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(Continued on page 2)

� The Namakkal Kavignar Maaligai in Fort St. George when it was first built (above left) and with ‘Chola’ embellishmentsin the new Millennium (above right) to make it look more heritage-oriented. And on right is how a refurbished building ismaintained.

State not in Top Three on anyparameter

(Continued on page 2)

Vol. XXVII No. 22 March 1-15, 2018

WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

INSIDE

Short ‘N’ Snappy Two pages on books� �IE’s Golden Jubilee� Hosting social service� 1813 Medi-catalogue�

The sad, sad stateof Fort St. George

� by A Staff Reporter

� by A Special Correspondent

was the rightful place fromwhere our State was to be ad-ministered. If so, why is the Fortin such a shabby condition withno maintenance of any kind? Arecent visit to that historic pre-cinct shows that matters haveonly taken a turn for the worsein the last two years.

Of course, the Tamil NaduGovernment is not the sole oc-cupant/owner of the place. Asis well known, the Archaeologi-cal Survey, the Army, the Navy,the Legislature and St. Mary’sChurch are all in occupation ofthe Fort, apart from the Gov-ernment. But the last namedcan surely set an example andalso take the initiative in main-tenance. That it is not doing sois more than evident from thegeneral shabbiness that pre-vails. How else can you explainthis eight-foot ramp of rubbishthat has been built up at therear of the Namakkal KavignarMaligai (please see accompany-ing picture)? With such a towerof inflammable material beingallowed to accumulate, are wenot laying the whole Fort opento a fire disaster? Let’s face it, ifsuch an event were to occur,God forbid, it would not be thefirst heritage precinct to catchfire in our city, owing to neglect.

The Government now in power is one that swears by the words, deeds and ideology of the late J.Jayalalithaa, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. And she was of the view that Fort St. George

Periodic independent sur-veys, such as the one pub-

lished by India Today at the endof last year throw some light onthe comparative performancesof States – and of interest to us,Tamil Nadu – on the social andeconomic fronts, but caution isnecessary in reading too muchinto them.

The study covers elevencriteria for ranking States andcomparing improvements from2010-11 to 2015-16. The pa-rameters are: Education, Entre-preneurship, Environment,Inclusive Development, Infra-structure, Law & Order, Tour-ism, Agriculture, Governance,Economy and Health.

The study divides Statesbroadly as large and small, thelatter comprising ten states likePuducherry, Delhi, Goa,Mizoram, and Nagaland.Among the “large” states arethe relatively smaller ones interms of population and territo-rial expanse, like Kerala andUttarakhand. This distinctionemerges from the fact that suchrelatively smaller states in the“large” category have cornered

all the first ranks for ten param-eters. These States areHimachal, Kerala, Uttara-khand, Andhra Pradesh,Haryana, Punjab and Telan-gana. It is interesting to specu-late whether compactness hasbeen a critical contributory fac-

ranks on even one of the param-eters. It is not a good sign that ithas fallen into the bottom halfin respect of education, gover-nance and economy. It is withinfive ranks only in respect ofInfrastructure, Law & Order,and Health.

tor for ensuring higher gover-nance standards and more ef-fective implementation throughgreater physical proximity en-hancing accountability. Largestates like Maharashtra, TamilNadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradeshand Karnataka that account for46 per cent of the national GDPhave not done well in compari-son with the relatively smallerof the “large” category.

Out of eleven parametersand 21 competing “large” states,Tamil Nadu has figured in thetop half in respect of sevenparameters, but has not beenable to capture either the firstrank or one of the first three

It is surprising that Educa-tion has been cited as an aspectin which Tamil Nadu, in thisstudy, has scored a rank as lowas 14 out of 21. Earlier studieshave shown that the literacyrate in the State is 73.4 per centin 2011 compared to the na-tional average of 64.6 per cent.Improvement has been re-corded on teacher-pupil ratiofrom one teacher per 28 pupilsin 2010-11 to one per 19 in2012-13, compared to the na-tional ratio of one per 25 pupils.The drop-out rate is low at 1.20per cent in the primary leveland 1.74 per cent at the upperprimary level. Tamil Nadu is

known for several original ini-tiatives to motivate completionof school education throughfree provision of text books,uniform, laptop computers,footwear, bus passes and nutri-tious noon meals. Educationhas been receiving steadily in-creasing funds in the Budget,the share of total expenditureremaining constant at 15 percent of a rising revenue. Whilethese are material aspects of thesystem, actual results producedby it, in terms of improvementin mental skills and communi-cation ability, are not in keep-ing with the efforts put in. The“output” by the Governmentcannot be faulted, but the “out-come” is disappointing – thetwo terms representing thequantitative and qualitativeaspects of effort. The study’scriteria also refer only to quan-titative aspects that we haveenumerated to show why TamilNadu’s physical output cannotbe considered inadequate. Ifother States produced moreemployable pupils than TamilNadu it is worth knowing how

2 MADRAS MUSINGS March 1-15, 2018

The sad stateof the Fort

(Continued from page 1)

But do we want that to happenin the centre of administrationof our Government?

If that is the fate of what isunder the control of our Execu-tive and the Legislature, what iswith the Archaeological Surveyis no better. Clive’s Corner, in-augurated with much fanfare afew years ago, is now mostlylocked and when openedreveals a musty room full ofpeeling plaster.

The last house on Snob’sAlley lost some chunks of itselfin the rains of last year and therest remains supported on steelrods. The space to the south ofSnob’s Alley, from where thecasual visitor could walk acrossto the front ramparts of theFort, now looks like an equato-rial forest, so overgrown it iswith vegetation. This was aclean and empty space just ayear ago. Wellesley House re-mains a mouldering ruin and itwas with some surprise that thiscorrespondent noticed that theArmy has begun some construc-tion activity on the debris of thebuilding itself! It is also some-what of a wonder that thestanding half of Wellesley House

is still being used as an office!To what purpose is the ASI’ssparkling maintenance of itsoffice (Clive House) when therest of what it is supposed toprotect is run down so badly?

The Army for its part ap-pears to have redeemed itselfsomewhat in comparison to theagencies mentioned above. Ofcourse, its King’s Barracks is asbad as ever but the rest of thebuildings that it occupies arevery clean and well maintained.The Army has also barricadedthe roads surrounding ParadeSquare to prevent access byGovernment cars. This hasfreed up the walking spacearound the area to an extent.There are also signs of some re-pair work beginning in a few ofthe large buildings occupied bythe Army. It is to be hoped thatthese are being taken up in col-laboration with the ASI.

Taken overall, the Fort isnot in good shape. It is ironicthat the present party in powerwas the one that was keen to getUNESCO certification for theFort as a heritage precinct.What is happening there now isnot likely to ever get us that rec-ognition.

NOT IN TOP THREEON ANY PARAMETER(Continued from page 1)

SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY

In which MMM agesThere comes a time when

age suddenly catches upwith all of us. And so it haswith The Man from MadrasMusings, who until recentlywas of the view that he was ayoung man on the threshold oflife. That he was not so camehome to him rather brutally,when he, in answer to an invi-tation, went to inaugurate aliterary club at a medicalcollege in the city.

The teachers were effusivein their welcome and severalcame up and said that theyread everything that MMMwrote. He fervently hopes thatthey will give this particularinstalment a miss, by the way.But then they may not and thatis one of the risks in writingthis column. It may, however,still be a blessing, for chances

Club rolling off their chairs, lefthis hearers stone cold. It soonsank into MMM that the grouphad never heard of Austen. Hethen changed tacks and beganmentioning other authors inquick succession CharlotteBronte, George Elliot, CharlesDickens, P.G. Wodehouse,Agatha Christie& no, therewas not a reaction. What aboutJ.K. Rowling? Though MMMcannot claim to be a fan, shebeing a top-ranking author ofthe present generation, hethought she would strike achord. But no. In desperationMMM turned to the Bard ofAvon and asked the students ifthey had heard of Shakespeare.There was deathly silence.MMM then decided to speakon libraries he had grown upwith the British Council, the

Connemara, the National inCalcutta, the Roja Muthiah&no, once again a complete dis-connect. It then occurred toMMM that he would have beenbetter off reciting the names ofa few shopping malls in thecity.

MMM then changed tackand began speaking aboutTamil literature. This hethought might ring a bell some-where in minds clouded by cellphone ringtones. The teachersdrew in their collective breath.After all this was a club to pro-mote English literature. Whythen was MMM spewing forthon the vernacular? They couldhave exhaled freely, for the stu-dents were as unresponsive asever. MMM speculated onwhether he ought to take upBengali next, but then decidedto give up. But to be fair to theboys and girls, some did clap atthe mention of Tamil and thenecessity for knowing it well.

It was only when MMM satdown that he was received withthunderous applause. This herealised was more by way ofthanksgiving for ending thespeech quickly, ten minutesahead of closing time. The voteof thanks was effusive and theteacher who recited it said shelooked forward to MMM com-ing again soon to speak onother aspects of literature. De-ciding it was time to shake thedust of the place from his feet,MMM picked up the bouquetof flowers and the fruit hamperand left.

Returning home, MMMdecided to look on the positiveaspect at least they did not gifthim a coffee mug. MMM how-ever has decided he is donewith addressing college stu-

are that they may not inviteMMM again in case they takeumbrage at what follows.That, as Shakespeare said, is aconsummation devoutly to bewished. However, let us get onwith the story.

MMM was ushered in bybeaming office-bearers, teach-ers and others to a hall full ofstudents, all of whom dutifullyclapped. Thereafter, MMMwas taken to the stage where,after an introduction full ofthe usual howlers about him,MMM was asked to speak.This being a club to promoteliterary tastes in Englishamong the students, MMMhad prepared a speech con-cerning authors whose bookshe had enjoyed. He could havesaved himself the effort andspoken about some lesser-known authors in Swahili, forinstance, such being the con-nect he established with theaudience.

There was a certain dull de-spair about the students thatought to have warned MMMat the very outset. It was clearthat they had all been broughttogether for the sole purposeof satisfying some teacher(s)who had felt that the studentsneeded to improve their En-glish. If only they had toldMMM this in advance, hewould have thrown in a pas-sage or two on the alphabetand sung a nursery rhyme aswell.

Not being so enlightened,MMM embarked on his topic.Around five minutes into thesubject, he realised that he wasmaking no impact. Jokesabout Jane Austen, for in-stance, that had had audiencesin places such as the Book

dents. It is a task for youngerpeople.

The Chief’s book

And so the Chief comes outwith yet another book

this one on Indian English.The Man from Madras Musingsis yet to get his copy but hespeculates if the followingterms will be in it:

Cannot able to – this is arelatively recent addition toEnglish and has not yet madeit to the Thesaurus and theOxford English Dictionarywhich have over the yearsabsorbed most ungrammaticalusage as being perfectly allright. Cannot able to is areplacement for cannot do orunable to handle something.

Blunder Mistake – this

means a grievous error, to bedistinguished from a smallererror, which of course is a mis-take.

Untime – improper time fordoing something like knockingon someones door at midnight(unless the other party was ly-ing awake and waiting). It isalso synonymous with inauspi-cious.

Vex, torture and tension –three perfectly good words ofimpeccable pedigree. But theyhave become household termsthanks to their frequent usagein television serials. MMM un-derstands that the acceptedfrequency of these words in ahalf hour episode is one everytwo minutes.

Creech – an Indian crècheHe/She itself – in keeping

with ancient Indian wisdomthat defines the soul as beinginert and genderless, it hasbecome the norm to qualifyevery person thus. Commonusage is He itself said this.

Hope so – this is used as aphrase that is synonymouswith think. It is therefore com-mon to hear sentences such asHe was in bad health. I hope sohe is dead.

Co-Brother – this definesthe brother-in-law. Some havehowever opined that cobramay be a better and moretelling term. We also haveco-sister.

Editor’s Note: The Chief sayshe has left four blank pages atthe end for such additions tobe included. In fact, a phrasehe has just realised needs to bein the next edition is one bytwo.

–MMM

they accomplished it. No infor-mation on this is available inthe study as published.

In respect of the Economy,the tendency to go overboard onfreebies to the neglect ofinvestment in creation of infra-structure and improvement ofproductive assets could have ad-versely affected the ranking.Greater attention to infrastruc-ture and social assets would haveraised the economy’s capacity togenerate income streams.

The record of Tamil Naduon governance, according tothis study, is dismally low, atrank 18 out of 21. While we cansubjectively experience the fall-ing standards of governance inTamil Nadu, it is difficult tobelieve that that it could be aslow as depicted – in the bottom,just above Bihar and losing outto Assam and Uttar Pradesh byseveral ranks. Percentage ofwomen representatives inpanchayats, panchayat devolu-tion index, number of e-servicesfor citizens as percentage of to-tal population, number of op-erational Common ServicesCentres as percentage of totalCSCs and number of e-transac-tions per 1,000 people are theyardsticks used in the study to

measure governance. Specificcomparative data on these havenot been furnished.

Apart from lack of specificcriteria-wise comparative data,reading too much significanceinto temporal comparisons andrankings could itself be mislead-ing. Comparison of rankings ofeach State over an interval hasbeen used to measure theextent of improvement. Thelimitation is that rise in rankingfrom the base year does not nec-essarily imply improvement northe significance of the extent ofthat improvement because agiven State’s ranking changesdepending on how other Stateshave fared during the sameperiod. If other States have notdone well, for example, a givenState’s rank could rise withoutits basic status registering im-provement. The substantivescore for each criterion for eachState alone can show where ithas improved or deterioratedand place inter-State compari-son in correct perspective.

Occasional publication ofstudies is no substitute forauthentic periodic self-auditsurveys by reputed rating agen-cies, commissioned by theGovernment, to evaluateprogress and beneficial effects ofdevelopment projects.

March 1-15, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

� Remembering the beginnings as

Celebrates itsGolden Jubilee

� byS. Viswanathan

After a couple of years ofworking as an academic,

teaching undergraduatestudents and studying for an-other post-graduate degree inpolitical science, I opted forjournalism as my profession,appointed myself editor andpublisher and launched thetransport monthly Mobile.

It was a clean slate: I didn’thave any knowledge or experi-ence in writing, editing, proofreading, printing, pagination orbook production. I spent sixmonths visiting the othermetros, trying to study thetransport industry. I launchedMobile in September 1962.Through the years I learnt thevarious facets of journalism asalso the business of printing andbook production.

The experience helped mewitness and experience thespectacular changes in printing.I started with the basics byacquiring a letterpress printingpress with a few fonts of type-faces and a treadle machine in1965. Edit matter was com-posed by hand, using lead typesof different fonts and sizes.These were made into pagesand printed, two pages at atime, by the treadle – reminis-cent of the early stages ofGutenberg’s great invention.

When I launched IndustrialEconomist as a business fort-nightly in 1968, it demandedmuch larger volume of type set-ting to be done every fortnight.I opted to get this done with anestablished printer who had me-chanical composing facilities inthe scope of a couple of linotypemachines. In this, bars of leadwere melted, cast on brassmatrices arranged in lines, asslugs. These linotype machineswere mechanical marvels fortypesetting in quick time, tocast afresh lines easy to handleas slugs. The process lent foreasy make-up of pages whichwere locked into forms andprinted in large-sized printingmachines. This technologyruled typesetting in newspapersspread across the globe for overa century. Such machines ini-tially were the preserve of a fewlarge manufacturers in theWest and were later copied bythe Russian and other nations.

In my evolution as a printer Iyearned to acquire such amachine. This was available onrupee terms with hire purchasefacility offered by NSIC, SFCsand banks. Simultaneously Ialso applied for import of a

sophisticated printing machinefrom Polygraph, East Germany,again on rupee terms. Thesewere my first major experiencesin importing machines.

It took around three yearsfrom 1971 to 1974 to processthe import of the printing ma-chine. It was not certain thatthe machine would be deliveredon time and so I went in for anIndian made cylinder printingmachine and an old linotypemachine. The German machinealso arrived. With a term loanfrom a nationalised bank, Ipurchased it and commencedoperating this. It was a beauti-ful, high speed machine withexcellent quality of printing.

My application for a linotypemachine with two magazinesand a cutting machine fromRussia placed on a Delhi firm,took more than three years toprocess. Finally on receiving the

arrival notice, I arranged to paythe full value of the machinesthrough a term loan from NSICand my own contribution andremitted the same to the dealer.For the next several weeks Ididn’t hear anything from thedealer except acknowledgingreceipt of the demand draft(thank God!). I dropped in atthe dealer’s office during myvisit to Delhi to attend theannual economic editors’ con-ference organised by the PressInformation Bureau.

The dealer very casuallyinformed me that ‘my’ machinehad been delivered to Times ofIndia and that I would have towait for a few more months forthe arrival of the next consign-ment!

I took up the matter withNSIC but to no avail. I met theMinister of State for Industry,Charanjit Chanana. He waskind in arranging to send a sternwarning through the industryministry. The dealer wouldn’thave expected this and hastilyoffered to supply a four maga-zine machine that was readilyavailable, at a higher price. Ihad to sacrifice the cutting ma-chine earlier ordered and optedto buy this higher capacity

machine and paid the differ-ence.

The dealer promised to sendthis to Chennai in the nextcouple of weeks. He sent theconsignment note on despatch-ing the machine by train. Theblessed thing would not reachme for the next eight months.After a long battle with the rail-ways, I managed to locate thewagon stuck at Jabalpur! Finallythe machine was delivered inearly 1975 – a full ten monthsafter despatch!

Repayments on term loanshad already begun with intereststatements promptly providedby both NSIC and the bank. Soeven before the machine com-menced operation, loanamounts were bulging.

In early 1975, I organised theformal launch of the linotypemachine with sugar baron N.Mahalingam as the chief guest.Economist Press was perhapsthe sixth in the metro havingsuch a sophisticated high speedmechanical typesetting facility.I was on cloud nine. The addi-tional investments on otheraccessories like imported brassmatrices from Italy, going for alarger space and larger numberof workmen and scouting fororders for printing were allattended to.

A foreman of the press hadgreat taste for the date fruit. Heused to stuff his lunch box withcast slugs and sold the preciouslead for his favourite dates untilone late night, on a surprisevisit, I caught him red (lead-)handed and handed him to thepolice.

Then came the bolt from theblue. A technology revolutionswept across the globe: phototypesetting was introduced.This rendered overnight thecenturies’ old hot metal com-posing obsolete. I rememberThe Hindu, which had some 35linotype machines switching tocomputerised typesetting andauctioning these old mechani-cal wonders at throw awayprices. A machine that com-manded a premium of a lakh ofruppes (on a price of Rs. 1.25lakhs) lost its value overnightand there were no takers! I de-cided to phase out the printingmachine. These included an-other old linotype machine Ipurchased due to the delay anduncertainty of the importedone, the Polygraph and Indianmachines, treadle. If I took fouryears to order and set up my

(Continued on page 8)

A look atthe Presidencyin Gujarati

From India’s Digital

Archives – Karthik Bhatt

The book featured in this issue is one of its kind, an overview of the Madras Presidency written in Gujarati.

The Gujaratis were amongst the earliest migrant commu-nities to arrive in the Madras Presidency, their associationdating to at least the mid-1500s. Over the course of thisperiod, they have actively contributed to the development ofthe social, commercial and cultural landscape of the region.

The Malabar Samachar weekly, founded in 1925, was thefirst Gujarati magazine in the Madras Presidency. It wasedited and published by Madhavrai Gigabhai Joshi, a busi-nessman who settled in Cochin after retiring from a success-ful venture in Rangoon. There is no information either onhim or as to the trade he was engaged in. Madhavrai took akeen interest in Gujarati literature and wrote a series ofarticles suggesting several schemes for its promotion, espe-cially for the benefit of Gujaratis living outside Gujarat. Healso wrote to the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad (Gujarati LiteraryCouncil) requesting that the schemes be discussed andconsidered for implementation. However, nothing concretewas to come out of it. But he remained undeterred by thepoor response.

One important scheme proposed was to fix a centre annu-ally from among the commercial centres of the country andto commission a work on that region covering in particularits mineral wealth and the consequential potential forgrowth. Madhavrai took it upon himself to present the firstwork, Malabar Pradesh-nu Ruparekha (An outline of theMalabar Territory), which came out as the first annualnumber to the subscribers of the Malabar Samachar.

The suggestion for a similar book on the Madras Presi-dency was given by B.G. Anjaria of M/s P.D. Asher and Co.of Tiruppur, well-known cloth merchants. Initially not sokeen on the proposal, as he wanted to write a second editionof the book on Malabar, Madhavrai writes that he agreed ashe saw the need to win the support of the different sectionsof Gujaratis who had settled in other parts of the MadrasPresidency for business purposes. Thus was born MadrasIlakanu Digdarshan.

The book comprises an overview of the Geographical andTrade aspects of the Madras Presidency. The trade section isparticularly interesting, given the varied businesses the com-munity had a presence in. In addition to a list of factories,tea and coffee estates, this section contains short sketches ofsuccessful Gujarati businessmen of the Presidency. Somewell-known names covered in the sketches include that ofGocooladoss Jumnadoss and Co. (cloth merchants, the fam-ily behind the creation of the Vallabhacharya Vidya Sabhawhich manages institutions such as the D. G. Vaishnav Col-lege), T. B. Mehta and Sons (diamond merchants), LalubhaiVelchand Desai (one of the earliest Gujarati cycle merchantsand after whom a school is named in Bangalore), M/sSurajmals (jewellers) and Khan Bahadur Adam HajeeMohammad Sait. Also of note is the involvement of the com-munity in charities established and managed by them, suchas the Madras Pinjrapole (established 1905) and the SouthIndian Humanitarian League (1926).

The book, which came out in 1928, was printed inBhavnagar, at the Gujarati Punch’s printing press. It wasclearly intended to be the first in a series, as Madhavrai saysthat thanks to the large volume of material gathered duringhis research, he had to restrict the book to the above twoaspects. There is, however, no information as to whethersubsequent volumes saw the light of the day.

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

(Continued on page 6)

Erstwhile home now

hosts social service

LOST LANDMARKS OF CHENNAI– SRIRAM V

The high-flying geesevisit Madras

Bar-headed goose. (Picture courtesy: MNS-Ramanan Padmanabhan.)

niously employ aerodynamictechniques. At higher altitudes,the density of air and, hence, itspressure and temperature, godown, particularly the oxygen-content to hypoxic conditions,posing great problems for flight.But the most adaptive are thedense blood capillaries of thelung and heart and its RBCs withrich haemoglobin, highly absorp-tive to scant oxygen. On inter-

How many peaks must a goosefly above

Before it can earn its stripes?Now, how many days must a

goose fly strongBefore it reaches its home?

Yes, how many blizzards mustit face

Before it can see the Sun?The answer my friend is blowin’

in the windThe answer is blowin’

in the wind…….(UTTARA MEDIRATTA & M.O. ANAND

WITH PARTIAL CREDIT TO BOB DYLAN)

Yes, the Bar-headed goose(Anser indicus) is that iconic

goose that flies at a world recordheight of 21,120 feet (6,437m)inter-continentally, across theHimalayas, from its breedingground in the Central Asiancountries to reach India, its feed-ing home, from October toMarch.

Bar-headed geese, known fortheir high altitude flights, inge-

around Chennai. At the end oflast year, Chennai naturalistswatched six of them flying low onthe link road betweenKelambakkam and Kovalam,close to Mahabalipuram. In Feb-ruary, just two of them were no-ticed at the small irrigation tankin the Keelnathur village, inTiruvannamalai District. But inDecember 2000, 58 of thesegeese were recorded foraging ingrain fields on Venadu Island, inthe Pulicat Lake. However, itsfeeding grounds in India aregrasslands and grainfields adja-cent to lakes all over the coun-try. They are more visible in theextreme south, where you cansight them in Koodankulam andNanguneri in Tirunelveli Dis-trict, Point Calimere, and Trichyand Ramnad Districts.

This goose is a little largerthan our domestic duck and iswhite or grey-streaked. The chiefidentifying marks are the twoblack bars across its nape andbroad stripes along the neck.

During May and June, theybreed in large colonies in thehigh ranges of the mountains inMongolia, Kazakhstan,Kyrgystan and also in Ladakh.Three to six, occasionally eveneight eggs, are laid in flat nestson the ground or on trees.

In May-June, 2005, a wild mi-grant population of Bar-headedgeese in the Qinghai Lake inChina, was noticed to be perish-ing in large numbers. On investi-gation, they were found to be in-fected by a virulent strain of theH5N1 virus, the causative agentfor the Highly Pathogenic AvianInfluenza (HPAI), that can

spread to humans also. So, theBar-headed goose was declared apotential inter-continentalthreat that could spread the BirdFlu.

Despite their dangerous flyingacross the Himalaya, the peren-nial threat from the H5N1 virusspreading virulent bird flu, pre-dation, game hunting and poach-ing for them in the Asian coun-tries, the International Union forConservation of Nature (IUCN),in its Red Book, has assigned thisBar-headed goose to the categoryof “Least Concern”, meaningthat its conservation globally issafe and secure.

� byDr. P.J. Sanjeeva Rajrajsanjeeva@gmail.com

continental migration, they fly asflocks in inverted ‘V’-shaped for-mations, constantly communi-cating by honking. Their choiceto fly at night, particularly earlyin the morning, flying up anddown as a flock in waves, not atthe top of the mountains, but intheir shelter with low windstreams, are all highly adaptive.

It is a bird not often seen in or

1813 medi-cataloguefrom Madras

At a time when no materiamedica – presented as an

extensive pharmaceutical re-source developed on the prin-ciples of Western science –existed in southern India, Mate-ria Medica of Hindoostan andArtisan’s and Agriculturist’sNomenclature was written by aMadras surgeon, WhitelawAinslie, and published in Madrasin 1813. An enlarged edition ofthe same book titled MateriaMedica, or Some Account of thoseArticles which are Employed by theHindoos and other Eastern Nationsin their Medicine, Arts, and Agri-culture; Comprising also Formulae,with Practical Observations, namesof Diseases in Various EasternLanguages, and a Copious List ofOriental Books Immediately Con-nected with General Science, &c.&c was published by Longman,Rees, Orme, Brown, and Greenin London as two volumes in1826.

Ainslie was born in Berwick-shire (UK) in 1767. He joinedthe Madras Medical Establish-ment after qualifying as a Doctorof Medicine in Scotland. Initiallyposted as an assistant surgeon inChingleput, he later worked inTrichinopoly as a superintendingsurgeon. In 1810, he cataloguedthe vegetables of India, planningto develop that catalogue as a

medical treatise, which aimed atestablishing a relationshipamong food patterns of Indians,climate, and the diseases thatprevailed in India. He submittedthis catalogue to the Council atFort St. George.

He was appointed as theSuperintending Surgeon of theSouthern Army in Madras in1814. He resigned the job in1815 and returned to the UK,where he revised his 1813Materia Medica volume, wrote oncholera in India, a literary piece(Clemenza or the Tuscan Orphan,1822), and another on the intro-duction of Christianity in India(1835). He was knighted in 1839in recognition of his revised edi-tion of Materia Medica of India.He died in the UK in 1837.

In his catalogue, Ainslie re-marks that some of the pulsesand grains listed by him wouldthrive in sheltered situations insouthern England, and recom-mended that experiments shouldbe carried out (i.e. in UK) togrow them. The catalogue in-cludes details under (1) cornsand small grains, (2) gardenstuffs, (3) large beans and smallpulses (many of which have noEnglish names), (4) roots, (5)fruits and nuts, (6) greens andteas, and (7) hot seeds, spices,seasoning agents, and oils. Each

section provides the product’snative name, English name,botanical name (whereverknown), and general remarks on,for example, value as food mate-rial or as material of medical use,and on cultivation.

Ainslie led a committeeappointed by the Government ofMadras to investigate the causesof the epidemic fever affectingthe populations of Coimbatore,Madura, Dindigul, andTinnevelly in the Madras Presi-dency. The report of this com-mittee refers to malaria, whichhad been ravaging India for ages.Unknown as ‘malaria’ during theinvestigation time of the AinslieCommittee, the illness is referredto as ‘epidemic fever’ and wastreated symptomatically.

The number of deaths inIndia due to malaria in the late1800s and the first half of the1900s is estimated at a little morethan a million a year. In Indiaalone, around the 1850s, theBritish Government was usingnine tons of quinine annually.The point to be noted here isthat Clements Markhambrought Cinchona saplings fromPeru to India only in 1869 andthese saplings were subsequentlyestablished in the GovernmentBotanical Garden in the Nilgiris.

Although the chemistry ofCinchona bark was characterisedonly in the 1820s, the impor-

tan, or are brought to it from Asi-atic countries, and are to be metwith in the Bazars of populoustowns; including many Drugs ofthe Tamool, Arabian, and Per-sian Materia Medica; as also thenames given by the Natives todifferent articles of diet, andother things for the comfort ofsick; and the appellations be-

of the Royal Danish LutheranMission (also known as theTranquebar Mission and theEvangelical Lutheran Mission ofHalle). Rottler will be remem-bered in 18-19th CenturyMadras for his contributions tothe botany of southern India.

Ainslie’s volume has anEnglish index, a Tamil index anda Latin index. The first index in-cludes English equivalents wher-ever available, such as ‘spurge’for a member of Euphorbiaceae,‘gingelly oil’ for sesame oil (ex-tracted from the seeds ofSesamum indicum, Pedaliaceae),and sweet potato (Ipomoeabatatas, Convolvulaceae). Thisindex also includes Tamil namesof materials referred to in thistext, which have been transliter-ated in Roman script with appro-priate diacritical marks to relaythe correct diction. The pagescaptioned the Latin indexinclude biological names asknown then.

Section I (Part I of the book)refers to chemical and biologicalmaterials that have been referredto in the British Materia Medica,but found in Asian countries andused by the Indian (medical)practitioners. It starts with ashort description of sulphuricacid (referred as ‘Acid, Vitriolic’)with its Indian vernacular namesmentioned either in transliter-ated Roman letters or in Tamilletters and its Latin nameAcidum Sulphuricum. Details ofits local production are ex-plained: “by burning ‘some’ (no

� by Dr. A. Ramanaraman@csu.edu.au

tance of Cinchona bark in treat-ing this deadly fever was knownthroughout the world in the laterdecades of the 18th Century.Obviously Cinchona bark wasimported into India duringAinslie’s time in Madras. (Note:William Roxburgh, while sta-tioned at Samulkottah BotanicalGarden, found the bark ofSwietenia febrifuga (Meliaceae) apotent substitute for Cinchonaand, thus, a saving on thecountry’s exchequer.) Ainslie’sreport frequently refers to usingCinchona bark in the treatmentof the epidemic fever.

The 1813 edition of MateriaMedica (about a quarter of therevised edition) printed at theGovernment Press, Madras, in1813 outlined the purpose of thebook:

“A catalogue, and an ac-count, of such Medicines of theBritish Materia Medica, as areeither the produce of Hindoos-

stowed on those materials whichare employed in arts and manu-factures: to which added, in theTamool, Telingoo, Dukhanie,English, and Latin Languages,another and numerous Cata-logue of the various productionsof the Vegetable kingdom, whichas used as food by the inhabitantsof these provinces; and conclud-ing with an Appendix, in whichare contained the titles ofDiseases in Tamool, Dukhanie,Telingoo, and English; togetherwith a list of Malabar, Persian,Arabic, and Sanscrit medicalwork; a table of Doses andWeights, with the various formsof Prescriptions, &c. in useamongst the Indians.”

Ainslie dedicated this work toJohann Peter Rottler for his helpin determining plants of India.Rottler (1749-1836), an AlsatianLutheran Mission preacher andmedical doctor, came to Indiafollowing Johann Gerhard König

The signage in Tamil on theyellow-coloured concrete

block reads Geraldu Gardens,while the English one below saysJaret. The correct name is JarrettsGardens. Now reduced to twostreets, 1st and 2nd Avenue,with the Guild of Service and theMadras School of Social Work inthe middle, this was once thevast garden of a bungalow of thatname. And it has a long and in-teresting history.

The first occupant of thisproperty, at a time when it ranall the way from Casa MajorRoad, Egmore, to the Cooumriver behind, was ThomasJarrett, who according to HD

Loves Vestiges of Old Madras, wasa civil servant who moved toMadras in 1805 from Bencoolenin Java. He left for England in1822, where he died in 1837.

Other documents show thatJarrett had several facets to hispersonality. He was Secretary ofthe Madras Committee of theChurch Mission Society and inthat capacity did much to propa-gate Christianity in this region.He interested himself in particu-lar in the Jewish community inIndia and became more or less alocal representative of the Lon-don Society for the Promotion ofChristianity among Jews. Hetranslated St Mathews Gospelinto Hebrew and published it athis own cost. Copies were distrib-uted among the Jews of theMalabar region. A publicationdating to 1807 also has it that hetranslated the Gospel into west-ern Malay as well, under the aus-pices of the College of Fort Will-iam, Bengal.

After his time, the propertybecame the residence of Dr. S.M. Stephenson, SuperintendingSurgeon, Government of Ma-dras. He died at sea in 1834.

By the late 1800s/early 1900s,the whole property had becomeone of the 99 garden bungalowsin the city to be owned by thatcontractor and builder,Thatikonda NamberumalChetty. He appears to have livedhere briefly before moving on toCrynant in the Chetpet area. It isnot clear if it was during his own-ership or earlier that EdgarThurston, of Castes and Tribes ofSouthern India and GovernmentMuseum fame, began the MadrasFine Arts Society here. In thelate 1800s, exhibitions of paint-ings under the auspices of thatbody at Jarretts Gardens were aregular feature and one amongthose whose works were dis-played was Raja Ravi Varma. Hewas also invariably a prize-win-ner and by the early 1900s hadtaken a decision not to compete,being happy to just display hisworks here.

The next illustrious residentof this property was Sir RobertBailey Clegg. Born in 1865, hehad, after graduating from Ox-ford, qualified for the IndianCivil Service and been posted toMadras. He rose to become FirstMember, Board of Revenue, andwas also Member of the MadrasLegislative Council, retiring in1917. Love writes that the house

in Jarretts Gardens was demol-ished recently, which probablymeans 1913. However, this doesnot tally with the fact that SirRobert Bailey Clegg was in resi-dence till 1918. What is likely isthat Namberumal Chetty hadbrought down the old house anddeveloped a new one on thesame site and Sir Robert was atenant.

Whatever be the case, theproperty, or at least a significantpart of it, was owned byNamberumal Chetty and hisfamily for quite a while, right upto the 1960s. That was when theGuild of Service and its offshoot,the Madras School of SocialWork were both hunting for pre-mises of their own. They had tillthen got along quite well ongrace and favour spaces, theGuild being housed at Philroy,the residence of its Secretary,Mary Clubwala-Jadhav, inNungambakkam, and theSchool, begun in 1952, operatingfrom a small cottage on the pre-mises of the Madras Seva Sadanof Lady Andal VenkatasubbaRao. It is perhaps no coincidence

that both institutions zeroed inon Jarretts Gardens, forNamberumal Chettys grandson,T. Harikrishna, was Treasurer tothe Guild. The School, being inurgent need of space, moved inas a tenant into one of the twobuildings, even in the 1950s.

Negotiations for purchase be-gan in 1962 and by the end of theyear, a price of Rs. 2,75,000 wasfinalised for 62 grounds (aground being 2,400 sq ft) of land,together with two old buildingson it. Rs. 75,000 was paid upfrontby the Guild and a loan wasavailed of from the Egmore Ben-efit Society for the rest. On April21, 1967, the foundation stonefor the new buildings of the Guildwas laid by S. R. Venkataraman,the organisations long-termVice-Chairman. Work then pro-gressed slowly, the Guild beingchronically short of funds.

In 1968, the School took overa part of the dues to the EgmoreBenefit Society and became anindependent owner of part of the

property. It eventually put up itspremises there. The Guild con-tinued operating from Mrs.Clubwala-Jadhavs residenceeven as work on its new premiseshappened sporadically. But withthe golden jubilee of the Guildhappening in 1972, there was aspurt in activity. Fund-raisingevents were held and, throughthem, money was realised tocomplete the new buildings intime. These comprised, amongother buildings, a meeting hallthat was named after a pastmember Mrs. C. T. AlwarChetty, wife of one of the scionsof the V. Perumal Chetty clan.

The Guild took its time mov-ing in, doing so only in 1975, af-ter Mary Clubwala-Jadhav hadpassed away. It has since re-mained there, as has the MadrasSchool of Social Work. Jarrett,the good Christian, would haveapproved of the fact that his erst-while home is now a site for so-cial service.

� The late Gopulu during his

Ananda Vikatan days had a

series of wordless jokes that

brought about loud laughter.

These were brought out as a

book, in 2005, and a copy was

recently sent to me by

Charukesi. We are pleased to

publish these cartoons for a

new generation of Madrasis.

– THE EDITOR

WordlessGopulu

6 MADRAS MUSINGS March 1-15, 2018

Two pages looking at books

A guide to theway we speak

A flood of stories

The catalyst for good fictionhas often been the trials

and tribulations of humanity. Inrecent times, the Chennaifloods of 2015 awakened in itsresidents not only the spirit ofbenevolence, but their creativ-ity too. After the Floods, an an-thology of short stories by 21bloggers from The ChennaiBloggers Club, is a tribute toChennai and the spirit ofChennai.

We were all privy to the nu-merous acts of heroism and thecoming together of people tohelp one another in the crisisthat lasted for nearly a week.Thanks to Social Media, peoplewere able to connect and net-work to hear these stories asthey happened and to reach outto those stranded in the floods.The sheer spirit of ordinarypeople helped the city in ex-traordinary ways. Unlikely alli-ances and friendships have beenthe common thread of storiesthat emerged from the greatflooding of Chennai. This an-

thology documents and ex-trapolates experiences by thebloggers themselves. Thoughthe mainspring of these storiesis one, the interpretations aremany.

The bloggers have taken dif-ferent threads of experience toweave their own stories. Somehave used the floods as a back-drop for dropping long-heldprejudices of classes and castes.Kavipriya writes about a youngwoman residing in a North Ma-dras locality that is looked atwith disdain by her beau. In theend, her house comes to theirrescue in the story ‘Chennai600013’. A few stories touchupon the NRI angle. In ‘AnUntold Legacy’ by NandhiniChandrasekaran, it is the preju-dice of a young girl towards hermother’s Chennai roots thatcomes in the way of under-standing her strength.

Other stories reflect com-monly felt differences betweenthe haves and the have-nots.The Chennai floods acts as a

great leveller. Fortunes areturned and the have-nots endup as benefactors to some of theelite! This phenomena is per-fectly illustrated in the story,‘The High Rise’ by ClementWilliams, where the maid’s soncomes bearing nourishment forthe child of the stranded mas-ter.

Some bloggers have touchedupon the enormous environ-mental errors that led to the di-saster and question whether wehave really learned from theearlier mistakes. The very firststory in the anthology, ‘Her’ bySalesh Dipak Fernando is ametaphysical fairy tale. TheQueen ‘Madras’ chooses ‘MA-TERIALISM’ as her consortonly to court an unbearable di-saster. In the ‘Rain Maker’, au-thor Sriram Acharya imaginesquite realistically man playingGod.

Others have highlighted thepersonal sacrifices of unsung

(Continued on page 8)

The “issueless” couple – whocould they be? If you are

thinking it is domestic partnerswith no marital woes of anysort, you’d be so wrong. In theIndian context, the word “issue-less” is a stand-in for “childless”.Sometimes though, the wordfamily could refer to just thewife, minus the kids. You couldask a man, “How is the missus/Mrs.?” or “How is the family?”and it would mean the samething. If the response is the wife,or another family member, is“serious,” it means they are ill,possibly at death’s door. Be pre-pared to commiserate. Likesome insurance policy, the per-son can soon “expire” or be “nomore.”

If all of this has left youunfazed, chances are you are al-ready familiar with the nuancesof Indian English, which is a dif-ferent beast from British Stan-dard English or its Americancounterpart. But, as always, wecould all do with a little moregyan, or information. This iswhere S. Muthiah’s Words inIndian English – A Guide to En-

� by Vijaysree Venkatramanv.vijaysree@gmail.com

glish Communication in SouthAsia promises to come in handy.It turns out, it is not just spokenEnglish which is rife withIndianisms. Even headlines ofEnglish newspapers in Indiahave words which don’t alwaysmake sense to readers unfamil-iar with the local language.What to do!

that have found their way intoour periodicals. Now, the bookgets a much-needed update.The first entry of the new edi-tion reads Aadhar: The Univer-sal Identity Number of an Indi-vidual in India. (Or that with-out which an Indian citizencannot officially exist even ifYama, the God of Death, is not

stance, refers to moong beans;besan is the flour of Bengalgram. Don’t let the termBombay Duck fool you – it issalted fish eaten on India’sWest Coast. (While we are onthe topic of ducks which are notbirds: A cricketer can be out forduck, or without having scoredany runs, which would be tragicfor his fans.) You may be put offby “dust tea”, a term for teamade from the thick dust leftover after packaging leaf tea. Inthe hands of a good tea vendor,the chaiwala, even this cantransform into a halfway decentbeverage.

Tell an American you arefrom Madras and chances arethey will talk about bleeding ma-dras, the plaid-patterned fabric.“The fabric was born in colonialIndia,” The New York Timessays, “a marriage of Scottish tar-tans and traditional Madrascottons, and popularised in theUnited States in the 1930s bythe Hathaway Shirt Company.”The colours of the shirt or dress,made from vegetable dyes,would bleed and change witheach wash, which was part of itsappeal.

If you are an outsider in In-dia you might as well come toterms with Rahukalam, 90 min-utes of each day of the week,which is considered inauspi-cious for any new venture, be ita rocket launch or a trip to thelocal bazaar. Or the dangerousnew breed of people Rakshaks,defenders of political dogma ofone kind or the other, moralpolice in short. Different fromRakshasa or Demon. The mediaalso took to referring todemonetisation as De-Mon.There are also new acronymsthat pertain to other old devil,taxes: G.S.T., the Goods andServices Tax; T.D.S, Tax De-ducted at Source; and PAN orPermanent Account Number.

But let’s come back topleasanter things. If a flowerseller at the bazaar pesters youto make a “boni/bowny,” theyare asking you to make the firstpurchase of the day and bringthem luck. Don’t be a kanjus;just do the needful. In officialcorrespondence, this expression“doing the needful” suggeststhat the other, who is no intel-lectual slouch or buddhu, knowswhat needs to be done in thesituation and doesn’t need step-by-step instruction. The phrasehas gone around the globethanks to call centres and In-dia-based tech companies. Ashas the befuddling “kindly re-vert back”. Thanking you in ad-vance (TIA).

There are times when it canall be “too much.” If a word,

Here’s how the book wasborn in the first place: On aflight from Madras to Banga-lore, the author had heard fel-low passengers, Americans,struggle to decipher terms inThe Hindu and The Indian Ex-press. What is a rail roko or astate-wide bandh to a foreigntraveler? In 1991, the veteranjournalist came out with a bookwhich could help foreigners andlocals alike understand terms

planning to come get him justyet.)

Naturally, some wordsin Indian English pertain to lo-cal food and drink. Soonenough you will know your sam-bar (a thin lentil-based curry)from your sambol (a pungentrelish with a rice meal). Butdon’t be surprised if nutrition-ists here advise you to eat a lotof grams, short for protein-richlentils. Green gram, for in-

(Continued on page 7)

(Quizmaster V.V. Ramanan’squestions are from February 1to 15. Questions 11 to 20 relateto Chennai and Tamil Nadu.)1. Name the Jnanpith recipientand Kannada litterateur who hasbeen elected President of theSahitya Akademi?

2. According to a recent report byNew World Wealth, which Indiancity with a total wealth of $950billion is the 12th richest cityglobally?

3. Name the most powerful rocketin use today that lifted off onFebruary 6 with a Tesla Roadsteras its payload.

4. Which once-in-12-years reli-gious ceremony was inauguratedby President Ram Nath Kovind onFebruary 9?

5. What in the world of business isCriSidEx that was launched onFeb. 3 by the Finance Minister?

6. Of the two defence industrialproduction corridors mentioned inthe Union Budget 2018, the firstwill link which two major southIndian cities?

7. India won which World title forthe fourth time on Feb. 3 at BayOval, Mount Maunganui, in NewZealand?

8. Name the new book written byPrime Minister Modi to inspireyouth and help them face difficultsituations like examinations withfresh and new energy.

9. Which tech giant has launcheda public initiative “#SecurityCheckKiya” to create awarenessaround Internet safety and to pro-tect young and first-time web usersfrom account hijacking?

10. Which CEO of a global majorhas been appointed as the Interna-tional Cricket Council (ICC)Board’s first independent femaledirector?

* * *

11. What famous eatery used to belocated at the spot where theTTDC headquarters on WallajahRoad now stands?

12. The Tamil name of whichnatural feature near Chennaitranslates to ‘forest of the rootedfruit’?

13. What were the terminal pointsof the east-west line of the MadrasTramways that was functional till1953?

14. Which mosque in Triplicanewas constructed by AnwaruddinMuhammed Khan, Nawab of theCarnatic in the 18th century?

15. Which famous club’s secondhome was at Branson Bagh oppo-site the Church Park School?

16. What do the initials DG standfor in the name of the DGVaishnav College?

17. Which popular joint in BesantNagar was started by Daljeet Singhwho achieved fame as one ofRajini’s bodyguards/aides inBaasha?

18. In the earlier currency systemof Madras, 10 kaasus made upwhat?

19. Which famous Tamil oratorstarted an institution calledPodhunilaik Kazhagam whosemotto was ‘Ondre Kulam, Oruva-nae Devan’?

20. People having vision problemsworship which temple’s deity inMylapore?

(Answers on page 8)

March 1-15, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

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Studying theoutput ofMadras studios

� by Partab Ramchand

According to eminent filmhistorians Theodore

Baskaran and ‘Film News’Anandan, the total number ofTamil films starting from thefirst Tamil talkie, Kalidas, re-leased in 1931 (the same year asAlam Ara), predictably runsinto four figures. Such a phe-nomenal output spread over somany years called for its richand complex history to be welldocumented. However, a sus-tained and scholarly study ofsuch a history has not seen thelight of day due to the enormityof the task and the challengesassociated with data collectionand the availability of archivalmaterial.

A book that comes reason-ably close, Madras Studios –Narrative, Genre and Ideology inTamil Cinema, written bySwarnavel Eswaran Pillai andbrought out by Sage Publica-tions, is now available. Theauthor’s primary objective is tofill the void and study the mosteventful period in the history ofthe Madras studios when theyproduced their landmark andseminal films. An understand-ing of the history of the studios,and a detailed description of

their major films, sheds light onthe complex intersection of thecultural, economic and politicalfactors which shaped the stu-dios and their owners and thetype of productions they wereinterested in.

After careful considerationof the studio productions inMadras, with regard to theircritical and box office receptionand their lasting impact on theTamil film industry – both interms of their significance asessential links to an earlier his-tory of Tamil cinema and asprototypes which prefigure thespecifics of Tamil cinema inlater decades – the author hasdefined the period from 1937 to1957 as the most significant

one. Historically too these twodecades are crucial, since theyenable a consideration of Tamilcinema during British rule,World War II and in earlier in-dependent India.

The contribution of theTamil film industry to the

growth, development andpopularity of Indian cinema iswell-known. The huge outputof popular and highly acclaimedfilms in the Tamil language isinarguably the most influential

Ganesan was paid a meagre Rs250 a month for his famous rolein Parasakthi or that S.S. Vasan,showing rare enterprise as a boy,commenced his career throughthe VPP – Value Payable byPost – business.

In the course of detailing theworking of the five major stu-dios, Pillai focuses on some ma-jor classics and so we have longbut fascinating chapters onUthama Puthiran, ManthiriKumari, Parasakthi, Avvaiyar,Pathala Bhairavi and Missiammabesides interesting notes onAndha Naal, Chandralekha,Uyarndha Manithan and SoodhuKavvum, the biggest hit of 2013.Yes, in his concluding chaptersPillai notes that traces of thestudio system and its continu-ing influence in terms of narra-tives and genres can still be seenin Tamil cinema of today, par-ticularly in the films made dur-ing the last decade. Thus thereare many references to themovies made even in the 21stCentury, making the book up-to-date. Many rare and wellproduced pictures add immensevalue to the book.

The close relationship bet-ween politics and cinema in

Madras has been well docu-mented and Pillai takes care notonly to mention this but alsogive fresh details, particularlywith reference to the Dravidianmovement and its influence onTamil cinema. The major rolesplayed in diverse ways by thelikes of C.N. Annadurai, M.Karunanidhi and M.G.Ramachandran make for com-pelling reading.

Perhaps the most interestingaspect of the book centres inthe stories of the studio headsand how they came about estab-lishing their businesses after ini-tial struggles. T.R. Sundaram ofModern Theatres, S.S. Vasan ofGemini Studios, A.V. MeiyappaChettiar of AVM studios, L.V.Prasad of Prasad Studios andNagi Reddy of Vijaya-Vauhiniare all portrayed as larger thanlife figures but with a humantouch. There are some dull pas-sages because of the author’semphasis on facts and figures,but the interesting bits morethan make up for this.

Overall, Madras Studios is amust read for anyone associatedwith or interested in Tamilfilms.

after Hindi, in terms of scale ofproduction and reception. In-deed, many leading Hindi filmstars have spoken about thehigh level of professionalism infilm-making in Madras (nowChennai) and have readilycome over to appear in moviesmade in the city. Numerous boxoffice hits and highly acclaimedHindi films have been producedin the southern metropolis.

Much of this lofty reputationstems from the studio system inMadras which modeled itself onthe famed studio system of Hol-lywood in the 1930s to 1950s.The five major studios wereModern Theatres, AVM,Gemini, Prasad and Vijay-Vauhini. Through the years,some of the most commerciallypopular and critically acclaimedfilms have been made in thesestudios.

Pillai is well qualified to writethis book. An assistant profes-sor in English and the mediaand information departments atMichigan State University, he isa graduate of the Film and Tele-vision Institute of India and anaccomplished documentarian.His research areas include thehistory, theory and productionof documentaries and experi-mental films and specificallyTamil cinema and its complexrelationship with Hollywood,

Given this background, itcomes as no surprise that Ma-dras Studios comes across as awell-researched work. It is alsofull of interesting details, anec-dotes and quotes of all those in-volved, from studio heads to ac-tors, from screen writers totechnicians. For example notmany may know that Sivaji

phrase or expression is a headscratcher, ask around and get tothe bottom of it. Don’t get allpedantic – as long as no rules ofgrammar are broken, it is no bigdeal. Smile, jot down new termsin the “additional words” sec-

Guide to the way we speak(Continued from page 6) tion in the book. Some of the

words you collect could wellstand the test of time and be-come part of the lexicon; you’lllaugh over some of them afterthey pass into disuse. Surely, itcan’t get “more better” thanthat.

MADRAS MUSINGS ON THE WEB

To reach out to as many readers as possible who share

our keen interest in Madras that is Chennai, and in

response to requests from many well-wishers – especially

from outside Chennai and abroad who receive their postal

copies very late – for an online edition. Madras Musings is

now on the web at www. madrasmusings.com

– THE EDITOR

8 MADRAS MUSINGS March 1-15, 2018

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.

Madras Musings is supported as a public service by the following organisations

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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A FLOOD OF STORIES

(Continued from page 7)

Russian lino, it took ten yearsto dispose of it.

I graduated to the next stageof typesetting, through an elec-tronic typewriter.

Here again the course wasrough and painful. The dealer ofthe imported Swedish machinetook the money in advance andpromised to return it the mo-ment my bank cleared the termloan and sent the cheque. Buthe resiled on this promise andmagnanimously retained both!I was away at that time on a visitto the US on an invitation un-

der the International Visitors’programme for economic jour-nalists.

It took quite a battle for mywife and 12 year old son tomake several visits to the officeof the dealer and the threat of alegal action to get back themoney.

We were getting into thenext stage of photo typesettingand then to desktop publishing.In quick succession we wentthrough the stages of typeset-ting though an XT, 286, 386,486 and their improved ver-sions, year after year, upgrading

the PCs and software for pagemake up, scanning, colour sepa-ration and entering the world ofCorelDraw, Aldus PageMaker,Adobe Photoshop, AdobeInDesign, et al.

It indeed was a magnificientprocess of learning to keep upwith the frenetic pace of tech-nology development. It was noteasy though to upgrade con-stantly the computers and alliedfacilities of software, of recruit-ing and training staff with com-petence and arranging for theneeded finances. (Courtesy:Industrial Economist.)

(Continued from page 7)

heroes from the larger than lifeyouth. In ‘Gangs of NammaChennai’ by KishorLakshminarayanan, the ageingfather of an NRI holds the fortin his little community. Theanxiety of NRIs with their lovedones gone incommunicado willstrike a chord with manyChennai families. Stories de-scribing the horrors of the floodleave no doubt that the authorshave indeed waded the waters.

Romance is the surprise ele-ment in some of the stories.That romantic love is the stapleof Tamil cinema is evident insome stories which have founda way of using the floods as asuitable backdrop. There is alsoa story or two with a fantasy el-ement involving time travel.Relationships between parentand child, the old and theyoung have been skillfully ex-plored in some stories. ‘Stron-gest Storms Give out the MostBeautiful Rainbows’ by

Pavithraa Swaminathan showsa typically entitled spoilt teen-ager mature into a wise youngwoman over a night of floods.

Dahlesque twists are seen ina couple of stories. ‘Lucky Who’by Karthik PasupathyRamachandran, is a mischie-vous tale of a time travelling as-cetic who lands in water loggedChennai only to show two erst-while rivals in romance that fateworks in mysterious ways. Thestory of ‘The Two Old Men’ byBragadeesh Prasanna is reminis-cent of an earthy Tamil storywith humour and a pinch of pa-thos.

Though the stories are inEnglish, the voices are definitelyChennai. There is no particulareffort to craft the language andin many places seem a directrendering of our brand of spo-ken English. Even the tone ofsome of the stories are refresh-ingly honest to the culture itsprings from. What the storieslack in clarity more than makeup by enthusiasm and original-ity. Something to do with thenature of blogging.

– Rashrei Vyas

mass mentioned) sulphur witha small portion of saltpetre[KNO

3] in a strong earthen ves-

sel.” Ainslie adds, “… nearly inthe same manner that we do,”implying the similarity in theproduction of sulphuric acidthen in Britain.

His annotation on camphorfrom page 7 is an example of thedetails he supplies under eachitem he has listed. This sectionincludes the biological name ofcamphor source, viz. Lauruscamphora (now Cinnamomumcamphora) (Lauraceae), whichhe indicates as growing wild inJapan. He refers to what was di-agnosed by Indian physicians asKistnah Doshum and equates itto Typhus fever1.

1 Typhus fever, the most common

waterborne disease recognised in the

17th Century, was caused by microbial

contamination from human faeces.

Symptoms include high fever, weakness,

headache, lack of appetite, stomach

pains, and flat, pinkish spotty rashes.

Typhus fever and Typhoid were differ-

entiated in 1837. Edward Jenner pre-

sented a detailed comparison of the two

diseases based on clinical and post-

mortem appearances in 1850. Typhoid

fever is caused by various strains of Sal-

monella, while Typhus is caused by vari-

ous species of Rickettsia.

(To be concluded)

Medicataloguefrom Madras(Continued from page 5)March 7-11: Ugadi Utsav. The

five-day long Ugadi celebrationswill bring to life the culture ofAndhra Pradesh with the tradi-tional Lambadi and Madhuridance forms by the AbhinayaSudha Kala Varadi fromTelengana (at DakshinaChitra).

March 8-13: Watercolour land-scape paintings from distant andvaried countries by artist A.Murugesan (at Lalit KalaAkademi.)

Answers to Quiz

1. Chandrashekhar Kambar, 2. Mumbai, 3. Falcon Heavy, 4.Mahamastakabhisheka of Lord Gomateshwara at Shravanabelagola, 5.India’s first sentiment index for micro and small enterprises ( MSEs), 6.Chennai and Bengaluru, 7. ICC Under-19 cricket World Cup, 8. ‘ExamWarriors’, 9. Google, 10. Indra Nooyi

* * *11. Annapurna Cafeteria, 12. Pazhaverkadu (Pulicat), 13. Central and

Roxy in Purasawalkam, 14. Masjid-o-Anwari, 15. Madras Club, 16.Dwarakadoss Govardhandoss, 17. Cozee, 18. Dudhoo (dhuttu), 19.Maraimalai Adigal, 20. Velleeswarar temple.

March 10: Heart of Matter, mono-logues by women (at InKo Cen-tre, Chennai).

March 15-April 30: Checks andStripes – The versatile classic ofTamil Nadu. The exhibition willgive an insight on the story ofReal Madras Handkerchief. Theexhibition opens with a seminaron the topic on March 15th (atDakshinaChitra).

Till Mar. 28: Vasantha Vizha. Stepout of the classroom and enterthe world of art & craft atDakshinaChitra.

Till March 31: Infinity – the paint-ings of Reji Joseph (atDakshinaChitra).

* * *

DakshinaChitra WorkshopsChildrenMarch 10: Decoupage. Resource

person: Lakshmi (at Dakshina-Chitra)

Contact: Lakshmi: 984177779

* * *

Art WorkshopMarch 11: Flower Veni. Resource

person: Lalitha

March 17-18: Kalamkari (Figura-tive style). Resource person:Vijaya Kumar

* * *Ceramic WorkshopMarch 10: Glazed mural painting

on tileContact Potrasan: 9840672154