WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI Phoenix-like in …...in T’Nagar A t present, the Chennai Met-ropolitan Area is 1,189 sq.km after its notification in 1975. CMDA intends to expand

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Vol. XXVIII No. 8 August 1-15, 2018

WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

INSIDE

Short ‘N’ Snappy Ageing CSK becomes champion� One Woman’s India� Eardley Norton – Lawyer outstanding� Madras Week Programmes�

(Continued on page 2)

Phoenix-likein T’Nagar

At present, the Chennai Met-ropolitan Area is 1,189

sq.km after its notification in1975. CMDA intends to expandit to 8,878 sq.km engulfingTiruvallur and KancheepuramDistricts and Arakkonam andNemili Taluks in Vellore District,Chengalpattu becoming part ofthe region. The objective is toanticipate the needs of the popu-lation by 2026.

Enlargement of the Cityregion, and that too, by overseven times seems highly complexand over ambitious. Reservationson some issues cannot be helped.Have similar objectives, as werespelt out, been achieved for thefirst expansion to 1189 sq.km? Ifthe answer is in the negative, howis an enlarged area a substitute forsound conception and implemen-tation? If the answer is in theaffirmative, would it not be realis-tic to break the proposed massiveexpansion into manageablemodules, of the same size as forthe first expansion, withoutweakening their organic inter-

relationships? Has an expertstudy been done to assess whatneeds to be done to result in apositive impact on decongestion,reduced pollution and improvedquality of life?

When the area was expandedto 1,189 sq.km, Government rea-soned that a large area wasneeded to find the best possiblelocation for employment, afford-able housing and relocation ofslums and developing connecti-vity. This was primarily to beachieved by creating satellitetowns and peripheral ring roads.

Of five proposed towns, onlytwo – Manali and MaraimalaiNagar – were accomplished. Thishas not been adequate to arrestthe rising overcrowding inChennai city. The object ofmaking housing in suburbs anattractive option has not beenrealised. Reports from residentsin outlying areas indicate thatlocal roads have not been put inplace nor has the supply ofserviced land for middle and

Ground + 4, becomes 7,heads for 9 after fire

Will Metro offer City decongestion?

� by A Special Correspondent

INTACH, Chennai’s 36th Heritage Club inaugurated� Young INTACH, Chennai Chapter, inaugurated its 36th Heritage Club in schools at the Vocational Training Centreof the Anjuman Himayath-e-Islam School for girls recently.

INTACH Chennai’s Sujatha Shankar and Sushila Nataraj walked into a large courtyard full of 300 young girlsseated in neat rows. Most of them were there to cheer 40 of their peers who have chosen to form a Heritage Club.

This group of 40 stood out, as the girls were dressed in all-white, making a striking picture, they ranged from classes9 to 12 – all of whom have chosen to be inducted into the Club because of their love and affinity for History. The girlswere inducted formally into the VTC Heritage Club with a badge and a ‘Passport’, wherein they would record personalheritage knowledge and experiences.

The Club members plan to meet every Wednesday after school hours and are keen to invite resource persons who willopen their areas of knowledge into different forms of heritage – both tangible and intangible.

The INTACH representatives then addressed the students and teachers and said that to create awareness, initiateheritage-related activities and bring out the importance of built, natural, and intangible heritage should be the aim of theClub.

INTACH plans to establish more heritage clubs this year. Interested schools may [email protected].

Did violations ever go away?No, they did not. But what

is sad is that despite a conflagra-tion of mammoth proportionsthat happened just a year back,none, ranging from builder tothe authorities, has learnt asingle lesson. It is left to the citi-zens to bear all the risks and alsoto protest, very much in vain.

When in 2017, the fire sweptthrough the seven floors of apopular retailer dealing in silk,a Minister went on record to saythat the building had been ingross violation of all permitseven since it was built in 2000.The original sanction had beenfor ground plus four floors, whatcame up in reality was a struc-ture of seven floors. This wasconstructed in full public viewand yet the authoritiesremained oblivious of the viola-tions. Thereafter, there ensuedthe usual process of going tocourt over the extra floors. Hereagain, despite orders for demo-lition of the additional and un-approved levels, the builderobtained a stay and carried onbusiness merrily for a decadeand more. That was until thefire came along.

There was a wave of self-righteousness in the immediateaftermath. Bureaucrats decriedthe way buildings had violatednorms in T’ Nagar and else-where. The Fire Departmentbemoaned the fact that suchstructures cut off all access inthe event of any major disaster.It was a wonder that no life waslost in the fire, they said. Thestore owner said he had violatednorms and so would bring downthe structure (there was notmuch of it left standing any-way). The public, many of themregular customers of this viola-

(by The Editor)


tor, wrote long posts in socialmedia on how such business-men thrive.

Everyone was agreed thatthe retailer, if he did constructa new building, would put up amodel structure in full compli-ance of all regulations. Theylittle knew what a builder-bureaucrat nexus can achieve.All of a sudden, a nine-floorstructure, inclusive of base-ment, has come up in the sameplace. And, what is more, workbegan on the construction evenbefore the builder filed forapprovals, so sure was the re-tailer that everything would fall

Chennai Metro is in thenews again. More new

underground metro rail stationsare open. A single train cannow take commuters to allmajor transport hubs in theCity. From Central, you canreach the Airport in 50minutes. About 75 per cent ofPhase 1 is now functional.Average daily usership has risento 45,000 from 27,000. To acursory observer, these arecheerful developments. Admit-tedly, these are good but not all,nor enough. A closer study ofthe present status does notafford room to hope that Metrowould complete its promise by2025.

In Phase 1, against the tar-get of July 2014 for two seg-ments of the project, comple-tion was only by June 2015 andSeptember 2016 – late by 11and 26 months respectively. Forfive other segments the delay

ranged from 17 to 29 months,except one with a 9-monthdelay, all against the target ofDecember 2015. The remainingsegment is already delayed by 30months and is yet to becommissioned which is the

Washermenpet – AG-DMSsection. Estimated duration forPhase 2 was 10 years from 2015.This Phase is still in an embry-onic stage. Phase 1 is 45 km ofwhich 35 are operational. Phase2 would cover 108 km whencompleted. Because 45 out of153 km is likely to be completedshortly we cannot expect to de-rive proportionate benefit of 30per cent. The truncated projectwill not yield proportionatebenefits as commuters whomust necessarily pass through

Phase 1 corridor to gain accessto other areas in the proposedPhase 2 would not use Phase 1facility till Phase 2 is completed.

On Phase 2, the Ministry ofHousing & Urban Affairs hasraised important issues to be

clarified by the State govern-ment. Why is ridership very lowfor Phase 1 compared to expec-tation and how does it affect theviability of Phase 2? The DPR(Detailed Project Report) sub-mitted by the State was foundunacceptable by the Centrewithout this and other aspectsbeing addressed properly. Thishas been going on for some timenow. It is disappointing that theState Government has been de-laying its response to the Cen-tral Ministry.

Continued delay of Phase 2would cause substantial projectcost over-run. The original esti-mate was Rs. 85,000 crore.Consequential increase in thefare might make it unaffordable.Even at full capacity, the twophases can meet only about 20per cent of present demand anda much less proportion of thedemand that would have en-larged by the time the Phase 2 iscompleted.

The State government musttake up Phase 2 on highest pri-ority and resolve the differenceswith the Centre to be able tostart construction without theslightest delay. If project offi-cials can keep their promise ofsix years’ completion, instead ofthe original construction timeof ten years, they will have re-trieved the situation. Going bythe track record on deadlines,

2 MADRAS MUSINGS August 1-15, 2018

Phoenix-likein T’Nagar(Continued from page 1)

Madras Week here againO Chief, you just do not

know what you have un-leashed- you, and the otherpeople who first came up withthis idea, to be precise, of Ma-dras Week. The Man fromMadras Musings was privilegedto attend the curtain raiserpress conference this year andcame away with some fairlyfirm conclusions:

1. People are unable to un-derstand that Madras Week isa free for all, open to all kindsof events, just as Chennai is afree for all, open to all kinds ofactivity. And so despite someof the speakers at the pressconference going on and onabout how there is noorganising committee for Ma-dras Week, many news reportsthe next day began with thelines, “The organising commit-tee of Madras Week hasannounced…”

celebration of what themetropolis stands for, period.And yet, this is the time whenarticles, never to be seen at anyother time of the year, keepgetting published to the effectthat the town is 2000 years plus(good for it, says MMM) andthat a group of self styled histo-rians are insisting on creating anew history by declaring thatthe city was founded in 1639.The funny thing is that MadrasWeek organisers too recognisethe 2000 years plus history ofthe area (how can anyone denyit, for it stares everyone in theface) and have included theseaspects in all celebratoryevents. So what is there todisagree or complain aboutanyway?

To MMM, it is all ratherstrange that what ought to be asimple and straightforwardthanksgiving to a metropolis

that has given its residents somuch has become a matter ofdebate.

Out with plastics

Our State Government(and yes, we do have a

functioning entity), has made apronouncement. Effective Feb-ruary 24th, (and that is one oftwo dates that our Governmentsets special store by, the otherbeing December 5th), nextyear, our State, it has said, willbecome plastic-free.

This is an era of pronounce-ments of this kind and so TheMan from Madras Musings willtake it with a lump of salt. Afterall, this is the same State Gov-ernment that had earlier saidthat open defecation will be athing of the past by some datethat too is now long past. Thelast elected Mayor we had (oh,how long ago that was), hadonce declared that all toilets inhotels and wedding halls will bethrown open to the public sothat they would not have toundergo the embarrassment ofrelieving themselves in theopen. Not that the general pub-lic appears to consider this anembarrassment – MMM hasseen many men relieving them-selves in full public view, just afew steps away from a well-maintained pay anduse toilet. Why pay forit when it can be donefor free, is the generalattitude.

It is with thosesame sage announce-ments, all made withthe best intentions butwith no hope of everbeing implementedthat MMM would liketo file the latest onplastics. There is abso-lutely no plan whatso-ever on how to goabout it. The leaderhas spoken, the

followers have celebrated, thenewspapers and media havereported on it, and so let usmove on. Until the next pro-nouncement, that is.

Now just imagine today isFebruary 24, 2019. You haveset out to do your shopping, allfilled with joy at the thoughtthat you will soon be homewith your purchases in thoselovely crackling plastic bagsthat you could add to your col-lection, all of which will comein useful some day – you knowto pack things or give some-thing away or, more simply, totie your garbage in and throwout on to the street. You aresuddenly told that you will notget any more bags and youneed to bring your own. MMMcan quite understand how youwould feel. It is like the end ofcivilisation as we knew it.

2. The absence of sponsorsof any kind is another mystery,comparable to that of the manin the iron mask. People areunable to understand that theorganisers (oops, sorry Chief,MMM realises that there arenone), are actually able to puttogether a set of events (sorryonce again, Chief, MMMknows that nobody actuallyputs together things forMadras Week, it just happens)without what in Chennai areknown as ‘sponsorers’. Appar-ently no event in the city iscomplete without these peopleand when the event happens,they demand their due share of‘bublicity’.

3. That no matter howmuch is said that this is actu-ally a celebration of the city,past, present and future, thereare bound to be some peoplewho will say the event is com-memorative of a colonial pastalone. You, Chief, and otherswho are NOT an organisingcommittee but who canloosely be called the foundingfathers (with a mother or twoalso thrown in) have time andagain asked these people tolook at the list of events thathave been put up in earlieryears to judge for themselveswhether the programmes areexclusively a celebration ofour colonial past, but all ofthat has fallen on deaf ears.MMM guesses that it is mucheasier for such protestors tocontinue saying what they aresaying. They do get their dueshare of ‘bublicity’ andperhaps that is what they areafter.

4. Also, for some reason,the idea seems to persist thatwe are celebrating the found-ing of our city in 1639. Thatmay have been the wayMadras Week started severalyears ago, but it has long sincegiven up on that claim. It hasmoved on to becoming a

SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY

How will our political par-ties conduct public meetingswithout plastic bottles of wa-ter for our beloved leaders toslake their thirst even as theyspeak? Imagine a celebratorymeeting for the banning ofplastics and the leader on thedais reaches out to unscrew abottle cap only to be met witha man carrying an earthenwarepot and a steel glass. It some-how does not have the sameeffect does it?

Tailpiece

The Man from MadrasMusings could not help

chuckling though he didrealise it was a serious matter.He alludes to the blatant man-ner in which a building belong-ing to a silk retailer has beenput up in gross violation of allpermits, just a short while af-ter the earlier structure there,owned by the same entity andwhich contravened all safetynorms, went up in flames andhad to be demolished. But theheadline for the story that ap-peared in one of the city news-papers brought up (sorry, punwholly unintended) all kindsof thoughts. For the sake ofclarity, MMM features itbelow.

–MMM

(Continued from page 1)

Can we hope fordecongestion?

into place. The papers weresubmitted in May and the au-thorities, with an alacrity thatthey do not display when morehumble citizens apply for per-missions, immediately gave thego-ahead. That was in June.And immediately thereafter thebuilder announced that he hadcompleted 40 per cent of thework – within a month of ob-taining approval! Anyonewould think that Chennai wasa foreign city if this efficiency isanything to go by.

The residents of T’ Nagar areup in arms. Firstly, how is it thata structure, which was permit-ted to have four floors in 2000can have nine in 2018? In whatway has the area become lesscongested or less at risk forthose living nearby? Secondly,

given the manner in which thefire raged and consumed manykilolitres of water for beingextinguished, how is itthat approvals were so readilygiven? The Commissioner ofthe Corporation has himselflamented about the way illegalstructures are proliferating inthe city and the Court hascome down heavily on thematter. And yet, no damages orfines were inflicted on theretailer.

Last heard, the matter hasbeen brought to the notice ofthe Court, which, displaying itslegendary patience and re-straint, has issued a stay on theconstruction. But that is leastlikely to deter the owner orofficialdom, both of whom willensure that the building even-tually will come up, as planned,and not as per permits.

however, it is doubtful if that ispractical.

Ridership for Phase1 has re-cently grown to 45,000 per daywhich is hardly 15-20 per centof the rated usage capacity of2.5 to 3.5 lakh users per day.Delhi Metro is reporting a rid-ership of 2.76 million per daywhich is indicative of fullutilisation of its carrying poten-tial. Delhi Metro has the lowestaverage fare, at 50 paise per km.For example, the commuterscan travel from Dwarka Sector51 to Huda City Centre, a dis-tance of 60 km, paying a fare ofRs. 30. Chennai Metro is thecostliest in the country with av-erage fare of Rs. 4 per km com-pared to about Rs. 2.50 - 3.00per km to motor cycle users.The running cost of Metro is afixed cost as services must runirrespective of the traffic vol-ume. This cost can be moppedup only by making the fare at-tractive and enlarging the traf-fic volume to fill the bogies. Astraffic increases more bogiescould be added. There seems tobe no other route to improvingfinancial viability. This ap-proach to pricing is worth try-ing.

The Metro Railway (Opera-tion & Maintenance) Act,2002 Section 33, Metro RailAdministration (MRA) has aFare Revision Committee(FRC) under Section 34(1) ofthe Act. The first phase pro-vides an opportunity for pricing

experiments to identify a farethat facilitates high utilisationof the rolling stock for viableoperation. The Act provides fora bureaucratic mechanism forfare fixation as can be seen fromthe composition of the FRCwith a Judge and one represen-tative each from the State andthe Centre. CMRL should putup to the FRC a forceful case fora graduated pricing model. Pric-ing of utilities that affect the liv-ing cost of the lower strata callsfor affordable pricing. No-profit-no-loss of cash should bethe first aim. A set of pre-de-fined eligibility norms forsubsidising for mass transportshould be considered as a gen-eral policy for all Metros to keepliving costs low for the eco-nomically weaker classes. Thesubsidy is recovered many timesover through lower pollution,reduced congestion and wideremployment opportunities.Transport security ranks withfood security. Poor utilisation inresponse to unrealistic pricingwill not be good for the Metro.It could reduce the Metro to thestatus of a week-end novelty forrecreation.

Without the full Metro net-work in Phases 1 and 2, sub-stantial reduction in congestionis not possible. Imaginativepricing and taking up the con-struction of Phase 2 immedi-ately are of high priority to re-trieve the situation. Delaywould leave us permanentlychasing a rapidly growing aggre-gate need.

August 1-15, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

Sister Isabel Mary Diaz closed her eyes onJune 20 in a George Town convent, her

home for decades.A Goan, Sr. Isabel earned a name doing stuff,

she was great at creating decorations for wed-dings and church services, making cookies andjams, designing table cloths and clothes for kids.And she did this even at 89.

From the convent of the PresentationSisters, adjoining St. Columban’s School onMclean Street, her nook was alive from 7 to 8.And she tugged at Peter to pay Paul.

For, Sr. Isabel had skilled lots and lots ofpoor women of this north Chennaineighbourhood to help them make a living.“She was a creative soul who created jobs forthe poor,” a nun said in her eulogy.

Paying her a tribute that Sr. Isabel wouldhave acknowledged, the nuns had decorated thealtar with lots of freshly-cut flowers. And therein front, she lay in a coffin, at peace as thePresentation nuns from different convents inthis city laid wreaths at the farewell.

Gracie (the nun’s original name) was ateacher in Goa who loved good food and wine,good clothes and good music and dance. Thenight before she was to leave for a convent tojoin the congregation, she danced through thenight and then said bye, her cousin said in hertribute.

She returned to her favourite Goan homeoften and at her workplace in Madras, maderose cookies and jams and wine. These becamea rage in north Madras.

A couple of years ago, when I was at theMclean Street convent, researching on thePresentation nuns in Madras, I was introducedto Sr. Isabel. At 87, though restrained to a chairshe got talking. And had a request. “I’m look-ing for Mahadevan..that Hot Breads man...”She was seeking him to help her women learnbaking skills.

Her story, her life stayed with me. A nun forsix decades who had fun, was hugely creative(at one time, hotels would trip to sign her up fordecorating their halls) and one who used hertalent to move the less privileged.

Her last resting place was at St. Roque’sCemetery in Royapuram where a zone is carvedfor the Presentation nuns – buried here are thepioneer missionaries from Ireland who landedin Madras in the late 19th Century.

As the cemetery staff lowered the coffin,shoved in the mud and sealed the grave, manywomen began to weep, loudly. They were theones Sr. Isabel had made.

Did the city pay a tribute to the DecorationNun? No.

I wonder why obituaries are only reservedfor the high and mighty, the awarded and thegoons. Our media revels in them. But for peoplewho make this city, unless ribbed from outside,the print and the channels have no space forthe likes of Sr. Isabel.

In our small ways, may we pay Tributes.Always.

– Vincent D’Souza

Punctuality

Reader S.S. Rajagopalan’sletter (MM, July 1st) about

H.C. Buck’s observations onpunctuality reminds me of thelate Eric L. Stracay, I.P.

I was in the Central PoliceTraining College, Mt. Abu(now Police Academy inHyderabad) in 1960-61.Stracey was the DeputyCommandent. The rule for theI.P.S. probationers was thatthey should be in the classroomexactly five minutes before aclass started. Stracey’s roomwas adjoining the classroomand you could hear the click ofthe door, opening exactly on

time for commencement of hislecture.

One day, it so happened hesaw an IPS probationer sittingin the class ten minutes inadvance and Stracey asked himwhy was he early. He repliedthat he was being careful not tobe late. Stracey responded bysaying that by being early heshowed his lack of confidence inhimself and should be thereonly five minutes in advance!

Dr. G. Sundaram, IAS (RTD)A 601, “Dugar Apartments”

Keshava perumal puramGreenways RoadChennai 600 028

Growing from a milk depotto a department store

“There is a perception thatAmma Naana is an

expensive shop. It is not. Wesell all the Indian brands at theMRP rates mentioned on thepackaging. Imported items arepriced depending on the costsincurred in procuring them,”says Senthil Raj, the CEO ofAmma Naana, the stand alonedepartment store, well-knownfor stocking imported brands ofa variety of products. The store

is located at the intersection ofChamiers and Boat Club Roadsfacing the Crowne Plaza Hotel(the old Park Sheraton).

Amma Naana was started byRaja Mani, an aunt of Senthilin 1971, 11 years before Senthilwas born. Her husband V.R.Govindaswamy was also a part-ner in the venture. It was a milkdepot occupying only 500 sq.ft.Sale of vegetables and grocerywere added later by acquiring

additional shopping space. Tocater to the growing demand forimported items by the elite resi-dents of the neighbourhood, theshop also started stocking them,sourced from outlets that werealready selling these items. Asthe business grew, the familystarted “Amma Wines”, whichnot only sold IMFL but alsostocked popular foreign brandsof liquor, procured from officialsources.. This section wasclosed when the Government ofTamil Nadu decided to takeover the sale of liquor under theTASMAC umbrella. Today,Amma Naana is a three-storieddepartment store occupying8500 sq.ft of space with limitedparking facility.

It was in 2004, that Senthilwas invited by his aunt to jointhe family business. He had justcompleted his B.Tech from acollege in Coimbatore. Full ofideas Senthil took to the busi-ness like the proverbial ‘duck towater’. In due course, he mar-ried his aunt’s daughter SakthiDevi who is also a partner inAmma Naana. This was alsothe time when new, nationaland international brands ofdepartment stores were enter-ing the Chennai market.Besides, the city also witnessedthe influx of expats from differ-ent countries employed byseveral automobile companiesin and around Chennai, whowere demanding the popularbrands of food ingredients and

other products from theircountries. This opened up awindow of opportunity for theshop. Senthil went around theworld identifying originalsources for foreign brands inSingapore, U.K. and U.S.A.

“Even if we don’t have aparticular item, if a loyal cus-tomer wants it, we will try andspecially import it to satisfy thecustomer. Whenever any new

Rs. 100: D. Sugavanam; G.K. Vasan; John J. Moses, Ashok Kumar,

Lakshmi Narayanan

Rs. 150: T.M. Raghunathan; S. Prakash; C.V. Viswanathan

Rs. 200: G. Ram Mohan; S. Janardhan

Rs. 400: Dr. V.V. Jayaram, V.S. Rajappan; K.S. Srinivasan;

R. Ganapathy; Dr. N.V. Pundarikantan; Industrial Economist; A.N.

Sachithananthan; Dr. Patrick Yesudian; T.R. Gopalan; G. Dasarathy;

N. Anantharam; Capt. Shankar; D.J.B. Immanuel; Lakshmi

Jayaraman

Rs. 401: Anand M. Gadre

Rs. 500: Akila, Krishnaswamy Associates; Gp. Capt. K.S.V. Sharma

(Rtd); Sarada Narendranath; C.S. Rodrigo

Rs. 600: N.S. Parthasarathy

Rs. 1000: V. Murugaappan

Rs. 1900: S. Satya Bhama

Rs. 2000: Issac A.D. Rajendran

Rs. 2900: Hugh and Colleen Gantzer

Rs. 5000: P.R. Sundaravadivelu

Thank you, DonorsWe today, publish donations received with thanks for

the period upto July 10th.– The Editor

accounts for 20 per cent. Theshop has not got on to onlinesales because of the prohibitivecost of acquiring and imple-menting the software requiredfor such an effort. Besides,Indian customers still prefer the‘touch & feel’ shopping experi-ence when it comes to thepurchase of grocery andvegetables.” So, the growingphenomenon of onlineshopping for all kinds of prod-ucts does not worry Senthil atthe moment.

Amma Naana’s growth hascome purely through word ofmouth advertising by loyalcustomers. Senthil adds, “Wekeep in close touch with all con-sulates in Chennai. Every timea Consul General is transferred,we ensure that the incomingConsul General is informedabout Amma Naana.” In factthe Korean Government hasrecognised Amma Naana asone of the best shops for gettingKorean speciality items inChennai.

There are plans to open onemore shop on the OMR. It willbe owned and managed by themanagement of Amma Naana.“We don‘t believe in the fran-chisee route but are open toinvestors who are interested inthe project,” says Senthil. I amsure that the young and dy-namic CEO of Amma Naana,with his ‘hands on’ style of man-agement will make the newventure also a big success.

� byR.V. Rajan

[email protected]

brand is introduced in foreigncountries, we will ensure itsavailability in Amma Naana,simultaneously. Some of thepopular imported brands avail-able include Country Kitchen,Hershey’s, Diana of London,Ceylon Tea, Thousand Islandsand Starbucks Coffee. Popularproduct categories are importedSauces, Jams, Noodles, Butteretc. This kind of personalisedcustomer service has enabled usto build a core of loyal custom-ers” says Senthil. He continues,“On an average 1,500 Indiancustomers and 100 expats visitthe shop every day. Homedelivery service is offered tocustomers who place orders forRs. 1,000 and above. While 80per cent of the sales come fromcustomers visiting the shoppersonally, home delivery

Decoration Nun remembered

4 MADRAS MUSINGS August 1-15, 2018 August 1-15, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

The redoubt no more –not even in memory

– SRIRAM V

LOST LANDMARKS OF CHENNAI

– SRIRAM V

Remains of the Egmore Fort. The building is in the Male Asylum Road, and is now the residence of some railway employees.Its upper part has been built upon a battlemented wall, and doors have been let into the wall. The outlines of the original walland some of the battlements can be easily traced. – from Glynn Barlow’s Story of Madras.

The Gandhi-Irwin Bridgedoes not span a water body.

It rises over the railway tracksleading to Egmore and the roadthat connects it at both endsshares its name. Gandhi thank-fully remains well-known thoughit is unlikely many would remem-ber the Viceroy who makes upthe other half of the name. Lessknown would be the historic pactmade in Delhi between the twothat is commemorated by way ofthis road. Completely forgottenis its earlier name – RedoubtRoad, for it connected to theEgmore Redoubt, a fortificationthat has completely vanished.

In its time it was quite a land-mark. According to The Life ofthe Rev Andrew Bell, Prebendaryof Westminster, by Robert andCharles C. Southey, the Redoubtwas built in 1702. It was a squarewith a bungalow in the middle; asergeant and sepoys occupying it,remaining on guard for anythreats that could appear fromthe western side to Fort St.George. As per the MadrasTercentenary Volume, it was con-structed “on a high level in thevillage, from which a clear pros-pect of Madras could be had andsignals made for succour fromthe fort against an advancingenemy.”

Before the construction of theRedoubt, a choultry (native resthouse) stood there. It was Gover-nor Thomas Pitt who saw thevalue of the location and con-verted it into a guardhouse. In1710, this foresight was vindi-cated when a set of soldiers sta-tioned here managed to quellaround 40 horsemen belonging tothe Nawab. That set GovernorWilliam Fraser thinking and heformed a committee comprisingthe Paymaster, the CommandingOfficer and the Chief Gunner toform plans for the setting up of aRedoubt. A guard room wasrecommended with the lower partentrenched and fortified withbrickwork. The estimate was 925pagodas. Governor Harrison andhis council oversaw the executionthat resulted in a cost of 5,060pagodas with a further 1,500being needed for completion. TheDirectors in England saw red anddecreed that the differencebetween plan and actual ought tobe met by Governor Fraser and hisCouncil. There was, of course, noway of actually ensuring this andso Harrison had the Redoubtcompleted by spending anadditional sum of 1,000pagodas!

For some reason, the EastIndia Company was of the view

that this was a good place for sicksoldiers, especially those recentlyarrived by ship from England, torecuperate in and so these weresent to it on a regular basis. In1752, faced with consistentlyinferior gunpowder made at FortSt. David, Cuddalore, the Com-pany decided to convert theRedoubt into a gunpowder fac-tory. Remodelled at a cost of7,500 pagodas, the facility wasoverseen by John de Roos, aGerman. Quality was suspecthere too, and there was corre-spondence over it. From this wesee quite a list of interestingingredients going into the mak-ing of gunpowder – brandy,arrack, water, wine and urine! ACommittee of Works was put incharge of the mill from 1756.

The siege of Madras in 1758by the Comte de Lally had theFrench occupying the Redoubt.When they were forced to leave,de Lally ordered the blowing upof the mills and the Redoubt. Onthe lifting of the siege, theEnglish put up a temporary shel-ter here to make gunpowder. Aterrific explosion killed severaland work began on a proper millat the Redoubt. The mill wasback in operation by 1762 onlyto have a cyclone whisk away itsroof in 1768.

Further details emerge in the1790s. From a minute of MajorMaule dating to 1793, we knowthat the Redoubt had a draw-bridge that was replaced thatyear.

By 1799, there was no furtherneed for a Redoubt in Egmore.The building was handed over tothe Madras Male Asylum. GlynnBarlow, in his Story of Madras,dating to 1921, records some ofthe changes that the Asylummade to the Redoubt – an upperstorey comprising a row of win-dowed chambers that sat ratheroddly on the buttressed andbattlemented wall, windowlessand grim. To him, the compositewhole was a reminder of old-timewar and latter day peace. It wasfrom here that the Asylum PressAlmanac was brought out foryears before the Asylum movedto Poonamallee High Road andthe press to Mount Road in1900.

That year, the Directors ofthe Asylum sold the Redoubt tothe South Indian Railway Com-pany which was making Egmoreits headquarters in Madras. Theold Redoubt underwent manychanges and became the quartersof railway employees, additional

storeys being built to accommo-date larger numbers. Writing in1913, Col. Love in his Vestiges ofOld Madras, describes what thensurvived of the Redoubt – “theexternal face wall along the west-ern side, and about half that onthe northern side, were utilisedin the construction of buildingswhich still survive. The face wallwas 6 feet high to the cordon and3 ½ feet above, and the rampart,including both external andinternal walls, was 12 feet thick.Twelve embrasures was visible inthe portions preserved.”

All of these vanished when,with the nationalisation of therailways in 1951, fresh workbegan in the area. The Redoubtwas pulled down. Today, anarrow pathway to the rear ofEgmore station leads to the rail-way colony there. Much changedeven in the last sixty years, itholds within it the original loca-tion of the Redoubt. But of thefort itself, there is not a trace.The Gandhi-Irwin Pact of 1931,hailed as a significant develop-ment in India’s freedom struggle,saw Redoubt Road beingrenamed as Gandhi-Irwin Roadand with that the Redoubtpassed, even in name, from col-lective memory.

...where it is never too old to learn

Learning to use the computer in her eighties.

Seated: Anna Varki’s father Pothan Joseph, Anna Varki and her mother AnnaJoseph. Standing: Her sister Sarasu, her husband Mathew (Bappu) and her brotherJaiboy.

To the many readers whohave known Anna Varki as

a sparkling contributor to Ma-dras Musings and other Chennai-based publications, the fact thatshe has put together the experi-ences of a lifetime into a book*will be a source of great joy.

The eight oval medallionsthat encircle the title on thecover show the author at differ-ent stages of her life. There is thelittle girl looking at the worldwith great big eyes followed bythe same forthright gaze as sheprogresses through each turningpoint of her journey. In the lastone there is a smiling portrait ofthe author as she approaches thegrand old age of 97. This portraysAnna Varki, her face still bright,a halo of silver hair circling herhead smiling into the camera.

That smile is as significant asthe rolled-up umbrella that allgood Keralites carry with themcome rain or shine. It’s with thesame senses of boundless adven-ture just waiting beyond thefront door that Varki steps intothe world. It’s not always been aneasy life for the author but it isone that has been defined by thememories of the extraordinaryera in which she was born. Shecalls it the ‘Gandhian Era’ in hersubtitle. The men and womenwho formed a part of her growingyears, even at a slight remove,were touched with a sense of des-tiny that the world would soonbe made anew. That hope, theidealism, the joy of beinginvolved in a quest far greaterthan the individual self, are whatmakes Varki’s reminiscences

special. No matter what sheencounters on the way, the upsand downs along which shechugs as the wife of a railwaysofficial, Anna Varki recollectseach episode with an anecdoteand a smile.

She begins with her birth inKolkata, or Calcutta as it wasthen known. Her father hadbeen hoping to receive the newsof a son as his second child whenhe was informed with the words“It’s a koki!” As Varki goes on totell us koki in Bengali means a girland koka boy. So, my fatherdecided to call me ‘Kuki’, whichsoon acquired another spelling,Cookie”. He also brought her upto be a boy, she tells us, until heryounger brother Jaiboy was born.

The name Cookie stuck. Thiswas how she was known to herclose friends at Queen Mary’sCollege, Madras, as it was fa-mously known. (We shall useboth her names in the reviewdepending on the context.)

Amongst her many friendswas my mother and an elite circleof Queen Marians. As shedescribes it in one of the chap-ters many years later, when theymet again, now in their 80s and90s, in the City where some ofthem had retired, Cookie wouldrally them around at specialevents such as birthdays and thecelebration perhaps of agrandchild’s wedding with arousing singing of the Queen

Mary’s anthem- “Queen Mariansnever die! They only fade away!”On another occasion sheorganised her club of Over 80s,to meet the man who stitchedtheir blouses at college.

As she describes it, “ForQueen Marians, their favoritetailor was the humble smilingNaidu, who stitched blouses toperfection from puffed- to leg-of-mutton-sleeves. Started as a one-man outfit in one room, NaiduHall is presently a flourishingbusiness of ready-made garmentsrun by his grand-children, whilestill maintaining the quality thatwas Naidu’s hallmark!” Theexclamation says it all. As every-one this generation might recall,Naidu Hall has been famous forits marketing of ladies’ undergar-ments or bridal inner wear. Someof us close family members couldnot stop debating how theQueen Marians would returnfrom their Naidu Hall tea-partyflaunting the best of under-wiredand lace trimmed cups in DoubleX sizes. As it happened, we neednot have doubled up with anxi-ety. They returned with tales ofa sumptuous tea of cakes andsavories that the current ownershad laid out for them – stillhumble, still gracious!

To underline that CookieAunty has the gift of friendshipthat can light up every room thatshe enters, I can do no betterthan to quote from a forewordcontributed by another famouspersonality, Rebecca Chandy,Retired Principal, CulturalAcademy, San Thomé, Chennai.In her time, it used to be knownas a finishing school for youngwomen.

As she remembers; “Behindall the jollity there was a kindlyheart. I remember travelling in abus from Alwaye to Kottayam forthe Michaelmas holidays. In

those days, the Cochin expresswent straight through to Cochinand those of us who were boundfor Kottayam had to get off atAlwaye and take a bus toKottayam. Cookie was in thesame bus, as she had to go fromKottayam to Chengannur, herfamily home. Although we wereboth Syrian Christians, I wasnever close to her since she wassenior to me and moved aroundwith her post-graduate friends inthe hostel. As the bus negotiated

Joseph, an editor for all seasonsand several newspapers, lived inthe same tumultuous period inDelhi, before and after Indepen-dence, as my parents did. Cookierecollects for instance that herfather would greet my Dad everymorning as he walked past RowseAvenue where my young parentslived with a “Good Morning,Padmanabhan!”

My father was in those daysoccupied with the herculeanefforts in creating what we wouldnow call a data base for thevoters who would eventuallyform the blueprint for Indian

democracy while working underB.N. Rao as Under Secretary,Constituent Assembly, Secre-tariat. As recorded by OrnitShani in a recent book entitledHow India Became Democraticwhat made Padmanabhan’s con-tribution important was “his abil-ity to identify with the ‘weak’. Itwas he who first noted on thequestion of the registration of therefugees that they ‘are always onthe move, and, therefore noresidential qualification can beprescribed for them if they are tobe given the right to vote in thenext elections.’” The zeal tocreate a nation that would be atemplate for equality to all itscitizens was what drove differentindividuals in a common pursuitthat inspired and empoweredeven young girls like Cookie intoa desire for serving the nation.This is what makes her titleimportant. It underlines thepassion with which young Indi-ans, no matter what their sex,ethnicity or religion identifiedthemselves with the adventure ofnot just building a nation butowning it. “This country ismine!” they might have said,echoing a famous French ruler.“L’Etat c’est Moi”.

Pothen Joseph (1892-1972)was not just a maverick editorand columnist who wrote a dailypolitical column for five decadesunder the heading, “Over a Cupof Tea”, he was a fearless advo-cate of truth in the Gandhianmode. His editorial motto usedto be “Courage, vigilance andfidelity”. His ability to quoteextensively from the Bible andthe classics, Dickens being a par-ticular favorite, contributed tohis legend. Amongst the originalspirits that he nurtured in histime was none other thanShankar, the cartoonist ofShankar’s Weekly fame. Of him itwas said the Pandit Nehru toldhim, “Don’t spare me, Shankar!”He was fearless in his ability tocaricature the pomposity of thoseearly politicians and parliamen-

tarians, giving them donkey earsand thick lips. But he also cap-tured the patrician style ofPandit Nehru, always on the run,elegantly dressed in his trade-mark shervani and tight Jodhpurpajama, with the red rose in hisfront buttonhole.

There are legions of storiesabout Pothen Joseph himself.One of his mentors nicknamedhim “Potent Joe”. When hejoined Jinnah as the editor of theDawn newspaper that wasstarted in Delhi, he is supposedto have quipped when his ownertold him that he was often to befound in a “bibulous” state, norideal for an Editor. “Alas, I am

not fortunate to have been bornwith a Gin to my name!” Themore famous riposte is the oneabout how his constant need tomove from paper to paper andplace to place led someone tosay: “A rolling stone nevergathers moss.” To which PothenJoseph asked, “But does a stoneneed moss?”

Part of the charm of listeningto Cookie’s recollections is herability to capture the essence ofthe people and events that shedescribes in a language that is al-ways simple but elegant. In theearly part, for instance, she might


On the exercise machine.

*One Woman’s India – From theGandhian Era to the CyberAge. Anna Varki, NotionPress.

� byGeetha Doctor

the hilly tracts, I dozed off in thebus and awoke to find my hand-bag missing. Besides the personaleffects, it contained all mymoney and I was frantic. I shallnever forget how Cookie con-soled me and lent me the moneyto reach home. It was only a mat-ter of 10 rupees but to me it wasmore of a free fall of 100 rupees.”Many decades later Varki was toteach English at the CulturalAcademy.

If this is beginning to soundpersonal it’s for a reason. Herfather, the famous Pothen


Eardley Norton –lawyer outstanding

� bySuresh Balakrishnan*

In 1879, twenty-seven year oldEardley Norton loathed the

prospect of having to leave En-gland for Madras. Having com-pleted his school and collegeeducation and worked for abrief period as a journalist, hehad made an unsuccessful at-tempt to gain a foothold at theEnglish Bar. Emigration becameinevitable and he felt like anexile, forced by the compulsionof circumstances to eke out aliving in the sweltering climateof a faraway and near alienplace. But, when he sailed Ma-dras-bound aboard theNavarino in 1879, little could hehave known that many greatexperiences awaited him in thedistant land he did not want togo to.

Born in Madras on February19, 1852 as the eldest of theeight children of the great –now all but forgotten – JohnBruce Norton, once Advocate-General of Madras and a re-nowned public figure, EardleyJohn Norton lived in Madrasuntil the age of ten. In 1862, heand Robert Bruce, the first ofhis brothers, were sent to Brus-sels to start their school careers.Then, having undergone schoollife for a brief period at Esher,Eardley and Robert went toRugby, one of the famous Pub-lic Schools in England. Thefour years spent there gave himsome of the happiest memoriesto cherish. Then he went toMerton College, Oxford, wherehis experiences were no lesswonderful and memorable.Having graduated as a Bachelorof Arts, he worked for a whileas a journalist in London. Hewas later called to the Bar atLincoln’s Inn. Then for a briefperiod he practised in the Ox-ford circuit and was his father’sJunior in London in a few casesbefore the Privy Council.

When his career at the En-glish Bar failed to take off, hisfather urged him to go to Ma-dras where he (John BruceNorton) was once Advocate-General and where his namemight help the young Norton toget speedy work. This also coin-cided with the time whenEardley got married and becamethe father of a son. So, in themiddle of 1879, with a heavyheart, he said goodbye to nearand dear ones and what was tohim home and left for Madras.After an uneventful voyageaboard the Navarino, he arrivedin Madras in July 1879.

He enrolled at the MadrasBar and, being the latest en-trant, was appointed Secretaryof what in later times came tobe known as the ‘Madras BarAssociation’. In less than a year,he was made Deputy Coroner ofMadras, an unpaid appoint-ment, by Dr. Stanbrough, thethen Coroner. When Stan-brough went on leave, Nortonacted as Coroner and even-tually was confirmed in thatpost, the only official positionhe held in his life and in whichhis tenure lasted for eight yearsuntil 1889, when the office wasabolished. Thus, EardleyNorton was the last to hold theCoronership in Madras.

During the period of hisCoronership, in 1886, the firstyear of Lord Connemara’s Gov-ernorship, a terrible conflagra-tion, later termed the ‘Park Fire

Tragedy’ happened in thePeople’s Park near the CentralRailway Station. Several peopledied on the spot and later at thehospital. Norton presided asCoroner over the enquiry intothe cause of the tragedy. Theredoubtable Rev. Dr. Miller ofthe Christian College had sug-gested that the fire was the re-sult of a pre-concerted scheme.At the end of the enquiry, it washeld that the fire was the resultof an accident and not incendi-arism.

During the years whenNorton was Coroner – theCoronership was a part-timeemployment – he was also a ris-ing barrister in Madras. In 1886,the Garstin Dacoity Case beforethe Madras High Court createda profound sensation. Nortonappeared for the defence andsucceeded in the acquittal ofthe Bodinayakanur Zamindar,who was charged with commit-ting dacoity on Garstin, a Se-nior Member of the Board ofRevenue. Shortly after the con-clusion of the trial, Sullivan, aSenior Member of Council andMember of the Civil Service,filed a case against Norton inthe Madras High Court forstatements of a defamatory na-ture made by him againstSullivan both before and duringthe Garstin Dacoity trial. Thiscase put Norton through a greatordeal. Nobody competentenough to hold his brief cameto his help and he was com-pelled to defend himself. If helost this case, his career at theBar would come to an abruptend, for he would be suspendedfrom practice. But he won and

the astounding success inSullivan v. Norton catapultedhim into stardom at the MadrasBar. After that, there was nolooking back. He emerged aspractically the leader of the Barand began to make a fortune.They began to call him the“Lion of the Madras Bar.”

During the years when hewas the Coroner and a risingbarrister in Madras, the IndianNational Congress was started.Norton had inherited a sympa-thetic outlook towards Indians– ‘natives’ they were oftencalled in those days – and theirpolitical rights from his father.It was but natural that he wasattracted to the Congress. Hefirst joined the movement at theMadras Congress of 1887. In hisstory, the 1887 Madras Con-gress is memorable for two rea-sons. Somebody had called him

a ‘veiled seditionist’ for associ-ating himself with the Congressmovement. While speaking onthe second day of the 1887Congress, he gave a strong re-buttal to the charge, and thispassage from his speech hassince remained one of the mosteloquent and powerful utter-ances decrying the misuse of thecharge of sedition:

“I was told yesterday, by onefor whose character and edu-cated qualities I cherish a greatesteem, that in joining myselfwith the labourers in this Con-gress, I have earned for myselfthe new title of a “veiled sedi-tionist.” (Laughter) If it be sedi-tion, gentlemen, to rebelagainst all wrong; if it be sedi-tion to insist that the peopleshould have a fair share in theadministration of their owncountry and affairs; if it be sedi-tion to resist class-tyranny, toraise my voice against oppres-sion, to mutiny against injus-tice, to insist upon a hearingbefore sentence, to uphold theliberties of the individual, tovindicate our common right togradual but ever advancing re-form – (cheers) – if this be sedi-tion, I am right glad to be calleda ‘seditionist’, (cheers), anddoubly, ay, trebly glad, when Ilook around me to-day, to knowand feel I am ranked as oneamong such a magnificent arrayof “seditionist”. (Loud cheers)

Perhaps it would be no exag-geration to say that no accountof the 1887 Madras Congresswill be complete without men-tioning the few garden partiesthat took place. Norton took

the lead by hosting an exquisiteparty to the delegates of theMadras Congress and otherguests at Dunmore House, hisresidence in Madras. The lam-bent moon had begun to shed asilvery beam on Madras on De-cember 29, 1887 when theguests arrived at DunmoreHouse. Oil lamps on poles illu-mined the roadways and path-ways leading up to the venue.Norton had arranged a‘Kolattum’ (stick-dance) bynautch dancers, which “sternascetics from Bengal” and otherguests watched spellbound,while some others found literaryrepast in his vast library.

(To be concluded)

* About the author: SureshBalakrishnan, an advocate, isthe author of Eardley Norton: ABiography (2018) in twovolumes. His earlier booksinclude Famous Judges andLawyers of Madras (2012). Hehas edited the Lives of ChiefJustices of Madras (2013),containing selected writings ofV.N. Srinivasa Rao, an eminentlegal historian.He can be contacted [email protected]: oldmadras press.com

Copies of the book are avail-able at: C. Sitaraman & Co.,Royapettah.

summon an image of CaptainLakshmi, both bold and beauti-ful, who joined the INA. In thelatter part of the book there isyet another short sketch of thateveryday creature – the humblecrow. In Cookie’s eyes, the crowand the raven take wing andemerge from the mists of Bud-dhist legend and Californiantourist spots like the SantaCatalina Island as sentinels. Oras she signs off, “It’s a pity thatthe crow does not capture theattention of avid bird watcherswho prefer to sight and watchexotic and prettier species.”

If the first half of the essayscan be described as easy to fol-low lessons for the younger gen-eration who might think of theIndependence movement as aseries of events dominated byhigh minded words and longdead leaders; the second half isa manual for seniors. It not onlydescribes how Cookie re-in-vented herself by learning andmistressing her computer skills,

it provides simple advice forthose having to cope with oldage. It’s not as though she hasnot suffered broken bones, orthe challenge of living on herown with increasing healthproblems. Through it all, her in-stinct is to share and teach oth-ers. She advises older people toexercise regularly, visit a beautyparlour to maintain one’s feet,dispel the unsightly appearanceof unwanted hairs sprouting onthe once smooth womanlychins; to give ‘space’ to one’schildren, grand-children ANDgreat-grand-children, all ofwhich advice she dispenses withbrevity and wit.

Finally, however at 97 andfilled with the joy of a life welllived Anna Varkie’s spirit likethat of Ulysses is still ready tosail in the search of new adven-tures. Or in the words of thepoet (Tennyson):One equal temper of heroic hearts,Made weak by time and fate, but

strong in willTo strive, to seek, to find, and

not to yield. (Ulysses)

NEVER TOO OLDTO LEARN

(Continued from page 5)

Eardley Norton.

� Our quiz master V.V.

Ramanan is on holiday.

His column will resume

on his return.


Check www.themadrasday.in for up-to-date programmes.Promotion and Publicity: PRISM Public Relations. Email: [email protected]

NOTE: Open to all, but terms apply. Limited seating at all venues on first-come, first-served basis.

All ORF talks are open to the public provided you register and confirm participation with your mobile number by previous Thursday. For cancellation SMS: 98410 10718.*

Madras Week ’18

Till August 10th, 2018

July 28 Games: Celebrate Chennai. Celebrate its Games

conducted by Kreeda. Organised by Madras Literary Society (MLS). For non-members of MLS: Rs. 100.

11 a.m.- 12 p.m.Madras Literary Soceity For details: [email protected]; 044 2827 9666; +91-9444253532

August 4 ‘Walk: Explore Poonamallee. 7 a.m.-9 a.m.

Starting point: Poonamallee Blind School. For details: [email protected]; 98401 70982

Book Release: George Town Bicycle Trails Chennai & Penang. For details: Cycling Yogis /Ramanujar Moulana Ph :9884023123

10.30 am - 11.30amSeafarers Club, Opp: Reserve Bank of India Rajaji Salai, Chennai 600001

Exhibition: Vintage Bicycle Exhibition. One of its kind Vintage Bicycle Exhibition, on display Rudge, Hercules, Phillips, Raleigh Chopper, World War period Paratrooper Bicycle, Robinhood and accessories including Old Oil Lamps, Brooks saddle and much more

10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. Seafarers Club Contact : Cycling Yogis /Ramanujar Moulana Ph :9884023123

Dr. V.R. Devika speaks on Social and Cultural Milieu. Organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) (Chennai Chapter). The theme for this year’s Madras Week Celebration is ‘Recalibrating Chennai for Gen-2K’.

11 a.m.-1 p.m. ORF-C Conference Hall, Reliance Building,Dr. Radhakrishnan Road, Chennai 600 004

Talk: Wonder Women of Madras by Nivedita Louis Organised by Madras Literary Society (MLS). For non-members of MLS: Rs. 100.

3-4 p.m.Madras Literary Soceity For details: [email protected]; 044 2827 9666; +91-9444253532

Choir Singing by Madras Youth Choir. Organised by Madras Literary Society (MLS). For non-members of MLS: Rs. 100.

4-5 p.m.Madras Literary Soceity For details: [email protected]; 044 2827 9666; +91-9444253532

Walk: Experiencing the community dwellings of Triplicane. Organised by Nam Veedu, Nam Oor, Nam Kadhai.

4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.Starts at Pezhalwar Street and temple junction, next to the temple car.For details, registrations: 94442 53532; [email protected]

August 5 Walk: The walk through the temples of Velachery will

be curated by Ms Padmapriya Baskaran. Organised by Aalayam Kanden Trust. To register: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a_B-HlKxb-gDmtsGMuCbFF8W4THjJRMaPQSgd4awZwU/htmlview

7 a.m.-9 am. Assembly point: IIT back gate on Velachery Main Road.

Walk: Around the Boat Club Area, conducted by Sriram V, followed by breakfast at the Boat Club.

6 a.m to 8 a.mRs. 800 per person. To register: [email protected]

August 11 Refreshing Royapuram Ride by bike/car covering 10 spots. 7 a.m.-9 a.m.

Starting point: Monegar Choultry gate. For details: [email protected]; 98401 70982

Walk: Lanes of Amjikarai. Organised by Nam Veedu, Nam Oor, Nam Kadhai.

7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.Starting point: opposite Lakshmi theatre.For details, registrations: 94442 53532 annanagarshg@ gmail.com

Dr. Nedunchezhian speaks on Education Scenario. Organised by ORF, Chennai Chapter.

11 a.m.-1 p.m.ORF-C Conference Hall, Reliance Building, Dr. Radhakrishnan Road, Chennai 600 004.

Talk: Caste Conflicts In Colonial Madras by K.R.A. Narasaiah. Organised by Madras Literary Society (MLS). For non-members of MLS: Rs. 100.

11 a.m.-1 p.m.Madras Literary Soceity For details: [email protected]; 044 2827 9666; +91-9444253532

Talk: Isaikavi Ramanan speaks on Kannadasan - His Life and Times (in Tamil).

5-6.15 p.m.Arkay Convention CenterAbove Shah Electronics146, 3rd Floor, Royapettah High Road, Mylapore.

Talk: Nrithya Pillai speaks on The Politics of Dance (bi-lingual).

6:45 - 8:00 p.m.Arkay Convention Center

August 11-31 Madras Miniatures by Pavithra Srinivasan. A series of intricate,

nuanced portraits that capture Chennai that is Madras - in a new, exciting way: through miniatures. Each portrait is less than the size of your hand, and although some are of familiar sights, many bring into focus a Madras that is tucked away behind busy, ancient streets that will show a side of this city that you haven’t seen before.

Originally begun as a project to illustrate her new book, Pavithra Srinivasan found that this city was much more than the beach, or eateries or a hub of the Tamil Film Industry. There was more to Chennai than the traditional symbols: the Central Station or the Mylapore temples. Here was a city that possessed incredible structures full of imposing columns, carved niches and sculptures that largely went unnoticed. Organised by DakshinaChitra.

DakshinaChitra

*

*

August 12 Re-enactment of the Battle of Colachel. The re-enactment

staged by NCC Cadets attired in period costumes, is that of the Battle of Colachel (10 August 1741) between a Dutch East India Company force and the Travancore Army resulting in the Dutch being trounced, the first and only instance of a native Indian force decisively defeating a European one.

4 p.m.-6 p.m.‘Broken bridge area’ south of Adyar Estuary by the sea side.Organised by the Colours of Glory Foundation.

Talk: Professor S. Swaminathan speaks on Trees of Madras (bi-lingual).

5:00 - 6:15 p.m.Arkay Convention Center

Talk: Maruthu Mohan speaks on Celluloid Kottai - Cinema and Politcs (in Tamil).

6:45-8:00 p.m.Arkay Convention Center

August 13 Heritage Walk: Led by Dr. Chithra Madhavan, the walk

covers Kapaliswarar Temple, Mylapore and the Vishnu temples in Chitrakulam, Mylapore. Organised by INTACH.

6.30 a.m.-8 a.m.Meeting point: outside Giri Trading shop, near East Gopuram of the Kapaliswarar temple.

August 15 Talk: Krupa Ge speaks on The Day Madras Drowned

(bi-lingual).5:00 - 6:15 p.m.Arkay Convention Center

Talk: Jayaraman Raghunathan speaks on Chennaiyin Enthiran Sujatha (bi-lingual).

6:45 - 8:00 pmArkay Convention Center

August 16-17 Lecture on Urban Ecology & Resilience: a case of Soaking

City Chennai, A initiative of the United Nationas Settelments Programme (UN-Habitat) & AARDE Foundation.

Raman Auditorium, AC-Tech Campus, Anna University, Chennai

August 16 10:30 a.m. Introduction to Soaking City Xavier Benedict 11:00 a.m. Building Ecological knowledge for the Nalini Thakur

regeneration cultural landscapes of South Asia 12:00 p.m. Chennai City Master Plan CMDA Chief Planner 02:00 p.m. Trees are the Earth’s endless effort to speak to Prime College, Nagapattinam

the Listening Heaven 02:15 p.m. Chennai City – An Area Dr. MGR University students 02:30 p.m. Hydrology of Chennai City Dr. L. Elango 03:30 p.m. For Earth’s Sake Dr. Sultan A Ismail 04:30 p.m. NHypay; - jkpH; ,yf;fpaj;jpd; tHpna xU ghh;it J. Rajagopalan August 17 09:00 a.m. Participating College Presentation MIDAS Architecture College 09:30 a.m. Rw;Wr;NHy; tpHpg;gpy; jkpH; gad;ghL S. Theodore Baskaran 10:30 a.m. Chennai Weather Pradeep John 11:30 a.m. International Case Studies Kees de Vries (Netherlands) 12:15 p.m. International Case Studies Dr. Martina Girvan, London 01:30 p.m. Participating college students presentation for 15 minutes 02:00 p.m. Adapting to Climate Change using Technology Dr. Jinu Louishidha Kitchley J 03-05 p.m. Spcial TalksAugust 18 Walk: Naduvakkarai to Anna Nagar walk. Organised by

Nam Veedu, Nam Oor, Nam Kadhai. 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.Starting point: Tower Park: Ayyapan temple side entrance. For details, registrations: 94442 53532; [email protected]

Talk: Industry & Employment by Mr. N. Madhavan, Associate Editor, The Hindu Business Line organised by ORF, Chennai Chapter.

11 a.m.-1 p.m.ORF-C Conference Hall, Reliance Building, Dr. Radhakrishnan Road, Chennai 600 004.

Book Readings: From S.Muthiah Madras Rediscovered and from N.S. Ramaswami on Madras Literary Society. Coordinated and Directed by N.S.Yamuna. Organised by Madras Literary Society (MLS). For non-members of MLS: Rs. 100.


Two lectures -- Prof. V. Arasu and Prof. Azhagarasan Exhibition on Early Tamil Alternate Magazine Movement will

be open to all after the lectures. Organised by Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL).

5 p.m.RMRL

Tree Walk: Starting outside Words and Worths. Organised by Nizhal.

5-6 p.m.2nd Avenue, Besant NagarRegistration: 98406 04912

Heritage Tour: Arcot Nawabs Trail in Triplicane led by Kombai S. Anwar (van)

6:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.Cost: Rs. 500 (Breakfast included)Assemble at: Madras University Entrance on Wallajah RoadFor registrations: [email protected] (or) call: 94440 77171

From August 18-August 24 Exhibition on Early Tamil Alternate Magazine Movement.

Organised by Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL).Roja Muthiah Research Library, CPT Campus, Taramani

August 19 Ride: Madras Day Heritage Ride.

OMR - Thirukazhukundram. Ride Distance : 100 km. For more information about the ride Contact Cycling Yogis /Ramanujar Moulana Ph:9884023123

5.00 a.m. - 10 a.m.Registration is mandatory

Heritage Tour: Justice Party Heritage Tour - North Madras led by Govi Lenin, Editor-in-Charge, Nakheeran (van).

6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.Cost: Rs. 400 (Breakfast included)Assemble at: Side entrance to Ripon Building (opp Periamet mosque)For registrations: [email protected] (or) call 94440 77171

Walk: Bird Walk at Perumbakkam Tank. Group Size: 25. Please bring binoculars and cameras. Organised by Madras Naturalists’ Society (MNS).

Reporting time: 6.30 a.m.Reporting Place: Bus stand opp IT Park near Toll Plaza in Perumbakkam. Email Vijay: [email protected] for participation. Confirmation strictly on first-come basis.

*


Quiz: The Murugappa Madras Quotient (MMQ) Quiz: Your favourite quiz about your favorite city is back with its 8th edition and here is your chance to win name, fame & fortune for you and your school! Organised by Murugappa Group.

1.00 p.m. onwardsSt. Bede’s Auditorium, No: 37, Santhome High Road, Santhome, Chennai – 600004

Tree Walk: Jeth Nagar, Mandaveli. Organised by Nizhal.

5-6 p.m.Starting outside Navasuja Sankara Nethralaya, Mandaveli.Registration: 95000 34187

August 20 Presentation: Rediscovering the graceful arch bridges of

Madras -- presentation by D. Hemachandra Rao. Organised by the Press Institute of India.

5 p.m.Press Institute of India (PII) CPT Campus, Taramani

August 21 In Kancheepuram – A photographer’s journey -- presentation

by D. Krishnan. Organised by PII.5 p.m.PII

August 22 Presentation: The Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane

– History, sculpture, architecture and inscriptions. A presentation by Chithra Madhavan. Organised by PII.

5 p.m.PII

Talk: Covering Sports in Madras – A Senior Journalist recalls his experiences of over fifty years by Partab Ramchand. Organised by PII.

6 p.m.PII

Till August 22 Celebrate Chennai, Celebrate its Games. (Chennai Kondattam, Vilayadalam, Kondadalam.) Chennai is home to a wide range of traditional games that

have been played for many many years. To celebrate this rich history of games, Kreeda has been conducting from July 16th, a month-long road show culminating with Madras Week. A specially decorated vehicle will travel through Chennai for over a month, visiting schools, orphanages, old age homes, offices, apartments and even metro stations.

The team will carry a set of tables to set up the games and give people from all walks of life, and all ages and demographics, some insight into the magical world of traditional games of Chennai.

If you would like the Kreeda team to visit you, email it at [email protected] or call 98417 48309.

August 23 Presentation: Agni Vasantham – An audience with

Aravaan in the streets of Chennai by Meenakshi Madan.5 p.m. Organised by PII.(PII)

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k!;jhd; rh\pg[ & ts;syhh;

ciuahw;Wgth;: Kidth;/ fU MWKfj;jkpHd;

5.30 p.m. Roja Muthiah Research LibraryContact: 044 2254 2551

August 24 Lecture-demo: A peep into the 2000-year-old Sangam

Age through Bharatanatyam by Lakshmi Ramawamy. Organised by PII.

5 p.m.PII

August 25 Exhibition: Anglo Indian Crafts & Cuisine Fair.

Celebrating the Anglo Indian spirit of Chennai.The Fair will offer sales of craftworks and products of current Anglo Indian entrepreneurs, mouth-watering food as cooked in homes in Royapuram, Vepery and Perambur, and, music.

10 a.m.-6 p.m.St George’s School campus, Poonamallee High Road.Hosted by the Forum of Anglo Indian Women, Chennai

Rare book display by Madras Literary Society. Organised by Madras Literary Society (MLS). For non-members of MLS: Rs. 100.

10.30 a.m.-4.30 p.m.Madras Literary Soceity For details: [email protected]; 044 2827 9666; +91-9444253532

Talk: Sports and Past Time by Dr. Sumanth Raman. Organised by ORF, Chennai Chapter.

11 a.m.-1 p.m.ORF-C Conference Hall, Reliance Building, Dr. Radhakrishnan Road, Chennai 600 004

Story Telling on Madras Literary Society by Story tellers from Kadhai Kamamishu (Lavanya Srinivas). Organised by Madras Literary Society (MLS). For non-members of MLS: Rs. 100.


Walk: Butterfly Walk at Adyar Poonga. Organised by MNS. Group size: 25. Please bring binoculars and cameras. Car parking, entrance and camera fees payable as per rules.

Reporting time: 2.15 p.m. Email Vijay: [email protected] for participation. Confirmation strictly on first-come basis

Tree Walk: Explore the natural heritage of the Institute of Mental Health, Kilpauk. Organised by Nizhal.

4.30-5.30 p.m.Starting at IMH main gate. Registration: 98415 26431

Lecture-demo: Gujili Ilakkiyam - Voice of the Madras layman by Nivedita Louis. Organised by PII.

5 p.m.PII

Tree Walk: Chintadripet. Organised by Nizhal. 5-6 p.m.Starting at May Day Park gateRegistration: 94450 28067

Walk: Trace Origin of Madras – 6th Annual Heritage & Eco-Walk at Pulicat. Conducted by: Xavier Benedict.

07.00 am – Pick up at Loyola ICAM Gate09.00 am – Pulicat Museum @ Pazhaverkadu09.30 am – Talk on Pulicat Ecology & Built Heritage11.00 am – Heritage Walk01.30 pm – Lunch02.30 pm – Light House03.30 pm – Departure to Chennai

To Register: [email protected] / +91-9884453409.

August 26 Tour: Tamil Jains and Madras -- from Puzhal, Vilankadu,

Thiruvallur, etc. Led by Kanaka Ajithadoss (van).6:00 a.m to 11:30 a.m.Cost: Rs. 500 (Breakfast included)Assemble at Nageswara Rao Park entrance, MylaporeFor registrations: [email protected] (or) call 94440 77171

Quiz: Military History quiz for college students. The quiz, covering the history of all three branches of the Indian Armed Forces from their colonial origins to the present-day engagement, will offer attractive cash prizes to the winning team and at least five other teams that top the contest.

10 a.m.-1 p.m.CPR Convention Centre AlwarpetOrganised by the Colours of Glory Foundation

Tree Walk: Chitlapakkam Neer Vanam. Organised by Nizhal.

5 p.m.-6 p.m.Chitlapakkam Neer Vanam.Registrations @ 9840627376

Tree Walk: Kotturpuram Tree Park. Organised by Nizhal. 5 to 6 pm.River View Road, KotturpuramRegistration: 97910 29568

August 27 Quiz: The DakshinaChitra Heritage Quiz for school

children. Open to students of 6th, 7th and 8th Standards from Matriculation, CBSE and ICSE schools. No participation fee for the Quiz.

DakshinaChitraOpen to students of 6th, 7th and 8th standards from Matriculation, CBSE and ICSE schools.Organised by DakshinaChitra

August 28-29 MADRASTICALLY – Yours. Skit: The Story of Madras;

Photo booth and blog; Exhibition stalls on: (1). Madras to Chennai Food Stall (Madras street food); (2.) Black and White Tentkota (games, old movies, old cameras, studios and production houses); (3.) Double Damakas (history of hospitals, and statues); (4.) Streetory (photos, videos and games on old streets and places of Madras); (5.) Namma Military (Military history); (6.) Display of literary works relating to Madras and old paper cuttings; (7.) Heritage walk in College Campus; (8.) Handmade greeting cards, badges, bookmarks, on Madras culture and heritage.

Stella Maris CollegeOrganised by the Department of History and Tourism, Stella Maris College

Exhibition: A 2-day pictorial exhibition will feature images and write-ups on the history of the Indian Armed forces, besides video shows and power point presentations on the topic.

9 a.m.-4 p.m.Stella Maris College auditoriumOrganised by the Colours of Glory Foundation

August 29 Exhibition: Indian Cuisine – to create awareness of the

diversified traditional and authentic food culture across India. Stella Maris CollegeOrganised by the Department of History and Tourism, Stella Maris College

Quiz: Quiz for School and College students. Organised by Nam Veedu, Nam Oor, Nam Kadhai. Organised by the Department of History and Tourism, Stella Maris College.

9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.Stella Maris College

Till August 30 ‘Chennai’ N Vannangal -- Chapter IV. An exhibition of art

works by Madras-based artists A. Rajmohan, N. Jagadeesan, V. Ravichandran, N. Bhagavathi Sundaram and M.Ashok. The exhibition will display temple architecture, landscapes and realistic works. Organised by DakshinaChitra.

DakshinaChitra

September 1 The Madras Quiz (Madras Open Quiz). Organised by

Murugappa Group.1.00 p.m. onwardsSt. Bede’s Auditorium, No: 37, Santhome High Road, Santhome, Chennai 600 004

Competitions Photography competition on Bazaars of Chennai for 15 years and above. Participants can send

the photographs to [email protected] before 5th August. The selected photographs will be on display at DakshinaChitra Museum till the end of August. The best three photographs will be uploaded on our social media.

Make your social history album/scrap book for age group 8-16 (individual).Start with a 4 generation family tree (minimum), add pictures, plan of your house (before and now), write stories, add function invitations, postcards, sketches etc – and how your family moved to Anna Nagar, When? How? Why? How your family history is related to Anna Nagar? Prizes will be distributed and selected works will be displayed and felicitated in the “2nd – Anna Nagar Social history exhibition, which is to be conducted in August. Details of the event and venue will be communicated during registration. Submission on or before August 12th 2018. Organised by Nam Veedu, Nam Oor, Nam Kadhai. For details: 91-94442 53532 / [email protected]

Video or Power Point presentation for above 15 years (2-5 persons). How your family moved to Anna Nagar, When? How? Why? How your family history is related to Anna Nagar? Submission on or before August 12th 2018. Organised by Nam Veedu, Nam Oor, Nam Kadhai. For details: 91-94442 53532/ [email protected]

Quiz on Anna Nagar. 19th August 2018. Registration before August 15th, 2018. Organised by Nam Veedu, Nam Oor, Nam Kadhai. For details: 91-94442 53532/[email protected]

Drawing Competition -- Junior / Senior Level. (Age 2-5, 6-11, 11 and above) Topic on the spot. Registration: Before August 15th 2018. Organised by Nam Veedu, Nam Oor, Nam Kadhai. For details: 91-94442 53532/ [email protected]

Essay Competition for Senior Citizens. The Senior Citizens Group of Besant Nagar and Mylapore (SCGOBNM) are organising an annual essay competition for senior citizens during the Madras Week. The topic is ‘What does Madras Day mean to me in my twilight years’?The essay competition is open to all. There is no entry fee.The essay is to be submitted in Word format (without any attachments) in English (about 600 words) to [email protected] latest by August 10. Prizes will be awarded for the ten best entries. For details: Prof V.Chandrasekhar, President SCGOBNM: 9884224480

Presentation: Heritage of Chennai – Multimedia Presentation Contest for city schools. Contest date: August 21. Submissions close on Aug. 11. E-mail to: [email protected] – and get the approval for your theme from us before you start working on the project. Organised by Mylapore Times.

The contest encourages city school students to explore Chennai’s heritage and present the topic given to you in multi-media form. The contest is open to school children studying in classes 8 to 12. The theme for this year is: City’s Natural Heritage.

Guidelines: Choose a unique nature space in the city which has its own history – a wildlife region, a river, an estuary, a lake, a scrub jungle, sand dunes. Study the natural scape, its character, its history and the unique features of this place. Study its condition today. Take classy photos, make notes, talk to people in the know. Then, put it down in a snappy PowerPoint Presentation for the ‘live’ Contest. A school can send only one team. Each team must have 3 members and all 3 members must take turns to make this one presentation.

Tips 1. Ask your school teacher-adviser to seek the approval of your theme from the organisers. 2. We look for multi-media rich projects so make sure your project has all the features in it. 3. The PowerPoint presentation must have only key points and visuals. Not packed with info.

(On each slide, you must have a maximum of just 3 lines, each line 5 words only). 4. At the contest venue, your team of 3 students will take turns at the mike to present the project

using the PP. You can use your notes for reference as you speak. The presentation in PowerPoint on the approved theme will have to be done by all the three participants. It can be done in English or in Tamil or a mix!

5. The duration of the complete presentation – PowerPoint and Oral – should not exceed 10 minutes. Participants should be prepared to answer on-the-spot questions from the judges.

6. The PowerPoint presentation need not be submitted to the organisers. The team should retain a copy of your project on a pen-drive or copy it to an electronic device and bring it to the venue of the contest. The organiser will provide a PC and a projector at the venue to help you make your presentation.

7. Contest is open to first 20 teams to register on first-come-first-serve basis. 8. The contest will take place on Aug.21 from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm with a 30 mins. Lunch Break

(you need to bring your lunch!). Venue: Srinivasa Sastri Hall, Luz, Mylapore. (Report at 9 am to download your PP onto our PC)

9. The best Three presentations will be awarded trophies, gifts and certificates. All participants will be given certificates. The prizes will be given at about 3.30 pm.

10. Prizes will be awarded based on quality of research / quality of visuals and points / presentation format and answers to the questions posed by the judges.

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Instinct poweredCSK...

... helped by Watson, Rayudu

� by R. Mohan

Resident Editor,

Deccan Chronicle,

Chennai

The triumph of ChennaiSuper Kings in the IPL

comes as the very anterior ofthe performance metrics andstatistics-loaded approach ofthe scientific world of modernsport. The victory pays no com-pliment to the ‘Moneyball’ wayof hiring smart with theSabermetric method of scoutingand analysing players. The CSKchose its players on pure in-stinct, on familiarity and‘cricketing’ knowledge of theirstrengths and weaknesses. Thisis more like the racehorsetrainer method of recommend-ing a thoroughbred.

Chennai Super Kings is noOaklands Athletics baseballteam. It has never been cash-strapped in its nine of 11 sea-sons in the IPL. Where CSK isso different from the Oaklandteam is in its betting on instinctto pick players it is happy withrather than go the modern wayof soaking up the stats and pick-ing the undervalued lot and tryto assemble a competitive teamat economical pricing.

No Sabermetrics for CSK,only pure old instinct of its wise

coach Stpehen Fleming and itsexperienced skipper MahendraSingh Dhoni. It appeared theydidn’t even have the calendarapp to keep track of their play-ers’ birthdays because age was

not a factor in their choice ofplayers either. They seemed tobelieve that the older the crick-eter, the brainier his perfor-mance in a format that is other-wise thought to be an increas-ingly young man’s game.

The IPL teams tend to cometo the auction tables after a loadof research into player analyticslike their batsmen’s T-20 strikerates and the economy rates oftheir bowlers, with the new balland at the death. While mostwould like to believe that thecheque books of the owners arealways good for the escalating

bids on players, there are teamsthat have made it their businessto buy smart, as Kings XIPunjab may have done withChris Gayle. There was no guar-antee he would last the coursethough.

What makes the CSK ap-proach so different is in pinningfaith in an ageing set of playersjust because they are familiarwith them. But, as Dhoni ex-plained, it was their knowledgeof the player’s fitness levels thatwas germane to sport and notage. This is unusual thinking inan age in which the computer isthe boss, because it can at thetouch of a button spew outanalytics and statistics on everyaspect of a cricketer’s game,much as analytics-obsessed ProSport of USA does in detailingplayers’ game analyses.

“It is a great dynamic. It isabout using the strength of a re-markable captain, with a strongfranchise, with a good gameplan,” said coach Fleming evenas he praised his captain’s han-dling of the ageing battlerShane Watson, who waswrapped in cotton wool, his

work as an all-rounder cut andhis placement in the inner circledesigned to leave all his energiesfree for smacking the ball out ofthe park from his slot at the topof the order.

“We always like players whoare multi-talented,” Flemingsaid of the man whosinglehandedly made the chasein the final seem so easy. Andto think he was considered “afailure” at Royal Challengers,Bangalore where he batted inthe middle order. This indi-cated that man managementhad done the trick and not atable of averages and strikerates.

The X factor in CSK’scricket was its easy dressingroom atmosphere in which

Dhoni’s Captain Cool avatar ismost beneficent. It would be fairto say CSK is a players’ team asmuch as Dhoni is the cricketer’scricketer and ‘Minimum Man-agement’ has been the mantraof the owners. Maybe, that isone reason why a team withnine men over 30 could win theIPL, that too with a team pickedon the captain’s instincts ratherthan a computer programme.This is not the way of moderncricket, which is said to sufferfrom ‘paralysis by analysis’, asone England cricketer put it.But Dhoni’s way has often sur-prised by being the best and thisis just another instance of sport-ing instinct prevailing. (Cour-tesy: Straight Bat).

Chennai Super Kings weredeservedly crowned IPL XI

Champions, 2018. The victoryin the final was authoritativeand emphatic as the power-packed century from the bladeof a Australian all-rounderShane Watson’s was.

CSK was among the fanciedsides to lift the IPL XI trophydespite the fact that - to be hon-est indeed – their bowling at-tack was a bit ragged. Plus theyhad 11 players above the age of30. Some of us locals were ini-tially peeved that there werenot many Tamil Nadu playersin its ranks as before. This wasparticularly distressing as CSKhad a whole lot of players whohad never played first classcricket while the experiencedState players had to seek pas-tures in other franchises.

Test opener Murali Vijay,who had excellent outings for

CSK during the early years ofthe IPL and had also done wellfor Kings XI Punjab in 2016,including a short stint as Cap-tain, played just one game forCSK. The other Tamil Naduplayers Narayan Jagadeesan,just could not break in as itcould’ve been only at theexpense of Dhoni.

It was certainly hard thatRavichandran Ashwin was notbought at the auction while thechoice fell on former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan, however,was not used for more than twoovers in each of the games thathe played.

Ravindra Jadeja too bowledjust 24 balls in CSK’s first fourgames put together. Some even

joked that he was playing as aspecialist fielder and South Af-rican leg spinner Imran Tahirtoo got few opportunities.

Undoubtedly, South Africanpaceman Lungi Ngidi was theoutstanding user of the new ballin the tournament. Hiseconomy rate and his lengthand line made him an extremelydifficult bowleer for the opposi-tion batsman. Ngidi’s pace wasdisconcerting and his deathbowling was most penetrativethan even the experiencedBravo. He was CSK’s best pur-chase.

Rajasthan seamer DeepakChahar was a good choice touse the new ball and was ex-tremely useful to the side. Per-haps, the franchise ownerscould’ve picked up one of theState’s most successful seamer,Krishnamoorthy Vignesh tooinstead of some raw and un-tested players. Mumbai’sShardul Thakur was disap-pointing. While his ‘knuckle’ball was both a flop and bluff, itis her that a Tamil Nadu seamerwould’ve proved to be ideal.

Inspite of these initial disap-pointments plus the early inju-ries, CSK supporters stood sol-idly behind their team. Veter-ans Watson and Dwayne Bravogave their best to the side’sascendency during the tourna-ment with both and ball. TheEngland players pacemen Mark

Wood and left-arm DavidWilley and batsman Sam Bill-ings were found wanting.

The success of CSK waswithout doubt batsman AmbatiRayudu. It was a good ploy onDhoni’s part to send him in asan opener with Watson. WhenSouth African captain Faf duPlessis was used as an opener,Rayudu was dropped to numberfour and struggled in that posi-tion. Apart from one innings,du Plessis was a flop in the topslot. He would’ve ideally suitedCSK at number four.

Rayudu was the new MVPfor the franchise with his mostprofilic IPL season: 586 runs in15 innings at a strike rate of153. What was special aboutRayudu was that he convertedeven good balls into boundaryballs with his nifty footwork.He stepped down the track to50 balls this season and hit133 runs without being dis-missed.

The CSK fielding was gooddespite the fact that most of itsfielders were in the 30 plusgroup. Their slow-moving legsdid come into the spotlight.CSK’s ground fielding was – asone must admit – full of bloop-ers, but they have tried to coverup for that with their catching.Having taken 82.7 per cent ofcatches in the league stage,CSK finished among the bestcatching sides this season. Only

M.S. Dhoni. Stephen Fleming.

Mumbai Indians fared better.“They’re 35-36, not 55-56.

A massive amount has beenmade of it. I’m here to win thecompetition for the franchise.And that’s why we value expe-rience because we think it givesus the best chance… DwayneBravo, Shane Watson and MSDhoni all these guys still have alot of cricket left to play,” saidStephen Fleming on CSK’s age-ing squad.

Fleming relentlessly keptbidding for the Australian all-rounder, Shane Watson, andultimately bought him for fourtimes his base price ofRs.1crore. And Watson repaidthe faith, featuring in all butone match for CSK, scoring 438runs in 14 innings at a strikerate of 145.03. He single-handedly won the game forRajasthan Royals in Pune witha 51-ball century and thencame his 57-ball 117 not out inthe final.

Dhoni proved to be a trulyevergreen hero for CSK. Hisdot ball percentage was trulylower this year and, more im-portantly, he was the top-scorerin the death overs this seasonwith 297 runs off 148 balls, in-cluding 24 sixes and 16 fours, atan average of nearly 100. Thepower game that seemed to befading resurfaced again at times,helping him to score 455 runsin 15 innings at a strike rate of150.66. He was not at his bestbut Fleming considered his bat-ting “excellent”.

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Published by S. Muthiah for ëChennai Heritageí, 260-A, TTK Road, Chennai 600 018 and printed by T J George at Lokavani-Hallmark Press Pvt. Ltd., 122, Greams Road, Chennai 600 006. Edited by S. MUTHIAH.

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Published by S. Muthiah for Chennai Heritage, No. 9, Cathedral Road, Chennai 600 086, printed by Anu Varghese at Lokavani Southern Printers Pvt. Ltd., 122, Greames Road, Chennai 600 006, edited by S. Muthiah, 2-F, 1st

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From India’s Digital Archives– Karthik Bhatt

� The Digital Library of India (DLI) project, an initiative of the

Central Government, aims at digitising significant artistic, literary

and scientific works and making them available over the Internet

for education and research. Begun in 2000 by the Office of the Prin-

cipal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India and later taken

over by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, it

has to date scanned nearly 5.5 lakh books, predominantly in Indian

languages.

The archives of the DLI contain a huge collection of books on

old Madras and various institutions that were/are part of its land-

scape. While these include the more famous ones, such as the

Madras Tercentenary Commemoration Volume, Story of Madras

by Glyn Barlow, and Madras in the Olden Times by James Tallboys

Wheeler, several out-of-print publications too are part of the col-

lection. This column will profile some of them.

A dozen portrayed

The book featured here, Rep-resentative Men of Southern

India by Govinda Parames-waran Pillai (1896), is acompilation of brief sketches ofeminent personalities of the19th Century from the region.

Born in 1864, G.P. Pillai, asthe author was known was amultifaceted personality. Edu-cated at the Maharajah’s Col-lege in Trivandrum and thePresidency College in Madras,he qualified as a barrister inEngland. He was one of the keymembers of the Indian NationalCongress in its early years, serv-ing as its secretary in 1894 and1898. Amongst his achieve-ments as a political activist wasthe Malayali Memorial, whichstrove for reservation of quali-fied persons at par with thenumerical strength of the com-munities. In 1892, he took overas the Editor of the MadrasStandard, a paper that had been

founded in 1877. He came intoclose contact with MahatmaGandhi, who used its pages towrite extensively on the griev-ances of Indians in SouthAfrica. In his autobiographyExperiments with Truth, the Ma-hatma writes warmly about hisrelationship with G.P. Pillai,who passed away when he was39.

In the preface to the book,G.P. Pillai laments that “whilethe biographies of several emi-nent men of Bengal andBombay have been published,India knows little or nothing ofthe greatest men of South In-dia.” In an attempt to set thisright, he started a column titled‘Our Portrait Gallery’ in theMadras Standard which con-tained brief biographicalsketches of eminent Indians.This book is a collection oftwelve of these sketches. Whilethe book profiles some of those

whose lives have been welldocumented, such as Sir T.Madhava Row and Sir T.Muthuswamy Iyer, it also pro-files people such as Sir SavalaiRamaswamy Mudaliar, RaoBahadur T. Gopala Row,Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty(MM, February 15th, 2011) andV. Ramiengar, whose achieve-ments and contributions havebeen long forgotten.

Born in 1832, Sir T.Muthuswamy Iyer’s humble be-ginnings were no indicator ofthe fame and distinction hewould achieve as a jurist. Com-pelled to work at an early agedue to his family circumstances,Muthuswamy Iyer completedhis studies thanks to the be-nevolence of his employer, thevillage Tahsildar. Joining gov-ernment service, he held severalpositions such as Deputy Col-lector and Magistrate of Arcotand, later, Tanjore. Remark-ably, he appeared for his BL Ex-aminations during his time as aMagistrate and acquired a FirstClass. In 1878, he became thefirst Indian to become a Judgeof the Madras High Court.

If Muthuswamy Iyer’s rags toriches story is remarkable, noless inspiring is the profile ofRao Bahadur ThandalamGopala Row. Born in a TanjoreMarathi family, Gopala Row

had little by way of formal edu-cation. Having learnt Marathiand Sanskrit from his father, hejoined the Education Depart-ment as a First Assistant in theProvincial School atKumbakonam. He graduatedwith a B.A. Degree in 1859 witha First Class. He was placed insole charge of theKumbakonam College between1872 and 1874, where he be-came renowned as a Maths andEnglish scholar but was neverappointed its Principal. In 1878,he was transferred to the Presi-dency College, where he spentthe last years of his life. Hepassed away in 1886. Rich trib-utes were paid by eminent per-sonalities such as Rev Dr.Miller, who wrote that “few ofthe educated sons of SouthernIndia held so high a place in theregard of the Natives and En-glish equally.”

Dewan V Ramiengar, a

member of the renownedVembakkam clan, was a distin-guished civil servant, servingthe Government in various ca-pacities during his career. Hewas the first Indian to serve asan official member of the Ma-dras Legislative Council. On re-tiring from the service in 1880,he was appointed as Dewan ofTravancore, where he is cred-ited with having brought aboutseveral educational and rev-enue reforms and revampingthe judicial system in the State.

G.P. Pillai brought out an-other book titled RepresentativeIndians the next year, compris-ing the sketches of 40 person-alities from across the country.It was published in London,with a preface by Sir RichardTemple. The Madras Standardgot a new lease of life in 1914,when it was bought over byAnnie Besant, who renamed itNew India.

Anticlockwise fromleft: V. Rameingar,Gazulu LakshminarasuChetty, Rao Bahadur T.Gopala Rao, Sir SavalaiRamaswamy Mudaliarand Sir T. MuthuswamyIyer.

WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI Phoenix-like in …...in T’Nagar A t present, the Chennai Met-ropolitan Area is 1,189 sq.km after its notification in 1975. CMDA intends to expand

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