Waiting, lonely

A part of TTK Road, between the KB Dasan Road and Seethammal Road, has been blocked off for vehicular traffic, thanks to the Chennai Metro's construction spree. 

Most businesses along that stretch have seen a drop in their clientele. Access, parking, all of it is difficult and will likely get more so as the construction progresses. 

For now, Ronald McDonald is sitting alone, contemplating life in McDonaldland, I guess!

White label

The phrase "white label" is used for a product that is exactly the same, except for the brand that goes on the white, or blank label. When it comes to performance spaces, however, the term for such a space that is not identified directly by a sabha or troupe is black box. 

Medai, in Alwarpet, is one such performance space. Black box spaces are sparsely decorated (if at all), configurable and offer a very intimate interaction with the audience. The space itself is painted entirely black. There is seating for about 70-80 people. When these people come in to watch a performance, they get to see this on the wall going up to the black box. And then they realise that there is more at work here rather than anywhere else!

Under the flagpole

This building, on a street off TTK Road, is quite unremarkable but for the contrast it provides to its more modern neighbours. But it is also unique in being probably the only house in the neighbourhood that has a flagpole in the front yard. And under that thulasi plant near the flagpole is something that makes this building one of the very few, not just in Chennai but across India, hallowed grounds of independent India.

The building houses the "Srinivasa Gandhi Nilayam", that name paying homage to the "two fathers" of Ambujammal, the lady after whom the street is named. Her biological father was S. Srinivasa Iyengar, a highly respected lawyer who in 1920 returned his CIE and resigned his position as Law Member on the Governor's Executive Council in the wake of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Though Srinivasa Iyengar left the Congress owing to his differences with Mohandas Gandhi, he did not in any way thwart his daughter, fired by the vision of the Mahatma, following him ardently, or oppose her claim that Gandhiji was her foster father.

Ambujammal established the Srinivasa Gandhi Nilayam in homage to both her fathers. That was the platform for her to throw herself into social work, continuing her contributions from the mid 1920s right into the 1960s, as the Chairperson of the State Social Welfare Board from 1961 to 1964. The Nilayam was the place where Gandhiji's followers in Madras would meet and decide ways to further his programmes in the city and the state. Whenever Gandhiji would go on a fast, there would be prayer sessions conducted at the Nilayam. Such a profound connection with the man ended with his assassination in 1948. But wait, the connection continues. You see, a portion of the Mahatma's ashes was brought here and interred under the thulasi plant you see. No wonder then, this is a place of pilgrimage even today for anyone claiming to be a Gandhian!

Ba-Ba Street?

The area to the west of Mowbray's Road, in the early 19th century, was largely paddy fields. Further down was the 'Sudder Adawlat', native courts of the time; the main building was called Sadr Gardens - whether that was a corruption of 'Sudder' is a debatable point - and probably was the judge's residence. The Sudder Adawlat was abolished by the Indian High Courts Act of 1861, so by the time its most famous resident was born, Sadr Gardens had forgotten its courtly history and was just a comfortable garden house. 

But destiny had a way of re-connecting Sadr Gardens with its legal legacy. One of the most respected judges of the Madras High Court, Justice Basheer Ahmed Syeed, lived at Sadr Gardens for most of his life, certainly from the time he became a judge, in 1950, to his death in 1984. He had professional company in his neighbours; many lawyers spilled over from Mylapore into Alwarpet, on the eastern flank of Mowbray's Road. Among them was Bhashyam Iyengar, a senior lawyer and one who, like Basheer Ahmed, was involved in many public causes. Bhashyam Iyengar had his residence at Champaka Vilas, just south-east of Sadr Gardens.  

By the middle of the twentieth century, the paddy fields had gone. Basheer Ahmed was at the height of his social activism, having served on the committee of the Music Academy and also having set up the South India Education Trust; Bhashyam Iyengar was in the twilight of his life. There was a road, or more probably a path, between Sadr Gardens and Champaka Vilas. It was probably after Bhashyam Iyengar's passing away that this road was named after both these legal giants. Since then, many who see this sign for the first time are left wondering how this confusion of a Muslim name beginning with an obviously Iyengar appellation could have arisen!

Late evening

The late evening sun glowing over the flyover on TTK Road.

Special branch

In one way, this branch of the Tamil Nadu Co-operative State Agriculture and Rural Development Bank Ltd, in Alwarpet, is special because it operates as an affiliating bank, linking up close to 200 Primary Agriculture and Rural Development Banks across the state. The Bank itself was set up in 1929 to provide long term finance for some basic agriculture-related activities. Over many years, the bank has surely provided relief to many thousands of farmers in Tamil Nadu. However, this branch is also special for another reason - and that reason is why one gets to see a goodly crowd here, even if they are not agricultural loan applicants. 

In 1968, several employees of this branch decided that, apart from financial assistance, some spiritual guidance must also be made available. For reasons that I'm slightly fuzzy about, their deity of choice was Hanuman - also known as Anjaneyar - and set up a temple inside the bank's compound. Very soon, the temple began to attract students preparing for their Chartered Accountancy exams. Maybe they believed that this Anjaneyar had inside knowledge of accounts. Maybe it was just convenient for them to drop by after their CA classes, many of which were held in nearby Mylapore. Over the years, the belief in Anjaneyar's specialisation was expanded to cover any course that was bracketed with the letters C and A; CWA, CFA, CIA and why, even the CPA exams would be easier if you dropped by for a quick prayer here. 

The place is now better known for the temple than the bank itself. Ask any aspiring CA about the TNCSARD Bank and you will get blank stares, but s/he would definitely know about CA Anjaneyar, or Bank Anjaneyar!

Golden temple?

Don't go around looking for a gold gopuram or anything like that, if someone gives you directions that refer to the 'Golden Vinayagar' temple of Alwarpet. If you start with such grand assumptions, you will be brought down to earth with a jolt. This temple, the தங்க விநாயகர் ஆலையம் appears to be one more of the many Vinayagar temples dotting the roads of the city. But then, do not make the mistake of dismissing this as 'just another' temple. It appears to have a history of its own, going back to the days when Alwarpet was just a village, far away from the 'Madras city' of the British. The first mention of this village goes back to 1777, as part of a survey of the 'Home Farms' (as the suburban villages of Nungambakkam, Egmore, San Thome, etc were called at the time). There must have been a fairly busy village here, for, in its initial days, Teynampet was known as 'New Alwarpet' and the older area was called 'Alwarpet Gramam'. It appears that these sister-villages decided to have temples with different deities - maybe because it was younger, Teynampet chose Subramanian, while Alwarpet picked the older brother. 

This temple would have seen quite a lot, even if it is only a couple of generations old. The house right behind it was occupied by the Tamizh writer Jayakanthan; his contemporaries wondered how he could find inspiration when everything around him was boisterous - speakeasies and bordellos were his neighbours. And there was no respite during daytime, either, for the side-streets were thick with people, especially when the weekly சந்தை (open market) would happen. This temple would have seen all than Jayakanthan had observed and then some more. 

So, I guess the 'golden' here refers to the era when this temple was the prime spot of Alwarpet and life revolved around it in every way. Even if it is regarded as just another roadside temple by the citizen rushing past it on TTK Road, it commands devotion from the village of Alwarpet that continues to function on the side roads behind it!

Sprucing up

With the festival season coming up, even the small 'temples' are getting a facelift. Here's one in Alwarpet, getting the primer done. In a week, it should be ready to join the festivities in multicoloured glory!

Am going to be away for a few days; hopefully, I'll have access to the Internet and will be able to continue the 'daily' bit of this blog....

Criss-cross

Oh yes, it has been raining off and on, still. Mostly nights, but there are some afternoon spells, too. Was going over my set of recent 'rain pictures' when I found this one. I had thought it was not a great picture, but today, something else struck me.

We drive on the left of the road; at least most of the time, we drive on the left-ish side of the road. On a rainy day, especially when the road shoulders start flooding, street wisdom is to take the middle path - chances of some fresh cut ditches on the side of the road are always high and the rain water would obviously hide them. Most drivers therefore prefer to not take the chance of their vehicles getting stuck in a rut and the middle-of-the-road approach becomes commonplace. And we did it too, even though this road we were on was not flooded. As we approached a T-junction, I saw this car coming from our left, while we were to turn right. The picture taken through the windshield is fuzzy for obvious reasons - there was a drizzle going on. Both cars crossed and went our ways without any fuss.

It was only after we crossed that I realized we had had each other on the left as we passed! Both vehicles had taken the path of least distance, rather than go around to each other's right!

The Eater's Digest - 1

One of the most well known food secrets of Chennai is Cornucopia, THE restaurant for European style food. Very unpretentious, with just about 20 tables, you might miss it if you are driving too fast on Cenotaph Road. The cooking is excellent, the portions just right (and you can choose half portions, too), the service runs smoothly as a background process and the prices are reasonable. What more can you ask for?

This is a make up post - for not being able to post yesterday. :/

Menagerie City - 2

Horses, cows, bullocks, buffaloes - they were all pretty common sights on the streets of Chennai until about 20 years ago. It has been quite a while since I've seen a horse graze on the by-lanes of the city. This one was just 50 metres or so away from TTK Road, behind the Benjarong restaurant - so very much heart of the city, in Alwarpet.

The law abiding owner has made sure that the horse has been tethered on the side away from the 'No Parking' board!