Good work, Sankara Vidyalaya

Just outside the exhibition hall at the Alliance Francaise, I spotted a display of drawings and paintings, as well as writings, of students from Sanakara Vidyalaya, Thiruvanmiyur. There was quite a bit about Madras's history packed into all those pictures and words and it was evident that the children who did all that had put their hearts and souls into it. Keep up the good work, children!

Some fascinating pictures, at Alliance Francaise

I visited the Alliance Francaise today to have a look at the exhibition of pictures titled ‘Images of Chennai’. Two young photographers, Karthick Ramalingam and Siva Chithirai, had taken the pictures displayed. These are pictures that you immediately relate to – temples, churches, market places, trains moving, sunrise… All of them relate to contemporary Chennai and immediately strike a chord.

There have been visitors to the exhibition at regular intervals, Rudran, the person at the office, tells me. There are booklets on the history of the city as well.

Some of the pictures displayed include the Egmore railway station, a racer,sellers at a bazaar, a portrait of a Therakoothu artiste, runners at the Chennai marathon, the interiors of an MRTS station, a view of the Central Jail, the gopuram of Kapaleeswarar Koil in Mylapore, the Luz Church, and an ancient temple in Madampakkam.

But the pictures I loved were images of mornings in Sembakkam and near the Beach Station.

Please visit and take a look. The exhibition is open till Thursday.

A tribute to Chennai's spirit, by Oxygen

On Saturday, August 22, at the Hotel Green Park, Vadapalani, there will be several programmes running through the afternoon. But one programme, likely to be the shortest, will be the most special.

Oxygen, the well-known music group inn the city, will play the Chennai Anthem, a composition evoking the passion of Chennaites and also focusing on some areas of the city and the achievements of its people.

The programme is special because a youngster who was passionate about the city and its people composed the original music for the song. V. Vikram is no more, a road accident claimed his life. But his contribution will be remembered and we hope that his dreams of a better and greener Chennai will be realised some day soon.

The lyrics of the song (by Anandan, in Tamil) mentions the Fort St. George, thus far the headquarters of the government of Tami Nadu, the slum dwellers who provide much of the city’s labour force, the Marina Beach, one of the longest beaches in the world, the quieter Covelong Beach, and the Cooum and Adayar Rivers. The song urges Chennaites to keep keep nature’s gifts as pristine pure as they were meant to be. There is also mention of the city being the ‘Detroit of South Asia’, about software development parks and business process outsourcing (BPO) units. The anthem concludes with praises of the cosmopolitan character of the city.

Playing to Vikram’s music will be Girinandh (keyboard), Karthick Iyer (violin), Harish, Prithvi (drums), Ramana (mridangam and percussion) and Anirudh (kanjeera). The singers are Vijay Narain, Subu, Harish and Shakti Sri.

Going live on NDTV-Hindu

I was listening to Randor Guy recount his version of some scandals that hit Madras in the 40s and 50s at Sunday's talk hosted by Chennai Heritage when the call came.

NDTV-Hindu, the metro TV channel wanted me over at its studio in Perungudi.

The thought of moving from Mount Road to the southern fringe on a Sunday made me go ' should i say yes?'

I did. After all, as catalysts of the Madras Day events, it is our job to enthuse everyone.

And since I hadn't seen Jennifer Arul, COO of the channel for some time and had never been to the new NDTV facility, here was an opportunity.

Jenny's mom had also dropped by - she too hadn't seen the new studios but before she did that she travelled back in time, to the late 1940s when she and her friends walked to the edge of the Port after dinner at their Royapuram home, sat on the low boundary wall and took in the air.

She would have had a hundred stories to share but Jenny and her co anchor Saptarishi wanted me before the cameras on Sunday night show . . .

Jenny says she has asked her team to produce at least one story on Madras Week through this week. A nice idea.

And it is wonderful to find that many other TV and print channels are covering the Week closely.

If you blog on any or all of the events you have been checking out, send me the links please . . .

Keeping our date at the Fort

Dr. Suresh and I have tried hard to keep to this date.

Start Madras Week with a walk of Fort St George.

This time it was tough on Suresh - he has just got back from a testing archaeological study of the Guruvayur temple and on Sunday, he had to perform the rituals in memory of his mom who I recall set the most innovative kolus for Navaratri.

There were over 80 people for the walk on Sunday. And 75% of them were under 45.

Evidence of the I-Day celebration here was still around - pandals, chairs, barricades and stuff. We ignored all that and got into the assignment.

Suresh always carries four vintage coins that were used in this region, to amuse and fascinate the walkers. He didn't fail this time. Nor did the organist at St. Mary's as he warmed up for another Sunday service. The ASI staff were kind - they opened the doors to the exhibition on 'Early Madras' and when we finally got to the last point - Fort Museum, it was 10 a.m.

We enjoy doing the Fort. And all those who come along seem to enjoy it too.

When we do it for 2010, the Secretariat and Assembly may have moved to the new address in Givernment Estates

P. S. - We will be posting pictures of any events soon. . .