Happy Birthday Chennai

As we are celebrating the 379th birthday of Chennai, I being a native of chennai, cannot but forget the rich culture, heritage and splendor of this wonderful city, a city though old but still retaining its youthful charm, a city now struggling hard under the enormous impact of an expanding population, but still giving a safe shelter to scores of outsiders.

Born and brought up in Chennai, as it is called now, I often moved to different parts of the country, post marriage, and every time I came back, in-spite of the visible changes in the skyline of the city, I always felt like a child feeling safe and secure in the warm embrace of its mother, notwithstanding the mother’s oil stained sweat smelling saree!

The place I grew up was a housing board tenement, where my grandparents lived a king sized life, in a tiny little house,,paying a measly rent of Rs25 initially and then increased to Rs40 for almost 5 decades. The Mount Road now called Anna Salai, was very close to our house, with buses both private and state owned, plying frequent services to different parts of the city as well as the state. Adyar river quietly flowed a few yards away from our house, but not once did we experience flood like situations. The rain waters rushed under the big open clean gutters right in front of our house, which was always filled with dry leaves during summers. The house had a henna tree, a night queen tree, along with multi color conch shell flower creepers clinging to the wire fencing. The gulmohar trees lining the streets, shedding its golden yellow flowers, not only filled the morning air with a heady fragrance, but also turned the entire street in to a yellow velvet carpet, an unforgettable sight I still behold after decades.

We had muslims, Christians, chettiars, Marwaris etc as our close neighbours, but not once there were skirmishes or quarrels between any of us. Our Muslim neighbors mouth watering Briyani changed hands with our tasty aromatic onion sambar. Many of the residents were relatives of high profile ministers of the state, yet they did not show off their connections even once. Just a small gate at the entrance and wired fencing separated houses, which made conversation between neighbors easy and friendly.

In fact most of the movies we watched, was through those free passes, courtesy our next door neighbor, a police officer who frequently offered them to our grandparents. None owned a vehicle and status never came as a hindrance in our daily interactions.

The long winding road of Venkatnarayana Road which now boasts of plethora of gleaming IT companies, TTD devasthanam, Sharadhambal temple etc which are now perennially crowded, decades back was quite a charming, quaint road, replete with clusters of large trees on both sides, the green canopy sure enough to give shade even under the sweltering, simmering heat of sun during ruthless summers. On either sides of the road, were huge sprawling imposing bungalows with eye catching gardens, winding driveways , huge porticos and spacious lawns. It had its own share of VIPs like Kavignar Kannadasan, Our late Chief minister Jayalalitha, Actor Shivaji Ganeshan and their likes.

Small shops like Salam stores, Bombay General stores, offered excellent quality groceries, none of them which exist now in their original location. All the shops were taken over by jewelry, textile shops with their multi storied buildings marring the entire beauty of what was once a calm residential area.

Every nook and corner boasted of a number of theatres, where for a few rupees, the entire family could enjoy uninterrupted joy of watching movies, movies which celebrated family values, relationships, patriotism etc but never sleaze, violence or vulgarity.

I still remember the ruins of Pithaburam palace as it was called then, where we used to play with gay abandon , the gentle breeze from the Adyar river caressing our sweating faces, the boats crossing the river with a few passengers to the other side, which is now Kotturpuram, the setting sun making the sky horizon blush with the most breath taking colors, precious moments during which time stood still - moments which I still savor in my prime age. This Palace later gave way to a 9 stoeyed building, which after almost 5 decades is now ready for demolition, paving way for a cluster of high rise apartments.

The ECR and the OMR coast may be reflecting the glory of technology with its gleaming sky rises, the Metro rail may be a pioneer in multimodal connectivity, vying for a slot of prestigious place like Singapore, but nothing could beat the charm of Mylapore mada veethis, where every nook and corner bears the overpowering fragrance of rose, jasmine, joss sticks, fruits, vegetables, temples., where stray cattle and human beings live in perfect harmony, where churches, mosques and Mariamman temples rub shoulders irrespective of the diverse religions and cultures.

Cooum may be stinking, huge mounds of uncleared garbage may be staring at me at every corner of the road, Auto drivers may be the the most indisplined lot fleecing their passengers - with all its shortcomings, I still love my Singara chennai. When misfortunes stared at me at every step of my life, this city gave me the courage to face up the challenges. When I look back at the road I travelled, i wonder how I could do it all alone. The city is a perfect blend of modernity and tradtionalism, where one can see a madisar mami (clad in nine yard saree) with a string of jasmine adorning her bob cut hair, driving her scooty confidently amidst the meandering mad traffic or having a peg in the most fashionable pub. That is Chennai for you!! Madras or SIngara Chennai - I love you with all my heart !!!!

 

Dear Thyagarajan,

I have absolutely no memory of having seen a tram in chennai. May be it was withdrawn by the time I grew up.
I remember the community radio in Marina as well as in Panagal Park, T.Nagar, and also a live band being played by the corporation employees. Life was wonderful, relaxed and enjoyable those times. Nice FB. Thanks.

Agatha83

 

Dear stayblessed,

I am happy to have company, in my admiration for our singara Chennai. Glad you liked my write up.

Agatha83

 

Dear jskls,

Happy you could enjoy the journey in North Chennai, through the beach road end to end. Riding along with the beach is always a pleasurable experience. It is sad that North Chennai has not got the infrastructure nor it has been developed as South Chennai has. Now real estate people have woken up, and are offering affordable houses for the middle income people.
I really enjoy, part of being in T.Nagar, Mylapore or Triplicane where one can see a perfect
medley of cultures.

Agatha83

 

Thank you Viji for your kind compliments.

Agatha83