A new walk is added to the Madras Day calendar this year.
When Deepa Sekar got excited about the idea of having a walk around Kilpauk, her friends from the neighbourhood seconded the idea and joined her.
She contacted many residents of the area, the schools which have a grand history behind them, the institutions that are existing for more than a century and drew up the schedule.
Close to 30 people assembled at the start point- Votive Shrine on Halls Road, on the day of the walk - Aug. 16. Some were from Kilpuak and some had associations with the area when they studies at Pachiapppas and their work with Kilpauk Water Works.
A few schools kids were among the walkers as the group visited their schools too on the way. Writer, novelist Timeri N. Murari was also part of the walkers.
Though a long, they group touched a variety of places like church, temple, the schools which were studios earlier, Kalki Garden's - once the residence of M. S. Subbulakshmi and Sadasivam ...
On the way, the group exchanged stories of their connections with Kilpauk.
At the end of the walk, the group realised that every area has a fantastic history, culture and heritage that need to be revisited through such walks.
The group has a blog now putting up the details they gathered while organising for the walk. They continue to get feedback and reminiscence about the area and plan to keep the blog growing.
Photos on the Madras day website.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Irrepressible Guy, but not quite vintage Randor
When plans were being made two months ago to connect speakers and events for Madras Week, one of us suddenly remembered a name that was not on the speakers’ list. A star speaker whom everybody gathered there seemed to have forgotten. And how on earth would Madras Week be complete without one of Chennai’s best ever storytellers, who could talk endlessly about people, places and events and keep you engrossed for hours on end, who could effortlessly weave humour and keep giving you clues about the person he was talking about, whose name he was loathe to divulge? “No Randor, no Madras Week,” we chorused and almost immediately Sriram was on the phone with Randor, almost directing him to talk on ‘scandals of Madras’. With Prathima Vasan, manager-communications, Park Sheraton, present, it did not take us long for us to decide that we could have Randor Guy speak at Dublin, the hotel’s discotheque. It is to Prathima’s credit that the Sheraton agreed to host the talk and, as it turned out today, Randor is still a star.
The talk was scheduled to start at 4pm, but the seats at the Dublin were full by 3.45pm. And then there was hardly any space to add sufficient number of chairs. A few of us sat on the stairs, others rested on side railings and yet others remained standing throughout the one-hour show. Sushila Ravindranath, former resident editor of the New Indian Express, whispered into my ears, “It was you who wanted Randor, and now see what you have done.” Randor hadn’t even arrived by then; someone else whispered that his pick-up car was delayed and the man was fretting and fuming. Eventually, Randor sauntered in, with his wife Dolores in tow. He seemed to be calm and headed straight to the area below where coffee was being served.
I will not go into the details of the scandals he spoke about. He got off to a great start all right but it wasn’t vintage Randor though this afternoon. There was humour but not enough of it. His razor-sharp wit was missing. The crowd did roar with laughter but not as frequently as you would expect with Randor around. But overall, an afternoon well spent by all those present. Sushila, who sat next to me on the stairway (even she couldn’t find a proper chair), finally acknowledged that the effort was worth it after all. Yes, it could have been better, but perhaps the next time. The second day of Madras Week continued to report packed houses.
The talk was scheduled to start at 4pm, but the seats at the Dublin were full by 3.45pm. And then there was hardly any space to add sufficient number of chairs. A few of us sat on the stairs, others rested on side railings and yet others remained standing throughout the one-hour show. Sushila Ravindranath, former resident editor of the New Indian Express, whispered into my ears, “It was you who wanted Randor, and now see what you have done.” Randor hadn’t even arrived by then; someone else whispered that his pick-up car was delayed and the man was fretting and fuming. Eventually, Randor sauntered in, with his wife Dolores in tow. He seemed to be calm and headed straight to the area below where coffee was being served.
I will not go into the details of the scandals he spoke about. He got off to a great start all right but it wasn’t vintage Randor though this afternoon. There was humour but not enough of it. His razor-sharp wit was missing. The crowd did roar with laughter but not as frequently as you would expect with Randor around. But overall, an afternoon well spent by all those present. Sushila, who sat next to me on the stairway (even she couldn’t find a proper chair), finally acknowledged that the effort was worth it after all. Yes, it could have been better, but perhaps the next time. The second day of Madras Week continued to report packed houses.
'Besh Besh Besh' gets rolling
New entrant to Madras Week celebrations this year, Prakrit Arts Gallery, set the ball rolling with S. Muthiah, Chennai historian inaugurating 'Besh, Besh Besh', an excellent mix of pictures and paintings by the city's artists such as Rama Suresh, Manisha Raju, Raju Durshettiwar, Nelson, Tyagarajan, Usha Devi, N. Ramachandran and Vinay. The exhibition is the initiative of Meena Dadha who runs Prakrit Arts.
Talking to the artists and to those who had gathered, Muthiah said that the reason for conducitng Madras Week was not only for celebrating a city's birthday but also to create an awareness about Madras's heritage, that as the first city of modern India it had contributed immensely in varied fields.
Talking to the artists and to those who had gathered, Muthiah said that the reason for conducitng Madras Week was not only for celebrating a city's birthday but also to create an awareness about Madras's heritage, that as the first city of modern India it had contributed immensely in varied fields.
Trees, and the evolution of man
There couldn’t have been a better start to Madras Week. Sri Parvati Gallery on Eldams Road was packed and more chairs had to be brought in to accommodate visitors. A few had to stand. On display were some fantastic pictures of trees of Madras that is Chennai, pictures taken by Rod Hudson with help from his friend K Srinivasan, one of the founding members of the Madras Naturalist’s Society.
A Londoner who has worked as a teacher and journalist, Rod took up photography 30 years ago. He has been concentrating full-time on his passion for creating images in south India, where has now been living for the past seven years. Rod has had several exhibitions of photographs in Madras. The past year, he has been creating images for his forthcoming book, provisionally titled ‘Trees of Madras’ and it is some of those images that are displayed at the gallery (open to the public till April 23).
However, the morning belonged to well-known botanist Professor Dayanandan, whose brilliant presentation provided a broad sweep, from Darwin and Lincoln to Charles Lyell, Alfred Wallace and Joseph Dalton Hooker, all scientists of repute whose research on flora and fauna have made an everlasting impact on humanity. Profesor Dayanandan dwelt how Darwin drew the first evolutionary tree in scientific history, about the latter’s Beagle journey and the existence of trading ports 2,000 years ago. He said that plant life was so vast, there were so many species that even those like himself who had spent a lifetime researching on flora on the western ghats, and in the south of India and the northeast, had traversed only a small part of that universe. According to him, 600 million species of animal life have been lost over thousands of years.
Pointing to the difference in cultures between countries, Professor Dayanandan provided the Darwin example. Darwin’s book, ‘The Origin of Species’ sold out in London the day it was released, he said. That sort thing might never happen in India, he added, because “our cultural ethos has not developed to that extent”.
500 human genes are shared with all living beings, Professor Dayanandan pointed out, adding that the onus is on us to consider trees as our relative and care for them.
A Londoner who has worked as a teacher and journalist, Rod took up photography 30 years ago. He has been concentrating full-time on his passion for creating images in south India, where has now been living for the past seven years. Rod has had several exhibitions of photographs in Madras. The past year, he has been creating images for his forthcoming book, provisionally titled ‘Trees of Madras’ and it is some of those images that are displayed at the gallery (open to the public till April 23).
However, the morning belonged to well-known botanist Professor Dayanandan, whose brilliant presentation provided a broad sweep, from Darwin and Lincoln to Charles Lyell, Alfred Wallace and Joseph Dalton Hooker, all scientists of repute whose research on flora and fauna have made an everlasting impact on humanity. Profesor Dayanandan dwelt how Darwin drew the first evolutionary tree in scientific history, about the latter’s Beagle journey and the existence of trading ports 2,000 years ago. He said that plant life was so vast, there were so many species that even those like himself who had spent a lifetime researching on flora on the western ghats, and in the south of India and the northeast, had traversed only a small part of that universe. According to him, 600 million species of animal life have been lost over thousands of years.
Pointing to the difference in cultures between countries, Professor Dayanandan provided the Darwin example. Darwin’s book, ‘The Origin of Species’ sold out in London the day it was released, he said. That sort thing might never happen in India, he added, because “our cultural ethos has not developed to that extent”.
500 human genes are shared with all living beings, Professor Dayanandan pointed out, adding that the onus is on us to consider trees as our relative and care for them.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
A former student of Vijayanta School in Avadi shows the way
More than 20 years ago, when I was in the insurance industry, I had, as part of my work, taught students for a couple of years at the Vijayanta Senior Secondary School, which is part of the Heavy Vehicles Factory in Avadi. Many of them work in private and public insurance companies today and are doing well. After my stint there, I had no touch with the students really although I remembered most of them.
I was, therefore, delighted to receive an email the other week from a student who I hadn’t taught since he was part of the fourth batch of the vocational course. But after I mentioned about my stint in Vijayanta he gave me the names of several I had taught and was keen to get the school alumni to participate in Madras Week celebrations.
P Jayakumar, president of the Vijayanta Senior Secondary School alumni and about a 100 other students have organised a cycle rally, from Avadi to the Marina beach on August 22. En route, they will be spreading the message of creating a green Chennai and raising awareness about global warming.
This is the kind of initiative that the coordinators or catalysts of Madras Week look forward to. Many of us can be a Jayakumar and show others the way.
Those in Avadi or others wanting to know the time and route can contact Jayakumar at 93802 41029.
I was, therefore, delighted to receive an email the other week from a student who I hadn’t taught since he was part of the fourth batch of the vocational course. But after I mentioned about my stint in Vijayanta he gave me the names of several I had taught and was keen to get the school alumni to participate in Madras Week celebrations.
P Jayakumar, president of the Vijayanta Senior Secondary School alumni and about a 100 other students have organised a cycle rally, from Avadi to the Marina beach on August 22. En route, they will be spreading the message of creating a green Chennai and raising awareness about global warming.
This is the kind of initiative that the coordinators or catalysts of Madras Week look forward to. Many of us can be a Jayakumar and show others the way.
Those in Avadi or others wanting to know the time and route can contact Jayakumar at 93802 41029.
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