Archive of Vol. XVII No. 4, June 1-15, 2007

Registered with the Reg. No. TN/PMG (CCR) /814/06-08 Registrar of Newspapers Licence to post without prepayment for India under R.N.I. 53640/91 Licence No. WPP 506/06-08 Rs. 5 per copy (Annual Subscription: Rs. 100/-) WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI INSIDE Short N Snappy Making tourism successful MADRAS The Pondicherry experience Cricket info to publishing The Madras printers Vol. XVII No. 04 MUSINGS June 1-15, 2007 Planning for heritage Some welcome first steps (By The Editor) Go to the girl at the 2nd check-in counter and tell us what you think of her... She is the one we are seeing for t long last things appear to points, among others, being you! Abe moving on the heritage made: front in Tamil Nadu, though 1. The Archaeological Sur- Spotted & noted decisive action is still a long way vey of India (ASI) covers Indias A serious preoccuption for off. Even as the draft Second ancient monuments. But with some, and a full-time occupa- Master Plan for Chennai, which only 2000 locations with If the State ever gets a Heritage Act, it will undoubtedly have local level tion for others, whose eyes has a section devoted to heri- Heritage Committees and then such structures, like whats left of this become like permanent bin- around 5000 listed buildings tage conservation in the city, is 19th Century British hospital in Kodayar forest, Nagercoil, might be looked oculars. under the ASI all over the being debated, the State Plan- at with a little more sympathy. Any get-together that sees a country and the average budget ning Commission, which is in meaningful array of humanity for each location being a paltry offers sightings and a fair har- the process of preparing the Rs. 7000, its efforts need to be vest weddings, kutcheries Eleventh Five Year Plan, has Heritage in the districts supplemented considerably. It is (especially during the Season, discussed the protection of heri- (By A Special Correspondent) unable to keep in good shape when the NRIs come home tage buildings in Tamil Nadu briefly to roost, and the even its blue boards that declare onvenor of the Nagercoil Chapter of INTACH, Lal Mohan, both for historical reasons as Cis urging the State Government to renovate the dilapidated hmm-did-you-get-a-good- buildings to be protected monu- well as as an adjunct to the heritage structures built by Scottish planters in the Kodayar for- look-at-that-one? syndrome ments. is in full cry). promotion of tourism. The est. It was in 1870 that a few enterprising Scotsmen like John Over the past few years, a new Planning Commission meeting Grant, the chief promoter of coffee planting in the south arena has been added to the 2. The working of the State Travancore mountains, and another planter,George Maclennan, was convened by the Member- Archaeological Department is list of fertile venues the air- Secretary of the Planning Com- came to the Kodayar forests. Maclennan lies buried where he, port. shrouded in greater mystery and his dogs and horse were bitten by a King Cobra. In true Indian style, large mission and chaired by the there is hardly any information These planters convinced the then Maharaja of Travancore, chunks of family arrive to see Vice-Chairman. Attending it on what it has done in recent Ramavarma Ayila Thirunal, his Diwan and the British Resident off young hopefuls, and the were several heritage activists. years. that huge profits could be made from their coffee venture. Un- job of tracking other equally The meeting began with the co- fortunately, their dreams never materialised, blighted by the rust young promising souls be- convener of the Indian Na- disease. In its place tea plantation was attempted at the Seafield, comes easy. 3. The history of excavations tional Trust for Art and Cul- in the State, both by the ASI Lebonon and Karimani Estates, which also failed. At a time While the young ones are pre- when there were no roads, men and material were mobilised to occupied with new begin- tural Heritage (INTACH), and the State, is abysmal. In the Tamil Nadu, giving a summary build huge factories. These are now reduced to tin sheds. There nings and future dreams, the past forty years, only a couple of was even a hospital built at an altitude of 1200 metres above sea older elements are racing of the history of efforts taken to locations have been explored level to treat malaria-ridden workers, at a time when many suc- ahead to the next possible get a Heritage Act in the State. thoroughly. phase. cumbed to the disease for which treatment was unknown. The But since all normal parents The wide-ranging discus- hospital still stands in poor condition and bears the inscription are scared of their young sions thereafter saw these (Continued on page 3) In memory of John Grant of Glemurguhart, Inverness, Scot- adult kids, they make sure land who died in 1857. their thoughts stay hidden, thus avoiding the indignant: Oi, don't even think about it. They identify and observe the Whats going to happen to Government House? parents, the siblings, cousins of various denominations, the neighbours dog. Some strike he Tamil Nadu Govern- (By A Special Correspondent) Assembly complex on the site of up conversations, which usu- Tment has announced that Queen Marys College. This ally end with Oh, then your it will soon be building a new heritage precinct, even a poten- the ideal choice, given its cen- snowballed into a major contro- brother-in-laws cousin must State Assembly complex away versy, with the college students have been in kindergarten tial World Heritage Site, and tral location. Rumours had it with me, which naturally from Fort St. George. The new ought to be treated as such, with that the decision had almost spearheading the protests, re- brings a feeling of closeness. complex will be spacious and free access to all. been inked when it was given sulting in the Government Post-departure, the crowd modern unlike, it says, the The first such plans for a new up for reasons never fully ex- backtracking on its decision. thins, but connections have present location, which is Secretariat and Assembly were plained. Since then, all talk has An alternative site was then been forged, and filed away in cramped. Madras Musings wel- discussed many years ago when centred on shifting the Assem- identified in Kotturpuram on the mental cupboard that comes this decision to move the the Anna University campus specialises in possibilities. the M.G. Ramachandran Min- bly to a different location in And the Great Web of Life Assembly complex out of the istry mulled over transferring Madras that is Chennai. and a foundation stone was laid. smiles, and prepares itself for Fort, for this journal has been the capital itself from Madras to In 2003, the then Govern- But this plan was later aban- more strands. pointing out for years that the between Tiruchchirappalli and ment announced the building of doned, with a new party taking Ranjitha Ashok Fort St. George complex is a Thanjavur, which was perhaps a new Secretariat-cum (Continued on page 2) CMYK 2 MADRAS MUSINGS June 1-15, 2007 In-flight behaviour – Indian style he Man from Madras they could hardly make any rounding it ought to be avoided to such blatant inconveniences only the façade. This too, ac- T Musings was recently on headway as a stampede to the and those wishing to travel created for road-users. A re- cording to the locals, does not an international flight return- exit had begun. MMM was one needed to take Mount Road. cent example, a cutout erected have long to live, though no- ing home and it was once more of the few passengers to remain But came the day of the show on TTK Road covered the en- body had a clear answer as to amply evident to him that the seated and an exasperated air and Mount Road was the first tire traffic signal and, so, most what is coming up in its place. behaviour of the citizens of our hostess, no doubt looking for a to be blocked, whether by in- road-users had no idea on when The Crown was one of the ear- country is always a little differ- shoulder to weep on, stated tention or due to the colossal to move ahead. And not one liest theatres in the city and had ent. For starters, most of us that this was invariably the amount of traffic on the road, policeman objected when the been witness to all that went on pack much more than what we story on most India-bound it was not clear. The result was cut-out was put up. It was in the name of film-making really need and invariably end flights. Apparently many air- that thousands of commuters taken away a good 15 days that eventually saw Madras up arguing with those at the lines even keep the toiletries in were left stranded on the road later. emerge as a film centre. In the check-in counters about how the lavatory to a minimum as on a sweltering day with the 75th year of the talking cinema the weight norms are wholly in- most are stolen by the passen- traffic inching forward at times Whose pavement? in India, it was sad to see this adequate. gers. MMM could only listen and many times not at all. The landmark vanish without a But what really took the with a growing sadness.

Load more