Reg. No. TN/PMG (CCR) /814/04-05 Licence No. WPP 506/04-05 Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI R.N. 53640/91 INSIDE The ration card nightmare Where Dhanammal lived MADRAS Aquarian display again Our timekeeper Harvard MUSINGS A batting metamorphosis Rs. 5 per copy Vol. XV No. 12 October 1-15, 2005 (Annual Subscription: Rs. 100/-) Madras AND Chennai Theyve both existed from the Citys beginnings (By S. Muthiah) Sir, I strongly suggest you order efore the British there was 1639 was by the Damarla broth- something while you wait for your car...! Bno Madras. There was no ers, the local Nayaks (gover- Chennai either. What there nors) of the Rajah of Chandra- Pick a car, any car were, were small villages like giri (representing the last ves- You know those melancholic Tiruvottriyur and Tiruvanm- tiges of the Vijayanagar King- hordes crowding hotel en- trances, gazing ineffectually in iyur and a fading town, Myla- dom of Kannada lineage but the direction where their loved pore, with its suburb Triplicane Telugu in speech). ones last disappeared? and, in between, scrub jungle, With the grant came a re- All part of the I-didnt-park-my- paddy fields and stretches of quest to name the new settle- car syndrome beach. I would be delighted to ment Chennapatnam, after Like any form of self-indulgence, be shown any parchment or their father, Chennappa, a valet parking also extracts a palm leaf manuscript or rock noble of the Chandragiri Court. price. inscription that features either The British, however, chose to The good valet does his best, yes, but well-meaning intentions name within the present call the walled settlement they cannot mitigate the agony of Greater Madras limits before raised Madraspatnam (spelt in waiting for conspicuously absent July/August 1639. I am almost a variety of ways). Why they vehicles. certain that no such documen- did this has no explanation in Talked-out at the end of a social tation can be produced. any of the Companys records evening, all capacity for pleas- It is against this certainty despite its employees being me- antness running dangerously on that I wonder why there was so ticulous record-keepers lead- Empty, you hang around, age- much time taken up recently ing to numerous theories. ing perceptibly, waiting... wait- ing. to debate whether Madras or It is narrated that there were A car appears, causing a stir of Chennai should be the name of two tiny fishing settlements hope. But, alas, it isnt yours. citys university, given that close to the fort and their You watch Fortunes favourite both names belong to the year thalaivar was a Roman Catholic leap triumphantly into his ve- 1639/1640 when the East India named Madarasan (Madham = hicle, and meanly hope he gives Company was granted three faith or Maatha = (Holy) Restoration of South Indias first railway station, historic Royapuram Station, himself an injury while fastening square miles of no mans sand Mother together with Raja). was completed shortly after these pictures were taken and the restored building was his seat belt. and it settled its chief traders of The British stockade, the story inaugurated a few days ago. Certainly a part of it will remain a railway station, but The other day, making our way gin- what awaits the rest of it? Our pictures by V. RAJESH show front and rear views gerly across a hotel lobby (those the Coromandel Coast within a continues, was raised on his of the station, the former reflecting the cement surfacing being done instead of the over-polished floors are mur- walled enclosure they called traditional lime work. Conservation purists might not like this approach, but that the der), and (this being Chennai) Fort St.Grorge and Madras- (Continued on Page 5) building has not been pulled down should make us thankful for small mercies. finding it generously sprinkled patnam and weavers and dyers with auld acquaitances, we, all from Nellore and Machilipat- benign and affable, greeted the nam within an area the Indian one closest to our flight path. settlers called Chennapatnam. TN-blah-blah-5511. Was her Hope for heritage Both names first figure at the terse, baffling response. Eh? same time in the Madras 5511, 5511. records, with the White New Age small-talk? we ven- Town called Madraspatnam conservation ahead tured. and the Black Town Chenna- No, Ive lost my valet parking patnam. And ever since, both tab, she confessed, taut as an names have been in use, Ma- (By A Special Correspondent) overstretched rubber band. Id dras in English, Chennai in better not forget my car num- ber. Tamil and Telugu. And it is he Director-General of the be binding on the Government, measures to be taken for identi- Murmuring sympathetically, we against that background that it TArchaeological Survey of private groups and individuals. fication, protection and man- then, by tacit consent, pro- has been the University of Ma- India (ASI), Babu Rajiv, re- At present, agencies such as the agement of the monuments. It ceeded to avoid this particular dras in English and Chennai cently announced that a Heri- ASI have no statutory powers would also review the legal auld acquaitance for the rest of Palkalaikazhagam in Tamil. tage Sites Commission would and this is a major handicap in framework for the conservation the evening. Which makes me wonder what be set up by the Centre to en- the effective implementation of of monuments and suggest ap- Maybe photographs of cars, num- the debate was all about. sure conservation of historical decisions. propriate amendments. The ber plates prominently dis- The unanswered question, played, should join those of the monuments in the country: He said the proposed Com- statute for the proposed Com- spouse and kiddies in wallets/ however, is where did both He stated that the Commis- mission would concentrate on mission was being prepared and handbags. names derive from? The grant sion would have statutory pow- unprotected monuments. It Ranjitha Ashok of land to John Company in ers. Hence, its directions would would advise the Centre on (Continued on Page 6) 2 MADRAS MUSINGS October 1-15, 2005 Doctor-engineer Securing a ration card duo invent — a citizen’s nightmare 2-way screen (By A Special Correspondent) he acquisition of a ration card has become and at last their turn arrived, and then asked for Tan all important, but next to impossible, their cards, the staff after a search said that they he software engineer sit- Dr. Reddy wondered whether mission for the simpleton citizen in recent times. could not be found! Tting before Dr. D. Janar- it might not be possible to have The hugely complicated formalities and the Those whose ration cards were not found were number of roadblocks to be crossed start with the told to collect the new ration cards on a later date, dhana Reddy, head of the a dual screen/back-to-back scr- seemingly innocuous submission of an applica- which was given. When they reported on that cardiothoracic surgical unit in a een laptop. As a cardiac sur- tion at the specific centre. date, once again they had to wait in the queue for leading Chennai hospital, was geon, he began to visualise how The first step over, the citizen feels greatly re- a long time and finally when their turn came, in speechless. Sitting opposite the that would ease his work ex- lieved. The sense of accomplishment is perhaps several cases, the cards could again not be lo- cardiac surgeon, he was watch- plaining a heart valve block to justified as the citizen has had to wage a bit of a cated by the staff and they were asked to go to ing Dr. Reddys laptop in bewil- patients and their families. struggle even before being able to submit the ap- the Zonal Office to collect the card after derment. They wouldnt have to cluster plication. He has had to draw upon his own inge- August 1st. Not because he had heard around my computer. I also nuity to attain some clarity on where to submit In the ration shops, a notice indicated the something very serious about his imagined how my grandchil- the application and by whom it is to be submitted serial numbers of the cardholders whose ration and who would be deemed to qualify to represent cards were not available. Ironically, in several fathers heart being treated by dren would be learning the al- a family. At first, it was said that only the head cases, not only were their names absent on the the surgeon. Nor was it some- phabet with the dual screen of the family should personally go and hand over board but their cards were missing too. The exas- computer monitors, thought the application. This caused difficulties and, af- perated citizens were then told that the cards were Dr. Reddy as he began to pon- ter several protests, Government amended the not available since they had not been printed as der over the possibilities. orders that any member of the family whose yet. Yet, neighbours living in the same area have He immediately called his name is mentioned in the ration card could sub- been given their new ration cards which, suppos- friend L. Narayanan, Manag- mit the application. The mission of the citizen edly, had not been printed as yet! ing Director, Silicon Labs Pvt. was not made any easier as, in most places, there The citizen then heads for the Zonal Office Ltd., to find out the possibility/ were only one or two staff handling the long and once again is confronted by a long queue feasibility of developing such a queue and there was inordinate delay as the de- moving at a snails pace.