Hotel Green Park scores yet again

Whether Madras Week celebrations received overwhelming or muted response this year, activities at Hotel Green Park, Vadapalani, went on an even keel and the response, like in previous years, was quite overwhelming and encouraging. There were quite a few who had travelled long distances to reach the venue and it was only after the clock struck eight that some began to slowly wend their way back home.

As usual it was the programme for children that set the tone for the evening. When Binita and Shrimati of Spring into Reading set about the task a few years ago, organising events for children during Madras Week, little would they have imagined the kind of response the events would generate. When Gargi of Zoom Kids joined this year, the three, under the Spring and Zoom (an activity centre for children) banner, made the most of an afternoon, welcoming children to experiment and create products using the potter’s wheel and palm leaves. Supported by resource persons from DakshinaChitra, ‘Madras – experience your cultural heritage’ was open to children five years and above.

Later, there was a peppy demonstration by the students, of ‘Madras: Then and now’, complete with song, dance and theatre, touching upon aspects such as traditional games and how children spend their time today compared to those in the past.

For Chithra Madhavan, Hotel Green Park is almost home. She has lectured here on two previous occasions. This year, she chose to make a presentation on ‘Lesser known temples of Chennai – some more’. As usual, hers was a thoroughly researched presentation, pleasing to the ear and easy on the eye. It’s indeed a shame that many of our old temples remain neglected with inscriptions scraped away and gaudy paint plastered over. Chithra points this out time and again, which only shows that it must be the same story in many temples and how it has impacted a lover of heritage like her.

Incidentally, Chithra completed her M.A. and M. Phil. from the Department of Indian History, University of Madras and her Ph.D. from the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Mysore. She has published five books - History and Culture of Tamil Nadu (in two volumes) and Vishnu Temples of South India (in three volumes). She has also co-edited a book South India Heritage which contains 500 articles on various aspects of South India’s heritage and culture.

Pradeep Chakravarthy made quite an interesting presentation, on how ‘Kodambakkam (Puliyur) was the centre of Madras’. He took a look at how Madras was organised geographically in the 9th-12th centuries, what some troublesome local governance issues were and how they were resolved. There is very little about Puliyur in the public domain and based on what Pradeep explained, there is a whole world out there that needs to be researched. It only shows how little we know about our own local history. Pradeep’s attempt I thought was remarkable simply because there is so little material to base a presentation like his on. I would urge him to conduct research himself, if he can. That might form the background to an interesting book.

Pradeep has two books to his credit – on Thanjavur and the Vahanas. A student of KFI and a graduate from Madras Christian College, Jawaharlal Nehru University and the London School of Economics, he is an executive coach for senior leaders in Infosys Technologies. His articles appear frequently in The Hindu and Business Line.

Pictures show some children waiting expectantly as a little girl gets her fingers thoroughly soiled on the potter’s wheel; a resource person from DakshinaChitra showing a boy how he can be creative with palm leaves; children from the local Corporation school show off their exhibits; a father and daughter look for something interesting to read as Malavika from Book and Borrow looks on; and a packed hall at Green Park.

Yet another unsung hero (A. Ananda Kumar)

Probably the youngest hero of Madras Week was A. Ananda Kumar who exhibited his paintings at the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation. Kumar graduated this year from the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai and is the first degree holder in Fine Arts from his village Koralpakkam in Thiruvannamalai District.

When I visited the g Vennirul Art Gallery there was no visitor. The lights were off and somebody came to switch them on as I entered. The sad part in some of these exhibitions is that there are hardly enough people interested in coming to see what’s on offer.

Whether it’s the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation or the Gallery Sri Parvati or other galleries, it all looks good for the record, to have exhibits during Madras Week, but in reality, except for the inaugural if there is one, you will hardly find people coming. Lakshmi Venkataraman, who runs Gallery Sri Parvati, has echoed my view many times. She should know. Her gallery, done up fairly well, in the centre of the city, in Alwarpet, does not attract many visitors during Madras Week.

So, I had the whole Vennirul Art Gallery to myself and spent some time looking at the exhibits before an officer from the Foundation trooped in, probably signaling that my time was up.

Outside I was pleasantly surprised to see Ananda Kumar immersed in what he does best – paint. As he wielded his brush, his eyes were focused on an old building on the campus, probably one that might have been the residence of Sir C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar.

Pictures show some of Kumar’s work – the flow of the Cooum against a backdrop of heritage buildings, of St Andrew’s Church and Victoria Public Hall, and of the Mylapore Temple tank. I managed a picture of Kumar even as he was providing final touches to his painting of the building that formed the background.

A flavour of early 20th Century Madras

Last year, Nanditha Krishna of the C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation had organised during Madras Week an exhibition on Fort St. George. The exhibition included aquatints, etchings and engravings from private collections, maps and sketches.

This year, she had two exhibitions running – one, a display of paintings by A. Ananda Kumar and the other, a display of some splendid photographs taken by the late M. K. Rangaswamy Aiyangar – of Madras and its environment in the beginning of the last century.

Let’s look at Aiyangar’s pictures first. M. K. Rangaswamy Aiyangar was a prolific writer and photographer. Born in 1886 in Srivilliputhur, he was a scholar of art, culture, religion and music, having written many articles on the subjects in leading dailies like The Hindu, Indian Express and the weeklies and magazines of his times. He authored several books, among which Thyagaraja Thatvam and Mahabalipuram – A Guide Book with illustrations of photographs taken by him are noteworthy.

Aiyangar was an eminent photographer and, according to Nanditha, will be remembered for his famous photographs of the early 20th century Madras and Tamil Nadu, especially the temples. Tirumala to Tillai, his famous exhibition of pictures, was held in Madras, Tirunelveli and Kalahasti in Andhra Pradesh.

Aiyangar’s son, the late R. Madhavan, who retired from The Hindu, gifted his father’s collection of negatives and prints to the C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation library.

Here are a few of Rangaswamy Aiyangar’s pictures: a long-shot view of some of the pictures of monuments, of the Sri Thyagarajar Temple in Thiruvottriyur, of a person feeding vultures in Thirukkalukundram, of the Sangu Thirtham Tank there, and of the St Thomas Church on the Little Mount.

Other unsung heroes (John Moses, Winston Henry, Venkatesh)

It appears kerosene was first imported to Madras by Best & Company in 1879. It was sold in tins by the brand names Chester and Monkey. Kerosene lamps were also sold on carts till the late 1970s. With the import of kerosene from abroad, lamps from England, Germany, Hungary, France, Japan and the United States followed. According to John Moses, who had an astonishing display of lamps at the Padma Seshadri School in KK Nagar, the lamp industry was highly competitive in these countries – in producing lamps, wicks, chimneys and globes. Most of the lamps then were made of brass, glass and porcelain.

Moses and Winston Henry (who helps put up aquariums and aviaries), narrated at length their passion for collecting anything old. Moses said his collection of old lamps, watches, pens and cycles was so large that there was hardly enough space at his home in Kilpauk to keep them. “My family just manages to tolerate me,” he said.

Winston said just about the same thing. The passageways in his house are lined with large containers filled with old books. He had brought along the 1870 edition of Francis Buchanan’s ‘Journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar’, published by Higginbotham and Company, Madras. The pages were almost falling apart and the years had taken its toll – but you were taken to another world just by grasping the book.

Together, Moses and Winston made a difference to the exhibition at the school. They also took pains in describing the displays to all those who seemed interested to know and learn more.

Another participant who needs special mention was Venkatesh, a peon at the Padma Seshadri School. He has been an avid collector of coins and has always sought an outlet to exhibit them. Two years ago, he came up with a similar display. School duties have not blunted his enthusiasm to pursue his hobby. His is an example many should follow.

And these are the people who make Madras Week what it is. They toil hard all day long, expect little publicity, prefer to keep a low profile, are happy with even the smallest word of appreciation, and treat every person with dignity.

Pictures show Moses before his prized collection, Winston going about his job of explaining to visitors, Francis Buchanan’s book, a coloured illustration on one of the pages of the book, and Venkatesh beaming before his collection.

An unsung hero: S.A. Govindaraju

The Madras Heritage Lovers Forum put up a wonderful show at the Padma Seshadri School in KK Nagar. Most of the members are past 50, with consultant architect D.H. Rao, who organised and ‘choreographed’ the entire show, well past 70. More than anything, it was rare commitment on display, a passion for a city and its heritage.

The forum is made up of Rao, V. Prabhakar, Winston Henry, S.A. Govindaraju, who has an amazing collection of old books and magazines, John Moses, Lazer, Roland Nelson and Hemant Chopra. Some of them were there throughout at the three-day event, standing for the most part in a hall without the air-conditioning system turned on.

Govindaraju is 80 years old but his passion for old books and magazines hasn’t diminished a bit. He has been collecting them for more than four decades and has over 5000 books and 10000 magazines, paper clippings and advertisements. A retired labour law consultant, he runs a small garage where he sells these books. What is remarkable is that he is able to identify each of the books just by the look of them – the author and publisher’s names, even the date of publication.

Govindaraju has books on law, philosophy, literature, history, wildlife, poetry, encyclopedias and books on film stars and politicians. He has a large collection of R.K. Laxman’s cartoons as well.

Every day, he spends his time in the garage (Rare Books, R.A. Puram, 2nd Main Road) with his collection, waiting for people with a similar passion, a passion that is hard to find these days.

Pictures show some of the material on display – Manohar Devadoss’s exquisite s pen-and-ink drawings; Govindaraju’s books; and one (Madras – Chennai Pattinam) of several fascinating articles by Nanditha Krishna (director of the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation) that had appeared in The Illustrated Weekly of India in the 1970s.

More spontaneity, energy needed

After seven years of playing the catalyst role in putting events together in some places, I get the feeling that a lot of it is not as spontaneous as it would seem to be. We’ve had two press conferences – one in June to announce broadly the celebration, and the second a week ahead of Madras Week, to drive home the specifics. What if we, the catalysts or coordinators, did not convene the press meets – would we then have had as many ‘celebrations’ of the city or events that are there now? My answer is ‘no’.

People, whether they be individuals, heading schools, colleges or institutions have to be pushed a bit to get events off the starting block. There’s only one school that seems to have earmarked Madras Day and Madras Week in the school calendar. So, why is the spontaneity missing? Does love of one’s city not amount to too much, or doesn’t heritage and allied subjects not rank high at all? I would say heritage does not rank high in a person’s list of priorities.

So, how do we get more people to celebrate the founding of a city? To the best of my knowledge, Chennai is perhaps the only city in India to have such a weeklong celebration bracketing its birthday. There are no straightforward answers to the question as much as there is no short-term solution. The best way is to instill the idea in the minds of schoolchildren from all schools so that when they grow up, they realise the value of protecting and conserving the heritage of the place where they spent their growing years.

The other point is that over the years we’ve been having the same people speaking at various forums. Of course, it’s a pleasure to listen to city historians S. Muthiah and Randor Guy and V. Sriram but we need many others who can speak or make presentations on a variety of other subjects connected to the city. Where are the Tamil speakers? Gnanai Sankaran, Badri Seshadri or Ashokamitran are fairly good speakers and people will come to hear them, but they, and I’m sure there are many more like them, are not part of the week’s celebrations this year. What I’m trying to say is that often it is the same message that goes out, from the same speakers. I think some of the older speakers must make way for new and younger ones.

Overall, it’s schoolchildren who are benefiting the most, from participating in quiz contests, essay and drawing competitions, in exhibitions, and by listening to speakers. The three-day exhibition of Madras memorabilia, put together by the Chennai Heritage Lovers Forum headed by the indefatigable D.H. Rao, at the Padma Seshadri School in KK Nagar was a success, with students from many neighbouring schools coming to have a look.

However, a rather disappointing note was struck at the Jaigopal Garodia School in Anna Nagar, when Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan failed to live up to expectations and rather than showing some of the hundreds of pictures he must have taken during his ‘photowalks’, decided to get teachers of the school to demonstrate how they took history classes. His larger message was to get schoolchildren out of the classrooms, a message that we have often heard, and the point was not lost. But if he had enough pictures to show or stories to tell it might have made up for something, but it wasn’t to be.

May we have a Heritage Act, please?

It is the joint request by the coordinators of the Madras Week on behalf of the people of Chennai on the day of Press conference, Aug. 19, 2011.
If passed, the act will have not just the heritage of Madras protected, but of the whole of the state.
As the banner with a request to pass the Heritage Act is unfurled, about 40 signatures on the spot filled the sheets of the campaign.

Through the Madras week from Aug. 21 to 28, we would like people support the campaign by signing the request.
If you are at a talk or taking part in a walk or a spectator at a show organised for the Madras Day, please read the leaflets kept at these venues to know why we need a Heritage Act and if you too love your heritage to be in tact for the next generation, do say it with your signature.

The Chennai Monolgues

Two theatre fests. Presented by two rival newspapers.
I chose the 'One on One' monologues by a Mumbai group, kicked by the themes they handled - everything contemporary, wry and humorous.

My vote went to the bit on the Worli-Forli Sealink of Mumbai. The actor, a lamp post ( or was he part of the Link beam) sharing all that he saw and heard down below. From fancy plans to local goondagiri to fights in the Assembly on a name for this facility.

And I thought - why don't our writers here produce monologues on our city - its people, its hijinks and its autos, potholes and garbage agency whose patron lives in South America.

Did I hear some one say - do you think actors would have the nerve to stage them?

Winners of the Tee show

We invited artist and theatreperson Pravin to judge the 50 plus entries for the Madras Tee Design Contest.
Pravin was locked up in his Adyar studio burning the midnight oil to prepare for his first art exhibition in Bengaluru ( you must have read about his works showing sleeping Madras dogs lying near still Madras cattamarans with jet black Madras crows hovering over the two.)
Pravin took time but signed off before moving on.

We should have the designs submitted by the top winner and the two who get special mention posted on the web site soon. Perhaps, post 5 other designs that were short listed.

The plan is to invite the winner to use his design or a bettered one for the Tee for 2012.

We still have a few Chennai Tees of previous avatars on sale. We shouldnt have ordered for XXL in this age of fitness!

Will to do the Villu-paatu

I spoke about collaborations that make Madras Day in my weekly Jottings column last week. And referred to the Yellow Buss - Besant Theosophical Society school in the Adyar area,

This morning we were invited to sit through the first big rehearsal of the BTS group - 20 kids in uniform, two music teachers and gurus and colleagues of the students. This was to be their first go at the villu, their first before jaded mikes and an audience of 27.

They did reasonably well - telling the story of this city the way they perceived it with a dash about Annie Besant, the banyan tree inside TS and all.

This is a wonderful collaboration and we hope to invite the group to the Multi Media Contest finale in Luz on Aug 23.
If time permits they may take this show around.
My colleague Revathi intends to collect the copy of the lyrics and have it posted here so that future groups can partake of this production.

Its the Act . . .

So I am wondering if a Anna Hazare-kind of campaign can be driven to get a Heritage Act for our state.
Because this is perhaps the most important element of this year's Madras Day celebration.

The campaign will be launched at the press conference on Friday afternoon.
There is an appeal to the Chief Minister and we are hoping to have at least 1000 signatories in the week that follows.

Volunteers plan to set up a table in some public spaces across the city.
And we hope to launch a e-petition too so that you can sign from home.

If you have ideas on how you can help drive this campaign, do let us know.

Madras through the eyes of children

Walking with a camera on the road is fun.
The kids in your home always grab your camera to capture some unusual sights without waiting to compose, look at angles and aperture. They are instant captures.
When I thought of a photowalk exclusively for kids last year through YOCee, I wasn't sure if the kids would walk at least half a kilometer. But what we saw and experienced was completely different. They walked two kilometers just enjoying and shooting the scenes. They forgot to break for their snacks and water!
This encouraged us to continue the photowalks this year too.

N. Ramaswamy, who is a regular walker at the Chennai Photowalks was game to accompany the kids last year for the Madras Day and extended his support this year too.
The five kids who walked along north Madras roads from Royapuram Railway station to Srinivasa Ramanujan museum on Somu Chetty 4th lane had real fun. The fire temple and the cycle rickshaws and a Goshala, a home for cows . . . they saw a "different city" in their words.
For the larger group on Sunday's walks, there were two big attractions in the walk along Greenways Road. The Brodies Castle and the Krishnamurti Foundation of India (KFI) - Vasant Vihar.
The kids looked at the board 'P.S. Kumarasamy Raja Salai' and the 'Greenways Road' on the name boards of the shops. Puzzled.
Dr. Aravind, the outreach programme coordinator at the KFI took time off to guide the group inside the campus. He spoke about the flora and fauna of the campus, helped them identify the trees and the insects, bugs and butterflies!
The best pictures will be on display soon. Do keep visiting the Madras Day website for daily updates.

Technology institutes host walks inside their campuses

Two major technology institutions are throwing open their campuses for a walk inside.

The Alumni Association of the College of Engineering Guindy is conducting a walk on Aug. 20, 2011.
David Michaelangelo says that the walk covers the sights and stories surrounding the the primary seat of Technical education in Tamil Nadu.
They invite the public who know the present Anna University to explore their institution which was started in 1794.

Prof. Ajit Kumar Kolar, Chairman, Centre for Continuing Education, IIT Madras called us end of August last year and was disappointed that his institution couldn't take part in the city's celebration. He made it up this year
He hosts a guided visit to the IITM Heritage Centre within the campus which depicts the early history through 600 photographs arranged on 80 panels and a nature walk inside the campus led by their Nature Club 'Prakrithi'.

These academic institutions add pride to the city. Who wouldn't want to go to these campuses? Here is a chance during the Madras Week. Do explore if you find time.

Campaign for Heritage Act

Asking the state to enact a Heritage Act is probably the key campaign that will go on during the Madras Day celebrations this year.
The idea came up at the first meeting of the catalysts.
And we are working out ways in which we can use this opportunity to sensitise people to the issue.
Perhaps you can offer suggestions too.

An Act, a law in place will help encourage preservation / conservation of heritage and bok the people who destroy it. It has been over a decade since the issue was raised. It now needs to be a campaign of the citizens.

This is where you and I can chip in.

To start with, we hope to carry out a signature campaign. People will be given a little note on what the issue is all about and then invited to sign.

We wondered if we could come up with a small but striking stall / counter / desk which will attract people to the campaign in public spaces.

Your suggestions are welcome.

Somebody suggested that the desks should be outside heritage spaces or inside them. Central Station. Bharat Insurance. Govt. Arts College for Women . . .

Well, there is a buzz of expectation...

Well, the Madras Week celebrations are coming up soon, and the coordinators are at work, all voluntary work, that is. The coordinators are basically more like catalysts who try and motivate people in the city, in different areas, to put up something related to the city’s heritage on Madras Day or during Madras Week, which this year is between August 21 and 28. Of course, you can always organise a programme before and after these dates; after all, the dates are more indicative than anything else.

Starting off the blocks before the others, like it has been doing almost every year since the celebrations started in 2004, was Asan Memorial School. When I called Suma Padmanabhan, the principal, for the first hello of the year (it usually happens after we coordinators have had our first meeting, which is some time in June), she began listing out the theme and the people they had planned to call. The fact is Asan Memorial has Madras Week listed in the school calendar – I wonder how many other schools have it. I don’t think the Padma Seshadri group of schools has it either, although they belong to the same cluster as Asan (we have what are called CBSE cluster schools now). Keep it going, Suma.

This year, Asan Memorial School has chosen the theme, ‘Our heritage in brick and mortar’ and Madras Week celebrations there will begin early – August 17 – and go on for three days. There will be an exhibition with models and charts conducted by the Social Science Department and the heritage club. Likely speakers at the inaugural and valedictory include the Nawab of Arcot, Kumararani Meena Muthiah, Gopika Varma and Shreekumar Varma. There will be an inter-school heritage quiz, ‘Heritage buildings of Madras’; preliminary rounds start at 9.30am on August 18, with the finals at 11am.

Another person who is off the blocks early always is Gita, the programme officer at DakshinaChitra now. I’ve known her a long time, from the time she ran the Adyar Arts Club close to her home in Besant Nagar. Gita is fast on the uptake and you just have to say something and she ensures things happen. So, this time, she has arranged a weeklong programme (August 21-28) at DakshinaChitra, with Abhishek Dadheech showcasing ‘Photographs of Chennai City’ at the seminar hall, a drawing competition for children in the 7-13-year age group with the theme, ‘Monuments of Chennai’, and a photography competition for children in the 11-15-year age group with the theme, ‘Bazaars of Chennai’. Well done, Gita.

Last year, Lakshmi Venkataraman was not very keen on being part of Madras Week, but this year it was different. She will provide space for two evenings - on August 22, when Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan will present ‘Ancient Light: Madras through the eyes of a photowalker’, and on the following day, when Chitra Madhavan will talk on ‘Lesser known temples of Chennai – some more’. However, celebrations will begin early at the gallery – on August 18 – with Maniam Selven (MaSe) exhibiting his paintings, the theme being ‘Madras: My Impressions’.

As always, Ashok Kedia (Garodia’s trusted man who is in charge of the trust activity after the philanthropist’s death) and the principal at Jaigopal Garodia Scjool, Anna Nagar, were only too pleased to host an afternoon of Madras Week celebrations. It’s on August 23, when Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan will suitably vary his presentation ‘Ancient Light: Madras through the eyes of a photowalker’ for a different audience comprising mainly students and teachers.

One of the heavyweight programmes this year (like in most years) is likely to be at Hotel Green Park, Vadapalani, where Spring and Zoom, KK Nagar, an activity centre for children, will welcome children to experiment and create exquisite products using the potter’s wheel and palm leaves, in what will be called ‘Madras – experience your cultural heritage’. Supported by resource persons from DakshinaChitra, it will be open to children five years and above. There will also be ‘Madras: Then and now’, a poster presentation by students.

Namma Arcot Road has lined up a pretty impressive run of speakers: Shreekumar Varma, Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan and Pradip Chakravarthy. Pradeep, as enthusiastic as always, will talk about how Kodambakkam is really the centre of Madras; he says he will look at how Madras was organised geographically in the 9th-12th centuries, what were some troublesome local governance issues and how they were resolved.
And for those who choose to stay back till the end of the show, there could be a special buffet dinner waiting at Hotel Green Park.

One more supporter; Arkay

Ramakrishnan promotes the Arkay Centre in Luz. It is the building where Shah's opened recently - opposite the road that runs to Vidya Mandir.

Arkay is well-fitted and swanky - best for small meetings, business shows, seminars and such events.
Ramakrishnan also hosts music festivals. After all, every hall has to host a kutcheri!

Ram has come forward to support Madras Day events and will spare his space for some events.
Thanks Ram, this is indeed a nice gesture.

'Vintage Heritage' is planning to screen clips of films shot in the city in the old days and have 2 old-time film directors to talk on this occasion on the theme.
Look out for all the events here.

Travails of Walking Tour Guides

I have just told myself that I should write to the police officer in charge of security at Fort St George. Write now.
For Madras Day, every year I make it a point to host a Walk inside the Fort. And these have been well attended - partly because people think we get easy access past the security here at this time of the year!

When Dr Suresh of INTACH is around ( am told he is currently on a study in the USA) I ask him to lead the group - Suresh would like to dress like a East India Company man if you invited him to do so.

It is never easy to convince the police to let us in on a holiday morning, as early as 7.30 am more so when the group is 50 strong - once the Inspector sent a policewoman to accompany us to make sure we did not stray from our professed plan.

They are happy if we keep off the CM's zone. We do.

But now that Jayalalithaa is back as CM and chosen to sit inside the Fort it will not be easy for us.
Jayalalithaa has been cool - time and again she has asked the police not to trouble people with overkill as far as security goes . . .

I hope to host this Walk on August 21, Sunday. So be in the loop to know more. I think we will have a Walk every day in some part of the city till Aug 28.
If you have a Walk idea put it through; host one!

Two Supporters!

Two great institutions of this city have come forward to support the Madras Week.

South Indian National Assn (SINA) which manages the Srinivasa Sastri Hall and Ranade Library in Luz and the P S Education Society which manages the group of P. S. schools and projects in Mylapore are early supporters.

Both have promised to provide their facilities/space freely for events.

We need more such support. 

Volunteers required! Sign up

We need a band of people to host an event or run it in your neighbourhood.
So if you are keen do contact us at - madrasday@yahoo.com

We may have people who are willing to give you materials to hold a small exhibition. Would you like to make best use of this and have a show for your area / campus?

We may have experts who are willing to take a group of 25/30 people on a heritage walk. But they want one or two people to be the host and organiser! Want to be one?

There are some people who hold contests and are looking for young people to help. Can you spare 2 hours that day? Come along!

Madras Day/Week is all about networking and joining hands . . .

Our email -themadrasday@gmail.com

Some confirmed events . . .

The annual Madras Quiz is on.
Should be on August 28, Sunday.
The extra good news is that there is going to be a Madras Quiz for schools too.
The Quiz in Thamizh for students is also on.

The annual Heritage Project for Schools which encourages teams to present a PP presentation on a specific theme on the city is also on. August 23 is the date.

The Chennai T Shirt contest will roll in a few days! The best design gets on the Tee for 2012.

Chennai Heritage will host a series of Talks every day, Aug 21 to 28. But more will be held at other venues. Expect at least 20 talks.

Plans for Madras Week 2011

On June 13, the core catalysts of Madras Day (it has become Madras Week over the years) met at the Madras Cricket Club to initiate the plans for the celebrations this year.

The Madras Week will be from August 21 to 28, 2011.

Heritage walks are planned on all the days of the week.
A Madras Quiz for school students is on cards.
Exhibitions, talks, panel discussions, docu film screening relating to Madras and its heritage will be part of the celebrations as in the past years.

If you have ideas, do share with the team. Mail to madrasday@yahoo.com