continued from page 1) could get involved in the Madras Week celebrations an elderly member and I Station, the oldest in India af- (www.themadrasday.in). noticed she had taken pains to ter the one at Bori Bunder was Temple has a tank, one side of Now, Rao and his friends who collect all kinds of things – scribble two full pages, adding long gone. Even as Mumbai’s which has been made over to postage stamps, first-day covers, city magazines in Tamil and VT and the Nilgiri Mountain English, maps and drawings and gas lights and army badges – are copiously to an email I had sent shops. These have let all their her about my background. In Railway are preserved as heri- drains into the tank. How can always willing to roll out an exhibition if they find a bright space tage structures. and warm hosts. the event she made several it survive? The Triplicane tank About the Metro Rail con- The past few years, the Rao team has taken its show to a few errors, but on occasions such as has had its bed cemented over schools in this part of the city. this is best to let them pass. tinuing to create a stir in the in the mistaken notion that wa- That evening, we asked school principal Father Anthony A sumptuous breakfast is city on a regular basis – with ter would thus be saved from how his team of senior teachers could supplement a possible unlikely to keep you awake for CSI Wesley Church the latest, percolating into the subsoil. But exhibition. long when you are seated com- and earlier with a building in this move has only sealed the Could we start putting together stuff that told us a bit about the Teachers’ Training College natural spring below. The mis- Erukkenchery? fortably and, as it turned out, there were a couple of heads campus in , with P. Orr guided attempt was in the Two teachers piped up. One had lived in the area for about & Sons before that, and many 25 years and the other was a third generation daughter of the suddenly dropping on shoulders 1970s. Why can’t the bed be and then springing back to other smaller instances. dredged and opened up now? soil. About the need for a com- In minutes we were lending our ears to the snippets of local attention. But these occur- The city has taken enormous history, geography and social life. rences were momentary and by prehensive Heritage Act with- pride in the restoration of the Oh, yes, we had a project that could make a nice start. We and large the audience was wide out which buildings will con- Kapaliswarar temple tank. But now hope the teachers and student teams will develop some awake. That was enough moti- tinue to be razed. Like a 164- it is now high time that we form of record of this area, once a village that had its place in vation as I launched into the year-old church in Coimbatore repeated the same success with old city records. romance of old – of Andrew was, and how part of the other water-bodies. Do we have It was a trip well taken. (Courtesy: Mylapore Times) Cogan, Francis Day and Beri Mangammal Palace in Madurai the public spirit to do this? – Vincent D’Souza was. Portuguese San Thomé and Madras Week

aolo Aranha and Vera But use I will once Vera And we decided that any This year the focus is on to Indian specials. And the group P Domingues are two re- shares a few more maps and I try event focussed on the city encouraging more communities knows most of them. search scholars based in two to draw a trail of the dozen or would be created, planned and in areas which have not held The idea was picked up and European cities who are en- more churches that existed in driven by people of this city. such an event to ideate and the group drew up a route. Six couraging a small group of us the Portuguese fort and outside Ten years ago, we hosted a drive one. shops, six stops. Five guides, interested in the Portuguese it. Walk in the Fort and ran a se- After all, a Madras Week three volunteers. histories of Madras. Paolo, now That and more will take ries of events at , celebration is complete only And the Mint Food Trail at- in Munich, has done some work some time in the making. once the Banqueting Hall of the when different communities in tracted over 40 people. and published a paper or two on The maps and other material British era. different areas celebrate it in a So the call is going out to you a subject that has links to San and Paolo’s Facebook chats are way they think is best. When it all ended that and to your friends. Focus on an Thomé. Vera was here recently also providing me the base for a And it can be simple and launch year, well after 9.30 p.m. idea that makes this city. Draw to walk around and talk to small event that I wish to time straight. my colleague Sashi Nair and I out an event. Tell your friends people in order to enrich her with this year’s Madras Week Let me share last year’s won- who drove these events were and their friends about it. Make own research. Vera, based in celebration. derful effort of a group of exhilarated and exhausted. it happen. Portugal, has mailed three maps A decade ago, some of us women of Sowcarpet. of San Thomé de Meilapor floated the idea of the Madras Today, over 100 events are The idea was simple – a Food Vincent D’Souza which look fascinating but will Day to celebrate the founding held during Madras Week, and Trail in their area. There are send me on a crazy chase if I was of the city. We chose a day – these are hosted by many people lots of snacks stalls in that re- Editor’s Note: There is still to start using them. August 22. and groups. gion. All of them offer North time till the end of the month. Take a cue from the events listed. August 16-31, 2013 MADRAS MUSINGS 9 The Gentle Book Man – in his simplicity sublime

eteran journalist T.J.S. years ago. Rare smile on his face, enjoying the wont. It’s so difficult now to V George’s words best de- were the in- interest shown by the audi- think that meeting wouldn’t scribe him: “Outside the rar- stances when ence.” He would occasionally happen at all, that I have lost a efied world of books, K.S. Padmanabhan take charge of the proceedings, treasure trove of information on Padmanabhan was in all likeli- was not there at when Muthiah was absent, but publishing in India and his con- hood an unknown quantity. He meetings, usu- of late he had asked V. Sriram tribution to the history of the was never flamboyant, he never ally accompa- to don the role of MC (when- Madras Book Club. projected himself, he claimed nied by his wife ever Muthiah wasn’t available) Padmanabhan’s contribu- nothing. He was, as the poet Chandra (her- while he took a quiet seat tion to writing will be better un- said, in his simplicity sublime. self an author “somewhere”. I never failed to derstood by authors who have But his vision made him, unher- of a bestseller, say a ‘Hello’ to him at the Book worked with him. Vinuthaa alded, a part of contemporary Dakshin, a cook- Club meetings, to which a Mallya, a friend and publishing India’s cultural history. He be- book). When prompt smiling ‘Hello’ would be consultant, wrote on Facebook longed to the class of P. Lal of you asked for the response. He was reticent by how she was received warmly Writer’s Workshop and Shan- K.S. Padmanabhan. any informa- nature, and I would wonder every time she went to meet baug of Strand Bookstall – men on Kindle, he read it all with tion, he would softly say, “Ask how such a successful publisher him and how she still preserves of imagination who made a dif- equal pleasure.” Bishwanath Muthu [Muthiah].” His pres- kept such a low profile. copies of the Indian Review of ference to their generation.” Ghosh profiled this publisher ence is best described by I wanted to write about the Books he had gifted her. Padmanabhan was mild- two years ago, when he bowed Muthiah in his tribute: Madras Book Club. When I Muthiah was its first editor. “A mannered, and his calm, smil- out at 75 from Westland, which asked Padmanabhan, he revival of Indian Review of Books ing face reflected a serenity that has been acquired by Tata’s. pointed me to Muthiah. When would be the best remembrance cannot be put into words. Little That was my first encounter I met Muthiah, he told me the of Paddu,” wrote Muthiah in his G by was I aware of his inner world of with this publishing veteran, initial days of the Club were tribute. books till reading what tucked away from the public eye K. Venkatesh better known to ‘Paddu’ who George reflects the same S. Muthiah, another senior till then. Bishwanath had called had played a leading role in the sentiments when he writes: journalist, recorded: “Shortly him ‘The Book Man of Madras’. founding of the Club. “You “Unpretentious, informal and after he retired, he moved to the At 77, just two years later , he is speak to him first,” he said. I genuine as he was, Padmana- wilds of OMR, where he could no more with us, and I lost the “Though every meeting and told him what Muthiah had said bhan would be happy to be qui- peacefully do what he loved opportunity to meet him for an speaker was a result of his ef- and asked for a date to meet etly forgotten. But his associates best, read all the time. Whether interview he had promised me. forts, he’d never take a front him. Before the meeting could have a duty, the kind of duty it was a pedestrian manuscript I don’t know when I had met seat, standing somewhere at the take place Padmanabhan was in that J.R.D. Tata performed from an unknown author or the him first. I became a member of back at almost every meeting hospital and then he had left when Mulk Raj Anand re- latest book he could download the Madras Book Club three with that ever present gentle the world, quietly as was his turned home to Bombay after his prolonged stay in England. The novelist was fired by the ambition to start a magazine that would be a ‘loose encyclo- Kalakshetra’s new paedia of the arts of India and related civilisations’. It was an expensive concept, but it be- came a reality because J.R.D. Director gave him a start-up fund along with ‘seven advertisements [per hen Priyadarsini Govind V. Ramnarayan adds: The 1990s saw Priyadarsini’s first objective is to integrate.” issue] and two rooms’ in the his- Wwas interviewed by Never before had Priya- emergence as a leading Bharata She will respect those “who love toric Army & Navy Building. Sukanya Sankar of Sruti in June darsini really given a thought to Natyam dancer perhaps wedded Kalakshetra, have given their Thus was born the quarterly in Singapore during ‘Dance In- playing a role at Kalakshetra, to her career as never before. lives to Kalakshetra.” And take Marg. Tata’s successors would dia Asian Pacific,’ the last ques- but she has for the last couple She was already married and them with her in Kalakshetra’s honour the spirit of J.R.D. if tion posed to her was “Do you of years been contemplating had two children by then. Her journey forward. While her own they were to help revive their think artistes, or in your case cutting down on her perfor- initial successes abroad came in gurus have shaped her entire business partner K.S. Padmana- dancers, could make good art mance career, and “giving Europe before she made the approach to dance and her un- bhan’s labour of love, the Indian administrators?” something back to this art, U.S.A. a regular destination as derstanding of it, she is keenly Review of Books. Seven adver- And she replied: “I think we which has given me so much.” well. aware that everywhere in the tisements and two rooms can would make fantastic adminis- Among other things, choreog- Priyadarsini is aware of the world, Rukmini Devi Arun- work magic even today.” trators if we did not dance. If I raphy and training her students prevalent view that suggests dale’s name is synonymous with For a generation that has lost am performing at the pace that for dance productions, and the that her lack of administrative Bharata Natyam. the pleasure of Indian Review of I am doing today, I cannot re- gainful use of the audiovisual experience and her Bharata Priyadarsini’s quiet confi- Books, its revival could bring ally teach. If I teach, I should media – given the film industry Natyam background – so differ- dence in her ability to reach out back the vision it had, which is not be regular professional per- connections of her family – ent from the Kalakshetra bani – to all constituencies integral to succinctly explained by Muth- former. Similarly, if I want to be were distinct areas of interest. could be stumbling blocks to Kalakshetra is evident in the iah in his tribute: “He was very an administrator, then I should Priyadarsini started learning her effectiveness in her role as measured tones of her voice in clear about what he wanted not do anything else. I should be from Kalanidhi Narayanan director. “To me the spirit of articulating her views on the from the journal. The reviews true to what I am doing. You even as a young child, thanks to Kalakshetra is of paramount im- subject. At 48, she is, after should be in simple, lucid lan- can always prove that you can the intervention of family friend portance,” she says, and adds Rukmini Devi Arundale, guage that the average reader do this and that, but whether V.G. Duraiswamy, who was also “the vision of its founder and Kalakshetra’s youngest direc- could understand and learn you are doing justice to either a neighbour of Kalanidhi’s. her values so assiduously nur- tor. She has the opportunity to something about the book – of them is a moot point, and I While she owes her strength in tured by her successors. I will do play a long and constructive in- making him want to read it and couldn’t do it.” abhinaya to Kalanidhi, Priya- my best to maintain that spirit nings. It will indeed be a happy keep wanting to read more The questions and answers darsini has the fondest memo- and uphold those values.” She conclusion to the ongoing de- books.” proved prophetic when a ries of her dance classes with has no intention of interfering velopments at Kalakshetra if For me, he ever remains sym- month later news came of her guru S.K. Rajarathnam, “a with the work of the faculty Priyadarsini dispels doubts bolic of intellectual vigour and appointment as Director, dreamer,” whose classes and an brought up and trained in the about her suitability for the po- simplicity that personified many Kalakshetra. Priyadarsini is otherwordliness about them Kalakshetra tradition. “The sition, by dint of sheer applica- eminent men of his generation. believed to have sent in her ap- quite unrelated to the workaday spirit, not the ritual, is impor- tion, sincere effort and saga- Madras that is Chennai, and plication for the position on 3rd realities of professional dance. tant,” she reiterates. cious utilisation of the resources the Madras Book Club a bit June, the last day for the appli- He was a musician before a According to her, these are at her command. – Coutesy: more tellingly, will surely miss cations. She then left to partici- dancer, with the resultant aes- early days yet for her to spell out Sruti The Gentle Book Man. pate in the Singapore festival. thetics a special amalgam. her plans for Kalakshetra. “My 10 MADRAS MUSINGS August 16-31, 2013

(Continued from goes straight off to the burning³ last fortnight) ground, climbs a tree, and sees The gubernatorial the last of you?” 1883 – December The most conspicuous flower at this moment in the December 9: They sang in Park is the pretty Carissa the Cathedral this evening life Carandas. It is nearly related to No.379 of Hymns Ancient and the periwinkle, not at all to the happen as I wished it, without night, while on the 11th we had portent. I remembered “The Modern. jessamine, of which its little anything being said. a concert directed by Dr. Grand Old Ballad of Sir Patrick stars nevertheless always make * * * th A red sunset – clouds half- Macleane, and on the 12 a Spens.” one think. December 15: I have a new veiling Venus and the crescent ball. My wife also held a recep- * * * The jackals are exhibiting a avenue laid out, running from moon. The air was cool, in the tion on the 11th in the grounds March 1: To the Observa- “shocking tameness.” One this house to the gate which earlier seventies, and, from time of Government House, Madras, tory, soon after sunset. The stood in front of us, as we rode leads to the Marmalong Bridge. to time, we heard the gurgling after the Viceroy’s levée, which newest object to me was Mars. I to-day, and shook himself like a It is formed chiefly of Dillenia cry of the great owl, the call of took place at half-past four in could not distinguish the snow dog. In the interest of our fawns, speciosa and Anogeissus acu- the spotted deer, and the dry the Banqueting Hall. On the which my wife saw distinctly at their numbers should be dimin- minatus, the latter being seed- rustle of the palmyra. 10th, I went with the Viceroy to one of his Poles. ished. Have I anywhere men- lings from the very fine tree in the Convent, and thence to I looked again at Venus, but, tioned that, when the first were the compound of Mr. Price, the 1884 Vespers and Benediction. as Mr. Proctor happily observes, shot, the French cook asked Collector of Chingleput, which On the 11th, he received a “there is an annoying glare and Evans-Gordon how “ce gibier was probably planted by my ma- January 21: We had the variety of formal visits; I, those much false colouring about the la” was to be cooked! ternal grandfather.¹ string-band at dinner, and after- of the Maharajah of Mysore and lovely lady.” * * * * * * wards sat in front verandah lis- the Princess of Tanjore, besides tening to a very pretty selection which there were all the usual * * * March 15: The sunset excur- December 18: Sir Frederick of Scotch airs which my wife has accompaniments of Viceregal sions noticed above, and others Roberts had a parade and made for it. We remembered, as or gubernatorial progresses – in- March 3: I spent the last which have not been noticed, marchpast of about 2200 men we breathed the soft delicious terviews, institutions, ad- hour of daylight in a remote part to the waste region near the lat- on the Island to-day, which I air, Keats’s description of this dresses, and the like. of the Park, where our botani- tice bridge, to the forsaken bun- attended officially. evening in a northern The only contretemps was the cal plunder was much greater galow at Pulikani, to the coun- * * * climate: illness of Lady Ripon, who was than in the excursions of last try behind Saidapet, have had week – too great, indeed, to be December 20: The usual ball “St. Agnes’ eve, – Ah bitter chill it unable to appear at all either on such scant botanical results, as recorded here; but I note, in the Banqueting Hall – always was! the 11th or 12th, and had to be to have led me to the conclu- a pretty sight. sion that, at least at this season, December 20: The usual re- walks in the Park, poor as is its laterite soil, are much more ception of natives, etc. in the G From the diaries of M.E. Grant-Duff, Banqueting Hall, with fireworks profitable. In it, too, one has al- on the Island opposite, beyond Governor of Madras ways pleasant slights – a group the branch of the Coum, which of spotted deer, a herd of the bounds the Government House black antelope, a mungoose crossing the road, a large owl park. The owl for all his feathers was taken on board the Clive by Dr. amongst characteristic sights, * * * th startled out of its tree by our a-cold; Anderson early on the 13 . We not elsewhere mentioned, the approach, and so on. December 27: In the after- The hare limped trembling through had a slight alarm about the paddy-birds going to roost on a The cooing of the pretty noon to the Observatory with the frozen grass, Viceroy’s health on the night of tree protected by water, during little doves belongs rather to Miss Martin, Captain Agnew, th And silent was the flock in woolly the 11 , but it came to nothing. the largest portion of the year, our morning rides than to our and Mr. Webster, the Chief fold.” Yesterday, after luncheon, I from all ordinary dangers, the evening walks. Secretary. We saw the comet of I learn, by the way, that the drove with the Viceroy on the young green coming on the 1812, not at present a very little owl, who makes so much pier, saying good-bye at the Pongamia glabra, the Palmyras * * * striking object, Venus just now noise here at nights, bears one place where I welcomed him to standing up against the after- March 25: As last year, the very distant from us, Saturn in of the proudest names in the this Presidency on the 31st Janu- glow, and the pools in the now stars are a great pleasure. When great splendour, and Aldeba- animal creation: Athene Brama, ary. Shortly afterwards, the rapidly-shrinking tanks reflect- we walk on the terrace after ran. I asked Mr. Pogson how if you please – nothing less! Clive slipped from her moorings, ing its golden glory. dinner, Orion is very glorious. long light took to come to us * * * and the visit to which South * * * So is the Great Bear. Jupiter and from him. “Certainly over a India had looked forward, with Mars are just overhead. When I January 31: The Viceroy, : As we walked in hundred years,” was the reply, so much interest, was a thing of March 4 look from the verandah of my Lady Ripon, and a large staff, the Park this evening, we came “but how much longer, I know landing this afternoon with ap- the past. rooms, now in the garden-block not.” New to me, too, was the across the harmless green of the house, a little after ten, propriate ceremonies and * * * snake, Passerita mycterizans, in a cluster in Perseus – a celestial amidst an enormous concourse, the Southern Cross is rising rendering of my table the day (At Government House, bush of Acacia Sundra. He al- over the solitary Casuarina; the drove with me to , Madras) lowed both Cavendish and my- Mr. Jacob came. Still more in- where the house and gardens False Cross is straight opposite teresting was Alcyone which February 22: Undesirable self to touch him gently, with- me and higher; Canopus is were lighted up, and the princi- fauna have been a little too out moving. One was caught may, we understood, be the cen- pal people came to meet them. nearer to the garden. tre round which the universe prominent here of late. Echis the other night, and doomed to Later in the night, when I re- We sat down to dinner, a party carinata was killed last week in be preserved in spirits as a speci- revolves. of forty-three. turn, as I often do, to the veran- * * * the very middle of the house. A men; but we ruled that he was dah, the Scorpion has become a * * * bandicoot had a fight two nights far too pretty, and he was al- December 30: On the 28th, splendid object in the south- February 14: On the evening ago in Cavendish’s own bed- lowed to escape into a tree. we transferred ourselves from east, and the Southern Cross is of the 9th, the Viceroy, with his room with his own cat, and to- ...Kept one of the species Guindy to Government House, standing nearly erect, where the suite, returned and remained wards the end of the year without food for three months, Madras. False Cross lay inclined. with us at Guindy till the 13th.² Agnew and I saw a wolf chasing and though thinner(!), he was Next morning we went to From Bangalore there came a young antelope close to the quite lively when he was liber- * * * the Central Station to meet my to meet the Viceroy, and to stay farm. ated at the end of that time. March 27: Presided in the wife and Clara. Breakfast was with us, Mr. and Mrs. Lyall with A few mornings ago, a man Senate House in my capacity of hardly over when Dr. Macken- * * * Major Wylie, the Assistant brought a fine specimen of the Chancellor of the University of zie came to tell that Davis, my February 28: Our drive took Resident. We had as many large, but non-venomous, Ptyas Madras, and admitted the can- valet, was attacked with chol- us this evening to a point in the people at dinner as we could mucosus. A Russell’s viper was didates to their degrees. era, and we must forthwith re- Poonamallee Road, whence we manage, except on Sunday the slain in the Park, supposed to be It was mentioned by the Sur- turn to Guindy. This we did. wandered for half an hour nd 10th, when we had a quiet little our friend of the 22 February, geon-General, in the course of The case ended fatally at 4 a.m. amongst the rice-fields and be- party of twenty-eight. and a huge cobra with twenty the proceedings, that out of to-day. He was a negro from the tel-topes, with scant results. On the 9th, 11th and 12th, re- eggs was dug out from under a 1346 graduates, 899 are Brah- Gold Coast, and the best valet I The “new moon with the old spectively, we sat down fifty- Banyan near the house. mins – a significant fact. There ever had, though I have been moon in her arms” was exceed- one, fifty-three, and fifty-one. are, I think, only 7 Mahemedan fortunate in that behalf. He ap- ingly beautiful over the after- * * * A large number of persons graduates, but 117 native Chris- peared in my room at Parell on glow, and under the evening March 14: Someone asked at also came to breakfast on sev- tians. 31st October 1881, and I have star. breakfast, “Which is the snake eral of these days. * * * hardly ever given him an order In the cloudy skies of Scot- of which the natives say that The house and gardens of since. Everything I wanted, land, this phenomenon, here so when it bites you, it does not Guindy were illuminated every while he was there, seemed to familiar, is rare, and passes for a wait to ascertain the effect, but (Continued on page 11) August 16-31, 2013 MADRAS MUSINGS 11

(Continued from page 10) inspect the Napier battery. All reformer, giving out that he was until seized and transported, of twenty-two, who won the (At Government House, the three batteries, which I commissioned by the god nolens volens, from place to Balliol, the Hertford, Ireland, Guindy) have been pressing on, are now Vishnu himself to purify the place by the mother-cat.” the Craven, and the Boden March 29: With Mr. Price, as good as finished. Each is faith – to sweep away corrupt * * * Sanskrit Scholarships, as well as armed with two twelve-ton incrustations, and restore the a Classical First and a Trinity the Collector of Chingleput, to (At Government House, guns. doctrines of the original Fellowship. Vellicherry, just outside one of Madras) founder. These doctrines, he af- The weather, which has the Park gates, where I saw the * * * : We reached Ma- firmed, had been more carefully October 25 been alarmingly bad – some Monegar or headman, the (At Government House, dras this morning. preserved by the Northern twenty-five inches of rain fall- Karnam or accountant, the Guindy) The Park of Government Brahmans than by those in the ing in Madras since 3rd Novem- Taliari or policeman, the Vetti : We reached Guindy House is as green as eye could June 29 South. Hence rose irreconcil- ber – has to-day become again or gatherer of revenue, and this morning. wish, our friend the Plumeria able differences of opinion, fine. watched a potter, a weaver, a Hardly any rain has fallen, alba is in full flower, and the which resulted in two great an- Since my arrival in Madras I carpenter, and a jeweller work- and the lawns are sandy deserts lovely tagonistic parties of Ramanujas Millingtonia hortensis have made twelve visits to the ing at their respective trades. dotted with showing its white blossoms Dipteracantha de- – one called the northern Museum in the early morning. The first made me think of and . along the avenues. jecta Evolvulus alsinoides school, Vada-galai (for Vada- Omar Khayyam: We drove straight to the There is much water about, * * * kalai, Sanskit Kala), the other “For I remember a stopping by the swimming bath and admired, on and the charming little egrets : Early this the southern school, Ten-galai November 21 way the way back to the house, the ( ) are very morning a short but violent cy- (for Ten-kalai). “They are,” he Herodias egrettoides To watch a potter thumping his grand , which is happy. clone burst over Madras, doing Cassia fistula observes, “far more opposed to wet clay; loaded with its faintly fragrant frightful damage. It was much each other than both parties are * * * And with its all-obliterated clusters of great yellow flowers. more furious than that of No- to Saivas. The northern school October 26: I do not think I tongue, Ten days ago the spectacle vember 1881, but in this accept the Sanskrit Veda. The have anywhere noted the fact, It murmered, ‘Gently, brother, would have been even more de- neighbourhood blew chiefly off southern have compiled a Veda which came into my head to- gently pray.’ lightful, for on some trees many the land. Mr. Pogson makes the of their own, called “the four day, that, as I was travelling in Listen – a moment listen! – of the of the clusters are partly with- velocity of the wind, at 7 thousand verses” (Nalayira), Tinnevelly in 1882, I observed same ered – primrose instead of labur- o’clock, forty-nine miles an written in Tamil, and held to be the trunks of many of the trees Poor earth from which that num-coloured. hour. In the cyclone of May older than the Sanskrit Vedas, whitewashed. “What is that human whisper came; In the afternoon I opened 1872 it rose to fifty-three. In the but really based on its done for,” I asked. “It is done in The luckless mould in which the new drainage works for cyclone which damaged our Upanishad portion. In all their your honour, sir,” was the reply. mankind was cast, Black Town, received an ad- harbour three years ago, the worship they repeat selections Presently we came to a little They did compose and called him dress and spoke in reply. force of the wind in Madras has from these Tamil verses. devil-temple also whitewashed. by the name.” Later I gave a small dinner at no relation, so far as could be “An important difference of “Is that whitewashed in my To-night we lingered on the the Madras Club. traced, to the fury of the sea. doctrine, caused by different honour also?” I said. “Oh no! terrace till Orion had gone The Millingtonia suberosa, of * * * views of the nature of the soul’s sir,” was the answer, “that is down, and Canopus was almost which I am so fond, does not : Mr. Rees read to dependence on Vishnu, sepa- whitewashed in honour of the below the horizon. Mr. Stiffe, the August 27 send its roots deep into the me the other day an amusing rates the two parties. The view cholera!” Port Officer at Calcutta, pointed ground, and we have lost a great passage from a book by Mr. taken by the Vada-galais corre- out the Northern Crown, with e- * * * many beautiful specimens of it. Coronae showing very bright, Monier Williams with regard to sponds, in a manner, to the Ar- November 10: At 11 o’clock just clear of the house, as we two of our Vishnuvite sects – menian doctrine of ‘free-will.’ * * * Cavendish came down from the stood close to the garden gate, the men of the northern and the The soul, say they, lays hold of November 29: St. Andrew’s top of the house, and told me near the great entrance. Then men of the southern school – the Supreme Being by its own Eve – The Scotch dinner, for that a large steamer, presum- came Arcturus, while beyond the Vada-galai and the Then- will, act, and effort, just as the which I lent the Bangqueting ably the Kaiser-i-Hind, was vis- him high up and towards the galai: young monkey clings to its Hall, and at which I presided, ible on the southern horizon. By south were the four bright stars “After Ramanuja’s death, his mother. This is called the mon- making a long speech in propos- twenty-five minutes past twelve of Corvus. The Southern Cross numerous followers corrupted key-theory (Markatanyaya). ing the toast of the evening – the two guns, which denote Su- and both its pointers were al- his teaching in the usual man- The view of the Ten-galais is a “St. Andrew for Bonny Scot- ez, were fired, and soon after- ready up before we went to our ner, introducing doctrines and counterpart of that of the Cal- land.” The accident of the wards we drove to the harbour. rooms. Sirius looked especially practices which the founder of vinists. It is technically styled, headquarters of the 21st Regi- Before two my wife, with beautiful, seen through the deli- the sect had not enjoined and ‘the cat-hold theory’ (Marjar- ment, being on its way through Evelyn, Lily, and Mrs. Awdry, cate foliage of the Casuarina. would not have sanctioned. anyaya). The human soul, they Madras to Burmah, gave us no had returned with us to Gov- Then, about six hundred years argue, remains passive and less than six pipers! I will not * * * ernment House. ago, a learned Brahman of helpless until acted on by the deny that when they were all (At Government House, Ma- With them came to stay here Kanjivaram, named Vedanta- Supreme Spirit, just as the kit- behind my chair, I thought of dras) Mr. Eliot, a young Oxford man April 2: Before breakfast to carya, put himself forward as a ten remains passive and helpless the answer of a musical Green merchant to my father, at Eden, when cross-questioned as to his feelings when he first heard the bagpipes, he said, “Mr, Grant Medhurst, Elizabeth and Loveless Duff, I did feel myself upon the brink of rain.” (Continued from page 2) young George on the Fair Trail erating today. Medhurst pub- feelings. It was really gratifying (To be concluded) In 1817 a young Walter for Malacca. Walter wrote back lished numerous reference to see that this Church is as vi- to London to inform them of his works and he played a key role brant today as it must have Medhurst arrived in Madras ¹ Sir Whitelaw Ainslie. from London, en route to changed circumstances: in translating The Bible into been in 1817. ² Those who arrived and departed Malacca where he was to set up “Yesterday I entered into the Chinese. During my visit I became with Lord and Lady Ripon were – a printing works for the Society. Holy State of Matrimony with In visiting Chennai, I aware that the Church did not Mr. H.W. Primrose, Private Due to the reluctance of the Mrs Elizabeth Braune, widow of wanted to find out if the have a picture of its founder to Secretary, Captain Lord William the late Captain Braune of the Church in which Walter and display among its other histori- Beresford, V.C., 9th Lancers, East India Company to take Military Secretary, Surgeon-Major J. missionaries on their ships, 15th Madras Native Infantry, Elizabeth met and married still cal information. As a result of who has resided in the house of our existed and after a few internet some previous research I was Anderson, C.I.E. The Rev. Father Walter was delayed for three Ker, Post Captain (retired) R. N. months in Madras and during brother Loveless for these nine searches I was delighted to find aware that the National Por- months. She speaks Tamil fluently that the William Charles Me- trait Gallery in London had a Captain the Honourable C. this time he lodged with Mr and Harbord, Scots Guards, A.D.C. morial Church was very much picture of William Charles Mrs Loveless, the missionaries and can also talk in Telugu. Born Lieutenant F. S. St. Quintin, Bengal in George Town. He wrote back in India and having travelled over alive and well and I was invited Loveless on display and I Staff Corps, A.D.C. Lieutenant C. to London that he had procured the greater parts of the peninsula to attend a service while I was thought I might be able to R. Burn, 8th Hussars, A.D.S. a Chinese grammar and began living in tents under a scorching in Chennai. The invitation source a copy from it. I am Lieutenant Pollen, Royal Engineers, to teach himself Chinese. Of sun, she is more likely to endure turned out to mean a lot more happy to report that I was able A.D.C. Mr. Durand, C.S.I., Acting Secretary to the Government of greater interest to Walter, how- the terrors of an eastern climate than just attending a service. to obtain a copy of the portrait than one of our English ladies.” The welcome I received and the and give it to the Church as a India, in the foreign department, ever, was his meeting Elizabeth. Captain Hext, Royal Navy, Director He fell in love with her and con- Thus commenced a partner- hospitality shown by the Presby- small token of my appreciation. ship which embraced mission- ter and the congregation were Hopefully this will add to the of Indian Marine, Lieutenant- vinced her to marry him and Colonel Henderson, C.S.I., Madras ary work in Penang, Indonesia astonishing. They were so ap- history which is portrayed so join him on his journey to Mal- Staff Corps, Special Political acca. They married in the Mis- and China and involved the es- preciative of having someone well on the walls of this wonder- Officer, remained with us a little sionary Chapel on May 19, tablishment of churches, visit who was connected with fully restored Church. longer. 1817 and sailed next day with schools, orphanages and hospi- their history and I could assure ³ See infra under date of 27th tals, some of which are still op- them that I shared those same – John Holliday November 1886. 12 MADRAS MUSINGS August 16-31, 2013

G The nineth in a series of profiles by V. RAMNARAYAN of cricketers who may have made an all-time Madras* squad.

.G. Kripal Singh was per man in 1980-81. He took his job Ahaps the wittiest, most ce- seriously, watching as many rebral Madras cricketer in my A most cerebral games as humanly possible, and experience, way ahead of his offering sage advice to young time in strategic thinking and cricketers on the verge of higher articulation of ideas. In addition honours. He treated them as his to his undeniable class as a bats- equals, often sharing a joke or man – not to mention his cricketer two with nervous youngsters. shrewd off-spin bowling – his He became a National Selector challenging field settings, his In the Ranji Trophy tourna- shaved his beard when he mar- in 1984-85, and was in office expert handling of his bowlers, ment when it was a knock-out ried outside his faith. when he died of a cardiac arrest his ability to read wickets and one, Kripal was one of the most I had the rare experience of in July 1987. He was only 53. successful batsmen of his era, his bold declarations not only playing with or against Kripal, Kripal’s three children, scoring 2581 runs (average made him a respected captain of his younger brothers Milkha Malvika, Swaran and Arjan, 49.63) and taking 115 wickets the Madras team, but also, and Satvinder, cousins Jarnail were all keen sportspersons, (average 20.53). He played a briefly, a candidate for the In- and Harjinder, both his sons with both the boys playing Ranji leading role in Tamil Nadu win- dian captaincy. Certain unfor- and at least one of his nephews. Trophy cricket. Arjan Kripal ning the Ranji Trophy in the tunate off-the-field incidents, Though Milkha was one of the Singh, the younger brother, was 1954-55 season, scoring 636 however, denied him any real best left-hand batsmen of his perhaps the more promising of runs and taking 13 wickets. chance of that top honour. era (the 1960s) and Satvinder the two, and once scored over “The eldest son of A.G. Ram In the semifinal against Ben- would have surely followed in 300 in an innings against Goa Singh was an outstanding bats- gal he hit 98 in the first innings A.G. Kripal Singh. his brothers’ footsteps and in a Ranji Trophy match. Re- and 97 in a total of 139 all out played for India but for an un- man, arguably the finest right- Hyderabad against New markably, W.V. Raman also in the second. He also took 4 for fortunate knee injury sustained hander produced by Madras, Zealand the following season, scored a triple hundred in the 18 in the second innings. in a road accident, there was ahead of such fine batsmen as he scored an unbeaten 100 on same innings. something majestic about Kri- his younger brother Satvinder Kripal, who would have appearance. That was his only I have a vivid personal pal’s approach to the game that Singh, Michael Dalvi, C.D. missed the final that year, had Test hundred, though he made memory of Kripal’s death as his differentiated him from others. Gopinath and T.E. Srinivasan,” Madras University not acceded 63 and 36 in subsequent Tests son Arjan, still a teenager then, I wrote in 2002. There have to his request to take his exams in the same series, and a defiant Towards the end of his ca- played a fighting knock of 69 on been some top quality batsmen at a later date, played a stellar 53 at the Madras Corporation reer Kripal became more of a a nasty matting wicket for my from the State since then, with role against Holkar at Indore, Stadium against Gerry bowler. He captained South team, Alwarpet Cricket Club, a M. Vijay, Dinesh Karthik and S. making 75 and 91 and grabbing Alexander’s West Indies in Zone in the inaugural Duleep day or two later. Standing at the Badrinath proving themselves seven wickets in a narrow vic- 1958-59. Trophy match. It was as South other end as a tailender for most to be reliable as well as attrac- tory. He had started the season On the disastrous tour of Zone captain that he started to of that innings, I was convinced tive players in multiple forms of on a grand note, with a career England in 1959, when Dattu demonstrate leadership skills of that I was in the presence of a cricket, but A.G. Kripal Singh best 208 against Travancore- Gaekwad’s men lost the series a high order, leading to specu- future star. Arjan did his late will still find a place in a Tamil Cochin. in a 5-0 whitewash, Kripal gave lation in some quarters that he father proud that day and for Nadu list of all-time greats. Making his Test debut in enough evidence of his class. might succeed Pataudi as cap- some years thereafter, though His 178 against Lancashire was tain – especially whenever India he did not quite fulfil his poten- a spectacular assault on an at- lost a Test match! Both Kripal tial. tack led by Brian Statham. Yet and Pataudi gravitated towards The name of A.G. Kripal he played in only one Test in Hyderabad, which was led by Singh will certainly go down as their charismatic friend M.L. MADRAS MUSINGS ON THE WEB which he scored 41. one of the greats of Madras Kripal played three Tests in Jaisimha. While Pataudi’s was a cricket, second only to his illus- To reach out to as many readers as possible who share our 1961-62 and two in 1963-64, all long innings for Hyderabad, trious father in stature amidst keen interest in Madras that is Chennai, and in response to against England. It was in the Kripal did not continue beyond an extraordinary family of crick- a solitary season. Suffering a set- requests from many well-wishers – especially from outside third Test of the former series eters whose ancestors came back in his health, he not only from Amritsar to Madras in the Chennai and abroad who receive their postal copies very late that he took his first wicket in Test cricket after a long wait, returned to Madras, but did not early years of the 20th Century – for an online edition. Madras Musings is now on the web at having bowled 588 balls in ten play first class cricket after that. and completely integrated into www. madrasmusings.com Tests, a dubious world record. Kripal became a member of Tamil society. THE EDITOR A Sikh by birth, he made his the Tamil Nadu selection com- Test debut in a turban, but later mittee in 1972-73 and its Chair- * Madras Province/State/Tamil Nadu.

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