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(Continued on page 6)

State’s Public Health Services need

to work better

(Continued on page 2)

Vol. XXVII No. 23 March 16-31, 2018

WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

INSIDE

Short ‘N’ Snappy Player for the future� �Ill-repute no more� The beat of happiness� The eco-tree�

More heritage ground to dust

� by A Special Correspondent

– As citizens watch helplessly� by The Editor

Close on the heels of thedemolition of Binny’s

Building on Armenian Street,the old D’Angelis building,which stood at the corner ofAnna Salai and Blackers Roadhas been ground to dust. Thosenot so familiar with its past willknow of it as Bosotto’s or, bet-ter still, associate it with theBata Showroom that func-tioned for long from its groundfloor. That it was not in anyweakened condition is evidentfrom the fact that it has takenmore than a year to bring itdown. That the High Court ofMadras listed the structure asGrade 2a in the JusticePadmanabhan committee re-port obviously did not offer anyprotection to it. It just goes toshow that the builder-bureau-crat nexus can thwart any legalruling. There will always be away. That the core of the build-ing dated to 1906, has also notmade any difference.

The exterior of the buildinghad undergone considerable al-teration in the hands of severalsuccessive owners. But the in-terior, apart from sections gut-ted by a fire that invariablycomes to all heritage buildingsin the city, retained much of itsoriginal grandeur. INTACH

had even graded its state ofmaintenance as fair as late as in2006. From then to demolitionwithin a decade is monstrous tosay the least.

Rather ironically, it is thismodified exterior that is beingretained after the interiors haveall gone. This is to comply withthe Government’s interpreta-tion of the High Court order

that it is only the facade of abuilding that needs to be pro-tected.

The Heritage ConservationCommittee of the CMDA iswholly to blame for this situa-tion. Given that the other Heri-tage Committee following thepassing of the Heritage Act bythe Tamil Nadu Assembly in2010 was never constituted, the

earlier body evidently still re-mains in operation. But in a de-cade and more of its existenceit has done precious little. Man-dated to study and notify the400-odd buildings listed as be-ing of heritage value by theHigh Court in 2006, it neverwent about this task. For a startit declined to accept the list thathad been put together by

INTACH and agreed to in totoby the High Court. Had thisbeen done, a lot of time wouldhave been saved, as wouldcountless heritage structures.On the other hand, the Com-mittee is still debating on thebest way to identify and list thestructures and has, when it feltlike it, enlisted college studentsfor assistance. The net result isthat ten buildings or so (out of

A NITI Aayog survey, incollaboration with the

World Bank, published in Feb-ruary 2018 ranks Tamil Nadu asthe third best State in India for2015-16 in terms of medicalinfrastructure. At the groundlevel, however, results of agrassroot study by an NGO re-veals unsatisfactory workingconditions in Primary HealthCentres and tertiary hospitals.

In Tamil Nadu, according tothe local study, state-run hospi-tals are not the first choice fortreatment of TB. In rural areas,especially, three out of five, thatis, 60 per cent, go to private hos-pitals before enrolling in publiccentres/hospitals for free treat-

ment. By then people have spentconsiderable sums of moneybesides losing valuable time inearly detection and timely treat-ment. Delay could lead tocomplications besides commu-

pre-project sociological surveyensures that every feature of theproject recognises the targetbeneficiaries’ needs, culturalcompulsions and habits.

nicating the disease to others inthe community. Quite oftenwhat seems like minor featureshave an important bearing onthe usefulenes of the service tothe beneficiary – example:working hours of the facility. A

The report of the local NGOrecords that 49 per cent paidbribes for service, 73 per centexperienced poor/averagedrinking water availability, over45 per cent had to suffer longwait and most said that public

health centres are not open inthe evenings. It must be said,however, that as high as 69 percent were satisfied with servicesby doctors.

The report of NITI Aayog fo-cuses on one aspect of health –child health, i.e., neo natal mor-tality, under-5 mortality, etc.This basic aspect of healthcould well serve as a reliableproxy for all other facets ofpublic health. The Study hascompiled index numbers forperformance by States for threecomponents – Health Out-comes, Key Inputs and Gover-nance. Based on the indexscores, it has ranked the States.

D’Angelis hotel when it was opened. The rear of the hotel building brought to dust in 2018.

2 MADRAS MUSINGS March 16-31, 2018

Health Servicesdisappoint

(Continued from page 1)

Of mugs given & takenOf late The Man from

Madras Musings is invitedto all kinds of events. The ex-pression all and sundry wouldbe the mot juste with emphasisbeing on the sundry. MMMimagines his position to beequivalent to that of an ageingand waterlogged boot that getsregularly caught in the fishingnets cast by event organisers.They cast him back into thewaters after their respectiveevents are over so that otherorganisers can then haul himin.

Perhaps it is the way MMMlooks especially when beingphotographed that inspiresthese people, for by way of me-mento (or momento as MMMhas often seen it spelt in thisour land), they invariably gifthim a coffee mug. MMM nowhas a huge collection of these,varying in size, design andoverall ghastliness. Some sportoriental designs, others bearcartoons and some have plainmessages. There is one com-mon factor – they cannot berecycled by way of gifting themaway to someone else. That isbecause all of them havepersonalised messages immor-talising the giver or the taker.Take for instance a gift of amug from an institute oftechnology’s alumni associa-tion that has its logo engravedon it. How can MMM pass thisoff to anyone else? The firstquestion the mug at the receiv-ing end is bound to ask onopening the gift is whetherMMM is an alumnus of thatinstitution, which he is not.The receiving mug is thenbound to ponder over the giftmug and come to the conclu-sion that MMM had made amug out of him. And so,MMM is stuck with hundredsof mugs.

The problem is that youcannot make a coffee set of sixout disparate mugs. And evenif you did, how many such setscan you have? After all, MMMis not the British Royal Familyto throw tea parties for hun-dred where all these mugs canbe used. You can use a coupleas pen stands but then howmany of those can you have?Add toothbrush holders and aplanter for some indoor foliagein miniature but even after allthese uses, there are still sev-eral mugs left over. The onlypossible use that MMM canthink of is to carry these mugseach time he goes on an over-seas visit. Many countries havean abhorrent policy of paperinstead of water for what areknown as ablutions. MMM isstrongly pro-water. Thesemugs are bound to come inhandy and the advantage isthat you can leave them be-hind in the toilets used as akind gesture for future visitorsfrom India who may be desper-ate to wash as opposed to wipe.There is however the matter ofexcess baggage. MMM won-

ders as to how many mugswould constitute a kilogram ofbaggage.

Having come to the conclu-sion that he has been made amug out of thus far, MMM hastaken to asking eventorganisers who invite him ifthey intend gifting him a mugfor his services. And then, notwaiting for their response, healso makes it clear that he isnot in the market for any mugsand would be glad if they de-sisted from offering him anymemento. He then proceeds tolist the other items he does notwant – shawls of brocade or anyother variety, black lacquer orsilver plated Tanjore plates,papier-mâché figurines, photoframes, tinsel filigree garlandswith balls of sandal that leave ayellow stain on your clothesthereby making you rememberthe event forever… the list isseemingly endless.

The inevitable reaction onMMM issuing such a caveat isthat such gifts are part of ourtradition. MMM wonders sincewhen mugs became part of ourtradition. Coffee yes, butmugs? Anyway, he has sincemanaged to deter many a deter-mined organiser from giftinghim these assorted uselessitems. He has made bold tosuggest flowers or fruits as op-tions but these have not metwith much favour. Probablythe expense involved (you can-not order flowers and fruits atthe beginning of the year for allthe planned events in the cal-endar and strike a bargain pricefor wholesale purchase as youcan do with gimcrack what-nots) makes organisers thinktwice.

Summer (not yet)here

The suspense is killing. AndThe Man from Madras

Musings for one is not amused.When will we get the weatherwe are familiar with? MMM al-ludes to the sticky and hot sea-son that really keeps usChennai peoples on our toes.We are also at our happiestgrumbling about it and when itis not vouchsafed us, we beginto fret. We as a people are un-used to good weather and donot know how to enjoy it. Giveus this day our daily sweat wepray.

But the weather gods orwhoever/whatever else that de-cides on the climate have de-cided to play games withChennai. How else can you ex-plain these chilly mornings?The temperature was down to18 deg C in Meenambakkamlast week one night. That isenough for Chennai to shiverand pull out from the moth-

balls all the shawls, sweatersand other woollies that hadnot seen the light of day sincethe last time everyone went toBangalore. The nights arepleasant as well and as for theday, while it is warming up af-ter the harsh and dark winterwe had, it is not yet summer.Considering that it is alreadymid-March, we are a puzzledlot. Heat we understand, butall this cold? No way. This isMadras, or at least was till wetook to calling it Chennai.

All over the city, quarrelsare happening over the tem-perature in which the air-con-ditioners are to be set. Themajority of our citizens some-how imagine that office spacesneed to be at arctic tempera-tures in summer and oven-likeheat in ‘winter’ (you know theChennai winter – a slight re-duction in the overall heat).But now they are confused,not having ever used interme-diate temperature settings.One half wants the air-condi-tioner to be set to near freez-ing on the grounds that it issummer while the other lot,that coughs and wheezes likeclockwork from October toMarch, insists on ratchetingup the heat.

Similar is the ill will be-tween those who get bitten bymosquitoes and those thatdon’t. This intermediaryweather, known as spring inother parts of the world, hasseen the proliferation of theseairborne vectors as our Corpo-ration refers to them. Ourcivic body in MMM’s view alsolooks on these insects with apaternal affection for it hasdone nothing to eliminatethem. Their surge in numbersis causing much distress to themajority while a minoritywatches and scoffs.

All of this is bound to re-sult in unrest of some kind,hopefully not of the jallikattuvariety. The weather had bet-ter take a turn for the worse,and soon at that.

Tailpiece

The Man from MadrasMusings took this picture

a week back. It is clear that thehelmet law is being taken toextremes by some of our two-wheeler riders.

–MMM

SHORT ‘N’

SNAPPY

The NITI Study assignsTamil Nadu an Overall scoreof 63.28 in 2014-15 and 63.38in 2015-16, the two years beingthe Base Year and the Refer-ence Year respectively. Basedon the index score, it is nation-ally ranked second for overallperformance in Health andFamily Welfare services.

On Health Outcomes, theState fell from 64.04 in the BaseYear to 62.56 in the ReferenceYear and is ranked third.

On Key Inputs, Tamil Naduscores 78.06 in 2015-16 and isranked Number One.

On Governance aspects, noindex score could be compiledby the Study due to limited dataavailability, but several indica-tors of governance have beenrated wherever data wasavailable.

On overall performance,Kerala got 82.89 compared toTamil Nadu’s 63.38, the latterstill getting second rank andthat a far second. Kerala has setthe benchmark indicating thatthere is much room for TamilNadu to raise performance – byabout 30 per cent.

There is an interesting angleon the Key Inputs scores.Tamil Nadu getting Rank 1 islaudable as it sets the bench-mark for other States. Keralawith a lower score of 74.17 onKey Inputs has been able tomake the Number One spot forHealth Outcomes with a scoreof 82.89. With less infrastruc-ture Kerala has been able toperform better on outcomes.Management and monitoring,making possible a high qualityof service, has made the differ-ence between Kerala and TamilNadu.

Tamil Nadu numbers showthat on Health Outcomes, lowweight at birth is as high as 13per cent compared to 5/7 percent in Telangana. Sex ratio atbirth is 911 girls per 1000 boysborn, whereas it is 967 in Keralasuggesting that sex-selectiveabortions on a significant scalewere probably happeningunchecked.

Regarding Key Inputs,Immunisation coverage is 82.7per cent in Tamil Nadu whereasseveral states in the countryhave completed 100 per cent orover 95 per cent. Institutionaldelivery in maternity cases hasthe effect of lowering maternaland infant mortality and onsuch an important aspect only81.8 per cent go to institutionsfor delivery whereas nearly 100per cent has been recorded bymore than one state. Percent-age of districts with functionalcardiac units is woefully low at

56.3 per cent in the State com-pared to a benchmark of 76.9per cent in West Bengal. Theease of effecting improvementsover a very short period is illus-trated by Rajasthan’s determi-nation – from 2.9 per cent in2014-15, they made a sustainedeffort and equipped 76.9 percent of the districts with cardiacunits in one year. PrimaryHealth Centres functioning24/7, on a norm of one per100,000 population, is 35 percent of the norm whereas Stateslike Assam and Haryana set thebenchmark with 76.9 and 77.6per cent coverage respectively

Governance of infrastruc-ture determines outcomes.Here is only one example ofgovernance deficiencies. Thecontinuity of District MedicalOfficers, who are the frontlineforce for implementation, is anabysmal 7.3 months comparedto 25.4 months in Chhattisgarhand 18.1 months in Gujarat.

The foregoing analysis showsthat there is no contradictionbetween the NITI Reportassigning high ranks to TamilNadu and the grass-root levelsurveys by local NGOs reflect-ing serious deficiencies at theground level. The first measuresthe infrastructure quantita-tively and the second qualita-tively.

Going by the Funds assignedfor Health for the years 2010-11 and 2017-18 as cited in Bud-get Speeches, Rs. 7265 croreswere earmarked in 2010-11 andRs. 32,231 crores in 2017-18,reflecting a 4.44 times increase;as share of total expenditure, itgrew from approximately 9 percent to 16 per cent. The impor-tance accorded to the healthsector and the resultant infra-structure are well up to themark. The focus should, there-fore, be on making things workbetter. Effective governancecomes out as an area for majorimprovement. Honest feed-back on efficiencies andoutcomes at predictable period-icity, preferably, every half-yearshould be obtained. This wouldhelp the departmentsconcerned to make coursecorrections and ensure compli-ance.

Above all, public healthneeds a sanitary environmentwhich pervades many aspects— water quality, slaughter-house hygiene, food safety.Experts emphasise that safedrinking water and sanitationare critical determinants ofhealth, which would directlycontribute to 70-80 per cent re-duction in the burden of com-municable diseases.

March 16-31, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

Inglish made easy in recent book...

... & more of it

Refererence MMM’s column on Indian English (MM,March 1st), here are a few suggested inclusions:

●●●●● What is your good name? (As though there is a bad name)●●●●● You may be rest assured●●●●● He gets annoyed at small small things●●●●● Britisher●●●●● Native place●●●●● He went on talking about this thing and that thing●●●●● Honourable Supreme Court / High Court●●●●● History sheeter – This uniquely Indian (Madras?) expression

for a habitual offender has gained a fair amount of respectabil-ity, with even news papers like The Hindu freely using it. Thehonorific is bestowed probably only on some one who has acrime history at least one foolscap sheet long.

●●●●● I will give you a ring – the speaker has no intention ofpresenting a diamond ring but intends to only call you on thephone.Then there are some English-Indian (Tamil) comboexpressions:eg. This is the wayaa? for ‘Is this the way’?The list could go on..There is a delightful book Indlish by

Jyoti Sanyal, formerly of Statesman, Calcutta (published by VivaBooks, 2006) which has delved deep into this fascinatingsubject. But of course, the field is constantly evolving.

K.Balakesaribalakesarik@gmail.com

The Words in Indian English:A Guide to English Commu-

nication in South Asia by S.Muthiah, (Palaniappa Broth-ers) was recently released. Theoverflowing hall reflected theaudience’s interest in the ety-mological theme of the eveningand their high regard for theauthor and his writings.

Dr. Albert P. Rayan, aProfessor of English, and Editorof the Journal of ELT, ex-pounded the implications ofadapted English and how eventhat was not uniform all overthe country as each region hadits own cultural variant. ShantaGabriel, a former English Lan-guage teacher, explained selectportions from the book in a de-livery marked by authentic pro-nunciation and diction, which,incidentally, demonstrated howEnglish should be spoken. In adiscussion with S.R. Madhu,senior Journalist, the authorsaid that spoken and writtenEnglish among the younger gen-eration are today poor mainlybecause of lack of qualified andtrained language teachers. Hebelieved that this situationmust be corrected if India is toretain the unique advantage ofbeing an English-knowingnation. But at the same time,whatever we are taught, we willcontinue to speak our ownvariants of English.

The book catalogues Indianusages that have crept intoIndian English, almost makingit a different language from theoriginal. The book would,therefore, come in handy tovisitors to India to be able tounderstand English as spokenand written here – pepperedwith local expressions andliteral translations of culture-

related usages and idioms. Thebook is Inglish Made Easy.

The proceedings would haveled several among the audienceto introspect on their presentspeaking and writing styles.Such an exercise might at timesbe unsettling. Years and yearsago, a friend suggested I readPlain Words by Ernest Gowers,an ex-Post Master General ofUK, which was a classic in thosetimes, on “correct English”. Thereading knocked out my confi-dence to speak and write. I wasall at sea till, after a time, I man-aged to regain my orientation.The second knock-out cameyears later when I submitted myvery first professional report, ofquite some length, to my boss.He was an Englishman who wasa product of a Public School and

Oxford. Incidentally, English-men, who were not fortunateenough to go to Public School,developed a complex in engag-ing with their own fellow coun-trymen of the Public School va-riety. To return to the story, myboss told me that all I needed todo was to re-read the report andremove superfluous articles,prepositions, adverbs and adjec-tives. I did just that. Not much ofmy report was left. I relived thisexperience listening to thespeakers of that evening. I feltlike the centipede, in a Greeksaying, which was advised to goto a consultant to know how touse its hundred legs in a scientificmanner. After the consultation,the centipede is said to be stand-ing still at the same spot to thisday.

The MC held the meetingon a tight leash and ensuredthat it did not ramble intoirrelevance. The speakerchosen on the spot, either byarrangement or by chance, topropose the vote of thankswas it seemed, accustomed tospeaking English the Indianway. At the outset, he calmedfears of a long speech underthe guise of a vote of thanks,by assuring us that he had notime to make a speech, muchas he would like, as “his wifewas not well, was lonely athome and being the onlyhusband of his wife, he had togo home very fast to take careof her”. The occasion, how-ever, demanded that heshould thank the speakers onthe dais and praise theiraccomplishments. He saidthey were all nice people whensomeone whispered to himthat it is not nice to use theword nice in this context asthe word, in propa English,really meant slimy or tricky. Hedefended his usage sayingwhat I tell, in India, we tell likethat only. Eventually, heyielded and said that thepeople on the dais were notnice at all. At this, again, therewere murmurs and he cor-rected himself saying that thepersons on the stage were notnice and they were good. Eventhis did not go down well.Having got into a verbal trap,he decided to wind up themeeting by thanking everyoneprofusely and concluded thatit was time for all to go andcome, a phrase the author ofthe book regularly uses.

N.S. Parthasarathypacha1931@gmail.com

Tamil Nadu downturn

Your correspondent haspointed out that Tamil

Nadu is not among the topthree on various parameters(MM, March 1st) of develop-ment. Time was when the Statewas quoted as the shining ex-ample of development.

The slide began when MGRbecame the Chief Minister. Hisvery first statement was thatGovernment would not opencolleges any more nor would itaccord permission for aided col-leges and that all new collegeswould be self-financing privatecolleges. This dictum was car-ried to nursery level. Similar wasthe case with government hos-pitals being deprived of funding.A moratorium on filling up va-cant posts not only in Govern-ment Departments but also inaided schools led to classroomswithout teachers.

Now, the latest entrant toTamil Nadu politics has pro-claimed that he would establishMGR’s rule. Will there be moreof that same?

S.S. Rajagopalan30, Kamarajar Street

Chennai 600 093

� The late Gopulu during hisAnanda Vikatan days had aseries of wordless jokes thatbrought about loud laughter.These were brought out as abook, in 2005, and a copy wasrecently sent to me byCharukesi. We are pleased topublish these cartoons for anew generation of Madrasis.

– THE EDITOR

WordlessGopulu

In the 1980s, Madras pioneered in India the elevated railwaysystem, MRTS, the Mass Rapid Transport System. In the first

phase, 8.55 km was constructed from Beach to Mylapore. Theoriginal estimate of around Rs. 55 crore overshot and ended withRs. 269 crore due to much delayed construction.

Extension of this again got stuck with the State governmenttreating it as a Central project and refusing to share a portion ofthe cost. The Tamil Nadu Government relented later and, overtime, extended it to Velachery. Of course, prices had esclated,and the State ended up spending Rs. 769 crore.

The original plan was to connect Velachery with St. Thomas’Mount just 5 km away. Of this around 4.5 km has been con-structed, a small balance portion remaining unfinished due to liti-gation on the part of property owners demanding ever-increasingprices.

Connecting this stretch with St. Thomas’ Mount on the oldBeach-Tambaram section, already connected with the ChennaiMetro Rail Corporation (CMRL), will ensure convenient rail con-nectivity to Adyar, Mylapore or Triplicane from any point on theother two lines. The convenience and comfort lost in not doingthis can only be imagined.

There are other anomalies: vast differences in pricing ticketsby the Indian Railway (suburban and MRTS), CMRL and thestate-run Metro Bus Transport Corporation (MTC). The CMRLcharges Rs. 36 for travel from Anna Nagar to Ekkattuthangal.The parallel bus service is priced at Rs. 7.

There is no denying that the Indian commuter is price-con-scious. Delhi Metro increased the fares twice during 2017; each

THE MISSING LINK

time ridership suffered a sharp decline. But if this short link iscompleted, services coordinated and fares rationalised, commut-ers gaining familiarity with shorter travel time and higher comfortlevels, would be willing to pay more for the better service andgreater comfort.

This may happen sooner than I thought. The acquisition leftis only a couple of hundred metres, I am told. The value ofproperty involved has been zooming in two decades from aroundRs. 10,000 a ground (2400 sq.ft) to over Rs. 4 crore today butGovernment is sorting out on a priority basis the issue, I under-stand, to pave the way for completing the project in quick time. –(Courtesy: Industrial Economist.)

4 MADRAS MUSINGS March 16-31, 2018 March 16-31, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

A street ofill-reputeno more

Metallic substances in Indian medical practice recorded in 1813

The beat ofhappiness

LOST LANDMARKS OF CHENNAI– SRIRAM V

(Continued fromlast fortnight)

Section 2 refers to metallicsubstances used in Indian

medical practice. Section 3 ex-plains the medicines of the TamilMateria Medica, based on aSiddha medical text AgattiyaVythiya Murai 500, also used bythe people of Telugu country andMuslims, which he thinks will beof value to European practitio-ners. Section 4 includes details ofmedications and their suggesteddoses from the Tamil medicalpractice. Section 5 includes a listof weights and measures used byIndian physicians, with equiva-lents of apothecaries’ weights

and measures supplied: e.g. 2.5grains of dry paddy (includingthe husk) = 1 Apothecaries’Grain. These pages also includedetails on how native medicalpractitioners write prescriptionspertaining to water extract (in-fusion), kashayam (decoction),thazham, thuvalai (liniment),lehiyam (electuary), choornam(powder), mathirai (pill), andkalimbu (plaster).

Ainslie subsequently explainsthe principles and practices fol-lowed by native Indian physi-cians, particularly of the Tamilcountry, in making five types ofmercury-based compounds. Healso indicates how each of thesemercury compounds is being

used in the treatments of differ-ent diseases. In brief, he indicatesrassapuspam and rasacarpooramfor venereal afflictions, scurfy ul-cers, and leprosies. Saadilingam tobe used with specified masses ofthe bark of Calotropis gigantea(then known as Asclepias Gigan-tea, Asclepiadaceae), charcoal,Piper nigrum (Piperaceae), andthe juice of Gossypium herbaceum(Malvaceae), well-ground andthe mix on hardening to besmoked for eye disorders.Saviram is prepared with alum,nitre (KNO

3), iron sulphate

(FeSO4), and sal ammoniac

(NH4Cl) and given to treat

asthma and phlegmatic problemsin microquantities. Rasasen-

duram is used mixed with coppersulphate and the root ofAmaranthus campestris (Amaran-thaceae) to treat foul ulcers.

Part II of the book includesdetails on materials (a little morethan 500, grouped under sevensections based on their economic

guages or in transliteratedRoman letters. For example, inhis notes on asbestos, his com-ments start from Pliny the elder(23-79 AD) until Thunberg(1743-1828) to how the Japa-nese found a use for a fine qualityasbestos in making fabrics, offer-ing fascinating reading.

In pages 270-271, Ainslieprovides remarks on rice cultiva-tion in the Tamil country. Hisbrief remarks start with a com-parison of Tennant’s notes onagriculture in Bengal (p. 270):“On this coast (Coromandel),from being exposed to an oppo-site rainy season, the harvestmonths are necessarily differentfrom those of upper Hindoostan,

as are also several of the articlesthat are cultivated; …”.

In this section, he providesworthwhile remarks on the culti-vation practices of Oryza sativaand related water-managementpractices in the Tamil land,referring particularly to thewhite-grain variety Samba andthe red-grain variety Kaar.

Ainslie’s book containsdetails of materials of medical usein India generically and in theTamil country in particular inthe first part, which is referred toas Catalogue I and captioned TheMateria Medica of Hindoostan.Catalogue II, captioned Agricul-turist’s Nomenclature, is a biblio-graphic enumeration of materials

of general economic importance(e.g. asbestos), although itperiodically alludes to materialsof medical importance (e.g.mercury, and other metals suchas Au, Zn, Ag).

Footnote: The earliest formal effort in

this direction, i.e. producing a catalogue

of medically relevant materials and their

derivatives, was by John Fleming of the

Bengal Medical Service. Another materia

medica of 19th Century India was The

Materia Medica of the Hindus, compiled

from Sanskrit Medical Works (1877,

Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta) by Udoy

Chand Dutt, a medical officer of the Ben-

gal Civil Medical Service. Baghvat

Sinhjee (Bhagvat Sinhjee Sangram

Sinhjee Bahadur, the Maharaja of

Gondal, Rajkot, 1865-1944; r: 1869-1944,

the only ruler of a princely state in pre-

independent India, who qualified formally

in medicine with M.B.C.M. and F.R.C.P.

from Scotland) wrote A Short History of

Aryan Medical Service in 1896 that in-

cluded a chapter ‘The Indian Materia

Medica’. A more comprehensive volume,

Materia Medica of India and their Therapeu-

tics was authored by Khory and Katrak

and was published in Bombay in 1903.

Krishnarao Mangeshrao Nadkarni pub-

lished his massive tome The Indian Mate-

ria Medica in 1954, which has currently

undergone several reprints and revisions.

Whitelaw Ainslie’s Materia Medica of

Hindoostan (1813), which appeared in

Madras three years after Fleming pub-

lished his volume, is more detailed and

comprehensive than Fleming’s in terms of

quantity and quality of information sup-

plied.

(Concluded)

� by

Dr. A. Ramanaraman@csu.edu.au

contexts) used by the people ofthe Tamil land in the 18th Cen-tury. He provides impressive de-tails and, most critically, hesupplements details with localnames either in original lan-

� by

Avis Viswanathan

Vikku Vinayakram’s homein Triplicane in Chennai

has a sparse study-cum-medita-tion room on the second floor.Huge portraits of the seer ofKanchi – the Paramacharya orMaha Periyava – Sri Chandra-sekharendra Saraswati (1594-1994), in different styles fromposters to paintings to stainedglass works, adorn the walls.

In the middle of the room, ona colourful jamakaalam sits aghatam. It is a souvenir that aghatam-maker gave Vikku. It hasVikku’s face carved out in theclay. He doesn’t like talkingabout that ghatam though. “Theperson who made this was over-enthusiastic. Out of affection forhim, I have retained this in mystudy. I had him make anotherone with Periyava’s image; thatone is in my pooja room.”

The shelves and cupboardtops, and even some cartons, arefull of awards that Vikku has re-ceived in his career of over 60years as a performing artist. Hewants to show my wife Vaani andme his Grammy memento –which he won in 1991 for play-ing for Planet Drum, an album byAmerican percussionist MickeyHart (who once was part of theband Grateful Dead); the awardwas for the Best World MusicAlbum that year. But Vikkucan’t find his Grammy mementoamong all his other awards. Hemanages to locate a plaque thatall artists who played for PlanetDrum signed on the occasion ofwinning the Grammy. WhatVikku says when his search forthe Grammy memento yields noresult is deeply spiritual andawakening: “Parava illai! It’s

okay! It’s here somewhere. Forsure. What is important is that Ienjoyed myself playing forMickey Hart and with the otherartists. The process of playing theghatam, to me, overrides any rec-ognition that I have got.”

Now, the man who is sayingthis is the world’s best ghatam

from a davara-tumbler, he nodshis head furiously when I suggestto him that he must be very, verycontent with himself – what witha “lifetime in music and an era ingreatness behind him”? “No,saar. Your question needs review.The ghatam has been aroundfrom the time of the Ramayanaand Mahabharata. It is the onlyinstrument that is made from theearth, from all the five elements— the panchabhoota-s. Who am Ito take credit for making theghatam famous or for all this glorythat has come on account of it?I am most content playing goodmusic with good people for goodpeople to enjoy and energisethemselves. I consider myself tobe a postman, a messenger, amere instrument for music toreach people. How can any in-strument take credit for the mu-sic?” he asks.

To understand and celebrateVikku’s humility better, his storymust be told in some detail. Bornalong with his sister Seethamani,as a fraternal twin, Vikku’s origi-nal name was Ramaseshan. Hisfather Harihara Sarma, amridangam artist and teacher,was advised by the doctors thatonly one of the two childrenwould survive; if both had to sur-vive, said a soothsayer, one ofthem had to be given away inadoption. Sarma chose to giveRamaseshan in adoption to hisfavourite deity – Lord Vinayaka.And so the name Vinayakramcame about!

Although Sarma lost one ofhis fingers in an accident, hetaught young Vinayakram toplay the ghatam by giving himbeat-based instructions orally. Of

player. In fact, he is credited withputting the humble instrumenton the world music scene. He hasaccompanied the all-time greatsof Carnatic music – ChembaiVaidyanatha Bhagavatar, M.Balamuralikrishna, GNB, Madu-rai Mani Iyer, SemmangudiSrinivasa Iyer, Ariyakudi Rama-nuja Iyengar, MaharajapuramSanthanam and M.S. Subbu-lakshmi – to name but a few.And he has played with manyHindustani music stalwarts too –Hariprasad Chaurasia, ZakirHussain, Shivkumar Sharma andAmjad Ali Khan, for example.More important, he is amongthose first artists from India whowere bold enough to experimentplaying world fusion music de-spite a very strong, conservative,classical orientation. In the1970s, Vikku played with Englishguitarist John McLaughlin’sShakti alongside Zakir Hussain(tabla), L. Shankar (violin) andRamnad Raghavan (mridangam).And then, of course, cameMickey Hart’s Planet Drum – andthe Grammy.

But Vikku is untouched by allthis glory. As he sips filter coffee

course, the family’s income wasmeagre; so Sarma reckoned atfirst that having an artist withskills to play a different instru-ment (other than themridangam) would bring in someadditional cash. But sensing hisson’s prodigal talent, Sarma laidout a vision that Vinayakramplay the ghatam so well that theinstrument would become fa-mous across the world. “Mygrounding comes from myfather’s vision. He did not urgeme to play well for money orfame. He always taught me thatmusic and the ghatam are muchbigger than me,” reminiscesVikku.

The big break came when a22-year-old Vinayakram was“accepted” by M.S. Subbu-lakshmi’s husband T. Sadasivamto accompany them on a US tourin 1964. This followed a concertof Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer,who Vinayakram accompanied,at the Music Academy whereboth Subbulakshmi and Sada-sivam were in the audience.Owing to the Indo-Pak war thatintervened, the trip was post-poned; but it eventuallyhappened in 1966.

That was the first time anylead artist was willing to allowthe ghatam as an accompaniment

We have thus far in thisseries been looking at lost/

barely surviving landmarks inour city, but what of an entirestreet that has vanished from themap? That may not be fully cor-rect, for Odakkal Street does ap-pear to exist but with a newname and a completely differentprofile. In its heyday, this was aplace that at least every sailor onshore leave was familiar with, forit was one of the most notoriousred light areas of the city.

Odakkal/Odacaul/Odacul/Vodacaul/Wodacaul Street, forthese are the various names bywhich this particular thorough-fare was referred to in city maps,ran west to east, connecting at itseastern end Moore Street toNorth Beach Road (Rajaji Salai),just north of General Post Office.

I was first alerted to thecolourful past of the place whenI read Dr. K.N. Kesari’s delight-ful memoirs ChinnanatiMucchatlu (translated into En-glish as Life and Times of Dr K NKesari by Vasantha N Menon).He writes:

Nellore Brahmins were well

known for their water transport

business. They also had pearl

and coral business. They were

sent to Madras Harbour from

Bunder Srikakulam, Kakinada

and other such places. They

had their business near the

Beach at Odakkalu Street.

Slowly this business stopped

and prostitutes began to stay

there. They would call out to

men as they passed by. The

English would stop and ask,

‘Why do you call me?’ This

gradually became corrupted to

Odakkalu Street. Anyway, no

decent person would pass this

thoroughfare for obvious rea-

sons.

Dr. Kesari was not entirelycorrect when it came to thestreet’s etymology. Odakkalutook its name from Vadikal,which in Tamil means ‘outlet’.Henry Davison Love, in Vestigesof Old Madras is clear as to howthe place got such a name. TheEast India Company decided in1779 to auction the wasteland itpossessed in Black Town. Thetotal area was 664 ‘Lots’ and oneamong these was along theVodocaul or Water Channel.Love in a footnote adds, “Thischannel, now obliterated, raneastward to the sea. The name ispreserved in Odacal Street,which connects Moor Street

with Jehangir Street at the northend in the present General PostOffice.” Love, the Victorian,does not mention whatOdakkalu Street was famous for.Dr Kesari, who lived from 1875to 1953, was describing the placeas he remembered from child-hood and that was more or lesscontemporaneous with Love’stime in our city.

That this area was not always alocation with such a poor reputa-tion is evident from its past

records. The street extends afterMoor Street to KachaleeswararAgraharam. This was whereKalavai Chetty, the builder of theKachaleeswarar temple, settleddancing girls attached to theshrine sometime early in the 18thCentury. While it may be conve-nient to connect their presence tothe later degradation of the areainto a set of bordellos, we mustalso remember that the Deva-dasi-s (dancing girls) could neverbe equated with the harlot. Any-way, by the mid 19th Century, thetraditional courtesans had all mi-grated to the western side of BlackTown, closer to Peddanaicken-pet. That Odakkal Street wasthen a rather respectable quarterof the town is proven by the factthat Thomas Jarrett (see Jarretts’Gardens under Lost Landmarks,MM, March 1st), that ultra-devout Christian, had his officeon Odakkal Street in the early1800s.

A street directory dating to1877 clearly connects Katchal-eeswaran Temple and OdaculStreet. It then helpfully givesdetails of various lanes and thor-oughfares that link with OdaculStreet at different places. Theseinclude Muthumari Amman,Angappa Naicken, Sembudossand Thambu Chetty Streets.There is only one thoroughfarethat answers this descriptiontoday, and also connects with theGPO, and that is Post OfficeStreet. There must have been astrong desire to rename the streetand clear it of all its negativeconnotations and when the GPOcame up at the eastern end in the

1880s, it must have provided aconvenient excuse.

The rise in the flesh tradehere appears to have happenedsimultaneously with the develop-ment of the harbour on whichwork began in 1875. From thenon we have continuous recordsof the Government monitoringthe area. The entire locality wasdivided among seven gomasta-swho were all selected on the basisof their incorruptible nature and,more importantly, being wellpast their prime. They wereentrusted with the task of goingaround warning the women toget registered with the Govern-ment and also subject themselvesto regular medical examinations.This did work to an extent and

around 700 women were docu-mented but several gomasta-s hadto be dismissed for they hadbecome ‘corrupted’.

A handbill of the 1890s that isquoted in Global Anti-Vice Activ-ism, 1890-1950, Fighting Drinks,Drugs and “Immorality” by JessicaR. Pilley, Robert Kramm andHarald Fischer-Tine gives detailsof the way the place was - youhave a picture of dark complex-ioned women in white sareesstanding near the thresholds oftheir houses calling out to passersby to step within. The more prud-ish people would therefore walkin the middle of the road,unmindful of the carts and othervehicles. If they did step on to thefootpaths they were bound to

enter into conversation with the“lewd creatures”. From there toulcerous sores on the body thatcould only be soothed by margosaleaves was but a step. The areawas most dangerous after elevenat night and the total number ofwomen employed in the trade wasin excess of five thousand!

By 1914, however, the busi-ness had sharply diminished. TheGovernment acquired much ofthe place for development andthe results of that are probablywhat we see when we walk downPost Office Street today. That ofcourse does not mean Madrasbecame wholly moral overnight.It is just that the trade shiftedelsewhere, to Chengam Bazaaron the western side of Town.The term Chengam sarakku cameto mean a woman of easy virtue.By the 1940s however, the tradedied out from there as well anddispersed across the city. Cer-tainly, Post Office Street has novestiges of the time when it wasthe notorious Odakkal Street. (Continued on page 6)

Post office street once Odakkal Street.

Vikku Vinayakram.

6 MADRAS MUSINGS March 16-31, 2018

Bird

Count

2018 at

Stella

(Quizmaster V.V. Ramanan’squestions are from February16 to 28. Questions 11 to 20relate to Chennai and TamilNadu.)

1. Which popular social mediacommunication app, owned byFacebook, has been given permis-sion to have a payment feature forits Indian users?

2. Whose record did RogerFederer beat to become the old-est World No. 1 tennis player?

3. Which paceman has been ap-pointed as Pakistan CricketBoard’s brand ambassador?

4. Which company recently be-came the first ecommerce firm toenter food retail venture in thecountry by starting operations inPune?

5. Name the station in Rajasthanthat has become the first all-women railway station.

6. Aruna Budda Reddy recentlybecame the first Indian to win amedal in the World champion-ships of which Olympic sport?

7. What is Aadhaar card for chil-dren under 5 years, that won’thave any biometric data, calledand what will be its colour?

8. Chilika Lake in Odisha has be-come the single largest habitat forwhich endangered marine ani-mal?

9. What is the purpose of the‘SRIJAN’ idea competition an-nounced recently?

10. On February 20, which SouthAmerican country officiallylaunched its Petro crypto-currency, which it claims is theworld’s first sovereign crypto-currency?

***

11. Which cities will form part ofthe country’s first defence indus-trial corridor to be set up in theState?

12. Going per the lineage, SriJayendra Saraswathi of Kanchiwho passed away recently was the____ of the Kanchi Mutt.

13. Name the Governor of theMadras Presidency responsiblefor the establishment of theUniversity of Madras in 1857.

14. Castle Kernan is nowcalled…?

15. Where on Sardar Patel Roadcan once spot this Sanskrit motto‘Siddhirbhavathi karmaja’?

16. Goday Narayana GajapathiRao was responsible for whichstatue that was unveiled in June1887 close to the seashore?

17. Which scheme introduced byRajaji when he was the CM led touproar and eventually his step-ping down?

18. Where in Chennai is theEdouard Michelin Auditorium?

19. The ‘Malabar Samachar’founded in 1925 was the firstmagazine in which language tocome out of Madras Presidency?

20. Which institute came up atKrishna Vilas at Vepery inDecember 1951?

(Answers on page 8)

on the world stage. That tourgave Vinayakram a feel of whatit means to play music to aglobal audience. It was onlyM.S. Subbulakshmi who fondlycalled him “Vikku,” but sincethe nickname was easy on thetongue for the Westem audi-ences and artists, it soonbecame his identity globally!

“My father’s advice thatmusic is divine, that it does nothave boundaries and is notlimited by styles and languages,resonated with me so much onthat trip. Just the experience ofperforming with MS Ammawas so transformational. Theghatam owes its gratitude to MSAmma for giving it a globalstature,” he says.

Vikku has been very faithfulto his father’s advice. He hasalways chosen music over any-thing else in life. In the mid-1970s, when he received an in-vitation from John Mclaughlinto perform with Shakti, he wason the verge of accepting a“permanent” job as an All IndiaRadio (AIR) artist. Choosingthe AIR job meant a steady in-come and job security. Goingwith Shakti meant short-termfinancial gains but infinite joy!Vikku chose joy. “I learnt thevalue of inner peace and joyfrom MS Amma and ‘Veena’ S.Balachander. Both of them toldme, like my father always did,‘Do only what gives you joy’. Isimply followed their advice.Today, when I look back, I amglad I did what I did. I wouldhave never been happy withanything but playing my music,my way,” he explains.

How has he managed to playin different cultures, with artistsbelonging to different genres,and to global audiences? Has heever felt intimidated because of

his very conservative back-ground? Even as I take a whileto phrase these questions,Vikku has his answer ready:“Music has no language. Zakir(Hussain) and I have a perfectharmony between us; when weare playing together we commu-nicate with our eyes. When Iplayed with Western artists likeMickey Hart or John McLaugh-lin, we never had any issues.They always respected myspace, my beliefs and my music.And I respected theirs. Musicunites; You don’t need anythingelse!”

Isn’t life as a musician,despite all the highs it offers,pretty unpredictable in a prac-tical sense? The income is notconsistent. And then there isage and the question of stayingrelevant in an ever-changingworld. How does Vikku dealwith these factors? His one-word answer is ‘faith’. He saysyou have to have faith that ahigher energy will take care ofyou. To Vikku, that higherenergy has always been theKanchi Maha Periyava. “Hisgrace is immense. It has guidedme thus far and I have implicitfaith that it will stay with meforever,” he says.

He shares an anecdote toamplify this point. Vikku wasrecently diagnosed with an eyecondition that required neuro-surgery that would necessitatethat he could not play theghatam for at least 18 months.Vikku says, “I just could notaccept the medical advice thatI must not play the ghatam. Iwent into my pooja room andprayed to Maha Periyava. I leftit to him. Then I went for myfinal, presurgery tests. And thetests came good! I would notneed a surgery the doctor toldme. Now, how do you explainthis? Everyone is searching for

God. I have seen God in humanform – and that is Maha Peri-yava.”

As we get ready to leave, headds this simple, yet so pro-found, perspective: “Nambikkai(faith) is the key to live happily.With faith comes nimmadi (in-ner peace). With inner peacecomes anandam (happiness). Ihave always had total nambik-kai. So even when worry arisesor sadness comes, I invoke myfaith. Desires ruin happiness.You can keep on desiring thisand that and achieving this andthat. As long as you are on thisvicious cycle you will always beunhappy. Take life as it comes,with whatever it brings! Dropyour desires and all you will beleft with is anandanam-brahma-nandam. Happiness – totalbliss!”

As we stepped on to thestreet to find transport to take

us home, I was for a long timelooking at my Uber App with-out filling in any details. I waslost in my reverie. I was think-ing, what kind of an evolvedman he must be who does notreally agonise that he cannotfind his Grammy Awardmemento! To me, Vikku livesthe philosophy of a desire-lessstate that he spoke about. Andthat is why he is so simple,grounded, happy and at peacewith himself. Undoubtedly, heis a rock star in his own right,but one who is obsessed onlywith his music, and never withthe trappings that rock-stardombrings along with it – theGrammy included. (Courtesy:Sruti).

This tribute is due to appearin the author’s book The Happi-ness Road. His earlier book wasFall Like a Rose Petal.

(Continued from page 5)

THE BEAT OF HAPPINESS

A February weekend washectic, with the faculty of

the Zoology Department atStella Maris College going allout to interest students inbirding, especially on campus.Interested students were takenaround the campus and at theend of four days, we had 88checklists that documented 27species.

Apart from the usual species,we once again documented the

Asian Brown Flycatcher as wellas the Blyth’s Reed Warbler thisyear. There were a couple ofbird calls that we were unableto identify. Could be Sykes’sReed Warbler, though we werenot too sure. The cute spottedowlet did not show itself exceptonce, much to the disappoint-ment of the students, but thebright male Golden Oriole was

greeted with many “Awesomes”and “Oohs.”

The black kite sitting boldlyon a coconut tree feeding on arodent in spite of mobbing bycrows, the shikra carrying twigsto build its nest, courtingshikras high up in the sky, theoccasional spot-billed pelicanand painted stork flying stronglyand purposefully overhead,

shouts of ‘give me the binocs’and ‘I think I saw ________’(any bird from the birding bookwhich is not even remotelypresent on campus) — all thismade the campus count amemorable one. Looks like wehave more than the usual num-ber of students ‘hooked’ on tobirding this year.

– Kalpana Jayaraman

400!) have made it to a list,after ten years. As to whichones these are has never beenmade public.

The State Government,indifferent as it is to most mat-ters requiring attention, canhardly be expected to pay anyattention to a subject like heri-tage, branded as it has been forlong as elitist. Given such a sce-nario, it is no wonder that pri-vate developers are makingmerry. Rumour has it that otherbuildings on the hit list includeLeith Castle and the Govern-ment Hobart School. If matterscontinue this way, there will bevery little to showcase of ourpast.

It is high time that the Gov-

ernment is pressurised to act onpreserving heritage. Such lob-bying has been at an all time lowever since the adverse judge-ment delivered in the matter ofthe P Orr & Sons annexe build-ing demolition. That needs tobe firmly put in the past and ac-tion has to be taken. For a start,INTACH needs to approachthe Courts and bring to theirnotice that their judgement of2006 on heritage buildings hasrapidly been reduced to nought.The Courts need to questionthe Government on what it isdoing to protect heritage. If a‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy can bysheer perseverance make achange in the NSC Bose Roadarea, cannot a heritage move-ment that claims to have manyfoot soldiers achieve more?

(Continued from page 1)

Heritage ground to dust

The black kite. The shikra.

March 16-31, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

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The eco-treepar excellence

� by

Dr. P.J. Sanjeeva Rajrajsanjeeva@gmail.com

An eco-tree is one thatoffers both ecological as

well as survival benefits to hu-mans. The Drumstick tree,popularly known today as theMoringa, has suddenly shot intoglobal fame, as a ‘miracle tree’.Moringa oleifera is a tropical andsub-tropical multipurpose tree,because every part of this treehas amazing ecological, nutri-tional, medicinal, economicand research values for humans.

Ecologically, the leaves ofMoringa purify air and water,and fertilise soil and crops.Moringa leaves, as ‘carbon-sinks’, incredibly absorb about20 times more atmosphericcarbon dioxide than most othertrees, contributing substantiallyto carbon sequestration, tosolve the great global threat of‘climate change’. Powder ordecoction of Moringa leaves orseeds, fresh or dried, clarify and

purify turbid and polluted wa-ter, sedimenting suspended par-ticles, absorbing dissolved ob-noxious salts and even killingbacteria. Moringa leaves, withan unusually high per cent ofproteins and nitrogen amongplants, and with rich content ofminerals, including NPK,fertilise degraded soils and

lands, and the leaf decoctionsprayed, fertilise witheringplants and crops, as a whole.However, considering the vol-ume of Moringa leaves used forfood and commerce in the trop-ics, developing vast Moringafarms may compensate.

Nutritionally, Moringa iscalled in the developing coun-tries as a ‘super food’ or even asan ‘elixir of life’. Moringa leaves,quite unusual from other leaves,contain nearly ten per cent oftheir wet weight, by proteins,made up unbelievably of 17 outof the 20 amino acids known. Inaddition, these leaves containvitamins, several times morethan in other vegetables, vita-mins like A, B-complex, C, Dand E. As in a ‘power house ofminerals’, nearly eight differentminerals, in large quantities areloaded into Moringa leaves andpods. The calorific value ofMoringa leaves is more than inits pods, and all these promotethe production of breast milk,so that it could solve the greatmalnutrition problem prevalentamong babies in poor develop-ing countries.

The white kernel of theMoringa seed contains 40 percent of its wet weight as an oil,called Ben oil, a naturalbiodiesel, used also as an ingre-dient in cosmetics. More inter-estingly the Moringa seeds are astore-house of energy, as in thefamous Arogya Pacha (Trichopuszeylanicus) of the Kani tribals inKerala, who go without food fortwo or three days in the forest,surviving by feeding merely onthe seeds of Arogya Pacha, nowpatented as “Jeevani”.

Medicinally, since ancienttimes, in the rural tropics, thepoor have been using Moringaas a cure for a wide variety ofhealth ailments, so Moringa hasbeen reckoned as a ‘medicinechest’ or as a ‘doctor at home’.The unique combination of awide variety of rich nutrients inMoringa is the chief reason forits capacity to heal diverse ail-ments. However, overdosage orignorant use of some Moringaparts cannot be encouraged.Also clinical research and con-firmation of Moringa therapeu-tics is a lacuna in our presententhusiasm for Moringa cures.

Economically, apart fromproviding such ambrosia-likefood and elixir-like medicines,Moringa can fetch a livelihoodincome for the poor, as well asprofitable exports for the rich.Sale and export of green orpowdered dried leaves, seedsand pods green or their pulpfrozen, seed oil, all in packageshave great export potentialtargeting markets in the tem-perate and affluent countries.

Research, in cultivatingMoringa and research on itsnutritional and medicinalvalues, is being pursued activelyall over the world. However,clinical research on its medici-

nal values needs to be pursuedmore.

Abandoned drylands, openspaces in residential areas andpublic compounds in the tropi-cal countries could be deployedfor Moringa farming whichwould provide not only all thesebenefits but also livelihoods forthe poor, through this ‘Tree ofthe Future’, as the world calls ittoday. In propagating Moringatrees, better than through

seeds, cuttings in situ (on thetree itself) rather than ex situ(on the ground) is preferable.The 70 to 80 insect pests onMoringa, including the hairycaterpillars, the most detestableones, are all controllable, today.

Trees are said to be theangels of God, providing allhuman needs on Earth. Moringacertainly is God’s special gift forthe poor of the developingcountries.

“Moringa inmy garden” –Dr. SanjeevaRaj.

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

upto March 9, 2018 – The Editor

Rs. 100: Dr. Chidambara Kumarasamy; C. Antony Samy

Rs. 150: A. Balasubramanian

Rs. 200: E.E. Sundaramurthy; N.V. Ravi

Rs. 1900: Zarin Cawas Mistry

Rs. 2850: N.S. Parthasarathy

MADRAS MUSINGS ON THE WEB

To reach out to as many readers as possible who

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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 16-31, 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.

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Answers to Quiz

1. WhatsApp; 2. AndreAgassi; 3. Shoaib Akhtar; 4. Amazon;5. Jaipur’s Gandhi Nagar; 6. Gymnastics; 7. ‘Baal Aadhaar Card’ inblue colour; 8. Irrawaddy dolphins; 9. Launched by the Indianrailways, it is for revamping 635 major railway stations; 10. Ven-ezuela.

* * *

11. Chennai, Hosur, Salem, Coimbatore and Tiruchirapalli; 12.69th; 13. Rt Hon. Lord John Elphinstone; 14. Vivekanandar Illam;15. Logo of IIT Madras; 16. Queen Victoria’s statue in the Madrasvarsity complex; 17. ‘Kula Kalvi Thittam’; 18. Alliance Françaiseof Madras; 19. Gujarati; 20. Ramanujan Institute.

RAYALA GROUP

Destined forgreater things

� by V. Ramnarayan

Washington Sundar.

� Not often in the past has Tamil

Nadu provided three or four

Test, ODI or T20 aspirants

knocking at the selectors’

doors at the same time. With R.

Ashwin and M. Vijay an essen-

tial part of the Test squad for

years now, the recent arrival of

Washington S. Sundar and Vijay

Shankar under the radar of the

national selectors has been a

happy and deserving develop-

ment in the State’s cricketing

fortunes, though it has

occurred amidst poor perfor-

mances by Tamil Nadu in the

50-over Vijay Hazare competi-

tion at the national level,

coming on top of a none-too

impressive showing in the Ranji

Trophy.

Sundar and Vijay Shankar(MM, February 16th) are

both all-rounders well suited tothe abridged versions of cricket,and both have the IPL’s talentspotters to thank to some

extent for their national recog-nition, besides their excellentrecord in the domestic first classscene as well as playing forIndia ‘A’.

James Velu, NapoleonEinstein, Xavier ThalaivanSargunam. Unusual names fig-ure in Tamil Nadu cricketthrough the decades. AddWashington Sundar to the list,and you have the most spec-

tacularly successful name of all.For the all rounder answering tothat name was recentlypitchforked from relative ob-scurity to international recogni-tion. True, the teenager fromChennai hit the headlines firstin the IPL, thanks to the recom-mendation of Tamil Naducoach Hrishikesh Kanitkar who

saw potential in his Tamil NaduT20 ward. This was in 2017, butWashington had representedIndia U-19 in the 2016 WorldCup. Primarily a left-handedbatsman then, he has sinceblossomed as an off-spinningall-rounder who impressed skip-per Steve Smith at the RisingSupergiants, Pune.

The young all-rounder madehis Ranji Trophy debut last year

at Lahli, Himachal Pradesh. Hebowled well, but did not get toomany runs in his first season. Hewas not included in the TamilNadu team for the SyedMushtaq Ali T20 tournament,but was later picked for theVijay Hazare and DeodharTrophy (for South Zone)matches.

By now we all knowWashington’s father M. Sundarwas a competent cricketer ofthe TNCA league who namedhis son after an older friend whohad been a mentor and virtualgodfather to the boy. Like R.Ashwin, whom he replaced inthe Pune XI when he was ruledunfit for the season, youngWashington started out as abatsman but has proved to be amore than useful off spinner aswell, with his lovely high arm

action, remarkable accuracyand admirable temperament.For Pune, he bowled impres-sively when the skipper SteveSmith decided to allow him. Heshowed rare composure bowlingin the powerplay overs, infact opening the bowling,and helping his team enter thefinal.

Washington owes hisprogress as a bowler to a fewcoaches at the State and locallevels. Playing for MRF GlobeTrotters in the TNCA league,he has been mentored by M.Senthilnathan, the chief coachat the MRF Pace Foundation.Former India off- spinner MVenkataramana, Tamil Nadu’sspin bowling coach, has been amajor influence on Washing-ton’s bowling. His disciplineand accuracy have made him areliable bowler in domestic one-day and T20 action as well asthe IPL. In the seond edition of

the TNPL, he scored the fastestfifty, to be named the ‘Player ofthe tournament’.

He is as good in red ballcricket as he is in the white ballversions. On his Duleep Trophydebut, he took 11 wickets in thematch besides scoring a fifty.His best first class performancehas been his 159 againstTripura in last season’s RanjiTrophy tournament. He alsobowled consistently well forTamil Nadu.

The only glitch in Washing-ton Sundar’s career so far washis failure to clear the so-calledyo-yo test before the T20 seriesagainst the visiting Australians.He later passed the testand made it to the India T20squad.

A neat, unfussy cricketerwith steely determination,Washington Sundar seemsdestined for greater things.