Miss me?

Over at the CDP Blogs site, we are celebrating Theme Day today with pictures of what the blogger would miss most about his/her city. The thought of leaving Chennai is too far-fetched for me, and I find it impossible to go further on that road and think about what I would miss about Chennai.

If there has to be something, it would have to be a combination led by this. Early morning on the balcony, with The Hindu and a cup of tea. No, not the filter coffee that everyone thinks all Chennaiites thrive on, and not any other newspaper, for sure. You could argue that The Hindu can be subscribed to anywhere and chai is also available across the world. But nothing can beat the early morning crispness of Chennai; add the chai and The Hindu, and that's an experience utterly unreplicable.

What would the other bloggers miss about their cities? Head over here to find out!

Posterful

Many firms use a lot of colour and decorate the community spaces of their offices with a variety of media. Was at an office with this colourful cafe recently. And the best part is that the posters are all designed and created by the firm itself!

Old house

Chintadripet was one of the earliest 'planned settlements' of Madras. It was in 1734 that the Company took over a garden (and quite a garden it must have been) belonging to Sunku Rama Chetty, who was until 1731 the Chief Merchant of Fort St George. That land was given to him in 1719 by Governor Joseph Collet, but in the years that followed, Sunku Rama Chetty's arrogance to the Company's European merchants led to his downfall. Not only was he dismissed from his post in 1731, Governor Morton Pitt took over his garden with the intent of creating a settlement for weavers. 

By 1735, the 'Village of Small Looms' ("Chinna-thari-pettai" சின்ன தறி பேட்டை) was up and weaving. Apart from the Audikesava Perumal temple, there is probably no other structure that dates back to the early days of the village. But walking down the roads of Chintadripet today, you still get to see many old houses - like this one, which is surely from the turn of the 20th century. 

This picture was taken during a photowalk a couple of months ago. A fellow photo-walker's post says the lady sitting on the thinnai was waiting for her daughter-in-law to bring her her 2nd cup of coffee!

By the yard?

Though it has been referred to as 'metre coffee' many a time, I don't think I've ever asked for it by that name; indeed, I don't think any Chennaiite would think of it as such, for the term has almost always been dropped by visitors to this city. In specialty restaurants across India, some waiters serve South Indian coffee with a flourish, pouring it from one tumbler to another in such a way that the hot liquid falls a height equal to the waiter's armspans - well, that's close to a metre and surely an apt description.

Not that a visitor to Chennai would be disappointed if he asks for coffee at the roadside stall. The vendor would pour all liquids in the same fashion, raising one vessel as far as his arm can stretch. Maybe the distance travelled cools down the milk, but then, what is the point, if it is going to go back into the boiling pot, anyway!

Morning cuppa - and then some

Pattiveeranpatti, a panchayat town in Dindigul district, has a population of just under 8,000 people, according to the 2001 census of India. Chances are that almost every one of them is dependent upon coffee for their livelihood. The town has a history of coffee growing going back nearly a hundred-and-fifty years and is one of the coffee hubs of the country - if further proof of its importance in the world of Indian coffee is needed, consider this: of the 22 associations of coffee growers / traders in Tamilnadu that are recognized by the Coffee Board, 7 have their offices in Pattiveeranpatti. By any yardstick, that makes it a force to reckon with in coffee circles.

Pattiveeranpatti's connect with Madras is not a story of brute power, however. P.R.K.Nadar had started off helping missionaries in the Palani hills sell the coffee from their plantations, sometime in the early 20th century. As has happened in several such stories, he decided that he was cut out for larger things and brought along his coffee to Mylapore. Setting up shop to the south of the Kapaleeshwarar temple, he began selling his coffee to the locals. It is common knowledge now that a cup of hot filter coffee early in the morning does put a lot of beans into the body; almost three-quarters of a century ago, this discovery must have electrified the local populace. Demand grew and P.R.K.Nadar - or could it have been his son? - decided it was time to brand their coffee and so was born Leo Coffee - a brand that has instant associations to Madras, to filter coffee and for Madrasis of my generation, to A.R.Rahman; it is said that the music he scored for the Leo Coffee Ad brought him to the notice of Mani Ratnam, beginning a journey that has so far travelled all the way to the Kodak Theatre.

But the firm of PRK Nadar & Sons takes all of that in its stride, for they still retain some of their old-world ways; click on the picture and you will see their sign still reads 'Madras'. Even more interesting - they still display their 5-digit telephone number!