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Vol. XXVIII No. 12 October 1-15, 2018

WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

INSIDE

Short ‘N’ Snappy India’s recorder� �Education’s sorry state� A legendary residence� Queen Marians’ haunts�

(Continued on page 2)

When will weagain seea City Council?

quality of life?When the area was expanded

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

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

Green Warriors

and the

Plastic Monster

� by The Editor

(Continued on page 6)

Ripon Building, home of the Corporation of Madras: When will it see an elected Councilagain?

The mountains of waste challenging the ragpickers.

not many in the city have reallynoticed. The State Govern-ment too is pretty much relaxedover the delay. The Oppositionis the one that is crying foul.

Strangely enough, two yearsago, when the elections fell due,it was the Opposition that didnot want then. This despite thelocal administrations under thepresent party in power not hav-ing performed much and there-fore standing very little chanceof a re-election. The Opposi-tion took the matter to court,querying the hurriedannouncement of dates, irregu-larities and law and orderproblems. The Courts hadobligingly stayed the elections.

Since then, it is the StateGovernment that has hummedand hawed. It has cited adelimitation exercise, to be inplace following the 2011 Cen-sus, as the principal stumblingblock. It is however not clear asto what has really held up thisexercise for over seven yearsnow. In September 2017, theCourt had ordered that theelections had to be completedby November that year. Therewas no action and when sum-moned and asked to explainwhat amounted to contempt ofcourt, the Election Commis-sioner of the State was quick toapologise. He also cited certainchanges in the Tamil NaduPanchayat Act that placed legalhurdles in the conduct of theelections.

The High Court is getting more and more impatient. And who can blame thataugust body for losing its cool? There are no signs of any elections to civic bodiesin the entire State, leave alone the Corporation of Chennai. Come October, we willhave completed two years of civic administration sans an elected body. It appears that

It needed World EnvironmentDay to awaken us to the dan-gers of accumulating plastics inour surroundings. Discardedplastic clogs our waterways andstormwater drains, artificiallyflooding our neighbourhoods.Landfills are rising higher andhigher with dumped plasticposing a serious health hazard.Recently, in Patna vetsremoved 80 kg of plastic fromthe stomach of an infected cow.Annually, around the world,nearly 13 million tons of plasticwaste is dumped into the seasaffecting marine life and endan-gering marine species.

The problem about plastic isthat, on the one hand, it cannotbe totally avoided as it is indis-pensable for our good living,permeating every part of ourlives and our needs. Theproblem on the other hand isthat it does not decompose eas-ily, and its waste keeps accumu-

lating around us. Therefore, notbeing able to avoid it altogether,we can only avoid its use wher-ever possible, and where it isstill used, reduce its rate ofaccumulation by recycling. Allthis does pose a challenge as towhere to begin and who shoulddo what to tame this ever-enlarging monster.

The Plastic Waste Manage-ment Rules 2016 stipulate theprocedure and discipline forproducing, using, recycling and

disposal of plastic products.There is little to quarrel overthese provisions which haveremained on paper as a goodpiece of bureaucratic crafts-manship. The last report of theCentral Pollution ControlBoard, India, is for 2015-16, thevery year of the Plastic WasteManagement Rules and is of

to be evolved by local bodies forcollection, segregation and dis-posal of plastic waste. The apa-thy of the system – and, of thecitizens – in orchestrated har-mony in dealing with such a se-rious threat to environment isdisturbing.

That nearly 50 per cent ofplastic usage is for single use ordisposable products – plasticbags, plates, throw-awaycutlery, bottles – does give asizeable opening for reducingusage itself. Carrying one’s owncotton or jute bag/s to receivegrocery and vegetables couldsubstantially reduce usage.Nothing stops our doing it hereand from now – except the willto do it. The collective impact,if all “mothers” in every house-hold impart a force to thismovement, would be visibleand the change dramatic. Wewill have achieved much totackle the plastic menace. Weshould not wait for a law, underfear of penalty or punishment,to tell us do this.

� by A Special

Correspondent

little value to assess the impactof the Rules. No report is trace-able in their website for 2016-17. It is too early for the 2017-18 report. That much for theseriousness of enforcement ofthe PWM Rules by the promul-gating body itself. There is nosign of the provisions of theseRules having been takenseriously by state governmentsand the local bodies underthem. Most important amongthe requirements under PWMRules is of an organised system

2 MADRAS MUSINGS October 1-15, 2018

(Continued from page 1)

Green Warriors,Plastic Monster

The problem of unavoidableuse of plastic, calls for moreeffort. We buy medicines,beverages, toiletries that comein plastic containers. Whenthrowing waste away, we couldtake a little trouble to segregatethem to make the collector’s jobeasier. Collection of used plas-tic for recycling is a logisticnightmare. The makers of prod-ucts with recycled plastic aresupported by, and dependentupon, a large network of rag-pickers at the base of the pyra-mid with retail and wholesalecollectors above them who, inturn, provide the raw materialto the recyclers for turningthem into granules. These arebought by manufacturers tomake plastic products.

The ragpickers’ job is indeeda tough one having to scavengeamong garbage to separate theplastic waste day after day. Theleast we can do is to lightentheir task by segregating ourwaste diligently every day. Thismakes the basic collectionefficient and enables the ulti-mate completion of the cycle –waste, collection, recycled gran-ules to plastic product withrecycled material saving onecycle equivalent of plastic accu-mulation. Recycling cannot bedone endlessly for technicalreasons, but one recycling of100 per cent of the waste itselfcould halve the accumulationrate, provided 100 per cent ofthe waste is successfullycollected. It is estimated thatcurrently collection effective-ness is only 40 per cent. Takingit toward the 100 per cent markis in our hands by segregating atsource and presenting it in amanner that makes theragpicker’s job a little easier anda little less unpleasant.

Segregation and collectionactivities are inherently difficultfor enforcement as these aremostly individualised activitiesspread over tens of thousands ofhouseholds and establishments,day after day. There is no an-swer other than a strong civicsense driving every one of us totake a little trouble to segregateat source and making it easy forcollection.

Rightly have the ragpickersbeen hailed as “green warriors”.Their activity operates synergis-

tically with civic bodies incharge of collection of garbageand waste for disposal. It is esti-mated that there are about60,000 ragpickers in Chennaiwho generate 400 tonnes ofplastic waste a day. Theragpickers keep the recyclingunits working. If collectioneffectiveness is raised from 40per cent to 80 per cent therecycling units can double theirproduction, make more profit,give more employment andkeep the environment plastic-free. The ragpickers have atough job over 12 hours or so toearn Rs. 8-10,000 a month.They are the unsung heroes ofthis environment saga.

There are 8,000 registeredand 10,000 unregistered plasticunits in Tamil Nadu. Unimagi-native imposition of 18 per centGST on scrap had reduced thedemand for recycled granules asit narrowed down the cost dif-ferential with virgin raw mate-rial. On representation, thegovernment reduced GST onscrap to 5 per cent but,strangely, retained GST ongranules at the same 15 percent. It is offering more food tothe still strangled person. Theone-sided reduction of tax hasnot remedied the situation asgranule demand for recyclingcontinues to be adverselyaffected. We can expect accu-mulation of garbage and loss oflivelihood for ragpickers whohave been contributing to clear-ing waste. The Tamil Nadugovernment should have takenthis up at the last GST Councilmeeting. This small sector playsa central role in creating aplastic free environment. Leavealone subsidy and tax exemp-tions, it is self-defeating to pun-ish them with an incongruenttax rate.

Admittedly, larger issues ofreplacing plastic components,wherever possible, by thosemade of alternative bio-degrad-able and replaceable materialare even more relevant intaming the plastic monster.Meanwhile, desisting fromplastic containers in everydaypurchases and facilitating thecollection and recycling ofplastic waste lie within reachand can produce speedy visibleimpact. Households with a civicsense and ragpicking greenwarriors can strike the firstassault.

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

The Man from MadrasMusings has been aroundfor quite some time in this cityof ours. He therefore is ideallyplaced to give advice on whereto go and, more importantly,what to see, particularly ifthose spots are of the historickind. This appears to be theunderstanding of many NonResident Indians at least, andcome September, MMM’smailbox gets fairly filled upwith queries from those upnorth and also several othersfrom faraway lands. They planto visit Chennai, they say intheir emails, particularly inDecember (when the weatheris better they invariably write,even if they are from the Afri-can Sahara), and would it bepossible to meet up withMMM, and, even better, couldMMM take them around? Yes,MMM is now one of the sights.To these queries MMM gives apatient and considered reply.Then comes the most impor-tant question, at least to theseNRIs. Does MMM charge fortaking people around? Whenthey receive an answer in theaffirmative, most vanish intothe night, leaving the fieldopen to others.

MMM happened to men-tion this in passing and therewas a sudden awakening in hisaudience. The bus nearly cap-sized when all the ladiescrowded on one side of thevehicle, to get a clear look fromthe windows. MMM asked oneof them as to what they hopedto see. After all, the leader wasnot put on display, at least notas yet. To this he was told thatyou never know – you could getan accidental view as the leaderwas being ferried betweenwards (MMM did not have theheart to tell them that atleader’s level, there is no ques-tion of being ferried betweenwards, it is the ward that isbrought to the leader’s bed,) oryou could see VIPs arriving ordeparting, or better still, theexact moment the bus passedthe hospital could coincidewith the release of a healthbulletin… The possibilitieswere endless.

Faced with such macabretastes, MMM opted to keep si-lent. After all, his throatneeded a break. The discus-sions thereafter steered awayfrom heritage and focusedsolely on leaders in sicknessand speculating on when

Taking people around MadrasThe train then moved and,

suddenly, a few minutes later,the cabin was flooded withlight. MMM’s co-passengersaid that this often happensand proceeded to deliver whatappeared to be a very learnedlecture on strange behavioursamong light bulbs he hadknown. He was waxing parti-cularly eloquently on an er-ratic tube-light he had beenfond of, when the cabin wasflooded in darkness again.MMM’s co-passenger wasrather discomfited at this andwhile he gathered his bearings,MMM went off in search ofthe attendant.

The man feigned surprisethat the matter had not beenattended to already but, to dohim credit, he came at once,armed with screwdriver and aspare set of bulbs. He pro-ceeded to swing his impressivebulk on to an upper berth andonce there began a series ofcomplicated manoeuvres intowhich all passengers weredrafted. MMM was the manwho had to periodically pressthe switch to see if whatever itwas that the attendant haddone, had borne fruit. MMMdid his best though he did get

D-Day would be. MMM waslater thanked profusely formaking the tour soooooo inter-esting.

Train travails

The Man from MadrasMusings boarded the trainat Egmore station, reflecting onhow dirty this once pristine ter-minal had become over theyears. Nothing had howeverprepared him for the filth in thecompartment that he got into.Mind you, it was an upper classcoach and MMM had paidquite a bit for the ticket. Theseare days, as you know, whenflight tickets, if booked inadvance, are actually cheaperthan train tickets. It is justMMM was sorely tempted toenjoy a leisurely train journey.He had a good book with himand looked forward to readingit, falling asleep and waking upin time the next morning to getoff at his destination.

But the dirt was somethingelse. The window pane had notbeen cleaned in years evidentlyand, peering through it, MMMcould make out a very brownEgmore station in which peopleappeared to be waking about atmidnight, even though it wasonly early evening. The cabinthat MMM sat in was steepedin darkness and no pressing ofany switch got the light towork. MMM complained tothe attendant who said theelectrician would look into it.When? Shortly. Would thatmean after the train had left orbefore? He could not say.

confused as to when to switch‘on’ and when ‘off’ and didswitch on when the attendantsaid off. The net result wasthat the attendant sprang tothe ceiling with all his hairstanding on end like quills ona fretful porpentine. Orderwas restored when MMMswitched off the light. There-after, this task was entrustedto another attendant who co-ordinated perfectly with thefirst man.

The light bulb was partiallyfixed – to the extent that itworked like a disco strobelight – flickering on and off atrapid intervals. Some sug-gested an online complaintand this was done. A reply wasreceived stating that the mat-ter would soon be attended to.Die-hard fans of the railwayscheered. There was talk ofhow the railways in India ca-tered to a vast multitude andthe number of passengers atEgmore station in a day equalsthe rail-using population ofEngland in a year or some suchdubious statistic that routinelykeeps popping up on socialmedia. Under the circum-stances, ought we to troublerailway officers over a merebulb? MMM’s fellow passen-ger embarked on a lectureabout how nobility and com-mitment to action was a strongtrait in Indian Railways. But ofaction there was no sign. Bythen it was time to go to bedand so the lights had to beswitched off anyway. And sothat was that. Who said trainjourneys are boring?

–MMM

SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY

Not all prove so miserly;some have offered gifts inkind. But there are only somany coffee mugs and pensthat MMM can use. He alsocannot be swayed by choco-lates from abroad and so hefirmly refuses any alternativeto cash. It is, therefore, onlythe very determined who getto see the city with MMM.You may assume that it is allsweetness and light thereafter.But that is where you makeyour bloomer. Retaining theattention span of the visitors isa great challenge. And in this,the general filth and squalor isa great competitor to MMM’scommentary. There he will be,declaiming in rolling periodsabout a certain building, andthere the visitor will be, his/her attention completely di-verted by a pig chasing away adog, or two people bathing inthe open, or a pile of rottingflowers and fruits from anearby roadside shrine.

There can be other clai-mants to attention as well.MMM recalls a particular tourwhen he was taking a group ofladies across the city in a luxurybus. MMM waxed eloquent onthe beach, the Fort andMylapore but nothing really in-terested the participants. Theykept gazing out of the windowand MMM may not have evenbeen there for all they cared.Matters continued this way tillthe bus happened to pass by afairly well-known hospital andwhere at that precise moment,there reposed, in an advancedstate of illness, one of ourbeloved leaders.

October 1-15, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

Needed morecurators of walksMy weekends in August are super busy. The mornings arefor Madras Day walks.

One evening, I went on my sixth – guiding a group ofarchitecture students around Fort St. George.

Fellow-traveller Hemchandra Rao, a historian and philatelistdid not shy away when I suggested two tours – one of the OldBridges of the city and one on his favourite subject of study,Buckingham Canal.

The first Canal tour had a big response and so we repeated it.That Sunday was pleasant and we decided to retire to SaravanaBhavan on Mount Road for a slow breakfast after the tour.

Rao is a busy bee and we are already working out the detailsof the Buckingham Canal tour of the Palaverkkadu region(Pulicat) – which allows you to appreciate the linkages betweenthis Canal and rivers that flow eastwards, the unique eco-sys-tem of the Pulicat lake and the Canal’s life on the boundary ofthe neighbouring state.

The Madras Day celebration has attracted more people withdomain knowledge in subjects of their interest to curate andlead Walks.

But I would like to see more people curate Walks.This is a city of many parts and people and histories. And we

must present every shade and colour to people who wish to learnor are just curious.

I have a long list of ideas.The railway houses in Perambur, the churches of Broadway

and of Vepery, the cantonment zone of St. Thomas Mount, theBasin Bridge Creek, the Christian legacy of Little Mount, theAnglo-Indian heritage of Pallavaram, the old town of Muthialpetand the food joints of Mannady.

This list gives you an idea of the rainbow themes that Walkscan cover.

And this pursuit must not be left to a few.Schools and college teachers, foodies and roadies, scholars

and research students, even senior residents ...all of them arecapable of leading Walks in our City. They will bring diversityto this pursuit. And help people enlarge their knowledge of thiscity.

During one Madras Day event, I bumped into this man whohad lived in China Bazaar in the 1960s and 70s. A few promptsand he rewound to his days in that busy neighbourhood. And tothe streets which offered smuggled goods – soaps and shampoos,handbags and dark glasses, scents and lipsticks, sarees andterylene shirts. This was the era when we hardly had any ofthese fancy lifestyle products. And we desired them when wecould afford them.

I have convinced this person to help curate a Walk of the‘smuggled goods sale’ streets. To understand a life of the nearpast. That era may not be relevant now. But we should be awareof it.

And this is what Walks can do.– Vincent D’Souza

POINTS OF VIEW

Whithereducationin India?● Are the thousands of schools,

colleges, and universities in

India equipped to cultivate

competence, abilities, and

capacities to meet new and

emerging opportunities and

challenges? The answer is ‘No”.

So what is wrong, and what is

the remedy?

Yesterday’s educational system will not meet today’s,even less so, the needs of tomor-row,” said Professor DaulatSingh Kothari, Chairman of the1964 Education Commission,presenting his report to theUnion Government over half acentury ago. Kothari’s wordssound prophetic today.

There is no doubt that India’spresent education systemdoesn’t compare favourablywith global standards, and ismuch less than satisfactory evenfor domestic needs. The growingarmies of unemployed graduatesand mounting ranks of joblesspostgraduates in subjects likeHistory, Sanskrit, Arabic, Hindi,Urdu, Political Science or anyother Social Science discipline,and the overflowing registers ofemployment exchanges acrossthe country, stand witness to thisfact.

It stands to reason that ifthese degrees don’t make stu-dents eligible for decent jobs,the system needs to be thor-oughly refurbished and remod-elled. Our schools, colleges, anduniversities are producingyoung men and women who areless than prepared for employ-ment, because of both their lessrelevant, mediocre academiccredentials and the poor stan-dard of training. They are farfrom equipped to immediatelyjoin the ranks of aptly qualifiedand adequately trainedworkforces sorely needed totake over the new openings thatIndia’s fast-growing economy isthrowing up.

So, what’s wrong with oureducational system, and whyare these youngsters foundwanting in the eyes of employ-ers? The reason is that theyhave gone through outdatedand obsolete syllabuses andhave not been taught the skillsrequired in today’s job open-ings. Also, most of thepedagogic infrastructure andsupporting paraphernalia – labsand laboraries, industrial work-shops, tools, techniques, anddevices – are either not work-ing or fall way short of interna-tional standards.

� byProf. M.R. Dua

(Former head of the

Journalism Dept. at the

Indian Institute of Mass

Communication,

New Delhi)

India’s educational system isa complex and labyrinthineventure – with more than 15lakh schools, over 35,500 col-leges and 700 degree-grantinginstitutions dotted over thecountry delivering knowledgein diverse disciplines to morethan 20 million students andcounting. Access to educationhas markedly climbed, particu-larly after the Right to Educa-tion Act came into effect. Con-sequently, the literacy rate isalso jumping and is nearly 66per cent overall.

In the days of yore, instruc-tions in essential axioms ofmorality, ethics and philosophy,civilisation, ancient heritageand culture were imparted in

classrooms. No more. The 21stCentury is the age ofSTEM – Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics.If teachers and trainers don’tfully prepare youngsters in theniché areas of STEM, the youthwill only swell the ranks of theunemployable and unemployed.

Are our thousands ofschools, colleges and universi-ties equipped to cultivate com-petence, abilities and capacitiesto meet new and emerging op-portunities and challenges?

No, the reality is that nearly60 per cent of the students whopass out from government andprivate institutions are hardlyaware of the latest research,developments and innovations.This is also true of alumni of pri-vate and deemed universities.Of course, alumni of IITs andIIMs do stand out and make amark at global levels, but theneed of the hour is for mostschools, colleges and universi-ties to rise to the occasion andturn out personnel ready to takeresponsibilities.

A recent survey by the IndianExpress revealed the horren-dously low standards at engi-neering colleges in Haryana,Andhra, Karnataka, etc. Theacademic levels are low becausestudent with poor grades areadmitted for hefty monetaryconsiderations; nearly 300 engi-

neering colleges have been or-dered to shut shop, and some500 others are under the HRDministry’s scanner for inferiorstandards. The SubramanianCommittee, the latest to studythe matter, also expressed deep-seated dissatisfaction with theteaching and learning levels ofstudents at the school, college,and university levels.

An eminent educational ad-ministrator, N. Sundararajan,feels that by 2030, the existingchallenges for Indian education– access, equity, and quality –will only be greatly exacerbatedunless we significantly trans-form our education model.“The global economy is under-going structural transformation;there will be need for aworkforce of 3.3 billion by 2020,increasingly in the services andcapital-intensive manufactur-ing sectors… and 90 per cent ofGDP and 75 per cent of employ-ment will be in these sectors,”he feels.

Therefore, flawed, substan-dard academic streams whichdo not match current needsshould be immediatelydiscarded or reformed, borrow-ing ideas from the Universitiesof Berkeley, Stamford, London,Harvard, Ottawa, etc. Multiplenational and international edu-cational testing and assessmentagencies have often pinpointedthe flaws in India’s overalleducational model which arecrying out for instant attention.

It is necessary to urgentlyhalt sanctioning of new collegesand universities. It is a disgracethat many deemed universitiesfunction from small premiseswith poorly qualified faculty,openly ‘selling’ M.Sc., M.A. andPh.D. degrees. It is imperativefor the powers that be to chalkout an elaborate, vibrant andmulti-faceted education modelto guide India’s youth to meetthe demands of the millennium.It is also imperative to boostnational investments at alllevels of educational reform.The Union Budget should makeat least a six per cent provisionfor this annually. For, unlessnew institutions, including IITs,IIMs, and other institutions ofexcellence are generouslyfunded to sponsor and conductquality research projects, thegaping holes in higher educa-tion and research will stay put.

Meanwhile, strict financialaudit is essential to check fraud

in universities’ spending, suchas the incidents reported fromthe Aligarh Muslim University,Allahabad, and universities inPuducherry, Garhwal, etc.Similarly, academic vigil shouldensure that undeserving facultyare not promoted. Such stepswill go a long way in encourag-ing and rewarding genuine andoriginal research and innova-tion.

Promotions under the MPS(merit promotion scheme)should not be automatic; excel-lence should be the decidingcriterion; merit needs to berespected and awarded, whilestagnation and a niggardlyattitude to scholarship shouldbe dealt with sternly. Introduc-ing innovative schemes shouldbe encouraged. Moreover, astechnology plays a dominantrole in all branches of knowl-edge and education, it shouldbe actively yoked to academicand research pursuits.

It has been widely proventhat if scientists are left alone,they can be more creative, in-novative, and dedicated to the

pursuit of individual and jointresearch. It’s largely due to suchfreedom that professors in manywestern nations are able to winprestigious international awardsand honours like the NobelPrize almost every year.

The good news is that UGCmay soon be “freeing top-rank-ing institutions from itscontrol… and provide [them]greater autonomy” with someconditions, for starting newcourses, new departments, andschools.

Another plan is to grantautonomous status to well-es-tablished colleges of repute tomanage their research and aca-demic courses, admissionprocesses, etc.

In brief, a dynamic nationlike India should be at the fore-front in innovative, out-of-the-box methods of teaching andknowledge streams. Diversity,variety and polymorphismshould be hallmarks of a suc-cessful educational system inthe New India that we seek andstrive to build. (Courtesy:Vidura)

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

LOST LANDMARKS OF CHENNAI

– SRIRAM V

Queen Marians’ hauntsin the 1930s & 1940s

He nurturedThe Hindu’sgrowth

... AND MORE LOST LANDMARKS

to establish practice inCoimbatore than in Madras. Hehowever established himself as aleading lawyer within a shortspan of time in the city whichwas then slowly starting to gainimportance.

Kasturiranga Iyengar re-turned to Madras in 1894 after asuccessful decade in Coimba-tore. Apart from achieving legalsuccess, he had also held severalpublic positions, having beenelected to the Coimbatore Mu-nicipal Council and theCoimbatore District Board andalso being appointed HonoraryMagistrate. Even during hisapprenticeship, KasturirangaIyengar had displayed a keensense of public-spiritedness. Hewas one of the founders of theMadras Mahajana Sabha in1884, a nationalist body whichwould serve as a platform for In-dians to air their grievances andcome together to voice theirviews on matters of social reform.

From India’s Digital Archives– Karthik Bhatt

� The Digital Library of India

(DLI) project, an initiative of the

Central Government, aims at

digitising significant artistic,

literary and scientific works and

making them available over the

Internet for education and re-

search. Begun in 2000 by the

Office of the Principal Scientific

Advisor to the Government of

India and later taken over by the

Ministry of Electronics and In-

formation Technology, it has to

date scanned nearly 5.5 lakh

books, predominantly in Indian

languages.

The Hindu turned 140 on Sep-tember 20th. Its journey from aneight-page weekly in the 1880sto its current avatar has been aremarkable one with severalfirsts to its credit. That it hasmanaged to achieve tremendoussuccess despite many odds isthanks in no small measure to thespirit of the founders and the sev-eral men who have been at itshelm over the course of its jour-ney. The book featured in thisissue is a biography of one suchperson, Kasturiranga Iyengar.

Born in 1859, KasturirangaIyengar had his early educationin Kumbakonam, before com-pleting his law degree atPresidency College in 1884. Oncompletion of his apprenticeshipunder the legendary Sir V.Bashyam Iyengar, KasturirangaIyengar rather intriguingly chose

It was a successor of sorts to theMadras Native Association, abody that had been founded byGazulu Lakshminarasu Chettyin 1852 and which had becomeinactive following his death in1868.

The Hindu had been foundedin 1878 by six young men, G.Subramania Iyer, M. Veera-raghavachariar, N. Subba RauPantulu, T.T. Rangachariar,P.V. Rangachariar and D.Kesava Rao Pant, all of whomwere members of the TriplicaneLiterary Society. It was started asa journal which would serve as aforum to represent Indian opin-ion, the lack of which was sorelyfelt when the British-ownednewspapers criticised the ap-pointment of Sir T. Muthu-swamy Iyer as Judge of the Ma-dras High Court. With theiravowed purposes being similar,the Mahajana Sabha and TheHindu began a close association,with the Sabha for sometime

even functioning out of the of-fices of the newspaper. It was butinevitable that KasturirangaIyengar too would become asso-ciated with the newspaper. Soonafter his return from Coimbatore,he was appointed its Legal Advi-sor in 1895. His association wasnot confined to his legal capac-ity, for he was an active contribu-tor to its columns on legal, politi-cal and social matters.

While the newspaper startedto make its presence felt by be-ing vocal on several issues of na-tional interest, it was far fromsmooth sailing on its financialfront. With little advertisementrevenue to fall back on and asmall circulation (with a goodnumber of subscribers in arrears),it was largely dependent on themunificence of a few patronswho sympathised with its cause.The death of one such patron,Maharaja of Vizianagaram in1897 threw the paper into deeperdifficulties. Adding to its

troubles was the fact that G.Subramania Iyer (who was oneof two remaining from thefounding group) decided towithdraw from the newspaper,leaving M. Veeraraghavachariarin sole charge. A failed attemptin 1901 at reconstituting the pa-per as a joint stock company(due to poor public response tothe share issue) only made thingsworse.

It was in these circumstancesthat Kasturiranga Iyengar de-cided to purchase the newspa-per. It was not a decision thathad ready approval of his friendsand relatives. Undeterred andplacing supreme confidence inthe growing popularity of the pa-per amidst the public, he alongwith Sir C. Sankaran Nair andT. Rangachari bought the paperfor Rs. 75,000 in 1905. Thus be-gan a two-decade associationwith the paper, one that wouldend only with his death in 1923.

Kasturiranga Iyengar facedseveral challenges within a shortspan of taking over. He lost theservices of C. KarunakaraMenon, who had been with thepaper since the 1880s and hadserved as its Editor since 1898. M.Veeraraghavachariar, who wasserving as its manager and prin-cipal administrator too left dueto illness. Undeterred by thechallenges, KasturirangaIyengar brought in his nephew,A. Rangaswami Iyengar, whowas a lawyer in Tanjore, asAssistant Editor and manager ofthe paper and undertook several

(Continued on page 6)

� Excerpts from ‘One Woman’s India’

by Anna Varki

When I was in the QueenMary’s College hostel, ourmode of transport was the man-pulled rickshaw or the tram. Ourfavourite haunts were RoundTana, which has now changedso much, and, of course, MooreMarket, which is no more. It wasfor us a mall for all seasons!

Our trips to the Round Tanafrom QMC were by tram. Thetrams started from Ice House (orWidows’ Home)

, now called

Vivekananda House. The con-ductor rang a bell to denote astop or a start. The tram droppedus at Round Tana andproceeded down Mount Road toSaidapet. We invariably alightedat Round Tana to see a movie atthe Elphinstone. Now that land-mark too has disappeared, alongwith Swadeshi Emporium and

Chellaram’s, which was the bestplace to buy sarees.

The matinee show atElphinstone Cinema started at 3p.m. and got over by 5.30 p.m.which would get us to the hostelby 6 p.m. The late show went ontill 9 p.m.; this meant we had tohave a senior student, called‘chaperone’, accompanying us,

where Rabindranath Tagore hadstaged his play Chitrangada. Itwas Tagore’s practice to accom-pany his theatre unit wherever ittravelled. Dressed in flowingrobes, he would sit in a corner ofthe stage and read aloud the playin a rich melodious voice as theaction unfolded. But the onlyproblem was that he read in

and a permission slip signed by amember of the staff on duty. Weenjoyed masala dosa, badamhalwa and other goodies at theUdupi restaurant across theroad.

In those days, ElphinstoneTheatre was famous. It was

Bengali. When those of us whohad planned to go for the playheard that it was going to be inBengali, we hesitated, wonder-ing whether to go or not. Father,on learning of our hesitation,encouraged us to go. He saidthat we would understand and

follow. So we went. I must say itwas a rich experience.

Much later, Pandit RaviShankar came to the Elphin-stone with his orchestra, whichused the jalatarangam. This wasa set of water-filled porcelainbowls, which were arranged in ahalf-circle, which were struck bybamboo sticks to sound the notesof music, such as sa re ga ma pada ni sa. Uday Shankar was thefirst to come up with and stage acontemporary Indian ballet. He,his wife Amala and their troupestaged a dance-drama at theElphinstone.

Next to the theatre was anice-cream parlour called theElphinstone Soda Fountain, nowreplaced by Vasantha, a vege-tarian restaurant. The taste ofthe peach melba ice cream theyserved is still fresh in my mouth.P Orr and Sons is still there.Khadi Bhandar, which had thepride of place in our hearts dur-ing the freedom struggle, was asmall shop then; now it is a show-room selling only handspun andhandwoven cloths. The presentBata showroom housed thefamous Italian restaurantBosotto, well-known for its past-ries. The other famous land-mark, which has shifted fromMount Road, is the G.K. ValeStudio.

The word ‘hanagraph’ mustsound strange to man today. Itwas a cubbyhole-sized photo stu-dio that took eight photographsfor the cost of a rupee. Thesephotos were slightly bigger thantoday’s passport size photographs.Inside the studio was a table onwhich you could rest your hands.You could pose with a book or abouquet of flowers, usually dryflowers kept handy by the owner,or pose with a friend. All theselittle stores were clusteredaround Round Tana, where astatue of Annadurai standstoday.

Our favourite shopping cen-tre was Moore Market, next toCentral Station, where youcould get anything under thesun! There were small eating-places where puffs, pakodas,samosas and cold drinks couldbe enjoyed. One of the shops hada sign, ‘Ready to serve hot pups’,

meaning warm baked stuffedpastries. Perfumes in tiny bottleswere also available, the hotfavourite being ‘Evening in Paris’– a tiny dark blue bottle pricedat one rupee and four annas. Itwas a great place for Christmaspurchases and second-handbooks. Shopping at Spencer’s atthat time was not consideredaffordable.

In those days, refrigeration orany kind of cold storage was adream! Behind Moore Market;there were shops from where youcould buy live turkey, goose, andchicken. You could choose thebird and get it prepared for cook-ing at home for special occasions.

Another landmark, whichhas disappeared, is ‘My Ladye’sGarden’ with a pond alongside,and the Zoo. The Zoo was afavourite picnic spot. We couldgo boating and enjoy elephantrides!

Those were also the dayswhen the Cooum River wasclean and students fromWomen’s Christian Collegecould cross over to Spur TankRoad without sullying them-selves and give their blouses tobe stitched at their favouritetailor – Jyothi’s. Incidentally, theshop is still there, run by thegrandchildren! For QueenMarians, their favourite tailorwas the humble smiling Naidu,who stitched blouses to perfec-tion from puffed sleeves to leg-of-mutton ones. Started as a one-man outfit in one room, NaiduHall is, at present, a flourishingbusiness of readymade garmentsrun by his grandchildren, whilestill maintaining the quality thatwas Naidu’s hallmark!

Apart from the Marina Beachand good old Moore Market,there was the Egmore RailwayRefreshment Room. It’s a placeof which I have fond memoriessince we could always have atreat there.

The refreshment room usedto be a favourite haunt of myfather and his journalist buddies.People like the Raja of Pitha-puram, the Raja of Kollengode,and others waited in the refresh-ment room for trains for their

(Continued on page 7)

Luz Church 2nd Street, that was once Amjad Baugh.

In the early 1900s, a Mylaporevakil’s success was estimatedbased on his address. The begin-ners and those who were foreverfated to remain in the bottom-rungs of law resided atChitrakulam. Greater prosperitymeant moving into Nadu Street.A fairly large practice saw themtaking up residence at Pelathopeand North/South/East MadaStreets. The truly big ones madeit to Luz Church Road and be-yond. Among those who be-longed to the last category wasSriman Srinivasa Iyengar. Theson-in-law of Sir V. BhashyamIyengar, he had begun life in lawunder the latter and laterapprenticed himself under V.Krishnaswami Iyer. He becameone of the giants of the MadrasBar by 1908 or so. The residencein North Mada Street not prov-ing to be sufficient, the searchbegan in right earnest for a housethat would reflect his status.

Srinivasa Iyengar zeroed in onAmjad Baugh on Luz ChurchRoad by 1910. Its previous own-ership is not recorded and it hasbeen guessed from the namethat the property probably be-longed to Muslim nobility.Ambujammal, well-knownpatriot and daughter of SrinivasaIyengar, recalls in her memoirs,Naan Kanda Bharatam, the dayher father took his family to seethe house. There were any num-ber of trees all around the vastcompound, which, according tolegend, spread over 150 grounds(eight acres and a bit more). Thehouse had a colonnaded veran-dah running all around it and therooms inside, though few innumber were truly enormous.She also recalled that the prop-erty had no compound wall. Aline of tamarind trees markedthe boundary, with the spacebetween them was filled in bylantana bushes.

The children loved it. Not soimpressed was Ranganayaki,Srinivasa Iyengar’s wife. It wasnot as though she objected to the

Where a Governor’s Lady& the Gandhis were hosted

size or was awed by it. After all,her father, Sir V BhashyamIyengar, lived in Lakshmi Vilas, aproperty of comparable propor-tions on Luz Church Road itself.The kitchen, she noted, wasquite some distance from themain house. The residenceproper too, she said, was quitedilapidated. But soliciting hiswife’s views was just a formalityfor Srinivasa Iyengar. He wentahead with the purchase.Repairs were done and a newkitchen, closer to the house, wasbuilt, with the old one becomingthe cowshed.

Living in such a large bunga-low was not stress-free however.The loneliness, after the moreintimate surroundings of NorthMada Street, was frightening.The garden threw up its chal-lenges by way of a regular supplyof snakes, several of which werepoisonous. The three ponds inthe premises filled up during therains and became home to acolony of frogs that kept theoccupants of the house awakethroughout the night with theircroaking. Luz Church Road wasso quiet that any woman thatbraved it by walking alone wouldbe robbed of her jewels. Even themeagre possessions of the poorwomen who came from theneighbouring village ofBheemannapet, to gather fallenleaves and scrub wood, were notspared. Riots would often breakout between the residents of theneighbouring villages ofBheemannapet and Mandaiveli.At other times, cholera andsmall pox epidemics would ragethrough these hamlets and LuzChurch Road would become aroute for a series of funeralprocessions.

Amjad Baugh did not bringmuch happiness to its occupants.Srinivasa Iyengar was a short-tempered man who dominatedhis family. His wife had severalhealth issues. DaughterAmbujammal had a troubledmarriage, her husband suffering

son suffered an accident thatleft him disabled in one leg. Inlater years, a grandson died in afreak accident – electrocutionwhile trying to play the radio inthe midst of a thunderstorm. Abrooding miasma hung over theplace, which affected subse-quent generations as well.

Srinivasa Iyengar became theAdvocate General of Madras, in1915. The grounds of AmjadBaugh hosted several official par-ties thereafter. Most notable wasa visit of Lady Pentland, theGovernor’s wife, for a ladies’evening. The Government Houseband played and catering wasfrom Harrison’s, of Broadway. Insharp contrast was the receptiongiven to Mahatma Gandhi andKasturba, when they wereserved boiled peanuts, apples, or-anges, grapes, an assortment ofdry fruits, buttermilk, coconutwater and the South Indianpanakam. Almost everyone in-vited – and this included severalEnglishmen – turned up, suchwas their curiosity to see Gandhi.The women were all indoors andmost of them were bedeckedand bejewelled in honour ofKasturba. Much to their shock,she was in the simplest of clothesand her only ornaments wereiron bangles as worn by Gujaratipeasant women. Gandhi too wasin traditional Gujarati gear —kurta, dhoti and turban.

Gandhi brought much peaceto a troubled household. He be-came an honoured guest in 1925,when he, and his wife, stayed atAmjad Baugh for several days.The household gave up all ortho-doxy and threw its doors open tofreedom fighters of all castesand religions. Srinivasa Iyengar,who was already a member ofthe Congress, became more in-volved in the freedom move-ment, and in the aftermath ofthe Jallianwala Bagh massacre,chose to resign from the post ofAdvocate General. He waselected to the LegislativeCouncil in Delhi. Ambujammal

a nervous breakdown shortly af-ter the wedding. Moving intoAmjad Baugh from the smalltown of Kumbakonam was noteasy for him. Srinivasa Iyengar’s

became a staunch Gandhian,and in the 1930s, much againsther father’s wishes, courtedimprisonment. Released in 1934,she became a full-fledged free-

dom fighter and social worker.In 1941, following her father’sdeath, she chose to donate herextensive collection of jewels tothe Congress party. Post Inde-pendence, she chaired the Ma-dras Social Welfare Board andfounded the Srinivasa GandhiNilayam.

Amjad Baugh was depleted of

much of the family members bythe late 1940s. Ambujammalhad moved to Alwarpet where astreet would later be named afterher, the one parallel to it beingnamed after her father.

Her brother, Parthasarathy,who had a successful career ininsurance, chose a life of spiritu-ality following his son’s death, re-ferred to above. Becoming arenunciate, he founded a her-mitage in the name of his tute-lary deity Vaishnavi atTirumullaivayil, which flour-ishes even today.

The land surrounding AmjadBaugh was sold by his descen-dants and made way for plentyof houses. By the 1990s, even themain house became a distantmemory, no trace of it surviving.The space where it once stood isnow a cul-de-sac off Luz ChurchRoad.

Moore Market of yesteryears.

A special for Gandhi Jayanthi

Kasturiranga Iyengar.

6 MADRAS MUSINGS October 1-15, 2018

(Quizmaster V.V. Ramanan’squestions are from September 1stto 15th. Questions 11 to 20 relateto Chennai and Tamil Nadu.)

1. What major initiative towardsfinancial inclusion was launchedby Prime Minister Modi onSeptember 1st with a capital ofRs. 14.35 billion?

2. Who is the author of the re-cently-released book Moving On,Moving Forward – A Year in Office?

3. Who is the newly-electedPakistani equivalent of RamNath Kovind?

4. Name the new index launchedjointly by S&P Dow Jones Indicesand BSE Ltd to to measure theperformance of private banks?

5. Which Olympic medallist andformer World champion has beensigned by BSNL as its brandambassador?

6. According to a recent SupremeCourt ruling, what should be theminimum compensation paid tothe survivors of rape and sexualassault?

7. Anshula Kant is the newManaging Director of whichpublic sector bank?

8. The National Rail and Trans-portation Institute (NRTI),India’s first railway varsity, hasstarted operations in whichGujarat city?

9. The 2nd World HinduCongress, held recently inChicago, was organised to markthe 125th anniversary of whichspeech in that city?

10. In which South Indian cityhas Samsung opened the world’slargest mobile experience centre?

* * *

11. What was the original nameof the now non-existent stretchon the Marina that was calledSeerani Arangam?

12. Which educational institu-tion has the Fyson clock, namedafter a former principal andeminent botanist?

13. What first do C.N. Thamo-tharanpillai and Caroll Visu-vanathapillai have in the contextof education in the City?

14. Who gifted the QueenVictoria bronze found in the Uni-versity of Madras complex?

15. The stretch from the PhoenixMall junction towards the VijayaNagar bus terminus in Velacheryhas been renamed after whichreligious figure?

16. What structure was built bythe Franciscan monk Pedro deAtongia in 1516?

17. Which saint’s shrine is infront of the temple flag-mast atthe Kapaleeswarar Temple?

18. What establishment inMylapore was founded in 1905 bythe cousins C. Ramaswamy Ai-yangar and C. Ramanujachari?

19. Name the library of CarnaticMusic established by a German,Ludwig Pesch, in 1980.

20. Which popular shop for silksand apparels started off as RKT(Thiruvengadam Chettiar) Bros.?

(Answers on page 8)

� by J.S. RaghavanSketch by Aras

Rickshaw

bandhan

jective of the series is the publi-cation of short biographies ofeminent people who have beeninstrumental in the national re-naissance and the freedommovement. Sir C.P. Rama-swami Iyer has written the fore-word to this book, which is afascinating profile of the life andtimes of a multifaceted person-ality.

(Continued from page 5)

measures to put the paper on astrong financial footing. Thepages were increased, whichbrought in more advertisingrevenue and arrears in subscrip-tion were dealt with by stoppingsupply of the paper to default-ers. On the news front, he sub-scribed to Reuters and ap-pointed more correspondents inmofussil and North Indian cen-tres. Under the stewardship ofKasturiranga Iyengar, TheHindu grew to become one ofthe country’s leading newspa-pers, not afraid of taking onGovernors and public servantsand championing several publiccauses, most notable amongstthem being the Arbuthnot bankcrash and its fallout. In manyways, it became the hub of po-litical activity in Madras, whichearned it the sobriquet “a denof conspirators” in bureaucraticcircles.

The book, written by V.K.Narasimhan who was theDeputy Editor of The Hindu,was published in November1963 as a part of the Builders ofModern India series. The serieswas an initiative of the Publica-tions Division of the Govern-ment of India that dates to the1920s. In its own words, the ob-

That sooner or later a persongets sentimentally attachedto the animal that carries himsafely is exemplified by the car-ing pat a cowboy would give hisanimal on its flanks after dis-mounting. Lochinvar wouldhave embraced its neck, after herode into the wedding venueand galloped away abductinghis fair lady Helen betrothed toa misfit.

However, long after all suchhorses had ridden into the sun-set, we had in reality buses, cars

and trams in Madras to ride –plus horse driven carriages,called jutkas. Also as cheapmeans of transport, rickshawspulled by men.

During summer recess, Iused to visit my uncle inMylapore. He was staying in arented house in Oliver Road,(now Musiri Subramnianstreet) adjacent to Viveka-nanda College. A vannan thuraiwas nearby, where men and

women washed the dirty linenof the area not in public butwithin closed premises. Two tothree donkeys, the beasts ofburden, would always stand assentinels outside, their shaggyheads bent, lost in asinine medi-tation. Surly one used to braywhenever I passed their haunt.A surly kickass!

Once, I was surprised to seea rickshaw parked near uncle’sgate. I knew he was against theconcept of a man pulling an-other man. Or men carrying

devotees in dollies uphill forworship. Then why thisrickshawman who was wiry withcurly hair, smelling strongly of acombo of arrack, beedi andhonest sweat here? I learnt thathis name was Palani and hecleared the mystery before long.

No, ayya will not travel in hisor any rickshaw. No way. But itwas meant for amma, who gaveCarnatic music lessons to girlsin the area of marriageable age.

She had a divine voice and sowas very much in demand. As aclincher, the wedding of mostof the girls who took lessonsfrom her, got fixed within a veryshort time after the start ofthe first lesson, much to the de-light and relief of the girls’ par-ents.

I heard that If uncle had togo with his wife for any functionin the neighbourhood, Auntiewould travel in the rickshawgracefully, like a reigning mon-arch, while Uncle, a tall sturdyman with long legs wouldbriskly walk alongside, makingPalani, puff and huff, to keeppace with him.

On a rainy night, when Aunthad to go to the hospital, thetrio made hurried progress. Butlo and behold, the right wheelclimbed over a small boulder

and careened. My aunt, despiteher bulk, embarrassedly pickedherself up unhurt, from the riversand mound. But Palani hadtwisted his ankle.

There were no street lights.It was drizzling. My uncle, anaction king, brought the situa-tion under control. He pickedup Palani and carefully depos-ited him in the rickshaw. Andstarted pulling the vehicle tothe doctor’s clinic, a streetaway, unmindful of the protestsof the horrified Palani. ‘Agreed,I will not ride in a hand-pulledrickshaw. Never did I tell saywill not pull one,’ he toldstartled Auntie.

After Palani’s ankle healed,Uncle gave him a brand newcycle rickshaw so he wouldneed only to pedal. Not pull.

(Continued from page 1)

In August this year, the HighCourt expressed its annoyanceonce again. The Tamil NaduGovernment’s self-imposeddeadline of January 2018 forcompletion of the delimitationexercise had come and goneand there was no news. TheElection Commission has re-sponded by stating that it canissue an election notificationwithin three months of theState Government notifying thenewly delimited wards and con-stituencies. The EC has said itneeds a minimum of 90 days tofinalise electoral rolls in linewith the new bounds. That isquite understandable. What isnot is the State Government’sdelaying the notifying of the de-limitation exercise. Clearly, it isnot keen on holding civic polls.In the meanwhile, it has beenquite content, through a seriesof Bills, to extend the tenuresof Special Officers administer-ing the various civic bodies inthe State. The presentextension takes the tenures toend December 2018.

How does all this delay affectus? It may not be so apparentand many go around claimingthat they would rather have a

bureaucrat in charge of the citythan a bunch of corruptcouncillors. Sadly, not manyknow that the release of fundsfrom the Finance Commissionfor various civic projects is de-pendent on their being anelected body in place.

The laws forbid the FinanceCommission from fundingStates where provisions forelecting local bodies are not inplace. The State Government isarguing that the stipulation isonly that laws ought to be inplace and it is not mandatedthat election to local bodiesought to held as well. The Fi-nance Commission has how-ever begged to differ. The re-sult? Around Rs 3,800 croreshas been withheld from theState for various municipal andrural projects.

And, so, the next time younotice that the roads in yourarea have not been laid for longor that the parks are collapsingfor want of maintenance, orthat the local health centrelacks basic medicine, you knowwhere the problem is – lack ofan elected body. And no sea-soned bureaucrat can do any-thing about it.

Waiting for a CityCouncil

He nurturedThe Hindu

Till October 28: Paradise Lost – anexhibition of paintings by AdamKhan.

Adam is a British artist wholives and works from Kodaikanal.As a backpack traveller in histwenties he travelled to mostparts of the world and then fromUganda he landed in Bombay,and finally fell in love withKodaikanal and settled therepermanently. He created his owngarden and all his works areinspired by the pristine beauty ofhis garden. He is also theexaminer for the arts departmentin the Kodai international school(at DakshinaChitra, Muttukadu,10 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

October 1-15, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

Self-driving – yesterdayand tomorrow

respective onward journeys.Others who spent time herewere not always travellers butjust those who wanted a placeto eat or meet. A bottle of beercost eight annas. Sixteen annasmade a rupee, so one rupee wasa precious amount, especiallyfor journalists, who were poorlypaid.

Father used to take us fortreats at the Railway Refresh-ment Room. We lookedforward to devouring thesponge cake and lemonade, andenjoyed spending time watch-ing the trains pull into the sta-

� byVijaysree

Venkatraman

(Continued from page 5) tion, the people boarding andalighting, the guard blowing thewhistle or waving a green flag,and the train steaming out.

The English breakfast con-sisted of two fried eggs, baconand coffee, and it was all reallyexpensive. There was a four-course English lunch that in-cluded soup, a fish dish, a meatdish and dessert. You couldn’tjust eat with a fork! Strict din-ing etiquette was followed, witheach piece of cutlery meant fora specific purpose. A greatfavourite (which now may betermed ‘Anglo-Indian’) wasRice and Curry and the famousMulligatawny soup.

Queen Marians’ hauntsin the 1930s and 40s

Memories ofChetpet

There’s a buzz in the air around the plans for an undergroundstation that will emerge at Chetpet. Drilling for soil testinghas already begun at one end of the Chetpet Bridge, leading tospeculations as to whether the tunnels will burrow under theCooum or over it.

We shall soon be told. With that, one more slice of the oldHarrington Road habitat will disappear. Hurrah! I am all forprogress.

Except on a misty rain drenched morning when memoriesrise over a steaming cup of tea. I think of the ever-popular HansaStores and its owner who was simply referred to as the HansaStores Man. He looked after the needs of scores of schoolboysstudying at nearby Madras Christian College school. He keptthe flakiest of fresh mutton patties behind a glass cabinet thathe served on paper plates with a dollop of what was then a greatdelicacy, Kissan’s tomato ketchup. Sometimes you could get agentle whiff of the fresh bakery bread from CVK Bros. opposite.It was certainly the softest whitest bread you could buy. It washand-wrapped in grey-white unglazed paper, with a doublecrease on the top. If you were competitive you always tried toprize the button of the label that was stamped with the initialsand baked on top before the others did.

� by Geeta Doctor

I am reminded of the old Post Office that used to be wherethe KRM Centre, Shoppers Stop and all the other offices nowloom. My ageing father’s daily routine was to walk across theroad, umbrella in hand and have a chat with the Postmaster.

It might have been for a simple task like buying an inlandpost cover or to send a money order. To do this he had to navi-gate a treacherous terrain occupied by the local cows and buffa-loes lying in the pools of muddy water. It was a bovine beautyparlour. For sitting on their back, clad in white plumes, likebeauticians, the visiting egrets used their long beaks to pluck atthe ticks and mites hiding behind the buffalo ears. The mitesthemselves were a busy lot. The red rain bugs called “Velvetupoochi” by the locals, usually surfaced to breakfast on termitesand ran around in circles searching for a bargain. The moundsof decomposing cow dung were the favorite coffee bars for themore sophisticated crowd of Sulphur yellow butterflies. Theclouds of horse flies competed for a bit of liquid dung circlingaround the flapping tails of the cows. Shiny blue-green beetlessearched for tree barks into which they drilled holes to lay theireggs. There was a whole community of living creatures that co-existed in that green space.

I was reminded of them once again when we cut down thebranches of an over-grown Drumstick tree just before the rain.Suddenly the local women from the village appeared and for-aged for the leaves, the white drumstick flowers and the pods. Iremember how the older women would come after the rain andcollect all manner of leaves and pods, stems and buds from thewild flowers and herbs that had sprouted from the pavementsoutside our house. Each one of these they explained had a me-dicinal property and would be dried and powdered, if not cookedthat very day.

Today, of course we have paved them with cement and stone.Progress, like a blade of grass, is a double-edged thing. It cutsand heals.

A memorable scene in the1963 Tamil movie PaarMagale Paar features ChoRamaswamy who makes hisscreen debut as ‘Mechanic’Madasamy. As a teen, this char-acter had run away to the Tamilcapital, where besides freedom,he also tasted special buns fromMcRennett bakery and chaifrom Irani tea shops. We meetthe young man in the portico ofa bungalow in Madurai, thehome of an industrialist (playedby a pipe-smoking SivajiGanesan).

Now, the mechanic doesn’tthink much of the rich man’smini-fleet and says so, bluntly,in Madras-bashai. He evenattributes a car’s sorry state tothe car owner’s “self-driving.”The Sivaji character looks likehe is about to have a fit. Still,he needs a skilled person todrive his college-going daugh-ters around. When they chimein to say that the mechanicappears to be a “witty fellow,”he hires Madasamy on the spot.

Self-driving cars, autono-mous vehicles that ferry peopleand goods around without a hu-man at the wheel, have been inthe news a lot lately. But insouthern India, “self-driving”used to mean you drove yourown automobile, you didn’tneed the services of a chauffeur.Back in the days of black-and-white movies, the self-drivingwoman was a rare sight on In-dian roads. Such a woman mayhave been regarded as a personin charge of her own destiny –an object of envy.

My mother, who was a col-lege student in theMadras of

the 1960s, was very much inawe of any woman, who couldtake the wheel. Though she hadtaught herself to ride a cycleand pedaled to classes, drivinglessons had been out of thequestion. This was a pity be-cause she had a wonderful senseof direction and could comfort-ably navigate the streets of thecity. I can see her fixing a flattyre in a pinch. She came froma family of engineers andworked well with her hands.Although she didn’t say it, Isensed that she wanted me tojoin the ranks of self-drivingwomen.

When my father, an accoun-tant, said, “You should be al-ways in the driver’s seat,” heonly meant it figuratively. Take

charge of your life was the idea.On the daily commute, we wereboth happy passengers. He wascontent to sit back and poreover work-related papers. Dittofor me, except I took the trainor the bus and read works of fic-tion. Following the plot of a sci-fi trilogy or reading a Sanskritplay in the original was so mucheasier than having to focus onthe chaotic roads ahead.

As a graduate student in theUnited States — land of greatdistances — I finally signed upfor driving lessons. On the nar-row streets of Boston, formercow-paths, I did my best to

avoid moving objects (pedestri-ans, pets, and vehicles) andstanding ones (utility poles,trees, and parked cars). Mydriving instructor, who chattedaway on his cellphone, wouldspring to action just before I didanything catastrophic, so allwas well. I got my license on mysecond attempt.

My driving licence was of nouse when I was back in Chennaito visit family. The chauffeur-driven Ambassador, a perk frommy father’s office days, was longgone. Public transit was unreli-able. I could hire a call taxi, if Iplanned to be out all day; therewas the auto-rickshaw forshorter rides. Most evenings Iwould be stuck at home, be-cause I didn’t want to deal withstress-inducing transit options.The engagements column inThe Hindu listed fun events invarious parts of the city. “All arewelcome,” most said, but if Icould not get to these venues bymyself, the events might as wellbe happening in Timbuktu.

When ride-hailing apps likeUber and Ola came along, thecity came alive for me. I suspectthis is true for some otherwomen as well. It is not thatChennai suddenly became ahappening city in the last fiveyears or so. It is just that we nowhave a safe and convenient wayto get to events that interest us.In theory, we can now go wherewe want, when we want to. Ac-cessibility is no longer an issue.

Even so, I can’t wait for self-driving cars to hit the roads.The world over, automakers arenow testing prototypes. Thecurrent versions expect the hu-man to take over in tricky situ-ations – if there is an accidentahead or if there is constructiongoing on, for instance. So, itcould be a while before we havefully-autonomous cars, butimagine: cars that park them-selves, no chatty cabbie, noworrying about the motives ofthe driver.

Perhaps self-driving cars,law-abiding robots, will onlywork in utopian cities wherepeople, both pedestrians anddrivers, obey the rules of theroad. It may be difficult toprogramme them to ply in con-gested roads where nimbler ve-hicles try to squeeze throughgaps to get ahead. Here inChennai, humans might stumpthe robots and bring them to acomplete standstill in many in-stances.

Driverless cars may simplynot be a possibility here. But thebackseat of the Uber or Ola is agood place to sit back anddream of fanciful things. Isn’tthat how humans have pro-gressed through the ages –through advances in technologyand a bit of wishful thinking?

CHENNAI HERITAGENo. 5, Bhattad Tower, 30, Westcott Road,

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Answers to Quiz1. India Post Payment Bank, 2. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu,3. Arif Alvi, 4. S&P BSE Private Banks Index, 5. M.C. Mary Kom,6. Rs. 4 lakh, 7. SBI, 8. Vadodara, 9. Swami Vivekananda’s speech atthe Parliament of the World’s Religions, 10. Bengaluru.

* * *

11. Tilak Ghat (Thilakar Thidal), 12. Presidency College, 13. Theyare considered the first graduates of the University of Madras, 14. GodeNarayana Gajapathi Raju, Zamindar of Visakhapatnam, 15. GuruNanak, 16. Luz Church, dedicated to Our Lady of Light, 17.Gnanasambandar, 18. The Students’ Home for destitute boys adja-cent to the RKM Vivekananda College, 19. Sampradaya, 20. Rasi Silks.

He recorded South India

for Government

� by

Dr. A. Ramananant@raman.id.au

� Linnaeus Tripe’s life as a

photographer peaked when he

served as the Government

Photographer in Madras,

between 1857 and 1860.

Linnaeus was born toCornelius and Mary Tripeof Plymouth Dock, Devon(now, Davenport) in 1822. Hecame to India, preferring a ca-reer overseas, and enlisted as anensign in the Madras army(specifically the Madras NativeInfantry) in 1839. He was pro-moted as a lieutenant in 1840and as a captain in 1851. He gotinterested in photography whenhe was training as an officer ca-det. His proficiency in photog-raphy impressed the govern-ment, and consequently he wasappointed as the official pho-tographer at the British Missionto the Court of Ava (Burma).What necessitated the creationof a new position of a photogra-pher at that time?

The Second Anglo-Burmesewar of 1852 ended with theBritish annexation of Pegu andoccupation of Rangoon.

Dalhousie, the Governor Gen-eral in Calcutta, required KingMindon Min of Burma to sign atreaty recognising annexation.Government of India estab-lished a Mission office in UpperBurma in 1855 with ArthurPhayre as the Commissioner ofPegu Province and Henry Yuleas the Secretary of the Mission.Further to a diplomatic objec-tive, the Mission was keen onextracting detailed informationon this region. Dalhousie con-sidered that a visual record ofthe journey would convey abetter idea of the natural fea-tures of Burma than a writtenreport and that “sketches of thepeople and of cities and palaceswould give a life and interest tothe future report of theMission”. Colesworthy Grant,an artist in Calcutta was se-lected to go the Pegu Missionand create artworks of theregion. Since photographs werebecoming popular, LinnaeusTripe, who by then showedtalent in taking photographs,also was commissioned as the

official photographer byDalhousie.

Tripe hardly spent 40 days inUpper Burma, because of healthsetbacks. Nonetheless, duringhis stay in Upper Burma, hetravelled on the Irrawaddy toAmarapurra, and made close to200 lightly albumenised saltprints from large wax-papernegatives (10” x 13”; 260 x 345mm). On return to India, he

was able to create a portfolio ofselected 120 calotype prints ofUpper Burma. Some of Tripe’simages made in Burma can beviewed in the website: https://www.bonhams.com/ auctions/24634/lot/116/. No documentindicates the type of a cameraTripe may have used. Mostprobably it was a large ‘daguer-reotype camera’ which was builtusing wood (or metal) with bel-lows from the lens to the glassplate. Alternately, it could havebeen custom-built.

At the Madras Exhibition ofRaw products, Arts and Manu-facture of South India 1855, inthe section ‘Photography,Lithography, Painting, etc.’Tripe won the first class medalfor his photographs of thetemple towers and precincts ofHalebedu and Belur (Photo-graphic view of the temple ofHallebede and Baelloor), whichwere created scientifically and

imaginatively. AlexanderHunter, the Founder-Presidentof the Madras PhotographicSociety (MPS), established in1857, comments on the itemssubmitted by Tripe at theMadras Exhibition (1855),

“ … the best series of photo-graphic views on paper isexhibited by Captain Tripe. Itconsists of 68 large pictures21” x 14”, taken from theJain temples and ruins ofHallebede and Baelloor inMysore. The majority ofthese are clear, sharp, andwell defined in details, prov-ing that great care has beentaken to obtain the correctfocus.”

Andrew Charles BrisbaneNeill attached to the MadrasMedical Establishment was an-other avid photographer ofTripe’s time. Neill accompaniedTripe to Halebedu and Belur.

Tripe used the then state-of-the-art ‘calotype process’ (alsoknown as Talbotype) firstdeveloped by William HenryFox Talbot. The calotype pro-cess involved the treatment of aquality paper with light-sensi-tive silver compounds beforeexposure in the camera. Therealised image was then devel-oped using the sensitiser, viz.,gallo-nitrate of silver (a com-pound consisting of silver ni-trate, acetic acid, gallic acid,and distilled water) and fixed.The calotype negative processunderwent improvements inthe 1850s and photographersapplied warm wax to thedeveloped negative to improveprinting transparency and re-

duce visibility of paper fibres,which was used by Tripe. Wecannot say that all of his photo-graphs were the best, but giventhe circumstances and techni-calities then available, theircompositions were good.

Tripe taught the calotypeprocess to the employees of thePublic Works Department andthe collodion process to pupilsat the Madras School of Indus-trial Arts. He was a member ofthe Madras PhotographicSociety and explained periodi-cally the then new advance-ments made in photography toother members of MPS.

Tripe’s assignment as theGovernment Photographerended in 1859. He sold his cam-eras and other instruments to aCaptain Wincon and P. Orr. Hegave away the furniture, chemi-cals, and accessories to the MPSand returned to the 12th MadrasNative Infantry. He retired in1875 as a Colonel. No recordsexist whether he made any pho-tographs between 1860 and1875. He returned to Devonand died in 1902.

Linnaeus Tripe.