King of mythology

Were he alive today, Kuppuswamy would have been celebrating his 95th birthday. But no one would have referred to him by that name, for he achieved fame in Madras as Nagarajan. That was the name given to him when he was working with Avvai Shanmugam's drama company in the late 1930s. He did well on stage, including in sthreepart (playing a woman). He also started writing plays and in 1953, he shifted to the world of movies, adapting his play Nalvar for the screen. It was during an interview with a magazine that he revealed his 'original' name, and that he was the son of Paramasivam of Akkammapettai (near Salem). From then on, he was A.P. Nagarajan. 

Tamizh cinema of the 50s and 60s was crowded with 'social' movies, a reflection of the shift from ancient themes to challenges of the modern day human. It was A.P. Nagarajan who brought the spotlight back on to 'mythologicals'. His first film as an independent producer, 'Navarathri' (also Sivaji Ganesan's 100th film) in 1964, was a big hit. Yet, that year's blockbuster was 'Karnan', BR Pantulu's magnum opus, with an ensemble cast that included Sivaji, NTR, Savithri, Muthuraman, Ashokan and Devika. That reminded APN of his initial success with mythology - Sampoorna Ramayanam in 1958, for which he had written the screenplay. He now decided to focus on that genre as a producer, too. The movies that he brought out after 1965 were all hits, and many continue to be household names today. Saraswathi Sabatham, Kandhan Karunai, Thiruvarutchelvar, Thirumal Perumai, Agasthiyar, Thirumalai Deivam, Karaikaal Ammayaar and Sri Krishna Leela. During these years he also made Thillana Mohanambal and Raja Raja Chozhan, both of which were hugely successful, even if they were not mythologicals. 

AP Nagarajan's house on Chittaranjan Road has now been converted into a jumble of multi-purpose spaces. It has offices, a restaurant, a training centre, and Medai, a performance space. It is in the foyer of Medai that one can see this 'shrine' to APN; some of the awards he won, and a few pictures with national leaders of the day. While there is a memento of the runaway success of his 1965 film, I believe it should have been displayed more prominently, for in my mind, it was Thiruvilayadal that has had the most impact on the pop-culture of the state, with its dialogues being riffed on even to this day! (check out here and here for a couple of those. And this one with corporate overtones!)

 

There still?

I have in my archives, several photographs of buildings or other things that I mean to gather more information about. And then when I look at them, I realize that far too many years have gone by; is that building standing even now? Such a one is this picture of a building on Broadway, taken in 2010. If you click on the picture to open it in a new tab, and blow it up, you will see that it says "1930 Sarafaly Mansion". For the last 13 years, I have been trying to find out more but I don't think I will have any further details than I already have, so here goes. 

The partnership firm Mohamedaly Sarafaly and Company has been in existence for nearly two centuries. The founding partner, Mohamed Ali Shaikh Sarafaly was originally from Sidhpur in Gujarat (which, by the way, seems to be a fascinating town in itself), and had ventured far and wide to establish his trading business. He appears to have spent a considerable length of time in Ethiopia, being awarded the 'Star of Ethiopia, II Order' by emperor Haile Selassie I, in addition to the award of an MBE (Member of the British Empire). 

I am absolutely speculating here: the firm of Mohamedaly Sarafaly carried out a lot of business from Madras as well. Like many of those who found success here, they must have set up more permanent indicators of their benevolence and societal awareness. This Sarafaly Mansion must have been one such. A search on Google throws up references to a lot of litigation involving Mohamedaly Sarafaly and Company, mostly against the Income Tax Department. It is quite likely that all of these assets are in the current state of limbo thanks to those cases, going back to the 1960s. I also discover that find that Abdullabhoy M Bhagat, Partner of Mohmaedaly Sarafaly, is yet to claim dividend for 2019-20 from Sicagen, according to their report from August 2022. Does anyone have more - and correct - details to offer? 

 

Travel pangs

It is not just armies, but travellers too, who march on their stomachs. There was a time when the choices of food when taking a train out of Chennai Central would be: a) goop from vendor A or b) goop from vendor B. 

I believe goop has disappeared now. And the options have increased. Adyar Ananda Bhavan will itself give you a decent choice of food, and with the biriyani joint above it, one would not want for choice of non-vegetarian fare, either. 

What's your favourite food on a train journey? 

Slithering climber

The local name for this beauty is "Komberi mookan", which roughly translates as 'Branch-climbing-sharp-nosed-one', but thankfully, the English name is slightly easier on the tongue. The Common Bronzeback Tree Snake (Dendrelaphis tristis) is a great climber and prefers to hang out on the branches of a tree or a tall shrub rather than on the ground. 

It is a common enough snake, and not at all venomous. Of course, if it does bite you, it would hurt quite a bit, but you won't have to run around looking for anti-venin. You are well advised to go to a doctor, though and let her know what bit you. 

The distinctive identifying feature of this snake is the bronze line running along the centre of its body. It is not too clear in this picture, but you can see where it starts, right at the top of the head. The best defence is to make sure you don't disturb this fella to the extent that chomps its jaws on you!

 

Classic workplace

Monday morning and a great majority of folks would be getting ready to go back to their workplaces after the weekend break. A little over 2,000 such folk are employed by this firm, Rane Madras Limited, part of the Rane Group. Not all of them would be entering this gate on the Velachery Road, because this is only one of the 5 units of this company. I will wager that even those who do take only a cursory glance at this sign at the gate; they have been seeing it for years, and very little would have changed about it during that time. 

Rane Madras Limited is the flagship of the Rane Group. It was in 2005 that this company became a subsidiary of Rane Holdings Limited, and then became a public listed company. The 'original' Rane (Madras) Limited was set up in 1929; it needed the city's name in it because there was a Rane family of Bombay who were also shareholders in this venture. We shall keep the story of the group's history for another day, because for now, I would like you to take a look at this sign. 

It is fairly obvious that a change in the city's name does not need every institution which has 'Madras' in its name to modify that to 'Chennai'. Continuing to call this firm Rane (Madras) Limited is therefore the right thing to do. And yes, all the signs have to be in Tamizh as well, so that is fine, too. In 1978, the Tamil Nadu government had simplified the script to standardize the ligatures of some syllables. The new - in 1978 - way of writing "Madras" was மெட்ராஸ்; but in this sign, you can see that it is written as மதறஸ் (with a twist, that I'm unable to replicate, on the second letter, to signify rā), the way it would probably be spelt in Tamizh of Singapore, Sri Lanka or Mauritius!

Vista

It is a lazy Sunday today, so I will let you relax with this view towards a beach from a hotel along the ECR, a bit of a way from Chennai! 

Mind your language

This is a throwback to the 1960s, or if you remember your history, to the 1930s. The first anti-Hindi agitations in Madras happened in 1937, when the provincial government of the Madras Presidency decided to make Hindi a compulsory subject in the schools. As long as the government was run by the Indian National Congress (with Rajaji as the Premier of Madras), the policy remained in place, and the agitations against it continued without a break until 1940. After  the provincial governments resigned in 1939, protesting against Britain declaring war on behalf of India, the compulsory Hindi teaching policy was withdrawn. 

The Constitution of India had set out a 15-year period during which English would be one of the Official Languages of the Union of India; a period during which Hindi would be strengthened to become the sole such language. As that 15-year deadline approached, there were protests in several non-Hindi speaking states, but none had the vehemence of protests in Madras. And so, despite the Official Languages Act of 1963 indicating that English may continue to be used for an indefinite period, the protests against Hindi continued. More about that for another day.

Recent attempts at making Hindi acceptable across all non-Hindi-speaking states have been met with suspicion. And so this slogan on a bridge in Chennai; I hope that the politicians are sensible enough to understand that we as a nation have thrived because of our diversity!

 

 

Junked jalopy

Chennai ranks 15th in the list of metropolitan areas by population density. At ~25,500 people per square kilometre, one would think it is impossible to have privacy anywhere in the city.

It is also kind of obvious that any large city will have spaces where, without any official demarcation, junk piles up. Garbage, yes, but also where stuff is just left and forgotten about. 

Chennai does have places where one can sit and contemplate quietly, without any fellow citizen intruding into those thoughts. There are similarly some nooks in the city where you can leave a vehicle to nature's mercies and it will not be noticed by passers-by. This one, right on Mount Road should be impossible to miss; and yet, it is, unless you are walking slowly and peering behind the patchy foliage by the roadside!

Ambedkar's model?

Does the statue look familiar? To most of us, it might, even though we might not have heard about the man himself. Though he was born in St Thomas Mount, in 1883, his name referred to another part of Madras; Mylai Chinna Thambi Pillai Rajah (MC Rajah) was quite a way away from the Mylapore that is part of his name. He studied at the Wesley School and at the Madras Christian College, before starting off as a teacher in 1906. Keenly aware of the way in which the Dalits had been segregated and oppressed, he was vociferous in his demands for their empowerment. Recognising his work, the Government of Madras chose him for the Provincial Legislative Council in 1919, as their nominee to represent the Adi Dravidars. Early in the term, Rajah convinced the British to remove the terms "parayan" and "panchaman", substituting them with Adi Dravider. 

That gave him a further boost as a champion of the Dalits. In 1928, when the first national association for the Dalits - the All India Depressed Classes Association - was formed, Rajah was  invited to be its first President, with a certain Bhimrao as the Vice President. Rajah had initially (in 1930) supported the idea of a separate electorate for the Dalits; but in what was probably a strategic blunder, he went ahead and forged and agreement with the Hindu Mahasabha, to have the Dalits be represented on the basis of a joint electorate, with province-wise seat reservation for the Dalits. Maybe it was too early for this idea, but it paved the way for the Poona Pact between Ambedkar and Gandhi, which was along similar lines. There was a time when Rajah was the national leader of the Dalits; but somewhere along the way the British sidelined him, nominating Rettamalai Srinivasan along with Ambedkar as the Dalit representatives to the Round Table Conferences in 1930-31. Rajah continued to be an active champion of the depressed classes until his death in 1943. Rettamalai Srinivasan passed away in 1945. And then the field was clear for Ambedkar to be the sole champion of the Dalits. 

This building at the Nandanam-Saidapet border was set up in 1944 by one of Rajah's followers, as a hostel for Adi Dravida students coming to study in Chennai. Over the years, its hospitality had been abused to an extent that, in 2019, a clean-up of the facility found that there were 80 non-student residents - and 13 of them had criminal cases against them. That clean-up has put this hostel back on track to providing much needed support for the underprivileged students from the depressed classes trying to make their mark in life!

King of the hill

Rajasthan has a little over a hundred forts and Maharashtra has over 350. Compared to these states, Tamil Nadu does not have much to offer by way of forts, with around 30 such. There are a few that can be visited as a day trip from Chennai; this is one such, even if the 250 km distance is a bit of a stretch for a day trip.

The Ranjankudi Fort was built in the 17th century by a jagirdar of the Nawab of the Carnatic. An oblong structure, it is encircled by a moat (now largely dry) and has fortifications built at 3 different levels. The lowermost is the basic ramparts of the fort and enclosed within it is a large space called pettai which was supposedly the setting for open markets / fairs and also for battles. One such battle was the 1751 Battle of Vallikondah; though it was fought in the fort, it is named for a village in the vicinity. Unsurprisingly, it was a battle between the French and the British, a small piece in the conflicts between them across the globe. The French lost this one; even though they had captured the Ranjankudi Fort, they were unable to access the Kottai medu, the uppermost tier above the pettai. That's where the Nawabs had their private residential quarters - and a swimming pool as well.

This was a strategic location in those times; Trichinopoly was a large city and if one could take control of Ranjankudi, it could be the base from which Trichy could be threatened. This was the main reason for this fort coming up on a hillock where there were only shrines to Siva and Hanuman earlier. The locals have it that there is still a lot of treasure - well, artefacts, at least - to be found inside the fort walls, where they have been stashed away by soldiers and generals who never returned. Maybe that's a story to be made viral, to attract greater numbers to this fort!

Valentine foundation

115 years ago, an act of love by the Maharanee of Rewa, was set in stone in Mylapore. Although it was actually founded almost half-a-century earlier, in 1869 by the Maharaja of Vizianagaram, the school was probably going through a tough period in the early part of the 20th century. Or maybe it was just that they wanted to expand the school and make the founder anonymous. Maybe it was just to formalise an arrangement that was started in 1869. 

Whatever the reason may have been, this foundation stone is 115 years old today. I don't think they would have celebrated Valentine's Day in those times (nor did they seek out cows to hug on this day, I don't think so). 

But gifts of love of this kind should be more than welcome even today!

Consort temple

The street is named after the first of the Pandavas. Yudhishthiran, the just, the one who held on to the truth irrespective of consequences, is also known as Dharmarajan, the just king. So when one comes across a street named Dharmaraja Temple Street in Saidapet, the first impression is that there must be a temple to this deeply honest ruler somewhere nearby.

The name-board at the entrance of this temple also appears to bear this out. Dharmaraja's name is prefaced by Draupadi's, but it still indicates that the temple is of her husband. However, that is not the case. Draupadi has pride of place here, as the main goddess. Yudhishthiran finds a place on the wall, along with his brothers. 

It is not a very well-known temple, even though it has supposedly been here for over 300 years. That is not very easy to believe (have to verify this independently), but it has been here for over 70 years, at the least. If only we could only have this restored to a state that reflects the glory of its presiding deity - that would be really something!

 

Multi-medicine

There is a ministry in the Central Government of India named the Ministry of Ayush. Of the 5 letters in that name, two were not very well known systems of 'alternatlive medicine' in the India of the 1940s. Yoga was esoteric, and homeopathy was a highly niche practice. So, when Vaidya Ratna Captain G.Srinivasamurthy, Professor Dr.C.Dwarakanath, Dr.Y.Suryanarayana Rao, Ayurvedacharya and D.M.Visweswara Sastry got together to set up a common pharmacy store for the country's traditional systems of medicine, they restricted it to Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha. 

The idea was to have a centralised facility to manufacture the lehyams, churnams, bhasmams and kashayams required by these systems. Between 1944 (when it was started functioning, on September 12) and today, the IMPCOPS (Indian Medical Practitioners’ Co-operative Pharmacy and Stores Ltd.) has grown almost 50-fold in membership to the 17,000 Registered Medical Practitioners on its books today. Back then, when IMPCOPS set up its manufacturing facility in Adayar, it was away from the main city, in sylvan surroundings. And it continues to stay that way; a long stretch on the LB Road where there was nothing but the IMPCOPS gate set in the wall. 

That was a rather inconspicuous gate until a few years ago. Under its current President Dr. Kannan, the IMPCOPS decided to get a facelift done, starting with its gate. These days, as you drive down LB Road, you cannot miss this structure. And besides this place, there is a factory in Tadepalle in Andhra, and hospitals in multiple locations across Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. So the next time you want some 'Indian' medicine, maybe this is the place you should look to!

Red-eye

Across the sub-continent, this bird is feted in song and poetry. Thus, there was an ambience of mystery around it. Its loud call (of the male) is so strong and clear that it attracted the attention of the ancients; Aristotle has written about it, as have writers from Vedic times in India. Both of them knew about a specific behaviour of the Asian Koel - brood parasitism - which sits ill with the poetic celebration of these birds. 

This picture was taken in Chennai, for the bird is common pretty much all over the country. For all the hoary knowledge of the bird, and its frequent appearances in song and poems, often as a songbird, as a harbinger of spring, there is only one state of India that has chosen to have this as its state bird.

That is Puducherry; it is somehow entirely apt that this post is being written in Puducherry, where I am today!

 

Shelter, dark

At six o'clock in the morning, not too many people wanting to take a bus. The shelter at the Saidapet bus stand is a big one and has quite a few bays. But it looks like there is still a lot of time for the crowd to build up! 

Re-creation

SPR City's "Market of India" says that its aim is to recreate the magic of some of Chennai's traditional market-places by adopting their practices while doing business in a much more spacious and modern setting. This is a good thing in theory; but we know that unless there is some kind of a regulatory push, such a setting will not be favoured by the traditional traders of GP Road or Ritchie Street. We've seen that happen with Kotwal Chavadi, or more recently with the pavement vendors on Pondy Bazaar.

It is likely SPR City recognizes this as well. They have tried to cast present day Ritchie Street or Sowcarpet as being cramped and dingy through the dioramas they have created in the central arena of the marketplace. 

Here is one which - I believe - is trying to bring a feel of current-day GP Road. Holds your attention for a moment, but then, as with most now-regulated public places in India, the first question that comes to mind is: where are the people?!

Escape reality

Tamil Nadu's Department of Prisons had set itself a hugely challenging target of collecting 100,000 books this year for inmates across the 130 prisons in the state. This is part of a larger drive to rehabilitate prisoners and it needs the support of book lovers across the state. It would be quite easy to get, say 500 copies of books from a publisher trying to dump them, but the Department's goal is to have members of the public donate books they have found useful - that way, it would impact the prisoners positively. 

As far as I can tell, they have already collected about 35,000 books. These will go to the prison libraries once they've been validated for their content - and also to make sure there are no rock hammers hidden inside them, I would imagine. 

So, if you have books to donate (preferably Tamizh, but any language is fine), do call +91 44-28521306 or +91 44 28521512. They'll guide you on where you can drop of the books. If you have a lot of them to donate, they may even come by to pick them up. But make sure you keep your translation of Le Comte de Monte Cristo away!

 

Dangerous bottles

In the 1970s and '80s, these bottles were to be found everywhere. Get a bit of CO2 into flavoured (usually rose or lemon) water, get a marble to stop up the bottle and there, you have a drink. All you had to do was to figure out how to 'open' the bottle - pop the marble stopper out of its place and let it roll around the neck of the bottle while throwing your head back to pour the fizzy liquid down your gullet.

The bottles were also prized as a street-fighting weapon. The most elaborate use of it that I have seen was when some threw two of these bottles, one right after the other above a restive crowd. It is indescribable; two bottles filled with CO2 bumping into each other about 10-12 feet up in the air. The resulting shrapnel of glass is quite dangerous for anyone in the path.

These days, the panneer soda / goli soda bottle is available only at a few places. The drink is gentrified, and horrors - available in plastic bottles or metal cans. That may be a 'better' way to drink the soda, but what will you do when you need a new weapon on the street! 

Plurality

Well, we know that the Chennai Metro currently operates 2 lines: Green and Blue. We also know that they've been at different places around the city for Phase 2 of the Chennai Metro. That should add another three lines, and 128 stations (to the existing 32) by the end of 2026. 

Even then, it seems to be a bit of a mystery why their headquarters building in Nandanam is named "MetroS". With the last letter being of a larger font size, there must be something more to it than merely thumping their chest about there being many lines. 

Any ideas? Will be glad to have this mystery cleared up!

Fruit delivery

Yes, right, this is not done. Parked on the right - the wrong - side of the road, parked against the incline, parked. 

But early on a Sunday morning, they must have thought it is far easier to get this consignment of fruits unloaded this way. 

Don't try this, not on any account, not any day!