Raja Seetharaman; R.I.P.

This was not the way we could have closed Madras Day 2008.

Not with an obituary.

But it had to be.

Raja Seetharaman, one of the biggest catalysts of the Madras Day movement died in tragic circumstances on Vinayaka Chathurthi evening, Sept. 3.

Raja died near the Mambalam railway station. He was on his way home after attending a social function when the accident took place.

It is still not clear to us how Raja died - was he tossed aside by an oncoming train and fell on stone and injured himself badly in the head? Or was he thrown aside by a moving train?

We have lost Raja. The man who had tons of energy and gave it all for a public cause.

He with D. H. Rao had organised the Madras Day exhibition of pictures, coins, postage and books. Year after year. Without seeking rewards.

He who put the Special Postal Covers to celebrate Madras and leave signposts in our history.

Raja was a collector of special things. Coins, postage, covers and wedding invites. But he kept a low profile. His strength - putting shows together. 

He was on stage at the inaugural of the Madras Day exhibition at Rajaji Hall. He made sure I got a copy of the special postal cover.

We met on Sunday at Museum Theatre, Egmore for the release of the first part of the Madras Gazetteer to which he had also contributed a chapter. Over refreshments, we talked about how we should take the show to north Madras for 2009. We parted after a long chat.

We had parted for life. 

I was at his funeral on Sept.4 - the first time I stepped into his house on Iyyah Mudali Street in Chintadripet. A well maintained heritage house which had been a stop on V. Sriram's walking tour just weeks ago. I just couldn't bear to go close to his body.  

How do we remember such souls who have been proud of Chennai and did some thing unique for its celebration? When I asked a reporter of 'The Hindu' to write a tribute he said Raja was not a celebrity. So he couldn't convince his chief to spare space for Raja.

Perhaps we will remember him differently. 

Every 'Madras Day' should open with a recall of his contribution.

Tributes must live on. Men can't.

Final Jottings

I got marooned in the final events of Madras Day and so, couldn't keep the blog going!

But now that 2008 is over, I would like to post a few jottings.

Madras Live, the new FM radio station called me over for a chat on Aug.22 morning and the 90 min programme was fun. It gave me an opportunity to tell the city what the Day was all about.

It would be nice to have all our stations focussed on this theme in the years ahead.

The exhibition at Rajaji Hall, the work of D. H. Rao and Raja Seetharaman, got the support of Nalli and TN Tourism. The weekend brought huge crowds, Rao said.

Quizzers may not recognise this event but the Tamil Quiz on Madras that Revathi R. ran for our schools was a warm affair. The best thing about it was the fact that it wasn't a cold contest. The kids enjoyed the session and we kept the questions simple and current. Finally, at the wire, the girls from Rani Meyyammai school pipped the boys from Raja Muthiah.

We had very thin crowds for the docu films screenings on Sat and Sunday. Thanks to Mohan Das Vadakara who spun the DVDs, the screenings were smooth. 

A lot more work needs to be done in producing new docus on the city and that starts now!

Sunday morn was abuzzzzz  - there were give walks in different parts of the city.

I launched the Mount Road walk with 15 people alongside and it took us a little over 2 hours to do the run from The Hindu to Agurchand Mansions.

Sundays have their bonuses - you can storm buildings whose gates are half closed! So we ran up to the 2nd floor of Agurchand and got a grand view of Mount Road!

I hope to have many more Mount Road walks in the months ahead! (Sign up at madraswalks@gmail.com)

And finally, we ran the Madras Quiz at a new venue off Luz. There must have been about 200 people. But it remained warm and easy - the way it has always been. (My colleague Revathi hopes to post the prelim and final set of questions on this blog so if you weren't there you can take them in slowly.)

I think many people didn't like that question on Chinnamalai Pork Curry! Not apt? Not in good taste? Not Madras-like?

I caught up with Mohan at his docu film show at Sastri Hall, Luz. R V Ramani's  ' If I Die' was the last to roll. It is an old docu on Shihan Hussaini. 

At dinner Mohan and I decided we should promote more fresh docus on Madras. So we have work on our hands now for 2009!

NDTV's Chennai Special

Finally, NDTV decides to devote its Southern Special, telecast daily at 7 p.m. to Chennai.

For Madras Day.

This morning, I catch the Good Morning Mumbai section on NDTV and have to endure a story on a MLA who is on the run. . . can't we begin our mornings with Mumbai's brighter side?

And hey! is Chennai off your radar Pranoy?

Guess Sanjay Pinto, its bureau head argued a lot to get the Chennai special going.

There should be a few snappy features, Sanjay says.

And if all goes well, we should be chatting up on the lawns of Ripon Buildings . . .live.

Yes, we'd like the world to know that Chennai is proud of itself.

Close to midnight and philatelist and collector of all things odd, Raja Seetharaman is going through the last of the exhibits that go on show at Rajaji Hall ( Aug 22 to 25).

Don't miss this grand show. It is free. And children will love it.

D H Rao's epic effort on shooting the Buckingham Canal and telling its story in pictures needs commendation.

Tell us what you though of this show. Post here!

Radio Chennai!

Day 4 was for some homework!

To give the final touches to the Madras Quiz due on Sunday.

I was tempted to be be at Anil Srinivasan's talk. Rather listen to him play.

But sacrificed it.

How I wished for a pirate radio station - which would relay, or at least, play the talks and report the city events.

And then I get an invitation from Chennai Live FM to be on their August 22 morning show.

I promise to.

AIR's FM Rainbow channel will also pepper all its programmes on Aug.22 with tidbits, bytes and chats on the city. 

Good.

But we still need a pirate Radio Chennai station

Madras Day 2008; Day Three

This is a tradition I guess.
The Tuesday of Madras Week is devoted to City Schools!
There's a double bill on today.
Over 70 students from 20 schools file into Srinivasa Sastri Hall in Luz for the Chennai Heritage Project Contest. Students are asked to choose a less known heritage site, visit and study it and work on a PP presentation. And the teams present their projects today.
So we get to listen to topics on St. Patrick's School in Adyar set up by Irish priests who once owned the area now called Gandhi Nagar, the Pattinathar Temple in Thiruvottriyur, Royapuram Railway Station . . .

Dr. Prema Kasturi and Indira Narayanan are the judges. And the winners - Sri Sankara Vidyashramam, Thiruvanmiyur, Sishya, Adyar and Lady Andal Venkata Subba Rao School, Chetput.

Earlier, Swahilya has good news for us. She is the guide of a tour which took a group of P. S. Senior School students to landmarks in north Madras. Swahilya says she enjoyed doing the tour as much as the kids did. A second such tour takes place later this week.

Swahilya volunteered to guide this tour. And we need more people who can lead events for Madras Day. Ideas, people, spaces. If you have some thing abuzz for 2009, do let us know.