Registered with the Reg. No. TN/CH(C)/374/15-17 Registrar of Newspapers Licenced to post without prepayment for India 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 CHENNAI INSIDE • Short ‘N’ Snappy • The French influence • The star quest • Madras, my Madras • Two recall steam Vol. XXV No. 6 MUSINGS July 1-15, 2015 Water pandhals or Know your Fort space markers? better ou can safely trust our po- are all thatch structures which, tionary doing the honours. Ylitical outfits to be innova- incidentally, are not allowed by Since when did temporary tive when it comes to circum- law, after the Kumbakonam structures merit such promi- venting the law. With the ad- school fire a few years ago. All nence? ministration being forced by the of them carry the images of their The goal, it is clear, is some- High Court to come down favoured leaders and have thing other than the serving of heavily on the erection of ban- bunting strung across the street water to the thirsty. That be- ners and cutouts, the parties thereby menacing two-wheeler comes evident now when sum- needed some other method of riders as well. Songs praising the mer is on the wane and yet cornering public spaces. The re- there is no sign of these pavi- cent summer has seen a spate of lions being removed. These politically sponsored water-dis- G By have in effect become perma- pensing facilities, all of them nent structures that are pro- hogging the few remaining pub- A Special tected by the political hoods of lic footpaths and street corners. Correspondent the locality with the administra- This is a new menace under the tion either indifferent or simply garb of social service that ought helpless to do away with them. The Assembly and Secretariat. to be nipped in the bud before it leader are played over a public Past history will tell us that becomes a bigger issue. address system every afternoon. this is exactly the way we ruined G The most frequently photographed feature of Fort St George is Come to think of it, the re- There is yet another common our city by erecting large adver- the Assembly building. It dominates the Fort’s frontage and is strik- cent summer was hardly a se- feature among all of them – not tisement hoardings. Many were ingly beautiful. It is, sadly, completely out of bounds for the casual vere one. Moreover, with the one really dispenses any water. classified as temporary, came up visitor, housing as it does the offices of the Chief Minister, the present dispensation selling The only sign of such an activ- on street corners and footpaths State Cabinet, the Legislative Assembly and the ministries. Com- packaged water at heavily ity is an empty water dispenser and most had political patron- pared to the rest of the Fort, this edifice is of relatively recent prov- subsidised rates, where is the with not an attendant in sight. age. When they began growing enance, having been constructed in its present shape in1910 and need for these water-dispensing And yet, each one of them is out of control in terms of subsequently added to. But its core is very old, almost as old as Fort facilities? And yet they have declared open with much fan- St George. Among the first structures to be built in 1640 by Andrew Cogan come up all over the city. They fare, an important party func- (Continued on page 2) was what he termed the “Tower in the midst of the Fort”. This was finished before he left Madras in 1643. It housed the civil estab- lishment of the Fort, while the military disposed itself below the curtain walls. According to Dr. Fryer, who left an account of the Changed rules will Fort in 1673, this central tower, a domed edifice rather like a Mughal tomb, was the Governor’s House. Later accounts speak of it as a flat-roofed building and H. D. Love in his Vestiges of Old Madras dismisses the domed depiction as “untrustworthy”. threaten beaches It appears to have been multi-functional, for it “contained of- fices, reception rooms, a dining hall, a chapel and accommodation (By A Special Correspondent) for the Writers.” An earlier write-up, dated January 6, 1664, refers to this building as the ‘Mansion Howse’ and has it as the residence he Central Government The new regulations appli- have basement and stilt-based of the Agent (later designated Governor) and the second, third Thas pulled the plug on the cable to Tamil Nadu, Andhra car parking facilities. The Gov- and fourth members of his Council. It also housed a “very beautifull only protection that our city’s Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, ernment has, however, stipu- Chappell for Divine Service, and Convenient Lodgings for the coast had – norms governing West Bengal, Maharashtra and lated that the floor space index Minister, as alsoe a faire dineing-roome and Celler.” building in areas that qualify as Gujarat remove all restrictions (FSI) for these constructions Dr. Fryer does not mention it, but Hiram Bingham, in his biog- Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) on CRZ II areas. Mumbai city will be based on the rules pre- raphy of Elihu Yale, notes that even a year earlier to Fryer’s de- II. According to the existing and Goa had already lobbied vailing in 1991 – this, it is ar- scription, the building was in need of repair. All sources agree that rules, all construction within hard for the change and had gued, will be sufficient to pro- by 1677 the walls of this building were tottering. Several Gover- 500 metres of the sea was disal- succeeded in getting the regu- tect the areas from rampant nors had added to the structure over the years. The additions had lowed. Now, thanks to intense lations affecting them removed over-construction. In addition, been made without any thought of the foundations and by 1688 lobbying by the real estate in- in 2011. That gave a fillip to all all buildings coming up on CRZ Fort House had three floors with the Governor’s Consultation dustry and continued represen- other coastal states to fight for II areas will have to compulso- Room on the top, all ready to collapse at short notice. tations by the State Govern- the same rights. They will now rily recycle wastewater. Action was finally taken in 1693 by Governor Nathaniel ment, this has been relaxed, be subject to the same regula- You only need to look Higginson who, like Yale, was born in the colonial America. He with a few conditions attached. tions as the rest of the city to around you to speculate on was also the first Mayor of Madras. The building was emptied and The builders are jubilant, but as which they belong. There will what will happen to these areas all its effects transferred to Jearsey House on Charles Street within to what it portends for the city be no limits on heights of the in a few years. In a city where the Fort. Demolition was completed by April 1694 when orders is a matter of concern. structures and these can also (Continued on page 2) (Continued on page 8) CMYK 2 MADRAS MUSINGS July 1-15, 2015 Are they space markers? On oga Day id you yoga on Inter- buildings? Would they bend can attract more people to in- (Continued from page 1) step. When confronted about Dnational Yoga Day, over backwards to protect di- volve more in this event. this, some political leaders have Chief? You will be happy to lapidated but historic struc- “Many people like me are know that The Man from Ma- tures? Or would they continue more interested to involve ac- number and size, and after there argued that putting up water dras Musings did not, for he as they are – tying themselves tively for a social and environ- were several accidents leading dispensers is an age-old Tamil yogas on all other days like up into bureaucratic knots? mental cause which will to fatalities, civic activists had custom. They cite the example nobody’s business and so de- The invitation revealed that directly benefit people and to fight the menace, which took of a prominent temple festival cided to give it a miss on that none of the above was being citys look.. Kindly Consider. I several years, culminating in a in Mylapore where such facili- day of days. Not so several oth- contemplated. It was an exhi- feel happy to share my feel to Supreme Court judgement that ties come up each year on the ers whom MMM knows. And bition of yoga as seen in sculp- you, and you can make it last banned them all. We have had day of the event. But what is they all did it in front of cam- tures and temple art. MMM did long.” a few hoarding-free years, but a forgotten is that they are also eras. Some were of the still va- not visit it. He preferred to lie MMM had visions of the casual glance around the airport removed immediately thereaf- riety while others moved and on his back and let his mind Chief himself and sundry area will show you that they are ter, which is not the case with by that MMM refers to the in- wander. That, in MMM’s view, hangers-on (the lady who coming back in ones and twos, these politically motivated ability of most people to re- is the yoga of yogas.