Registered with the Reg. No. TN/CH(C)/374/15-17 Registrar of Newspapers Licenced to post without prepayment for under R.N.I. 53640/91 Licence No. TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-506/15-17 Publication: 15th & 28th of every month Rs. 5 per copy (Annual Subscription: Rs. 100/-) WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS INSIDE • Short ‘N’ Snappy • Saving our classical wealth • Remembering Gopulu • An affection for Chennai • Life with the staff

Vol. XXV No. 5 MUSINGS June 16-30, 2015 Global investors Know your Fort Some City better showpieces to light up (By A Staff Reporter) t is learnt that of Chennai’s I800 heritage buildings of Architectural, Historical, heritage Cultural and Aesthetical interest. 36 Grade-I heritage buildings in the stretch from Chennai Airport to Secre- G by The Editor tariat Building, George Town, will be externally improved and floodlit to greet dignitaries visiting and t is not clear though it is clear as to how these can be attending the Investors’ Meet Ihoped that our State will floodlit. Take for instance the scheduled to be held in the benefit economically from the Madras Club and the Theo- The Cupola in the Fort, as seen today. city in September. Govern- Global Investors’ Meet, but 36 sophical Society – which parts G If you are not a VIP, you enter the Fort through a small side ment, it would appear, is at heritage buildings of our city of these campuses are to be illu- entrance – not for you the joy of sweeping up the driveway in your last waking up to the fact definitely will. As part of the minated? There is also at least car, which is perhaps a good thing as there is hardly any parking that heritage, particularly its drive to spruce up the city for one building in the list, which is space in the Fort. You are better off leaving your vehicle in the vast buildings, can ‘sell’ a city to the Meet, it has been decided no longer standing – we allude car park opposite the Fort, crossing the road and then queuing up its visitors. The following are that these structures will be to benefit from this Govern- to what is listed as Old Govern- at the side gate. You will need to enter your name, address and ment initiative. “given a facelift and be floodlit”. ment House. Was this not the phone number in a shabby register and subject yourself to the man- – King Institute As to who will undertake this, 250-year-old building on Gov- datory metal detector and baggage scanner. And then you are on – Raj Bhavan the owners of the buildings or ernment Estate that had to be your own, inside the Fort. – Madras Club the Government, is as yet un- imploded to make way for the Almost the first thing that strikes your eye is a Greek-styled – College of Engineering clear, but what is certain is that new Assembly-cum-Secretariat pavilion. In essence it is an Ionic-pillared rotunda surmounted by a – Vasanta Vihar this is a welcome move that will (oops! We mean the Multi-Spe- cupola. This stands all by itself in a grassy plot that also has a shade- – Brodie Castle hopefully lead to bigger and bet- ciality Referral Hospital)? giving tree. The only thing missing is the centrepiece and that is a – Palace ter things as far as heritage is And then there are some huge marble statue of Lord Cornwallis that is now within the Fort – Blavatsky Bungalow concerned. whose owners may not want , which is to your right as you gaze at the rotunda. Between – Theosophical Society The list as it has been re- any illumination at all. We re- the two of them, the statue and the pavilion have quite a bit of – Church of Holy Rosary leased comprises a mix of public fer to the Bharat Insurance history, going back 200 years or so. – Leith Castle and private buildings. It is clear Building. The LIC, which owns Cornwallis was Governor-General of India twice, the first tenure – Director General of that whoever compiled it has the structure, has made it clear being from 1786 to 1793. During that period he achieved what was Police Headquarters done so with good intentions, that it does not want to restore till then considered impossible – the subduing of Tippu Sultan. – Ice House but has not gone too much into the building. Given the ongoing Assuming direct command over the operations in 1792, he – Bharathiyar House detail. For instance, some are litigation, they have made the defeated the Tiger of Mysore. Unlike Lord Wellesley in 1799, he – Hindu High School enormous precincts and it is not (Continued on page 3) (Continued on page 8) – Victoria Students’ Hostel – Presidency College – PWD Building Madras Week, August 16-23 – Palace – Senate House adras Week will be cele- be venues for talks, while oth- G – Madras University Mbrated between the 16th By A Staff Reporter ers will host art and photo- – Museum Theatre and 23rd of August. Last year graphic exhibitions besides – Connemara Library saw the city complete 375 years The celebrations this year are, wanting to organise program- organising food festivals with – National Art Gallery and we had enthusiastic city- like last year, likely to be spread mes during the Week. The role Madras cuisine as their theme. – Opthalmic Hospital wide celebrations with excel- throughout August and will of the informal group of co-co- Art galleries have also taken to – Higginbothams lent support from the media, old carry on till the first week of ordinators is only to encourage this event in a big way. And so – Bharath Insurance and new. We trust that the September. For the small band such participation, try to orga- have diplomatic missions and Building 376th year will be no different, of volunteers who catalysed this nise publicity for the events, of- their cultural centres. – P.Orr & Sons especially as it is the 375th year celebration and now help coor- fer advice and, where possible, We are certain that the – of Fort St. George from where dinate the programmes, the re- arrange venues. This is a FIRST various organisations that are – Old Government House the city grew. The Week, sponse from corporates, educa- CALL for individuals/ groups / active participants, such as the – which started off as tional institutions, citizens of institutions who wish to join in Madras Naturalists’ Society, – 12 years ago to celebrate the the city, and even diplomatic VOLUNTARILY to celebrate Nizhal, the photography groups, – founding of the city on August missions, has given enormous the founding of our city. the Observer Research Founda- – General Post Ofice 22, 1639, has become virtually satisfaction. This year, the hotels of the tion, the Roja Muthiah – Maadi Poonga a Madras Month judging by the Participation is purely a city will, once again, be enthu- – Secretariat programming last year. VOLUNTARY effort by those siastic participants. Some will (Continued on page 2) CMYK 2 June 16-30, 2015 MADRAS WEEK, Demented over DeMonte Colony AUGUST 16-23 is the season when, to fully not in winding sheets. when he was seated in a restau- ‘T quote a former Viceroy MMM has been denying all rant and, on handing over his (Continued from page 1) Several IT companies organised of India, everyone’s “brains are theories of the area being a card for payment, was told that grilled before 2 pm and don’t favourite destination for the it was not valid. Fortunately for programmes last year and are get ungrilled till 2 am.” The spirits, his logic being that MMM, he had the cash and Research Library, the C.P. planning to do more this year. Man from Madras Musings at- there is no bar anywhere in the that saved him from doing time Ramaswami Aiyar Centre, The So have several Social and tributes this to be the sole rea- vicinity. He has also been di- washing dishes or grinding the Press Institute of India, the In- Sports Clubs, Rotary Clubs, and son for the spate of horror recting all callers to the Chief’s batter in the restaurant’s dian National Trust for Art and cultural centres. films that are being released. columns only to have them call kitchen. Having reached home, Cultural Heritage (INTACH) The celebrations have also MMM uses the term ‘horror’ back stating that they have MMM fished out the new card, Chennai Chapter, spread to the suburbs such as more for the way the movies read it all, but could MMM duly memorised its four-digit Times and Yocee, amongst Tiruvanmiyur, are made than for the subject please give them a sound byte number – ABCD – and placed others, will be organising and . Private apart- matter. Given that the central on the subject, a request that it reverentially in his wallet. programmes. These will include ment blocks and various societ- idea of locally made spooky makes MMM grind his teeth in Then came a day when films is for the hero/heroine to despair. The only option now MMM was once again at a res- walks, talks, quiz contests and ies are planning their own masquerade with an extra set available to MMM is to sport a taurant (he does eat out rather other such events. As has been events. The Coordinators look of canine teeth, these could set of fangs, sharpen his ears till too often, does he not?) and, on the practice in past years, forward to several more partici- actually be classified under they stick out, don a bedsheet completion of the meal, airily Chennai Heritage, publishers of pants this year. whimsical comedy. and dance around DeMonte handed over the card. Conver- Madras Musings, will be hosting , however, But before you get the im- Colony in the dead of night. sation continued at the table eight talks at various locations, still appears to remain aloof pression that you have wan- The residents of DeMonte for quite a while before a man on subjects related to the city. from the celebrations. This is a dered into a column by a cel- Colony (the still living ones came rather deferentially and, It will also lead several heritage cause for concern and it is to be ebrated Bald Reviewer (and that is) have, thanks to all this having coughed, stood holding walks in the city during hoped that the institutions in here MMM must add that the attention, begun to have delu- out MMM’s card. A hush de- BR in question, unlike MMM, sions of grandeur. Thinking scended on the table. Had the the Week, as will several that area will come forward to goes around that way by that they needed to become card been rejected, wondered individuals. showcase their heritage. The choice, meaning he is not Greta Garbo-like after this MMM. The man then asked The INTACH Chennai Armenian Church and Avvai naturally endowed with bald- publicity, they have barricaded MMM if he would kindly step Chapter (e-mail: Padma Kalai Kazhagam have been Swaminathanpadmaathreya@ two staunch supporters. But yahoo. com), in particular, many more are needed. Efforts hopes schools and colleges are on to rope them in and the SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY wishing to organise celebratory assistance of volunteers in this activities will get in touch with cause would be greatly appre- ness like MMM), let MMM get themselves, denying public ac- in to the manager’s office. it. The last one year has seen a ciated. on with the subject of this ar- cess to what is, after all, a pub- MMM could have gladly considerable increase in the Those who are planning ticle and by now his pet peeve lic road. This demented sunk through the floor. He felt number of schools that have events are requested to send in – the story that is doing the behaviour has since been as though every eye in the res- initiated heritage clubs thanks details by email to the following rounds that DeMonte Colony knocked on the head by the taurant was following his to INTACH’s efforts. The Ids: editor@madrasmusings. is haunted. police who have opened the progress. And what of his current strength of as many as com and themadrasday@ Of course, in a city where place up once again. MMM guests? What would they 43 schools and 16 colleges will gmail.com. Details so received every inch of land is looked at recommends the strewing of think? In the manager’s sanc- definitely add volume and will be put up on the web site only for its real estate (aka garlic and the strategic place- tum, however, MMM could de- BHK) possibilities, it must be ment of some crosses (this is, tect an air of excessive fawning. value to Madras Week. www.themadrasday.in and also a surprise for everyone that after all, church property) as The manager was most apolo- Perhaps indicative of the the mobile app Madras Week. there is a colony of green trees, better deterrents. getic. The hotel, he said, did success of Madras Week as a In addition, a multi-page book- seemingly abandoned houses not have a portable card swip- means of creating awareness let with programmes will also be and deserted streets. And so Pain in numbers ing machine and so they had to about the City and its heritage published and distributed closer the ghost story is one of three trouble MMM by getting him is the number of institutions to the date of the event by Ma- natural corollaries – if it has o you own a credit card? If over. Could he please enter his that have come forward each dras Musings, whose website is not been built over, it must be Dso, have you received the four-digit number? It took year to celebrate the city. www.madrasmusings.com a star-crossed property or latest variety that has a chip quite a while for MMM to re- haunted or under litigation. In embedded in your card and gain his composure and recol- fact, on days when MMM is which requires you to lect the number. The transac- below the weather, he often memorise a certain four digit tion went through eventually. thinks that the only protection number that you are required The whole idea behind the OUR ADDRESSES that heritage buildings have is not to disclose to anyone even P(A)IN number is apparently the above-mentioned trio of at- if you are tied, gagged and have to reduce the incidence of For matters regarding subscriptions, donations, non-receipt of tributes. And he can list sev- lighted matches stuck between credit card frauds. But it may receipts etc.: CHENNAI HERITAGE, 5, Bhattad Tower, 30, eral structures and precincts your toes? No, no, before you in the process reduce the life of imagine that The Man from Westcott Road, , Chennai 14. that are standing only because the cardholders. Next time you of these. Madras Musings has turned a are at a restaurant and are Madras Musings now has its own email ID. Letters to the editor The Chief has written credit card salesman, let him asked to step into the can be sent via email to editor@madras musings.com. reams on how this Demon’s, assure you that he has not. All manager’s office, do not panic. Those who wish to intimate change of address can also do sorry, DeMonte, Colony came he wants to know is if you have It is your PIN number calling. so provided the subscription number is quoted. about and what are the real received the latest in credit For non-receipt of copies, change of address, and all other reasons for it to remain cards or, to tell you the truth, Tailpiece circulation matters: Madras Musings, C/o Lokavani South- unoccupied and (thankfully) the not-so-recent but definitely the most painful complication he intersection of Eldam’s ern Printers Pvt. Ltd., 122, Greames Road, Chennai 600 006. undeveloped. But those are not the kind of reasons that to life in addition to passwords, Tand Mount Roads is a par- On editorial matters: The Editor, Madras Musings, No. 5, interest most people. They PAN Number, PIN Number, ticularly messy spot. Conceive Bhattad Tower, 30, Westcott Road, Royapettah, Chennai 600 imagine ghosts and, in the DIN Number, UID Number, of the joy of The Man from Ma- 014. absence of any, have begun and 16 digit account numbers. dras Musings when he discov- No personal visits or telephone calls, please. Letters received demanding them. This is MMM received such a card ered this signboard with the Freudian slip right there. will be sent from these addresses every couple of days to the probably the reason why one of several months ago and forgot persons concerned and you will get an answer from them to the signboards to this road now all about it till there came a day – MMM your queries reasonably quickly. Strange as it may seem, if you reads as Demandi Colony. And the popular press has adopt the ‘snail mail’ approach, we will be able to help you been going to town on the faster and disappoint appoint you less. subject. ñ THE EDITOR Several of what is known as the Fourth Estate have been haunting MMM’s footsteps wanting to hear all about MADRAS MUSINGS ON THE WEB DeMonte Colony and its en- To reach out to as many readers as possible who share our keen counters with the Fifth Horse- interest in Madras that is Chennai, and in response to requests from man. They lurk in his email, many well-wishers – especially from outside Chennai and abroad call him from unknown num- who receive their postal copies very late – for an online edition. bers usually in the dead of night, and one or two have also Madras Musings is now on the web at www. madrasmusings.com landed at his doorstep, thank- – THE EDITOR June 16-30, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

The giant Banyan tree in District today. ‘Non-mixing’ waste In this context, the pioneer- ing effort of the Pune Munici- he answer to your question pal Corporation deserves men- Thimmamma Marrimanu “Can garbage problem be T tion. They have made a rule he review of Nizhal’s splendid publication Living Landmarks of Chennai referred much to the sorted out at home?” (MM, that they will clear only the banyan tree. May 16th) is a resounding YES. T non-degradable waste from Thimmamma Marrimanu is the name of a banyan tree – marri means banyan and manu means The widely used phrase buildings constructed from tree in Telugu – in Anantapur District, about 25 km from Kadiri in . Its branches “Segregation of waste” is a mis- 2007 onwards. The residents spread over 5 acres, and has a canopy of 19,107 square metres. It is recorded as the biggest tree in the Guinness Book of World Records, 1989. nomer, because 99.9 per cent of have to retain the degradable the degradable waste in any A small temple dedicated to Thimmamma is under the tree. A Telugu record in the shrine says waste within the premises and that she was the daughter of a Setti Balija couple, Sennakka Venkatappa and Mangamma, and was house is generated in the compost it themselves. The All- born in 1394 CE. She was married to a Bala Veerayya who died in 1434 CE. Thimmamma commit- kitchen and 90 per cent of the India organisation called ted sati. The banyan tree is believed to have sprouted at the place where she ascended the funeral solid waste problem is solved if KKPKP (Kach Kaagaz Patra pyre. The people of the area believe that if a childless couple worships Thimmamma they will have this is not mixed with the de- Kaashtakaar Panchayat) is a child the very next year. gradable waste generated, by made up of rag-pickers and has A big jatara is conducted here on Shivaratri and thousands of people flock here to worship keeping two containers in a trained its members in compost- Thimmamma. house and putting all degrad- ing and they do the job in the – Ramineni Bhaskarendra Rao able waste generated in the complexes involved. For this [email protected] house in one of them. “Non- purpose, they have formed a mixing” is therefore the appro- specific joint venture called priate phrase to be used. SWACH with the Corporation. If the easily available small They now cover 3,20,000 pre- plastic dust bin, which is mises. The rag-pickers get regu- opened by pressing a pedal at lar employment and lead a the bottom with the toe or the healthier life! They have now thumb, is kept in the kitchen started the effort in Bengaluru. with a few holes in it made with Indukanth Ragade a hot rod or screw-driver, de- [email protected] gradable waste can be retained in it for four or five days with- Food for the poor out generating any smell be- he Senior Citizens’ Group cause of the aeration provided of Besant Nagar (SCGO- and this can then be put into T BN) plans to start a campaign The board that tells the Banyan’s story. A pathway through the heart of the Banyan. the composting drum. against food waste in Chennai. Some years ago, Exnora in- An enormous amount of troduced a plastic drum with awareness about this sorry accept any monetary dona- ‘North Canara’ should be food is wasted by hotels in Che- state of affairs and plans tions. ‘South Canara’. holes in the sides and 80 per nnai, especially the star hotels. to work closely with the big Prof. V. Chandrasekhar Ficus benhalensis or. krishnae cent of the bottom cut off for Enormous amounts of food are food-wasters like star hotels to President, SCGOBN should be Ficus benghalensis var. composting. I have tried this also wasted after marriages and method in my complex and ensure edible food reaches the B, 12/4, 25th Cross krishnae. other festive meals. poor. Besant Nagar, Chennai 600 090 found it to work with minimal Dr. A. Raman There is no organised means effort and it yields fairly good Those who wish to be part of Corrections (Charles Sturt University) by which this food (which can manure. The composting drum this campaign please contact regret that the following Orange, NSW be eaten) can reach the poor. can be kept in any corner of the Prof V. Chandrasekhar, Hony I errors (corrections indi- Australia garden and there will be no There are thousands of President, SCGOBN, at senior- cated) occurred in my article smell or flies generated by it. beggars and pavement dwellers citizensofbesantnagar@ ‘The City’s green landmarks’ The only precaution is that gar- who go without even one gmail.com or mobile 98842 which appeared in MM, June den waste should not be put square meal a day in Chennai. 24480. 1st. into this, as it is voluminous un- They sleep on the pavements Corporate houses interested In the example of ‘Arsikere’, like kitchen waste which is very on a hungry stomach. in helping may also con- ‘kere’ refers to lake and not June: Photography/art exhibition compact. by Gita (at DakshinaChitra). SCGOBN plans to create tact SCGOBN. We do not ‘arsi’. Till June 29: Art exhibition by N.S. Manohar (at Dakshina- Chitra). Till June 29: Art exhibition by N.S. Manohar, Kumbakonam LIGHTING UP HERITAGE (at DakshinaChitra). Till June 30: Baramasa, an exhibi- tion of contemporary artists’ (Continued from page 1) been protesting against its eye over the list, another aspect will not cease with the Investors work exploring the moods condition. may strike you – most of them Meet and live on to generate inspired by different seasons (at are British era built structures. more concrete results such as Apparao Galleries, Nungam- edifice over to the elements, The selection of the build- bakkam, and The Leela Palace). thereby speeding up its eventual ings has been done rather Now, was this not the heritage speeding up of conservation Till June 30: The Art of Chess, an collapse. If this is to be illumi- cleverly too. Most are on prin- that most of those in power and restoration work in heritage exhibition of chess sets created nated, what will be seen will be cipal thoroughfares that the used to deride as remnants of a buildings in its possession. The by contemporary artists (at a roofless shell, peeling orna- Global Investors will take dur- colonial past? Was it not why State should also think about Apparao Galleries). mentation and plenty of vege- ing their stay here. Some, such they did not want to participate making its Heritage Act a rea- Till June 30: Paintings by Raja (at tation on the building. We are as Bharati Illam, though not on in Madras Week celebrations or lity before the Investors Meet by DakshinaChitra). glad, however, that the lighting this route, have been selected organise a suitable event to forming the Heritage Conserva- up will bring to the open this presumably to highlight our commemorate 375 years of the tion Committee that is now precious piece of heritage. literary past. Now what if some Fort? Global investors evidently merely on paper. The Commit- Hopefully someone in LIC of these investors wander off by make the powers-that-be think tee needs to have a broad-based will also feel the same after the themselves and see some differently. membership that is not restri- floodlighting and will have a neglected heritage structures? That said, the present move cted to Government servants change of heart. The same goes Will they not wonder as to why to illuminate and showcase our alone. Only if all this is done for Victoria Students’ Hostel so progressive a State as ours heritage is a commendable one. can we truly claim to the Glo- which is in such a bad way does not have legislation to We also hope that the Govern- bal Investors that we seriously that the students there have protect heritage? If you run your ment’s heritage consciousness intend to protect our heritage. Raja’s painting. 4 MADRAS MUSINGS June 16-30, 2015 June 16-30, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

preparation will be about a quarter lac of rupees. The value His aim: To save our of the plant together with all ap- Memorable purtenances is about Rs. 65,000 and the value of the stock of unprinted paper on hand is about for cartoons – classical wealth Rs 20000. The goodwill, copy- right etc. may safely be valued at he national conscience of moment’s opportunity in making often varied according as this or Rs. 1 lac. & his ads too our people, their love for every effort to save this most that man who was at the helm of T While thus the value of the their dear motherland and valued of gifts which is sure to be affairs, there has been no organi- Press, its publications, goodwill indeed their great veneration for lost and forgotten through the sed and central body in this land etc. is estimated at about Rs. he veteran cartoonist, S. paintings by Gopulu for the their ancient heritages have ravages of time. of ours to do these, the most 3,35,000, the proprietor, as a true TGopalan, popularly known magazine‘s Deepavali specials. never before manifested them- The various other nations important, the most noble and nationalist and in consideration as Gopulu, who passed away re- He also used him as a freelance selves in such a high degree as which have grown up since our the most patriotic of duties of the patriotic work undertaken cently at the age of 91, had a artist. Gopulu formally joined they are today. This noble spirit time have developed their own though organisations with far less by the Company, has agreed to great sense of humour. When a Ananda Vikatan as a cartoonist in of national pride and love which institutions and their own lite- noble and much less pretensions part with the whole concern for friend came visiting him in hos- 1948. Gopulu’s creativity en- is sweeping over the land at the rature, art and thought. A com- to a national cause have sprung just Rs. 1½ lacs which is exactly pital in 2002, to which he had compassed jokes, cartoons and present time is as deeply parative study of these is essen- up of late and have found ready half the capital with which the been admitted after a paralytic illustrations which were social, penetrated as it is widespread. tial to us today if we desire that support. present Company intends doing stroke, he joked, “Maybe it was historical and mythological in There is not one branch of our our knowledge of the world and To meet this desideratum this work and which barely covers activities – political, social, reli- its peoples should be founded on limited liability Company is my obsession with strokes that nature. His series of silent jokes the value of the printed books gious, artistic or literary – which a wider and more solid basis. formed with a capital of three led to my brush with a stroke.” (cartoons without captions) and the stock of unprinted paper it has not affected in some mea- Lastly it is necessary that we lacs of rupees divided into 4000 The stroke left his right hand pa- appeared regularly in Ananda on hand. The gain which thus sure at least. While politically may keep ourselves abreast of the shares of Rs. 50 each and 10000 ralysed. But Gopulu was not the Vikatan from 1951 to 1968, accrues to the Company at the this national conscience has times a great deal more of assimi- shares of Rs. 10 each with a view one to give up. He taught him- delighting readers week after very outset is not one of any been roused to a remarkable high lating the thought and works of to start a big central All-India self to draw with his left hand (he week. small measure as practically the degree it is to be very much other nations. The achievements Printing and Publishing House was 78 then) and became an am- whole plant is obtained without As a humorous illustrator regretted that it has not shown of the world’s nations in science, whose sole concern will be to ful- bidextrous artist. any cost especially during these Gopulu worked on several popu- itself to the same satisfactory technology, arts and philosophy fil the above-mentioned three days when machinery is very Born in the temple town of lar serials in Ananda Vikatan, in- extent in the preservation and have got to be familiarised to our very important duties. scarce and dear. Tanjore in 1924, he studied at cluding Thillana Mohanambal spread of those priceless and countrymen by means of trans- The promoters in their efforts The Press at present is found the Kumbakonam School of Art. and Washingtonil Thirumanam. revered heritage inheritances, lations of books in foreign lan- to found such a central organi- In 1941, He met the legendary He teamed with the legendary to earn Rs. 1,500 a month and A Gopulu contribution to a Tamil journal on the tradition of the half-yearly those countless books and guages on these subjects. sation have made their labours artist Mali of Ananda Vikatan, editor Devan of Ananda Vikatan writings in Sanskrit and in other The preservation of our easy by resolving to purchase as a deducting the working expenses castor oil dose. who commissioned a number of to create the famous caricature vernaculars by that noble band of national culture and heritages, going concern the Sri Vani Vilas it is not too much to expect a dividend of at least 6 per cent of Sambu in Thuppariyum Sam- man with a briefcase in one hand to create his drawings till sages, rishis, poets and kings the comparative study of inter- Press of Srirangam, that well- hand for the Madras-based the end. whose footsteps we have the national thought and literature known firm of publishers and from the very commencement on bu, the story of a bumbling de- Shriram Chits was his crea- good fortune to follow today in and the assimilation of foreign printes of ancient and national the capital of Rs. 1½ lacs tective penned by Devan and Among the many awards that tion and is still being used by the this dear land of ours. These achievements in the sciences and literature founded eighteen years invested on it. The Press is also serialised in the magazine. It was Gopulu won during his long ca- books which were written when arts are thus the three very ago, who have laid all Indians running a weekly, later performed on stage by Stage Shriram Group. His association reer was the Kalaimamani Award other nations were either not important duties which have under a deep debt of gratitude by Message, an independent journal Creations with ‘Kathadi’ Rama- with Shriram Group continued by the Government of Tamil dreamt of or were still barbarians fallen upon our countrymen at the zeal and enormous amount of whose chief aim is to preserve the murthy playing the role of for over three decades. Nadu in 1991 and the lifetime are the wonder and amazement the present time and which offer work they have exhibited in Page 1 of a 1922 prospectus. Indianness in the Indian. The Sambu. And still later it was One of his most memorable achievement award in 2001 from of the nations of the present day a wide scope for that abundant bringing to light many hitherto Company is free to run the telecast as a serial in Doordar- campaigns was a corporate cam- the -based Indian In- and have been the fountain, the national activity which is seeking unpublished classics in Sanskrit The Press is fully equipped It has till now published sev- Journal on the same lines either shan. paign he did for Lakshmi Mills of stitute of Cartoonists. as a weekly or as a daily. perennial fountain, from which newer and newer channels every and Tamil which have won the with the latest machinery in ev- eral rare and valuable books and But the one award he cher- modern society and modern day along which to flow. Except approbation and even the admi- ery department of the printing the present stock of the pub- An agreement will be entered ished the most was the Distin- government have to drink deep. for the spasmodic and occasional ration of eminent scholars and publishing line and has got lished works on hand is about into between Mr T K Bala- G by R.V. Rajan guished Service Award that Ad- one and a quarter lacs of rupees It is of the utmost importance attempts of this or that Indian throughout the world, a selection its own process, electro, stereo- subrahmanya Aiyar the propri- vertising Club, Madras, con- typing, gilding, dye-stamping and while the vlaue of the works in etor of the Sri Vani Vilas Press and, indeed, it is the nation’s State, of this or that provincial of whose opinions is appended Gopulu. ferred on him during its Golden other allied departments. the Press and of those under and the Hindu Message, on the duty that it should lose not a Government whose sympathies hereto. Jubilee celebrations in 2006. As a humorous critic, Gopulu Coimbatore. The series of This I learnt when I met him at a one hand, and the Sri Vani Vilas also did political cartoons. But advertisements in newspapers Syndicate Limited on the other, function held last year to honour some of his cartoons hurt politi- and magazines featured carica- him. whereby the former will convey cians who started complaining to tures by him of heroes from our He told me, while we chatted, Views on the Sri Vani Vilas Press and transfer the goodwill of and the editor of Ananda Vikatan, epics, like Mahabharata, “While I have got several awards all his proprietory rights in the Sri which eventually led to his quit- Ramayana etc. Other notable for my drawing abilities I was Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, Judge, High Court, Calcutta: I have for many His “Sastra Series” the latest volume of which is Venkatanatha’s ex- Hon’ble Mr. T.K. Seshagiri Aiyar: You are doing excellent service to Vani Vilas Press (exclusive of the ting the magazine and seek campaigns he did were for Kali years past felt the deepest admiration for the excellence of the Work tensive and valuable commentary on the Bhagavadgita, contains only the cause of Sanskrit Literature. You are yourself a good scholar and building) and the Hindu Message touched by the gesture of the greener pastures. He chose to Mark beverages, Narasu‘s Cof- accomplished by the talented founder of the Sri Vani Vilas Press and noteworthy and hitherto unpublished works and is edited very neatly you have resolved to devote your life to the work you have taken in with all their assets including all Advertising Club, Madras, to move into Advertising. fee, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, SPIC, I have felt it my duty to visit the institution during my brief stay at and accurately. hand. I know personally some of the men who assist you and the work existing contracts to the Sri recognise me for my long asso- Trichinopoly. I feel convinced that all Indians may legitimately take of discriminative editing cannot be in safer hands. For neatness and Madras Cements (Ramco Hon’ble Mr. P.S. Sivaswamy Aiyar, C.S.I., C.I.E: Your edition of the Vani Vilas Syndicate Limited in After a brief stint with ciation with the advertising busi- pride in the manner the great task has been carried out and the self- typographical accuracy, there is none in the whole of India which can brand), etc. Kutuhala Vritti is a scholarly work and the get-up is worthy of the consideration of the sum of Madras-based advertising agen- ness.” I was happy to hear this sacrifice it has involved. The Memorial Edition of the works of reputation of your press. It goes without saying that your publications excel yours and I say this with complete knowledge of the various Sankaracharya would, by itself, justify the hightest approbation of all publications from all parts of India. Rupee 1,50,000 only to be paid cies like Efficient Publicities and Restricted by his talent for a from Gopulu because, as the are excellently well got-up, quite unlike the coarse unattractive style in cash... F D Stewart’s, he started his own specific type of humour and hu- scholars. of Sanskrit Publications generally. The Madras Mail: The Sri Vani Vilas Press of Srirangam has been Chairman of the Golden Jubilee Babu Bipin Chandra Pal: Through the kind courtesy of Mr. helping the cause of the advancement of Sanskrit Literature, and its It is earnestly hoped that ev- advertising agency, Adwave morous drawings, his agency was Rao Bhadur M. Rangacharya, M.A: I am glad that you are continuing Celebrations Committee of the Balasubrahmanyam the Proprietor of the Sri Vani Vilasa Press, I was admirable publications of valuable classical works have been the means ery Indian with the least spark of Advertising P Ltd. in association also restricted to handling work Club, I had a role to play in in- able to look over the numerous valuable works published by it. The the labour of love in bringing out worthy and valuable Sanskrit Publi- the national spirit in him who cations. The accuracy and artistic get-up of the publications of the by which Sanskrit knowledge has been more widely disseminated. Sev- with Mrs. Vimala, his erstwhile only for -based cluding his name in the list of selection, compilation, and arrangement of the publications speak desires to preserve the cultural Srirangam Sri Vani Vilas Press are widely known and recognised; and eral ancient works, chiefly on Mimamsa and Vedanta, of great literary colleague at F D Stewart’s. He advertisers. awardees. highly of the education, culture, and critical discrimination of the Pro- merit and value, which were hitherto supposed to have been lost, have unity of his race will find his way was to be actively involved in prietor who is also the editor of most of the publications, while the get- the help you are rendering through them to the development of It is significant to note that At the end of the meeting, he Sanksrit Scholarship and the unearthing of buried literary treasures of been unearthed by the energy of Mr. T.K. Balasubrahmanya Aiyar to subscribe for at least one share Advertising for more than three up speaks very highly of the printer’s art which the Press evidently and the Pandits associated with him and made available to the Public. Adwave was the first advertising asked me to drop in his house for the past is indeed very considerable. The fact that unaided you have in the Company and, thus, par- decades. However, he continued commands. agency in Madras to have its own done so much so well, is convincing proof to me that your hands de- The Hindu: That this extremely useful work (Kutuhala Vritti) is ticipate in a scheme which is as a chat sometime. My regret is Rao Bahadur V.T. Krishnamachariar: I have this day renewed my to do freelance illustration work serve to be strengthened by adequately bestowed aid. I think you ought now brought to light for the first time is due to the untiring efforts of building in the city. Called that even before I could fulfil my acquaintance with this Press. For years Mr. Balasubramania Iyer has noble as it is national, which is as for magazines. His full page to seek aid from all those who are interested in the cause of India’s the Sri Vani Vilas Press at the resuscitation of all that is rare and patriotic as it is profitable. Adwave House, it still houses the promise to him, he passed away. been, at great self-sacrifice, publishing our classics in a style which precious in the field of Sanskrit literature. cartoons and paintings were a would do credit to the best publishing firms in the West. ancient learning and are in a position to give the needed aid. (Sd.) office of the agency now being Gopulu for all his talent as a The Sri Vani Vilas Press, Srirangam, have published this edition regular feature in the Deepavali Mrs. Annie Besant: All lovers of Sanskrit know the exquisite printing Mr. S. Kuppuswami Sastrigal, M.A.: I am glad to be able to bear N.D. Subbarama Iyer run by a group of old staff (Kavyalankarasutra Vritti) and their name is a guarantee for every- specials of some Tamil maga- cartoonist, for all the name and of this press, and know also the devotion and the self-sacrifice which testimony to the excellent work which the Sri Vani Vilas Press, M.R. Seturatnam members. fame he achieved, remained till make sacred its work. Srirangam, has been doing for the past ten years. The Press has con- thing excellent in publications of this kind. The publications are no zines. common literary critics. S. Rm.M.Ct. Pethachi While Gopulu was not averse the end a humble, jovial and Dr. F. Otto Schrader, Ph.D: Mr. T.K. Balasubrahmanyam, Propri- ferred on the world of Sanskrit scholars an inestimable boon by bring- S. Sivaramakrishnan Iyer As an advertising man, he de- Louis H. Gray, Esq., Newark, USA: I can very conscientiously say to the use of technology and de- friendly person. He was humility etor of the Sri Vani Vilas Press at Srirangam, is one of the most promi- ing out correct and critical editions to many rare and hitherto unpub- T.K. Balasubrahmanyam signed logos for Sun TV and nent publishers of Sanskrit Works in Southern India. His Memorial lished Sanskrit works, with the co-operation of many eminent San- that it (Vasavadatta) is one of the most admirable editions I have over vices by the young illustrators to personified. The world of art and (Managing Director) Kunkumam magazine. And, of Edition of Sri Sankara Acharya’s Works (20 Vols) is really admirable. skrit scholars. seen from an Indian Press. draw cartoons and illustrations, artists and advertising will surely 29.7.1922 course, the emblem of the little he himself preferred using his miss him. 6 MADRAS MUSINGS June 16-30, 2015

been the victims of casteist at- Everyone knows how tacks. cricket-crazy Chennai’s resi- An affection for There is also the story of dents are. In the profile on Saravana Sakthivel, who cricketer, writer and editor struggles to run his family’s V.Ramnarayan, Tulsi acknowl- Chennai snuff factory in an atmosphere edges the city’s passion for this that is distinctly hostile to to- sport in nostalgia-soaked remi- EXCERPTS bacco use. Known as ‘Patnam niscences of cricket in the city hose of us who love cleverly threads descriptions of ‘Once a stranger came Podi’, snuff was once the most before the advent of IPL and T Chennai know that it is Chennai through her own to the door. He was lost,’ popularly used form of tobacco Twenty-Twenty matches. unique. It is like no other Indian memories and experiences of recounted Indu. ‘As he in Chennai. Not that many use In profiling the renowned city in that, despite being a me- the city and those of the people held out the paper with it any longer – it’s pretty messy late photographer, M. Krishnan the address, I saw a scor- to begin with, and, with increas- and his wife, Indu, Tulsi recalls tropolis, it displays none of the she has interviewed. pion near his foot. Had I extremes or eccentricities of the Madras, Chennai... is also warned him, he might ing governmental taxation on a Chennai that was slower of average metro. It is a level- about the changing face of this have stepped back on it. tobacco products, it is no longer pace, more gracious and where headed space that allows you to 375 year old city. Tulsi portrays So without saying a word, profitable to manufacture it. people had time pause, observed grow (or regress or remain in this change by seeing the city I held his hand and pulled From a remarkably lucrative Nature and chatted leisurely one place) at your own pace. through the eyes of the people him in. He was alarmed! business, snuff-making has over cups of filter coffee. You can go pubbing, party, lead she has interviewed and observ- Then I pointed to the shrunk to the level of a cottage Tulsi’s affection for Chennai a frenetic social life. You can, ing how they have coped with scorpion and he got even industry and Sakthivel contin- is obvious and so is a steady ele- on the other hand, be your con- these changes. Take K. Sesha- more scared. When I ues with it only to keep up the ment in all her writing. Her lan- called Krishnan, instead servative Madras self – drinking dri, the amiable priest of the family tradition. guage is simple and evocative of shooing it away, he got and perfectly suits the personal- filter coffee, reading The Hindu, Ashtalakshmi temple in Besant out his camera while the Integral to the history of Ma- listening to cutcheries, or visit- Nagar.A small-town boy, he great botanist Dr. Swamy, dras are the Nawabs of the ity of the city she describes – ing temples. Nobody is judge- had been trained by his father who was visiting, said it Carnatic, who began ruling over multi-layered and unadorned. mental about either lifestyle. It from childhood to serve as a was so magnificent he much of this area when it was In describing the personalities is a reasonably safe city, as many temple priest. Yet, after he would take it home. Mrs. bestowed on them by Emperor she has profiled, the author also settlers from elsewhere will moved to Chennai to serve in Swamy said, “I am not Aurangazeb. Their present-day brings in the history and topog- vouch. Its drawbacks are its hu- the Ashtalakshmi Temple, coming home with you if representative, the Nawab of raphy of the places they inhabit mid weather, lack of civic aes- Seshadri, always fitness ori- you do that.” Then I Arcot, however, presides over a so that the reader gets a com- thetics, and the increasing mad- ented, became curious about asked Krishnan, “Were territory that has shrunk to the plete package – environment you not surprised to find a and inhabitants. ness of its traffic. Despite that, karate after watching a demon- trembling young man?” compound walls of the Arcot ask any sweating, puffing, curs- stration on TV. He found a He replied, “It’s hardly an Palace, his elegant home in If there is anything at all to ing Chennaiite whether he teacher and practised with him unusual thing to find Chepauk. The British took away complain about in this delight- would like to live anywhere else in gruelling sessions that even- here”!’ most of the land under the Arcot ful book, it is the lack of mate- in the world, and the answer tually paid off by getting him a Nawabs’ command. “Sab cheen rial about North Madras, the would be an unequivocal ‘no’. Black Belt. His father was suddenly the darling of the me- liya. They looted us and left us bustling and dark underbelly of There are many ways of de- aghast, people around him dia. Seshadri continues to serve with nothing,” the present–day the city. But, then, that is a sub- scribing a city. Tulsi Badrinath’s were tickled by the idea of a as a priest in the same temple Nawab says sadly. A courteous ject for a whole new book. Madras, Chennai and the Self vegetarian priest mastering the and still practises his Karate. and elegant man, he talks fondly – J.V. describes the city through its art of self-defence. The That makes sense in a city of the excellent Hindu-Muslim people. A string of profiles of fisherfolk in Besant Nagar be- where, ever since the dawn of harmony that existed and, to a Madras, Chennai and the Self by well-known, and not-so-well- gan affectionately addressing the rationalist movement, great extent, still does in Tulsi Badrinath (Pan known residents of the city him as Japan Iyer, and he was Brahmin priests have often Chennai. Macmillan). THE MERCHANTS OF MADRAS (Continued from num. Mr. Hart, the junior part- last fortnight) – As recorded in the Journal of the ner, does most of the business of the house. This and indeed he Europeans reside in the most of the English houses are country, a few miles from T Belisarius, 1799-1800 very rich. The House of Har- the Fort, coming in daily to rington, Watts & Co. is consi- their business, about 9 a.m. and shattucks (large citrus fruit) – fish, etc. are found here, some or ponds, from which to water dered the first here. Chase, continuing till 5 p.m. They eat none of them equal to those I of them very good. Of wines, their gardens in the dry season Sewall & Co. are a considerable a tiffin or luncheon at twelve or have seen brought from the English claret is most fashion- – without this, their produce house. They have an insurance one, dine usually by candle light West Indies – plantains and able – it comes charged from would be entirely destroyed. office, but its reputation for and, after drinking wine till other fruits. There are very good England as high as sixty-three There are several taverns liberal and punctual payment in eight or nine, have tea. The rich grapes brought here from pounds sterling per dozen, and here, but their charges are enor- case of loss, is not very high. live well and at great expense, Pondicherry, but they are few in sells now twelve to fourteen pa- mously high, and it is less repu- In the Black Town, Satur & have a great variety of dishes on quantity and very dear. godas*. Much Madeira also is table to live at them, than to D’Monte are undoubtedly first. table, and drink much wine. Great numbers of servants drunk. Of fruits, I saw pines keep house. The Americans, Satur is an Armenian; D’Monte Wild fowl, poultry, beef, pork, are fashionable, a different per- (pineapple), oranges and whose business brings them to a Portuguese. They are very fair, son being kept for almost every this place, take a house and fur- different service. Every gentle- good men, and much and uni- nish it and hire a sufficient versally esteemed. They have a man carries his servant, in go- number of servants. The expen- CHENNAI HERITAGE ing to dine. Men are employed very large share of the piece se for a residence of three or goods business, supplying nearly No. 5, Bhattad Tower, 30, Westcott Road, Royapettah, Chennai 600 014 entirely, except in fetching wa- four weeks will be considerably all the demands of the Euro- I am already on your mailing list (Mailing List No...... ) / ter, which is brought a consid- less on this establishment, than erable distance by the women. pean houses in the Fort and I have just seen Madras Musings and would like to receive it at a public house. most of the Americans who stop hereafter. Some excellent servants are The merchants of Madras here. D’Monte is secretary and G I/We enclose cheque/demand draft/money order for Rs. 100 found here, but all much are principally English in the (Rupees One hundred) payable to CHENNAI HERITAGE, inclined to “cheat master”. almost entire director of an in- Fort and Portuguese, Arme- surance company in which his MADRAS, as subscription to Madras Musings for the year There is no theatre, or other nians and natives in the Black 2015-16. public amusement here. Sunday house is interested. This com- G Town. Of the English Houses, As token of my support for the causes of heritage, environment appears totally disregarded by pany has a great reputation for and a better city that Madras Musings espouses, I send Chennai Colt, Baker & Co. do the most liberality and punctual payment Heritage an additional Rs...... the Europeans as well as na- business with Americans. Colt, tives. Business goes on as usual, of losses, which gives it a prefer- (Rupees ...... ) Please keep/put me from being a writer in the ence in almost all the business on your mailing list. and I saw nothing to distinguish Company’s service, has re- of the place. Name : ...... this from any other day. The turned to Europe with a fortune Paulem Yagapah Chitty Address: ...... gentlemen who live out from of 200,000 pounds sterling. (called by his seond name) does ...... the Fort have gardens, some of Baker has an office under the All cheques to ‘Chennai Heritage’. DD/Cheque should be sent by which are handsome and very Company, whose legal emolu- Speed Post only. expansive. They all have tanks ment is 3000 pounds per an- (Continued on page 7) June 16-30, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

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

he arrival of the Monsoon in mid-October fills The runaway success of Downton Abbey is an TIndians with a renewed enthusiasm for life. The example of the snobbery that is inherent in both the weather in the streets is formidable. A river runs down English and Indian middle classes, but the most the main highway and, while the odd person labori- famous of all master-servant relationships is PG ously pokes at a drain with a stick, others plough Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster. It is clear that through the torrents dressed in plastic bags, appar- Jeeves controls his master’s life, despite Bertie’s ently impervious to the inconvenience. incompetent attempts to assert his independence. I succumb to monsoon fever and lie in bed listen- Most of us enjoy the interplay between the Toffs and ing to the sounds of India. The shout of the vegetable the working classes, and in many cases the working vendor, the constant honk of cars, the drawn-out cry classes are portrayed as having more brains and savvy of the garbage collector, the twitter of a group of bab- than their aristocratic, vacuous employers. blers flitting across the red roof like a group of gossip- Servant is an unpalatable word; it has too many ing old ladies, and the clunk and whirr of the connotations with slavery, but it is an old English word airconditioning units leaking their icy breath, and Life with for domestic worker. Employment of servants reached what not! The jangle of Cook Rita’s ankle bracelets its peak in the Victorian Era and by the Edwardian reminds me of the daunting task ahead. Do I dare to times of the Raj in India and Imperialist Africa the go down and confront her over the evening dinner? relationship between staff and employer had become Or will she as usual produce her famous chicken pie? complex. The first response from English people when I say the staff At this peak of employment the English established I live in India is “you lucky thing, all those lovely staff The Cook and the Gardener were at war. He was a an elaborate sense of the etiquette between servant to look after you”. Both Indians and Europeans will Hindu and she was a Catholic. She was a snob and he and employer, providing ostentatious costumes for tell you straightaway that this is not the case. Employ- was from a lower caste. The staff lunches I had so clev- their staff to define their role in a household. We no ing, trusting, and retaining a staff in India is one of erly instigated to bring all the staff together proved to longer impose any of these restrictions on our staff; life’s biggest challenges. be a dietary and social minefield. So, it was the rolling we provide new clothes at Diwali and treat them with I soon discovered that if you want anything done pin versus the scythe. The Cook had to go! The Gar- the respect that they deserve as invaluable members in India you have to go through someone else. It was dener stayed. of a working household. our driver who proposed candidates for the interview Ramsi (I think that is his name) arrives at six-thirty Of course, the object of staff is to leave you free to process of Cook, Maid, Gardener, and Dhobi. In my every morning and drifts around the garden like a spec- do something more valuable with your time, like make naivety I employed the first people to come along. tre, hacking the heads off the Bougainvillea when it is money, or develop intellectual and creative talents. Anyone who has read Rebecca by Daphne Du in flower. I have long since given up trying to impose For many of the wives of the civil servants during Maurier will be familiar with the wicked housekeeper, my wishes on him and now that he has finally mas- the time of the Raj in India running the staff proved Mrs. Danvers. From the moment Rita presented her tered the lawn mower we have the shortest lawn in to be an all-consuming mission, and to a degree it still tattered references from “That Madam”, she had the Madras. He speaks no English and my Tamil is limited is. upper hand. She traded on my inexperience of Indian to a few words, one of which sounds distinctly like Having permanent help initially meant relinquish- domestic staff and took advantage of my gullibility, “Sorry” in English. Confusion over language can lead ing my own high standards of cooking, gardening, and but she made me laugh, and laughter is the best medi- to many misunderstandings. Recently, when I asked not least hygiene! Gradually I was able to incorporate cine for living in India. him to paint one garden pot blue he took up the baton my skills and their labour, and we both benefited from For many hundreds of years, until the Great War, and ran with it. Next time I looked he had painted two the experience. employing others to do your domestic duties was con- hundred pots blue and seemed very pleased with his When I arrived in India I was one of those foolish sidered by the middle classes to be normal. In England, ingenuity. people who wanted to be liked (a very English trait), with the advent of World War II, all this changed and The security guards, although technically not em- doing imaginary good deeds in a land of people, for- nowadays only 10 per cent, the elite, can afford to ployed by us, have remained the same during the last eign in looks, language, religion, standards of living pay someone to clean their house. I was unfamiliar ten years. When caught asleep they spring to attention and ideals and customs. I am a guest in this ‘Incred- with a houseful of servants and it took me a month and rush to the gates. I rather doubt their efficacy ible India’, but I will never understand its complexi- before I had the courage to leave the environs of my should an intruder appear. They do however refuse to ties. bedroom to confront the low level snipping and small walk our dog ‘Spicy’. This is pure snobbery because My driver once said to me, “Mam, you and Sir are but daily crisis that occurred between the different she is an Indian street dog. I receive stares of amaze- like my Gods.” I was horrified, for although I respect members of my household employees. ment as I walk her around the block, mainly from se- his loyalty, we are as fallible as the next human being. The Cook and the Dhobi were at war. The Dhobi curity guards dragging reluctant basset hounds or On one occasion we were forced to suspend him. He was a cadaverous man, who biff, banged and walloped thick-coated retrievers and other pedigree pooches. ignored the suspension. He still turned up for work our clothes. During the monsoon season, the laundry The staff regard us as their family and as such we every day, and every day I sent him away, until after was pale khaki, damp, limp and musty smelling. He provide for their families. We pay their children’s two weeks I relented. Sometimes dealing with the staff had a huge charcoal iron, curved like the bow of a school fees. Help with their daughters’ dowries. (In an is like having children; you need to be cruel to be kind. boat, the point of which could rip through my attempt to keep them out of the hands of rapacious Living together in one house we all share the daily husband’s shirts in a most alarming way. It was not moneylenders.) Assist with medical bills, and give time burden of life in Madras, with its many contradictions. long before both collars and tempers were too frayed off for suspiciously numerous family fatalities. The delights and the disasters, the tears, and the and the maid took over the laundry duties. Victory to The English have always been obsessed with class laughter, but whatever the future brings, these people the Cook. and taken a keen interest in the welfare of their staff. will have a special place in my heart. THE MERCHANTS OF MADRAS (Continued from page 6) Some of them are rich and do the spot (i.e. men who are Madras employs a head dubash, former, I believe him at least as considerable business with making a home for themselves or broker, who is a native and good as the latter. They require a considerable share of the busi- Americans. Hope, Reynolds & and their descendants). With does most of the active business much looking after, and are not ness with Americans. He is a Griffith (formerly Hope, Card an object in view, they pay little of the house. Some of them are to be depended on, having the contractor with the East India & Co.) are the first, and are regard to the means of accom- very rich and faithful to their interest of the merchant from Company for piece goods and is very good men. Their store is plishing it. The natives are con- employers, even in joining in whom they expect future said to be rich, but we found large and handsome, with com- sequently oppressed and de- any fraud or oppression they favours at least as much at him much in want of money. He modious go-downs (ware- frauded. Their money is bor- may practise on the country- heart, as that of their immedi- is a Gentoo, and appears a fair houses) on the lower floor. rowed without probability or men of the dubash. One En- ate employers. It is absolutely man. He cannot give such dis- They purchased several Euro- expectation of repaying it – and glishman, on quitting Madras, necessary to employ a dubash, patch, or be so much depended pean investments while we re- when the Company’s servants after adjusting all his business whose clerks (or conicopolies) on as D’Monte’s house. Paulem mained here – one, extremely are their creditors, they some- with his dubash, and settling all attend to receiving, weighing, Mutiah Chitty, brother of well assorted, of 12,000 pounds times permit them to oppress in his concerns with him, gave him and shipping goods, etc. which Yagapah and compared with sterling cost, at sixty-five per their turns those under them. as a mark of his confidence and on the part of the merchant are him, is not so good a man as the cent advance. This was consid- There are some exceptions to esteem a real estate renting at also attended to by natives. The other. ered very high. Waddell, these observations – and to 600 pounds sterling per annum. more the whole of them can be “Shopkeepers” are consid- Rannie & Gibson (formerly those who form good connec- The Americans who trade here overseen, and the less depended ered of a very inferior grade to Waddell, Stuart & Co.) are tions here, it does not appear find it necessary also to employ on, the better. – (From Yankee merchants, though more re- second. necessary to resort to fraudulent a dubash. There are two men India – American Commercial spectable in wealth and charac- The Europeans who come to or improper measures to acquire who devote themselves to this and Cultural Encounters with In- ter than some of those who rank India do it to make an immedi- a competency in a short time. business, Vincaty and Villapoy. dia in the Age of Sail 1784-1860 so much higher. Thus the ate fortune, to be spent at The merchants and others Neither of them deserves high by Susan & Bean) Governor’s public invitations to home. They have, therefore, think, however, a very commendation. The former is – Dudley L. Pickman the principal inhabitants of the none of those feelings, which large sum is necessary for a more immediately in D’Mon- settlement include all the mer- men have who are to close their fortune. te’s, the latter in Yagapah’s in- * 2.5 pagodas = one pound sterling chants but no shopkeepers. lives and leave their families on Every mercantile house in terest. From employing the (Concluded) 8 MADRAS MUSINGS June 16-30, 2015 KNOW YOUR FORT BETTER relief of the definitive moment when Cornwallis re- ceived the two boys as hostage. An inscription at the base reads that the statue was erected “by a General Vote at the Joint Expense Of the Principal Inhabitants of Madras, and of the Civil and Military Servants of the East India Company Belonging to the Presidency of Fort St George As a General Testimony Of the High Sense they entertain of the Conduct and Actions of the Most Noble The Marquis of Cornwallis During the Time he held the High Offices of Governor General and Commander In Chief of All the Forces in India.” The Cenotaph opposite Bentinck’s Building on North Beach The statue arrived in Madras in 1800. According to Road (Rajaji Salai). Mary Ann Steggles, in her book Statues of the Raj dictum, “Where the tree falls, let it lie.” The news of (2000), “The marble portrait statue of Cornwallis for his passing reached Madras on the 31st. On November Madras was the first publicly erected monument ex- 5th, at the instance of the , John ported to India.” Early in May that year, M. Turing, Oakes, a meeting was held at the Exchange Building of Cornwallis in his cupola at Parade Square in the Fort. the Fort to consider “proper measures for erecting a (Courtesy: Vintage Vignettes) Aide-de-Camp to Governor Lord Clive, bade the prin- cipal inhabitants of Madras to be present at 5.45 am on Cenotaph” to commemorate Cornwallis. The resolu- (Continued from page 1) the 15th for the unveiling of the statue. A breakfast tion was adopted, a long list of subscribers gave in had always made it clear that his intention was never was arranged at the Exchange Building for all the plenty and, shortly thereafter, a large rotunda topped the elimination of Tippu and so imposed severe terms invitees. The statue was placed under this cupola, lo- by a Burmese pagoda-like super-structure was erected for peace. These included, among other things, an in- cated then at the Parade Square of the Fort, and un- in , then the city boundary. The road that demnity of Rs. 6 crore (later reduced to Rs. 3.3 crore), veiled by the Governor, after which the assembled led from it to Adyar became . Lawson and the handing over of two of his three eldest sons as troops presented arms, the drums beat a march and a does not, however, mention that the statue moved to hostages for the due performance of the terms. salute of honour was fired. “The attendance of ladies the Cenotaph and when he wrote his book in 1905, it The princes were given two residences – Paul and gentlemen, as well on the parade as in the houses, was still at Parade Square in the Fort. Benfield’s house in the Fort and the other on the Great balconies and terraces of the square was,” according to The Cenotaph itself was, however, shifted. By the Choultry Plain – and remained in Madras till 1794 by the Asiatic Register, “unusually numerous and the con- 1880s it had moved to First Line Beach, “opposite the when Tippu had paid up in full. In the meanwhile, course of natives was proportionally great.” Parade Presidency Post Office” according to Lawson. This given that he had achieved an impossible task, the offi- Square was ceremonially renamed Cornwallis Square. gives rise to some confusion as it is now located not cial and unofficial European inhabitants of Madras, The statue remained within the cupola long enough opposite the post office but in the compound of what started a fund-raising drive to erect a suitable memo- to be seen by Cornwallis himself. This happened in was Bentinck’s Building, then the Supreme Court (and rial for Cornwallis, to be housed in the Fort. By then he 1805, when in an “unwise moment” having again ac- from 1862 till 1892 the High Court) of Madras, which had returned to Calcutta. A year later he resigned from cepted the offer of a Governor-Generalship, he em- was demolished in the 1980s to make way for the the post of Governor-General and sailed home. barked on the HMS Medusa and arrived in Madras en Singaravelar Maligai, the Chennai Collectorate. Did the The subscription for the memorial was remitted to route to Calcutta. Here the Governor Lord William harbour works of the 1880s necessitate one more shift England and, to quote from Sir Charles Lawson’s Memo- Bentinck received him on May 6. The troops formed a of the Cenotaph within First Line Beach? Or was ries of Madras (1905), “someone there was authorised to ceremonial carriageway from the Sea Gate to Parade Lawson’s memory playing tricks? Photographs from the negotiate with a sculptor for the production of a statue Square where an address bearing the signatures of 214 1880s show the Cenotaph as it stands today. of his Lordship. Then it was that the services of Thomas principal residents of Madras was presented to him. In In 1925, the Cornwallis statue moved out of Parade Banks were enlisted…(He was) the first of his country response, Cornwallis made a speech, according to Square to the Cenotaph. It stayed there for just three to produce works of classic grace.” Those who visited Lawson, “probably in front of the statue of himself that years, moving in 1928 to the Connemara Library as the the studio when the statue was being sculpted were then occupied as it still does, the most important place salt and moisture-laden air of the sea at First Line amazed at the resemblance to its original, to the smallest on the parade ground of Fort St George.” This prob- Beach began attacking the marble. The statue re- detail, including “the outward cast of one eye in such ably gave rise to a subsequent legend, quoted in full in mained in the library till 1950, when it made its last startling detail.” To this Banks retorted that the “eyes Nirmala Lakshman’s Degree Coffee by the Yard, that journey, this time to the Fort Museum. The cupola in looking to the right and left at the same moment would Cornwallis was present in Madras to welcome his statue Parade Square remained where it was till 1935 when, impart the idea of an enlarged and comprehensive in honour of which he organised a grand parade and at the orders of the then Governor, Lord Erskine, it was mind.” A few generations later, we would dismiss the during which he saluted his own image. shifted to where it stands now. The Cenotaph on First Governor-General as being pop-eyed. The ceremony over, Cornwallis departed for Ben- Line Beach remains where it was, an empty shell now The pedestal of the statue, also sculpted by Banks, gal. He died on October 5th the following year of “Ben- doubling up as a convenient urinal. has the figures of Britannia and Victory flanking a bas- gal liver” at Ghazipore and was buried there as per his – Sriram V.

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