Watch the type

They don't make these anymore.

Chennai had at least two factories making big typewriter brands. Both were from the same group, but Halda was the more prominent of the two, with its factory right on Mount Road. I can't remember ever having seen the factory - in fact I am sure that by the 1990s, the factory had ceased production - but even as recently as 2007, news reports referred to that site as the "Halda Junction". That factory was started in 1956 with a capacity of about 3,500 typewriters annually - with keyboards in 3 languages. By 1960, they had expanded the plant, with capacity going up to 15,000 units and by one report, 83% of the parts being indigenously manufactured.

Halda AB, the Swedish parent had another brand, Facit, which turned out typewriters from its factory in Perungudi. I haven't been able to get much information on when this was started, or when it stopped, but by the 1980s, the typewriter's days were numbered. Halda AB had put their typewriter business on the block; passing through a few hands, they were finally laid to rest sometime in the 1990s. Without any competition, Godrej & Boyce continued making their machines into the 21st century. That sole manufacturer of manual typewriters in the world finally shut production down in April 2011. 

Halda continues to be around today, though in a different avatar. Check out this site!

Early Onam?

Onam, the harvest festival of Kerala, is still a couple of weeks away. It is tradition that in the 10 days leading up to Onam, every house creates a pookalam (flower pattern), a fresh one every day, preferably growing in size and complexity so that the one on Thirvonam day is quite large and intricate.

A hotel in Chennai seems to have started early: this was in its lobby at least a month before the festival day!

Chennai heat

The rains of the Southwest monsoon stopped a few weeks ago and it is too early for its Northeast cousin to visit us yet. It has been steaming up in the city as we move into the second, or third, of the four summers? The other subject in the picture - autorickshaw meters - have been in the news for the past few days, with the government having fixed the fares after many many years.

But the autos have time until October 15 to ensure compliance. Hopefully, the rains would be back then and the city - as well as the auto meters - would be less hot then!

Metro matters

It has taken a little over four years and the Chennai Metro appears to be on track for taking on the first set of passengers early next year. Put together, the two corridors will have a tad over 45km of track, of which 24km would run underground. This is a picture of a section of Corridor 2 (Central to St Thomas Mount), between Arumbakkam and Vadapazhani. A map of the corridors can be seen here. 

How may stations does the Chennai Metro have? That was a question at the Madras Quiz, to which many teams knew the answer (no, we did not). Each of the corridors has 17 stations. Another question was to identify which is the only station common to both corridors - that's the Alandur station, near the airport (which we knew). But the correct answer to the first question was given as 32 - which doesn't add up.

One explanation is that the number would depend on how you count the stations. Going by their names, there are only 32. Apart from Alandur, the other common name is Central Metro; on the map, however, the corridors show distinct stations, so if we were to go by that count, there would really be 33 stations. 

And then, there would be some who might insist on adding up the stations and claiming that there are actually 34!

Merry go-round

In real-life, this looks a bit tacky, but the picture has somehow caught the light inside the carousel's centrepiece and makes it look good. At MGM Dizzee World

The first SEZ

India can take credit for a lot of firsts on the global stage and Chennai can do likewise on the national stage (and in some cases, globally as well). That's why many consider Chennai (Madras) to be the first city of modern India. And, as the place where it all began, Fort St George can take pride in all the firsts that have been listed.

There is however one 'first' that has not been considered. And that's what my wife told me last evening. "Do you realize" said she, "that Fort St George is the first SEZ in the country?". That's true. When it was set up, 374 years ago, the fort was exempt from paying any taxes on its revenues. It was also allowed duty-free imports, so by practical standards, this factory on the Coromandel coast could indeed have been India's first Special Economic Zone!

School types

The building looks like it has been permanently stuck in the 1970s or thereabouts. The business touted on the signboard, advertising typewriting and shorthand courses, should have gone bust at least in the later part of the 1990s. That it hasn't is probably an endorsement of some forms of technology; in fact, Kremlin seems to have plumped for it as their answer to the Edward Snowden challenge, as it were.  

Back to the facts here: the list of 'Approved Commerce Institutes" on the state government's website runs into 110 pages - that is roughly 2,000 such Typewriting and Shorthand Schools. The vast majority of them seems to be based in Chennai and it would be good to find out what the situation is like in the other states - I can imagine Kerala having a similar number, but no clue about any of the others. 

So how many of you have seen notes being taken down in shorthand, these days?

Sandwiched

The Nawabs of Wallajah had a significant presence in the Madras of the British East India Company's days. Apart from the Nawabs themselves, significant courtiers were also patrons of the city and they sometimes left a memory behind. Those could certainly not be allowed to overshadow the Nawabs' legacy - still, that's no reason for this mosque to be bullied by the buildings next to it.

Bahram Jung, or, to give him his full address, Muhammad Abdullah Qadir Nawaz Khan Bahadur Bahram Jung, was in the services of the Nawab between 1789 and 1795. As the personal advisor of Nawab Umdat-ul-Umrah, Bahram was the interlocutor to negotiate borrowings for the Nawab. And there was a quite a lot of borrowing, to the extent that when Umdat-ul-Umrah died and the creditors began pressing for repayment, the British had to step in. They confiscated all of Bahram's jagirs and gave him a stipend that he could barely subsist upon. This mosque was certainly built during Bahram's better times, towards the end of the 18th century.

Can't spot it? You can see the two minarets - miniminarettes, really - to the right of the Witco sign. Must try to go in there, sometime. It will surely be a squeeze!

Unusual music

What is so unusual about a Sivalingam, you ask? Well, it is not just about the lingam, though it is not often that a regularly tended-for lingam is left out in the open. Look beyond the lingam, to the figure under the canopy. That is Nandi, Siva's vehicle. It is not difficult to recognise him, even when he is shown in a rare anthropomorphic representation.

It is not usual that Nandi is housed under a roof when Siva is left to the mercy of the elements. As I said, this is not a usual Nandi. The statue is shown seated, playing the mridangam, recalling the fabled performance when Nandi played the deva vaadyam (heavenly instrument) as the accompaniment to Siva's cosmic dance.  That instrument, it is believed, is what the mridangam evolved from. 

At the Government College of Music, Chennai, it is entirely appropriate that the musician rates that bit higher!

Lighthouse trivia

I have posted earlier about Chennai's newest lighthouse, but this picture was too good to ignore, so I'm re-hashing some of the trivia around this lighthouse. 

It is the only lighthouse in India that has a triangular cross section (for the most part, at least). It is also the only lighthouse in India that has an elevator inside it. It's counterpart on the second point in the USA - the only lighthouse with an elevator - is called the Charleston Light, at Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. Incidentally, that is also a triangular building!

Double road

Of course, being confused over roads with similar names is quite usual. But here is one that takes the cake. The sign shows a turn off from TTK Road. What is unusual is that the side road is also called TTK Road!

Roses for the lady?

Valentine's Day, 2013. Thought we'd go for a 'Blind Date' show at Sathyam. But work happened. And am left with this picture of roses piled up at West Mambalam. 

But wait, who's that lady in the background?!

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!

Thirsty birds

It is just February and Chennai is getting into its second season - the 'Hotter' season. Temperatures are in the high 20s and are expected to move into the 30s during this week (and that's Celsius, in case you're wondering). Not dog days, yet, but bird days, maybe?

At the Ambattur Industrial Estate, there is certainly one bird lover, at least. Outside a factory gate, there is this mid-sized ficus growing. As in many other places, a shrine has come up under the ficus, showing all signs of being well tended to. On a more practical note, however, is the provisioning of water; there is a mud-pot in the shade, which I guess is for humans. The bird lover has gone further and set up this drinking trough, with some space for grains as well. We didn't get to see any bird use it - maybe they have to learn Tamizh, for it clearly says on the trough that it is "பறவைகள் தண்ணீர் குடிக்க (for birds to drink)"!

Cool priest

There are some smoke-less puja kits available, apparently. But does that serve the purpose? Have long held the belief that the smoke permeating into every room is a key aspect of the puja itself. Wouldn't like to lose that in a hurry.

But it makes your eyes water. And turn red. Could this be a solution? The priest was prepared, and maybe, next time, I shall be, too!

Training Centre

The Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturers' Association (AIEMA) is celebrating its golden jubilee this year. That's a bit surprising, because, just a little distance away from this building complex is a foundation stone saying that the Industrial Estate was inaugurated on July 3, 1965. It is quite likely that the Association pre-dated the formal Estate; Ambattur is one of those suburbs of the city that pre-dates the creation of the city of Madras itself.

The Technology Centre of the AIEMA came up a while after the Estate itself began functioning. It appears to have been set up with a lot of foresight; even 30 years after it began functioning, it seems to have quite a bit of space. Space enough for it to have its own exhibition area as well as grounds for outdoor events.

The golden jubilee celebrations appear to be in full swing. It would be nice to get there for an event or two! 

Fast food

The signboard says, rather grandly, "Drive In". Look at it, one barely has room to walk into this curry corner, let alone attempt to take a vehicle into it. Somehow, the late night revellers have never taken the sign literally. Maybe it is because they know that if not for this joint, they wouldn't have anywhere else to go when they remember that they haven't had dinner yet.

Midnight Express, on TTK Road, usually sees a lot of action in the early hours - between midnight and about 2 am. It may not have been the first to spot a niche in the post-late-movie empty stomachs, but it has been more enduring than the others. The food is nothing much to speak of; for vegetarians, there is indeed nothing to speak of. But late at night, when you're in the right spirit, paya or keema dosa is almost like manna from heaven. 

Apart from being the last joint to close, Midnight Express has another advantage. They never run out of seating space for customers here. Simple. They are perfectly okay to serve you at your vehicle, even if you are sitting on your bike 100 feet away from their doors. Maybe that's what "Drive In" means!

Cafe Irani

While Madras did have its share of Parsis and Zoroastrians, they were certainly not as numerous as those of Bombay. Yet, there were enough of them around for these kind of cafes to be recognized as a distinct niche - the Irani cafe. 

They were probably the first 'chain' of cafes. The red-on-white lettering, with nothing else on it but 'Irani', was used by all such cafes. I remember just a few of these in Chennai. There were a couple on Mount Road, one near the Thousand Lights mosque and another near the Wallajah Road junction. There was one on General Patters Road. And then this one Thambu Chetty Street, George Town.

Though I remember them from school / college days, I can't for the life of me think about what unique cuisine they had. I don't think I've ever had dhansak or bun-maska at these places. But there is a faint whiff of those mutton samosas - small ones, deep fried.... or am I just dreaming? Does anyone remember what their favourite was at these joints?

Nearby

Nothing to do with Chennai, specifically. Just a random picture to remind us that Pondicherry - now Puducherry - was always nearby...

Enclosed shrine

How many times have you seen a shrine within a building? Especially when that building, from the outside, does not appear to have much to do with religion?

Paramananda Doss and Chotta Doss began their silk trade in Mint Street in 1888, becoming one of the first in south India to source cloth from Benares. They had printed catalogues detailing their products - embroidered cashmere shawls, Calcutta linen, China white silk, khilat and kincob pieces - all of which would have been quite exotic to the good people of Madras. Their prices were reasonable enough and the brothers were fastidious about quality to the extent that their patrons were comfortable in sending "their orders by post". In fact, their displays won "gold medals and first-class certificates" at the Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition three years in a row - in 1903, '04 and '05. 

With business being good, the brothers put aside some money to charity, constructing a dharmasala just north of today's Chennai Central station. It had the traditional central courtyard, open to the sky, around which were arranged rooms for travellers. Whether it was to cater to the spiritual needs of the travellers or to prevent them from getting too high-spirited, I am uncertain; but this shrine in the central courtyard came up a little after the building itself. The pujas and rituals continue here to this day. Sadly, succeeding generations of the Dosses seem to have got themselves mired in litigation and, as far as I can make out, the firm does not exist in its original form today.