WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

MUSINGSVol. XXIV No. 22 March 1-15, 2015

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INSIDE

• Short ‘N’ Snappy

• The Cousins’ role

• Growing up in Adyar

• A T’Nagar dream

• MATSCIENCE is born

Madras Landmarks

– 50 years ago

� By A Special

Correspondent

(Continued on page 2)(Continued on page 8)

What’s achieved by changing road names?

(Continued on page 2)

To many, heritageis a mere facade

� One of the most handsome edifices on NSC Bose (formerly China Bazaar/Esplanade) Road is the National Insurance Building. Built in 1938 in the classicart deco style, it is one of the earliest structures of that genre in the city, itsconstruction being more or less simultaneous with that of new (and present)Dare House further down the road. It also holds significance for being the firstart deco building of the city to be designed by an Indian – L. M. Chitale.

The property itself is much older, for it forms half of what used to be theEsplanade branch of Spencer & Co, the other half still surviving in its originalform and now home to a popular eatery. From the latter we can gauge that whatstood in the place of the National Insurance Building was an Indo-Saracenicstructure.

There was recently a reportin the city newspapers

which probably went unno-ticed. Halls Road, it wasannounced, has been renamedTamizh Vazhi Salai. A newsignboard to that effect wouldsoon be put up, the report wenton. It is not clear from thereport as to who or which bodyhad taken this decision orwhether it was final. If it is, thenit is high time the authoritiesrealised that such acts arenothing but empty gestures thatare unlikely to cut ice with thegeneral public. On the other

hand, they are likely to causea lot of irritation among theresidents of the re-namedthoroughfare and its users.

The rules are quite clearabout change of names for roadsand streets. These need

resolutions to be passed by therelevant civic body. However,the decision needs to be ratifiedby the State Legislature beforethe change can actually takeeffect. There is no clarity on

whether in the present casethe Corporation and the Ass-embly have assented to thechange.

This is not the first instanceof re-naming. The earliest spreewas in the late 1960s when achange in regime saw severalstreets getting new names. Butthat was a different era. A newparty had won power largely onthe basis of a language issue andsuch an act was very much inkeeping with the prevailingpublic mood. But now the aver-age citizen has moved on. Only

We have had occasions towrite about this in the

past and we still feel it is a mat-ter of greater relevance evennow. There appears to be a mis-taken notion among those whomatter – Government officials,those in real estate and somearchitects – that heritage pres-ervation is all about retainingthe façade of a building whilethe rest can be changed in anyfashion. This, if allowed to con-tinue, will create a set of pas-tiche fronts and that will be allthat we can claim as our heri-tage. It would be best if thistrend were corrected at the ear-liest.

Take the case of the Bosot-to’s building on Mount Road. Alandmark of the city, it has hada history of more than a cen-tury, beginning life as D’Angelishotel, once one of the best ho-tels in the city, and continuingto remain a hotel under variousowners till the 1970s, when itbecame viewed as a prime pieceof real estate (for further detailssee MM, May 1, 2014, ‘Land-marks of Madras’ series). It hasbeen listed as a heritage build-ing worthy of preservation bythe High Court of Madras. Andyet, as the photograph belowwill testify, work on the demoli-tion of its interiors has begun.This is indeed a pity, for, apart

� By The Editor

D’Angelis/Bosotto Building, now under the wreckers’ hammers.

from fire damage, most of thisbuilding was structurally intactand could have been put to cre-ative alternative use.

According to the judgementdelivered by the High Court ofMadras on April 29, 2010 onWrit Petition No 25306 of 2006which, incidentally, is the onlyprotection that heritage build-ings have in our city, “No de-velopment or redevelopment orengineering operation or addi-tions, alterations, repairs, reno-vations including the paintingof buildings, replacement of

special features or demolition ofthe whole or any part thereof orplastering of said listed/heritagebuildings or listed/heritage pre-cincts shall be carried out ex-cept with the prior written per-mission of the Member Secre-tary, Chennai MetropolitanDevelopment Authority. TheMember Secretary, ChennaiMetropolitan DevelopmentAuthority shall act in consulta-tion with the Heritage Conser-vation Committee to be ap-pointed by Government (here-inafter called ‘the said HeritageConservation Committee’).

Such being the Court’s or-

der, it is to be assumed that inthe present instance, approvalhas been sought from the Heri-tage Conservation Committee(HCC) and the CMDA beforedemolition work was begun. Itis, however, in the interpreta-tion of this judgement thatthere is necessity for greaterclarity, for several parties havebegun to assume that all that itprotects is the facade of a heri-tage building. This is because,the court has relied on a listingof heritage buildings put to-gether by the Justice E Padma-nabhan Committee in connec-tion with another case whichrelated to outdoor hoardings.That committee’s report wasmainly concerned with facadesas it focussed on preventingheritage structures from beinghidden by large outdoor hoard-ings. However, when judge-ment was delivered in connec-tion with WP 25306, the listwas taken as one on heritagebuildings as a whole and did notdeal with simply protecting thefacades.

The fact remains, however,that there is at present scope fora wrong interpretation of the

2 MADRAS MUSINGS March 1-15, 2015

There was a time when get-ting a number plate for

your vehicle was a simplematter. The Man from MadrasMusings speaks of a not so dis-tant past when each time youbought a new vehicle (whichwas not so often, no matter howwell to do you were), you tookit to the Regional TransportOffice, applied for a numberand got one eventually, alongwith the number plate, this be-ing the RTO’s responsibility.There was a standard for thenumber plate and that is whateveryone followed.

Then came this craze forcustomised number plates.Some wanted them to be inoutlandish fonts. Others hadstrange ways of depicting thenumber. A third felt that ze-

to using them. Only it nowtranspires that the Govern-ment never sanctioned these.As to who sanctioned them, weshall never know and it willrank among those all timemysteries such as the Man inthe Iron Mask and closerhome, the Bhawal Sanyasicase.

The upshot is that thepolice have swung into actionwith what can only be termedas glee. They lurk behind treesand jump out at cars therebycausing nervous drivers to shyand rear. In fact, were it not forthe seat belt law, many couldfall off their saddles. But this isno concern of the police. Theyare after the IND plates withholograms and their duty beingtheir sole concern, they have

been apprehending motoristsand fining them. Some, wholater unburdened their feelingsto MMM, also informed himthat they made bold to ask thepolice as to what their crimewas. To this they were told thatthe police were not so surethemselves but this they didknow that something was beingviolated and so a fine wouldhave to be paid. And that, asthey say, was that!

When MMM lamentedabout his IND number plate tohis chauffeur he was told not toworry, the matter was incapable hands. It was only laterthat MMM got to know whathad been done. It was a typicalIndian solution – a piece of pa-per had been pasted over theIND and the hologram. WhenMMM protested, he was told toremain silent, for, said thechauffeur, you never knewwhen the IND number plateswould become legal again. Thisway, he said, you did not incurthe cost of changing numberplates twice.

Two-wheeler travails

If that be the problems ofthe motor car owner, the

two-wheeler users are notbetter off in any way. They canbe hauled up by the long arm ofthe law for not using helmets,giving someone a ride on thepillion, not having certaindocuments (as to what theseare MMM is not certain) andnot adhering to number platerules. In the last-named cat-egory it is the style of letteringthat the gendarmerie is finickyabout. In number plates theywould like everything to be justso.

Unlike cars where you cannever be certain as to who isseated inside (minister’smother, MLA’s maid, bureau-crat’s brother, etc), the policeare on much firmer ground

Motor registration madnesswhen it comes to the two-wheelers. The hoi polloi areeasy pickings. And so theypounce on this unfortunatecategory of road-user withwhat in the old days wouldhave been termed as gayabandon. A quick pounce, ajerking off of the ignition keywith a deft flick of the wrist,and the victim is at yourmercy.

The other day, MMM waswalking by (he finds that he ishappiest using this naturalform of transport) when he es-pied a group of policemenlurking behind a few lamp-posts at a sharp bend. Themoment a two-wheeler round-ed the corner two or three ofthe cops would step out andapprehend the alleged of-

SHORT ‘N’ SNAPPY

roes before any number wereuseless anyway. The Govern-ment vehicles wanted a ‘G’ toindicate that they were ferry-ing Gods on earth and so wereabove any and all laws.

Then came doctors whohad a plus put on their vehiclesand in case that did not makeit plain to the meanest intelli-gence as to who was driving ortravelling in the vehicle, a ‘Dr’was also added. MMM is notsure if the Drs expect the po-lice to believe that they are onemergency services and soneed to be waved on at all traf-fic lights. But he would assumethat if this were to be the case,they could also add ‘Er’ (shortfor Emergency) on their num-ber plates.

MMM also assumes thatthe Drs would have done thishad it not been for the Engi-neers who rather nimbly stolea march and usurped those let-ters. Now why should an engi-neer need to jump signals? Butthey were not alone, for alongcame the lawyers who put upstickers depicting collar bands.That can have only one im-plied message – don’t messwith me on traffic rules or Iwill see you in court.

Be that as it may, numberplates now come in all shapesand sizes. Like many otherthings in our country, themaking of number plates hasbeen privatised and so there isreally no standard. The latestcraze was sold on the basis ofpatriotism. Apparently manycountries have number platesthat have the initials of thenation on the side with ahologram below. Those whotravelled abroad would oftenlament about how India waslagging behind on this. Andthen one day, presto! TheGovernment okayed thosenumber plates with INDfollowed by a hologram andmany, including MMM, took

fender. But this is an era wheneven mosquitoes and viruseshave acquired new survivalskills and the two-wheelerusers have also become wiser.They rarely drive along a kerb,preferring to be in the middleof the road, which is really thesafest spot in any Chennaithoroughfare. This being thecase, the police sometimesmiss their prey. And that isprecisely what happened atleast on three occasions onthat day, at least as far asMMM could observe!

The seniormost among thepolicemen was not happy. Hethen whispered something toone of the juniors and, there-fore, more agile specimens, bywhich MMM means some ofthem whose paunches did notreach their knees. The nexttime a two-wheeler user camearound and tried to evade theembrace of the law, the youngpoliceman was to run after andapprehend him. It worked verywell in theory but not so muchin practice. For one, therewere other and bigger vehicleson the road and these hin-dered his catching up with atruant two-wheeler. Theyoung cop was putting himselfto great risk, and all for someminor violation, which wouldnot have happened if there wasgreater clarity on the law in thefirst place.

Tailpiece

All that stated above madeThe Man from Madras

Musings wonder whether inthis age of smart technologysuch primitive methods of lawenforcement were really neces-sary. After all, we claim to beliving in a world-class city.Have you ever noticed suchpolice behaviour in any otherpart of the world?

– MMM

Madras Landmarks(Continued from page 1)

WHY CHANGEROAD NAMES?(Continued from page 1)

the political parties of the Statedo not appear to have woken upto the fact. This became evidentin 2010 when the then Corpo-ration Council announced thatall streets in the city that com-memorated British personalitieswould be re-named after Tamilscholars. What followed was aspirited protest from the resi-dents. They pointed out that inthe event of a re-naming, theyhad to go through the pain ofinforming several statutory andother corporate bodies, withwhom they had dealings, aboutthe new name.

On its part, this journalapproached the matter fromanother angle. We published alist of all such streets andbrought to the fore the reasonsfor their old names. We alsoargued that at least thoseamong the British whose workhad benefited our city ought tobe remembered, while theothers could go. Whatever bethe reason, the proposal tochange names was dropped.

The present exercise appearsto be a more insidious one. Abulk renaming would attractpublic attention and largeprotests. On the other hand,

taking up one road at a timewould pass by unnoticed. Atleast that appears to have beenthe thinking behind the presentchange.

While we are all for com-memorating and honouring thelanguage of our State, we can-not help wonder as to why thisname has been given to Hall’sRoad. It is not as though anyTamil scholar has lived on thatstretch. And if at all the namehad to be given, why was it notbestowed on a thoroughfare inthe newer parts of the city? Isthe mother tongue honouredonly if an existing street name ischanged? Also, given our lovefor abbreviations, does TamizhVazhi Salai not run the risk ofbeing branded TV Salai?We have plenty of similarinstances – RK Salai, TTKRoad, T’Nagar, JJ Nagar andKK Nagar, etc.

And lastly, what does aname change achieve? Does itsolve parking issues, potholes,overflowing drains, illegaloccupation of footpaths andencroachments – all commonissues our thoroughfares sufferfrom? Would our civic body notbe better off focussing on suchmatters and not on non-priorityissues such as change of names?

Spencer’s had a presence in North Madras since 1894, the first outlet beingon First Line Beach and going by the name of the Beach Branch. This in 1906moved to 362 China Bazaar Road, which was a property of Eugene Oakshott,the Spencer Chairman of the time. The shift was evidently quite an event, for itwas reported in The Madras Mail, the newspaper that would eventually cometo be owned by Oakshott’s son-in-law E.O. Robinson, a later chairman ofSpencer’s (and later Amalgamations). This is what The Mail had to say:

Messrs Spencer and Co’s George Town Branch was yesterday removed(from near the Customs House) to the fine new premises recently built onthe Esplanade, opposite the Law Courts. The building consists of twostoreys. The main show room downstairs is after the model of the largeshow room in the Mount Road premises of the firm. The reserved stock iskept upstairs, where there is also a storeroom. The new building is in avery convenient and accessible part of the town.

In 1908, Spencer’s bought the property from Oakshott for Rs 65,000. Thebranch did well till the 1930s when the Great Depression necessitated changes.Under Chairman L. C. Nicholson, Spencer’s was to embark on cost cutting andimproving liquidity. The first to be axed was the Esplanade building, which wassold to the National Insurance Company Limited of Calcutta for Rs. 2 lakh in1933.

The new owner, one of the largest insurance firms of that time in India,moved into one wing of the building, allowing Spencer’s to rent the other. But in1938, it was time to remodel at least a part of the edifice in keeping with the newstyle that found favour in particular with insurance firms, hotels and cinematheatres. The company chose L. M. Chitale for the task. His life and that of hiseponymous firm has been covered in detail in Madras Musings some time back.

Under Chitale’s hand, the new-look four storey-building emerged with thefirst two floors still retaining their Madras terrace and the two new floors beingroofed with cement concrete, again a first or at least an early instance for thecity. Interestingly, Spencer’s was to move into the new building shortly after itsconstruction. The National Insurance Company became a part of the GeneralInsurance Corporation (GIC) of India in 1956 and with that the latter firmbecame the owner of the property. It is still put to good use and is maintainedfairly well though the clutter of signboards on it detracts considerably from itsarchitecture. Strangely, what was once a lovely red and cream coloured façadewas a few years ago painted a dull blue and it remains so till date.

March 1-15, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

Time such toiletswere installed

I saw reader Thomas Tharu’s letter (MM, February 1st). Inthis connection I had phoned the present manager of the teaestate in Kerala. He sent a number of photos of these

eco-friendly toilets. Unless the local initiative of the workers isforthcoming they may not be fully utilised efficiently. However,the women workers fully appreciated the effort of the manage-ment.

Subsequently, the management made individual toilets foreach house and they are now functional, but those field toiletsare still in use after 45 years.

Rural people need to be educated on how to use toilets andthis was the problem with estate workers some 45 years ago.Then there was water scarcity for flushing and bore holes madeby augurs was the answer, and perhaps this can be the first stepfor rural India.

Today there are several companies who are making prefabri-cated toilets and houses in India as well as in China.

A Chinese manufacturer of a high quality portable toiletstates that glass reinforced mobile toilets can be used to dealwith temporary large gatherings and temporary constructions orin homes. It is easy to clean, conforms to hygiene requirements,and is light weight. No visual pollution and no smell pollution.

It has enough space, is easy and comfortable to use. Canmake full use of natural light during the day. It is equipped witha water tank, with less dependence on water from outside. Smallin size, light of weight, it is easy to carry by 3 or 4 people whenbeing moved.

It comes with options: Squatting or pedestal type.Deodorisation device, wash basin, urinal. Indication lock forsomebody inside.

K.V.S. Krishnakvskrishna@gmail.com

Chennaiites are perhaps aware that the Pallikaranai fresh-water swamp is the only surviving wetland ecosystem in

their metro. It is also one among the last surviving wetlands inSouth India and is also categorised as one among the mostsignificant wetlands in the country in Government conserva-tion programme/projects.

The aquatic ecosystem of this marsh supports a wide varietyof life forms, including rare and endangered species, and acts asbreeding ground for many bird species, both inside and outsidethe country. It is also reported that bird sightings in PallikaranaiMarsh are higher than in the bird sanctuary at Vedanthangal.

At present, Pallikaranai Marsh is a fraction of its original sizebecause of rapid and unplanned urbanisation. In this regard,the contribution of the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Road, thatcuts right through the marsh, is a matter of concern and shouldbe examined.

The living and thriving ecosystem of this marsh has beenreduced to vast cesspools on either side of this road. By block-ing the natural flow of life, this artificial barrier, in the form of aroad, has perhaps unwittingly hastened the demise of the marsh.

It is true that a fine balance has to be struck between theneed to foster development, on one hand, with the necessity toconserve nature, on the other. Ideally, an overbridge, instead ofa surface road, would have achieved this balance. This road can-not be removed now. However, re-establishing continuity of themarsh land, on either side of the road, can still be attempted bylaying large diameter pipes in a perpendicular direction underthe road along its entire stretch.

I believe that re-establishing continuity of marshland in itselfcan contribute to its regeneration and will complement the otherconservation measures here. The cost of this exercise may wellbe worth the benefit of preserving what is left of this preciousnatural gift. A concerted voice by caring Chennaiites can makethis happen.

Manjesh S. Roy3410, TVH Svasti, Easwaran Kovil Street

Thoraipakkam, Chennai 600 097

Some pipes may savethe marsh

Street art

Apropos saving our walls(MM, February 16th), I

find that there has been a re-newed interest in street art inthe city recently. A street artfestival, ‘Conquer the Con-crete’, was recently conductedby the Goethe-Institut in asso-ciation with Chennai City Con-nect for a week.Metro railway stations weretargeted by artists from Ger-many, the United States andSpain, who worked incollaboration with Indian streetartists from Chennai, Banga-lore, Delhi and Mumbai.Cinema hoarding painters andart enthusiasts were also in-cluded in the effort.

An old woman (from the lowincome group) so inspired thestreet artists that her portraitcame up on the GreenwaysRailway Station. But sheclaimed she derived nothing outof it. The ones that drew mostattention of the Press were thepaintings that adorned thePlatforms 3 and 4 of the EgmoreRailway Station. One of thepillars of the ‘flyover’ near theAirport was adorned withgraffiti.

As mentioned in the MadrasMusings report, a series of muralsand statues depicting ancientTamil culture and customs cameup all over the city during thetenure of the previous govern-ment. Though not holdingmuch of visual appeal or rich inaesthetics, they at least sought toinstil in our minds a conscious-ness of the past.

Does the present street artmake the city better in any way?The answer would be a hesitant‘yes’. Before street art arrived,the walls were only politicalspaces, used by political partiesfor propaganda or celebratingbirthdays of their leaders.Creativity on the walls iswelcome to save them fromgetting defaced in other ways.But could it be made moremeaningful?

K. Venkateshkvenkatesh@virtualpaper.co.in

A matter of concern

The list of Fellows admittedto the prestigious Indian

Academy of Sciences for 2015is just out.

A quick browse through thelist disappointed me thor-oughly, as I could not find one

name from Madras (or evenfrom Tamil Nadu), whereasBangalore registers 5, NewDelhi 4, Bombay 4 andCalcutta 6.

Where is Madras science,which was pioneered byremarkable men such as GNR(G.N. Ramachandran), head-ing to?

What is the quality ofscience in Madras today?

I felt miserable and share myconcern with your readers.

Dr. A. RamanCharles Sturt University

ARaman@csu.edu.au

Teachers remembered

The February 1st issue ofMM brought me some

sweet memories. Prof. IgnatiusAbsolam whom Justice S.Mohan remembers was also myprofessor (no, he was a lecturer,only Presidency College hadprofessors). He was known forhis immaculate sartorial disci-pline, baritone voice, reading ofpoetry with modulation and hislove for students.

I was privileged to attendsome lectures of Prof. AlladiRamakrishnan. At one of themeetings, his wife presented adance performance. Minister C.Subramaniam was instrumentalin founding of several institu-tions of excellence – the Insti-tute of Mathematical Sciences,Taramani, being one of them.His passion for providing highereducation through Tamilmedium saw many standardworks in different subjects beingtranslated and published. If thathad been pursued with the samefervour, education would havereached great heights. Onceconvinced of the efficacy ofany project, CS would pursueit till it was successfullylaunched.

Dr. A.R. Irrawathi was ateacher totally devoted to hersubject and when she was Pro-fessor of Geography in M.K.University, she took great painsto identify the Kadamba treementioned in Sangam classicsand developed a Kadamba for-est with great passion. She tookme around when I was there fora seminar. Alas, the forest wasdone away with to make way forconcrete structures.

Dr. S.S. Rajagopalan30, Kamarajar Street

Chennai 600 093

Errata

In the article on CarolineChisholm (MM, February

16th) the image at the top wasnot that of a postage stamp, butthe image of the now defunct $5currency note. These papernotes are no more current inAustralia and we use plasticnotes. The present $5 bill doesnot include Chisholm’s portrait,but that of the Queen ofEngland, Elizabeth II.

Dr. AnantanarayananRaman

* * *

MADRAS MUSINGSON THE WEB

To reach out to as many readers as possible who share ourkeen interest in Madras that is Chennai, and in response torequests from many well-wishers – especially from outsideChennai and abroad who receive their postal copies very late– for an online edition. Madras Musings is now on the web atwww. madrasmusings.com

THE EDITOR

The headline to our mainstory on page 1 of MadrasMusings, February 16th, shouldhave read ‘Law College’s home’,NOT ‘house’.

* * *

‘Youth make Lit-for-Lifevibrant’ (MM, February 16th)was written by Sriram V. andnot as acknowledged.

* * *We regret the errors.

– The Editor

The National Anthem

& the Cousins

4 MADRAS MUSINGS March 1-15, 2015 March 1-15, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

Now you can visit Adyar Park

� by

K.S.S. Seshan

Jana Gana Mana, now theNational Anthem, was written

by Rabindranath Tagore as earlyas 1911 and was sung at the an-nual session of the Indian Na-tional Congress in Calcutta onDecember 27th that year. But itwas in Besant Theosophical Col-lege, Madanapalle, where Ta-gore stayed for a few days in Feb-ruary 1919, that the now famil-iar tune was set.

It was Margaret Cousins, wifeof educationist James H. Cous-ins, who composed the tune forJana Gana Mana. Dr. JamesHenry Cousins was then thePrincipal of the MadanapalleCollege that was founded by Dr.Annie Besant.

Tagore was on a tour of SouthIndia and was very tired when hereached Bangalore in the lastweek of February 1919. On theadvice of C.F. Andrews, he de-cided to rest at the Theosophi-cal College in Madanapalle,about 120 km southeast of Ban-galore.

Besides several firsts of na-tional importance, Madanapallealso had a first grade collegestarted by Annie Besant in1915. Besant’s involvement inthe freedom movement prompt-ed the Government to cancel itsaffiliation to Madras University.Undaunted, Dr. Besant namedthe college “Wood NationalCollege,” after Prof. ErnestWood, educationist and a closefollower of Dr. Besant. She got itaffiliated to the National Uni-versity at Madras, which wasnewly organised by the Societyfor the Promotion of NationalEducation, (SPNE). Rabindra-nath Tagore was the Chancellorof the University. When it wassuggested that the quiet atmo-

sphere at Madanapalle College asthe right place to rest, Tagorewas only too happy, for he feltthat he would be with the staffand students of the College affili-ated to the National University.Tagore also felt happy to be inthe company of Dr. Cousins,whose poetry in English healways admired.

During Tagore’s stay in Mada-napalle, Jana Gana Mana wasgiven the melody to which it isnow sung all over the country.Till then the song never had auniform tune. It was sung withmany different regional varia-tions.

It was the practice of Dr. andMrs. Cousins to hold informalmeetings called “sing-song, funsessions” with the college com-munity every Wednesday nightafter dinner. Tagore, who joinedthe gathering, asked if he mightsing one of his poems.

Writing about how the songwas first heard by them as sungby Tagore himself, Dr. Cousinsrecounted, “In a voice surpris-

ingly light for so large a man, hesang something like a piece ofgeography giving a list of coun-tries, mountains and rivers; andin the second verse a list of thereligions in India. The refrain tothe first verse made us pick upour ears. The refrain to the sec-ond verse made us clear ourthroats. We asked for it againand again, and before long wewere singing it with gusto: Jayahai, Jaya hai, Jaya hai, Jaya JayaJaya Jaya hai (Victory, victory,victory to thee).”

Mrs. Cousins, who waspleased with the rich thought-content of the poem, decided togive a suitable tune to it. She washerself a musician, having takena degree in music from the Uni-versity of London. The next day,

she discussed with Tagore thenotations and the general themeof the song. Tagore explainedthe nuances of the poem and in-dicated broadly the swara for thesong. With the help of the girlstudents of the College, whomshe used to teach music, Mrs.Cousins worked on the tune forJana Gana Mana. She carefullystudied the meaning of each lineof the song and composed themusical notes.

When she was ready with thefinal version of her composition,she spoke to Gurudev andbriefed him on the swara shecomposed. With the staff andstudents assembled in the sameclassrooms, where Tagore hadsung, Mrs. Cousins, with the helpof her students, to the accompa-

niment of a few simple musicalinstruments, rendered the entiresong in the presence of Tagore.Tagore responded, saying he ap-preciated the melody and the ef-forts of Mrs. Cousins in compos-ing it. Thus, the final musicalform of his popular Bengali song,Jana Gana Mana became the uni-versally accepted version.

About this event, Dr. Cous-ins in his autobiography states:“It made literary history and car-ried the name and thought ofTagore into the minds and heartsof millions of young in schoolsand colleges and outside themand ultimately gave humanitythe nearest approach to an idealnational anthem. It happened, asso many great events of the spiritdo, without anticipation andwithout collusion.”

It was during his stay at theCollege that Tagore also trans-lated Jana Gana Mana into En-glish. For a few days, early in themornings, basking in the wintersun, Tagore sat on a stone-slabunder the Gulmohar tree in frontof his cottage and went over hisBengali song line by line, findingthe equivalent words in English.He wrote the words in his ownbeautiful handwriting andnamed it the Morning Song of In-dia. At the bottom of the trans-lated version, he signed hisname, dated it February 28,1919, and presented it to Dr.Cousins.

Later, when the College wasin a financial crisis due to thewithdrawal of grants by the Gov-ernment of Madras, consequentto the participation of the facultyand students of the College inthe Home-Rule agitation startedby Dr. Anne Besant, the Morn-ing Song of India document inTagore’s handwriting was sold toan American collector for a fabu-lous but undisclosed price. Themoney collected was added tothe College fund.

However, a photocopy of itwas made before the original leftthe country forever. This copy ispreserved in the MadanapalleTheosophical College.

Tagore, having fully refreshedand recouped, left Madanapalleon March 2, 1919 to continue hisSouth Indian tour. It is said thatbefore leaving, he called theMadanapalle College the ‘Shan-tiniketan of South.’ In 1937,when a fierce controversy ragedover the selection of the Na-tional Anthem, it was JamesCousins who fervently pleadedthat Jana Gana Mana should beconfirmed officially as theNational Anthem of India. Hewrote, “The poem would be-come one of the world’s preciousdocuments… From Madana-palle, Jana Gana Mana spread allover India and is admired inEurope and America.” Jana GanaMana was declared theNational Anthem when Indiabecame a Republic on January26, 1950.

Adyar Park, which was developed on morethan 50 acres land, is now functioning as a

Centre for Environmental Education and Re-search and is open to public and students.

For visitors, it is open on Tuesdays and Thurs-days (except public holidays) from 2.30 p.m. to4.30 p.m. Since visitors will be taken on a guidedtour, online booking is a must as the tour groupmust be within manageable numbers, say the parkofficials.

The park also offers various EnvironmentalEducation Programmes for school students fromMonday to Friday from 8.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.Students should be accompanied by teachers. Thestudents will be taken on a guided walk, duringwhich they can familiarise themselves with plantsand trees native to Chennai. Basic principles ofecology wth an emphasis on coastal ecology andwatershed rehabilitation and how human activi-

ties affect the environment will be explained. Freeeducational programmes, along with transportfacilities, are provided to Corporation schoolstudents.

Facilities in the park include arrival and orien-tation zone, solar lighting system, EnvironmentalEducation Centre, Interactive Learning Space anda nursery with medicinal and indigenous plants;demonstration on recycling processes of wasteand wash water. A film show on how the entirepark was reclaimed from its previous condition,nurturing the flora and helping bird migrations,are additional features of the park.

Entry fee for public is Rs. 20 per head and Rs.5 for school student. Parking charge is Rs. 50 andfor hand cameras Rs. 50. For online booking visitwww.chennairivers.gov.in. For details call:24614523. – (Courtesy: Adyar Times)

(By A Special Correspondent)

Growing up inAdyar

The Theosophical Society’s headquarters buildings.

“Vasundharana vishala pataparaviraja tun Vaikhunt!”

We used to sing this song inschool. We didn’t under-

stand all the words – in the 1950sHindi was far less spoken thannow and the words were sounds,not meanings. We did, however,recognise it as a paean of praiseto Adyar.

Adyar in those days reallymeant the estate of the Theo-sophical Society (TS), for therewas little else but paddy fields,casuarina plantations, our school– the Olcott Memorial School –and the Tiruvanmiyur temple, atthis end of town. Living withinthe TS grounds was indeed aprivilege.

The estate covered two hun-dred acres or more. Held in thesweeping arms of the Adyar riverand the Bay of Bengal, fromabove it was a malachite jungle,set in a filigree of sand by the jadecoloured sea. Beneath its over-arching green canopy were well-maintained roads, thoughtfullyplanned gardens, ancient trees,coconut and casuarina planta-tions, fruit orchards and mean-dering pathways.

The mansions that were scat-tered about (nearly all early ac-quisitions) gave a certain genteelgraciousness to the place. TheHeadquarters Hall was always

� by Ganga Powell

well-maintained, manicured andgroomed within and without.The others - Blavatsky Bungalow,Olcott Gardens, Bell Bungalow –were like dowagers past theirprime, somewhat unkempt, evenshabby, but with a certain dignityand class that neither mildew norpeeling paint could completelydestroy. Best of all, as housingwas allocated according to fam-ily sizes and needs, they were notempty shells, monuments totheir previous prestige, buthomes that some of our play-mates and their families lived in.This gave them a warm, humandimension.

More recent dwellings werebuilt by members of the TS, I be-lieve, on the understanding thatthe properties would revert tothe Society when their ownersdied. My grandfather Ranga-natha Mudaliar built Ranga Vilas,near Bell Bungalow, under one ofthese agreements. These houseswere of styles as varied as thebackgrounds or the imaginationsof the owners and builders.Sevashrama had onion-shapeddomes that could have graced aRussian roofscape. One of myfavourites was a neat, unclut-tered house probably built post-war, in 1920s, Art Deco style.Another dear little place was afaceted oval with a double stair-

case on the outside – like a grandstaircase to a public building oran Italian villa, but this was but atiny gem of a house. And themost unusual one of all was aWar-time relic from when troopswere housed within the grounds:three Nissan huts around a cen-tral sandy square, and in it, deepamong the casuarinas, lived oneof the largest and most delightfulfamilies.

Many homes, like the one welived in (not Ranga Vilas, thathad already been bequeathed tothe TS), were lime-washed varia-tions of traditional Indian dwell-ings: a welcoming verandah, acluster of rooms, one arm of theL-shape housing the kitchen andbathroom, a walled courtyardwith a well squaring it off. Eachhad its own little garden. How-ever, these paled into insignifi-cance amidst the well- kept gar-dens of the entire estate. Imme-diately next to us was a banyantree (the Chinna ala maram), theslate-covered platform around ita designated meeting place for uschildren and countless others.

If the houses were eclectic,the people were even more so,individualistic as might be ex-pected, some bordering on theeccentric, all living here notquite cheek by jowl, but chug-ging along quite happily to-gether. There were Indians fromnorth, south, east and west aswell as a fair sprinkling of British,Americans, Spanish, NewZealanders, Australians – the TSwas a broad church indeed. TheChinna ala maram, at the top endof the arterial concrete road, wasa good vantage point from whereto observe all. There were veryfew cars, bicycles were the trans-port of choice and most wentpast this tree on the way to al-most everywhere.

Many expats had adopted In-dian kurtas and pyjamas as bestsuited for the sticky weather.Others created their own signa-ture styles. One Dutchman worebrightly-coloured polo shirts andshorts (coloured polo shirts werenot a common commodity thenas now – I wonder where hesourced them from!). An En-glishman who had “Green” in hissurname wore Robin Hood-green shorts every day of theyear. And the ‘bare baron’, as wecalled him, was a Polish noble-man who wore only shorts and ahat in the sticky weather.

Under the Chinna ala maramwas often seated a petite, eagle-eyed, Brahmin woman withshaved hair, her widow’s garb, arough textured saree, coveringher head and pulled tightly back.We sat with her while waiting forfriends. A stranger might haveseen her as a forlorn figure. Infact, all or most of the peopleriding past would stop to talk toher or wave and ‘Paatti’, as allknew her, would wave back. Thisinteraction of Paatti and the dis-parate community around us didnot strike us as being unusual. Itwas just a humdrum daily occur-rence. We were living in a saladbowl, if not yet a melting pot.Social change was washing overus as waves over fish but we wereoblivious to it all!

Many years later in Delhi Iheard a story that reminded me

of Paatti under the banyan tree.A friend of mine had married aWhite Russian. She narratedhow she and her husband hadboth her mother and her father-in-law living with them for manyyears. Her mother was a conven-tional Brahmin who dressed insarees worn in the traditionalSouth Indian style. Her father-in-law was, I imagine, a silver-haired aristocrat with, let’s say, abeard, cravat, cane and impec-cable manners. Every eveningwhen the family gathered to-gether, he raised and kissed hisdear wife’s hand with a grandflourish. And her mother, saidmy friend, blushed like a bridebut never refrained from extend-ing her hand out for him with abeaming smile! I need scarcelyadd that this family too had linkswith Adyar and the Theosophi-cal community.

There was a tradition of mak-ing foreign names Tamil-friendly. Annie Besant was al-ways spoken of as Vasantamma.In the same vein there were also‘Tomato’ Amma, and ‘Calendar’Amma, The former was MadameD, an Italian, who had fled anunhappy marriage (I think!) andmade her home in Adyar. Herhouse was dark with heavy,draped curtains, beaded silkshades and terracotta colours.To my 10-year-old eyes it seemedthe height of sophistication.‘Calendar’ Amma’s American-styled home was quite different –light and airy. Here you sank intofluffy, feather-filled floral cush-ions on deep rattan sofas andchairs. And there were alwaysnibbles aplenty – bowls of driedfigs and nuts on glass toppedtables.

A Parsi doctor taught me cardtricks. A Spanish exile who hadfought against Franco in theCivil War and, therefore,couldn’t go back home to his wifeand children, played board

games with us. Our neighbourwho ran the Dairy was eitherGerman or Polish. She went tobed early to be up at dawn andour boisterous family was toonoisy at night for her liking. I re-member Grandfather listening tothe All India Radio (AIR) 9 p.m.news bulletin with his ear gluedto the radio so as not to disturbMiss S———berg.

Checking tripadvisor onGoogle for recent impressions ofvisitors to the TS, I came acrossone complaining about the secu-rity guards or ‘watchmen’: “ …we felt hounded by the guards …one in particular following bybike with a stick …[!]” says onedisgruntled visitor. Too true! Butit was the presence of these ubiq-uitous watchmen that allowedour parents to let us childrenroam unrestrictedly. We girls es-

pecially could explore on our bi-cycles the whole sweep that wasthe TS grounds, with never aworry about safety or social stric-tures current elsewhere at thetime.

The only rule enforced by ourparents was that, wherever wewere, we had to start for homewhen the ‘gong’ struck at sixp. m. The ‘gong’ was the hugeJapanese bell that hung in theforecourt of the Buddhist temple,its deep tones reverberatingtwice a day throughout thegrounds. Since nowhere wasmore than half an hour from ourhomes, we were home soon aftersix.

The coconut plantations andfruit orchards had footpaths andbicycle paths meandering underthe trees. The casuarina groveswere large enough to lose yourorientation somewhat, so ven-turing in was always an ‘Adven-ture’. There were trees to climbor play under, bumpy paths toride on, trails to explore, theriverbank and the beach to en-joy. The exhilarating freedomand camaraderie of those daysstill light up like X’mas lights inmy memory. When I think howmy mother had gone to schoolunder purdah in Benares, I canonly marvel at what a leap offaith our parents took with ourupbringing. What a change theTS had wrought in one genera-tion!

We even ventured into theriver, through the narrow fringeof mangroves, to the islands nearthe bank. Shoeless, squishy,squashy mud between our toes,we didn’t think of water snakes,the sharp stakes of mangroveroots or slugs. We did clean upcarefully before heading home;in fact I can’t recollect ever tell-ing our elders about these excur-sions.

One day the incoming tidecaught us. This excursion was

not just to the islands, but diago-nally across from the beach, to-wards the Chettinad Palace, onthe other side of the river. Wedidn’t really think we could makeit, but when we did, we couldn’tget back because the tide hadturned. A long walk on the mainSan Thomé Road across theAdyar Bridge and to our homestook an hour or two. Well pastour curfew time we came homebedraggled indeed.

Although our parents musthave been worried, there wereno traumatising recriminations,that was how much latitude wewere given and, I should add,how relatively secure the TS,Adyar and Madras were in thosedays. South of the river, it waslike living in a village rather thanin a metropolis.

Our school was co-educa-tional and our friendships werewith boys and girls, as were ourgames and adventures. Thesebred a special mateship born outof shared experiences and simi-lar upbringings. I didn’t think ofhow different our growing up wasuntil in my 40s my friend Indirasaid to me, “The experiences ofyour childhood are nothing likethose of the rest of us” – and shewas from a liberal household!

Was it the ‘land that time for-got?’ Hardly, for members of theTS were involved in the social,educational and politicalchanges sweeping the country.Was it ‘a fleeting wisp of glorycalled Camelot?’ Not fleeting –for so many of the ideas we grewup with have entered the main-stream, both within India andwithout. A random list wouldinclude gender equality, educa-tion for the underprivileged, theMontessori methodology inteaching, ethical treatment ofanimals, the irrelevance of caste,a revival of interest in Indian artand textiles, cross-cultural toler-ance, inter-faith dialogue, globalperspectives, New Age move-ments, the Age of Aquarius, ifyou like – and much else.

“Sagara saritha sangama ghateadbhuta yeh Adyar”

No wonder we belted out thewords so lustily at school!

The Japanese Bell.

Rabindranath Tagore

� NOSTALGIA

6 MADRAS MUSINGS March 1-15, 2015

A T’Nagar dream!Can we make it aworld-class shopping area?

Theagaroya Nagar (T’Nagar) is today the fore-

most commercial hub for shop-ping in Chennai. It is also amajor hub for intra-city busservices. Historically, it was aplanned residential neighbour-hood with roads and streetsradiating from Panagal Park. Itsadjoining regions include Tey-nampet, West Mambalam andAzeez Nagar, all residential ar-eas. The area has today shed itsoriginal character and has hugestand-alone shopping centres, avariety of business establish-ments, accommodation provid-ers and other commercial enter-prises as well as a sizeable infor-mal business sector leading totraffic and congestion problems.

Congestion in T’Nagar isdue to land use change, rapidre-densification, unplannedpublic transportation systems,poor traffic circulation pattern,little pedestrian space, hawkerencroachment, inadequateparking facilities as well as otherenvironmental issues.

These issues are discussed insome detail below and a ‘VisionT Nagar’ is suggested, urgingdecongestion of the areathrough pedestrianisation, sky-walks, multi-level car parking,hawker zones, feeder systemand other initiatives, to makethe area a world-class shoppingcentre.

* * *

Until the early 1900s,Chennai’s western boundarywas the villages to the west ofMount Road and the LongTank. The Long Tank wasdrained in 1923. (Lake ViewRoad exists devoid of the lake.)This marked the origin of Thea-garoya Nagar or T’ Nagar (na-med after Sir Pitti TheagaroyaChetty, Raja of Panagal, a stal-wart of the Justice Party whichwas then ruling Madras) andinitiated the expansion of thecity beyond its western limits. Aresidential suburb was con-ceived in the middle of this re-claimed land. A park was devel-oped in the centre of this newlocality and named PanagalPark.

Historically, it was a plannedresidential neighbourhood withroads and streets radiating fromPanagal Park. Its design is be-lieved to have been inspiredfrom a hand. Panagal Park wasthe palm and the main roads ra-diated from the park like fivefingers. The main roads were:North Usman Road, South Us-man Road, Theagaroya Road,Venkatnarayana Road and G NChetty Road, all lined withlarge avenue trees.

� by A. ShankarHead – Strategic Consulting, JLL, India

When designed, the residen-tial plots in T’Nagar were atleast eight grounds in size.Initially G N Chetty Road andVenkatnarayana Road weredeveloped with large plotbungalows. The minimum plotsize was eight grounds. Theplots were divided as half acreand one acre. Later, thesebungalows paved way forcommercial developments. Atpresent, there are hardly anyresidences that fall into this cat-egory.

Nalli’s showroom was thefirst prominent shop; it openedin 1928. Soon, small shops be-gan to make a presence. In the1930s a shopping complex wasdeveloped by ChockalinagaMudaliar. It consisted of tenshops. This was the first bazaarin T’Nagar. He named it PondyBazaar.

Pondy Bazaar is named afterW.P.A. SoundarapandianNadar, the noted social activistfrom Pattiveeranpatti. It stret-ches for around a kilometre onTheagaroya Road. Pavementshopping is part of the excite-ment of T’Nagar. Everythingfrom safety pins to showercurtains is available on the side-walks.

The area around PanagalPark is known for its silk sareeshops. Many prominent jewel-lery stores are also found here.The variety in shopping optionsmakes T’Nagar one of the mostcrowded areas in Chennai dur-ing the festival seasons. Deepa-vali, Navaratri and Pongal bringadditional congestion due tothe crowds drawn by the heavydiscounts and reductions of-fered by stores.

Ranganathan Street is a oneof the busiest streets of Chen-nai. Till 1985 the streets off itwere mostly residential. NowRanganathan Street, once anapproach to the Mambalamrailway station, is closed tomotor traffic as it is so crowdedwith shoppers hoping to buyproducts at heavily discountedprices.

T’Nagar had a population of214,878 according to the 2001census. On a typical weekend,the number of people visiting toshop in the T’Nagar area mightsoar to 200,000. During festivalseasons, this number mightreach a million. Shoppers comenot only from all parts ofChennai as well as from TamilNadu but from all over the

world with a major contributionfrom Sri Lanka. It is believedthat close to 70-80 per cent ofthe gold sold in Chennai – themost important gold marketin the southern region – isin T’Nagar. The southernregion contributes approxi-mately 45 per cent of the800-tonne annual nationalofftake.

Silk saree and gold jewelleryshopping has been synonymouswith T’Nagar for the last 50years. During this period,T’Nagar has evolved as thecentre for silk sarees, goldjewellery and stainless steelutensils – paraphernalia of atypical Indian wedding. Today,a family can finish its entirewedding shopping with two orthree visits to this centralbusiness district, as there areshops that sell everything fromwedding invitation cards,jewellery and sarees to house-hold articles.

Conversion of T’Nagar fromresidential neighbourhood to ashopping destination hasspiralled land rates sky-highover the past 80 years. Whatwas Rs. 200 per ground in 1930is approximately Rs. 50,000,000(Rs. 5 crore) per ground or

approximately Rs. 20,000 persq ft.

* * *The five radial avenues all

leading to one main centralmain space, Panagal Park, di-vided the area into clearly sepa-rated neighbourhoods. AsT’Nagar was planned in a timewhen cars were a rare luxury,walkability was very important.Civic facilities, retail outletsand public parks were plannedfor easy access from adjacentneighbourhoods in clustersalong the five main avenues.This planned residentialneighbourhood has changedcharacter very rapidly and ismaking way to become the Cen-tral Shopping District ofChennai. The MTC Bus Termi-nus and Mambalam RailwayStation made T’Nagar easily ac-cessible for everyone.

The Theagaroya bus termi-nus is a major one in the south-ern region and operates nearly600 bus services a day that origi-nate and terminate there. Thelocation of the bus terminus ismutually detrimental and ben-eficial. The terminus attractsabout 130 buses during its peakhour which in turn clogs South

Usman Road and the BurkitRoad-South Usman Road inter-section, causing severe conges-tion at the current bus terminuslocation itself.

The impact of this is trafficcongestion up to 500 m in bothdirections of South UsmanRoad as almost 50-70 per centof road space is occupied bybuses during the peak hour.There is also absence ofplanning for pedestrian and busmovement within and aroundthe bus terminus and poorintegration of Mambalamstation and bus terminus.No formal feeder system isavailable to connect the termi-nus with the retail/residentialareas.

The traffic from residentialareas in the western regions ofChennai moves towards thebusiness areas in the easternand central regions of Chennaithrough T’Nagar. This West toEast traffic is in the morningand East to West traffic in theevening. A similar pattern isobserved in the North-Southdirection. These movements, incombination with the retail/shopping area-oriented traffic,coupled with local residentialarea traffic, create a mix oftraffic-related problems alongall the major arterials of thearea. The problem is especiallyfelt along North Usman Road,South Usman Road, G NChetty Road, and C I T NagarFirst Main Road. All the inter-sections along Anna Salaiand Arcot Road also getcongested. Nandanam intersec-tion, Panagal Park, DuraisamySubway and Kodambakkamflyover are examples of theproblems caused by the transittraffic.

There are hardly any pedes-trian-friendly facilities inT’Nagar. Pavements have beenutilised for informal shoppingactivities by street vendors. Thelack of space for pedestrianmovement because of encro-achment by hawkers is an acuteproblem along RanganathanStreet, the western side of

South Usman Road and theeastern part of TheagaroyaRoad. According to a hawkersurvey in the central area ofT’Nagar, around 850 perma-nent street vendors can befound on its pavements.

There is an acute demandfor parking. Market researchhas indicated that T’Nagar has2,668,311 sq.ft. of retail space.This translates to a requirementof 2668 car slots. The parkingavailability in T’Nagar is onlyaround 800 slots. About 1,400four-wheelers and 3,000 two-wheelers park in the T’Nagararea and approximately two-thirds of these vehicles areparked in the streets.

The exponential increase invehicles, especially in the lastdecade, has resulted in emissionfrom automobiles increasingmanifold. The air pollutionproblem in the T’Nagar areafrom the automobile sector isfurther compounded because ofthe availability of a very lowpercentage of road area inproportion to total city surfacearea for plying such a largeautomobile fleet. Other sourcesof air pollution include con-struction activities, re-suspen-sion of road dust, and burningbiomass.

T’Nagar may have growninto a very successful shoppingdistrict, but times are changingand for T’Nagar not to lose itsmiddle class and high-end clien-tele to posh malls coming upelsewhere in Chennai, it isimportant to stay ahead of thatcompetition. At the same time,residents of T’Nagar and neigh-bouring areas would welcome amore diversified range of retailand leisure developments thatsuits their needs and in a moreinviting ‘city centre’ where theywould want to spend qualitytime with friends and family ona regular basis.

Some of the solutions todecongest T’Nagar will bediscussed next fortnight. (Cour-tesy: Our Building & Construc-tion)

(To be concluded)

March 1-15, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

A vision comes

true

KRISHNASWAMI ALLADI concludes the storyof the birth of MATSCIENCE, the Institute ofMathematical Sciences, the efforts of hisfather, Professor Alladi Ramakrishnan, andthe role of his Theoretical Physics Seminar inthe creation of this Institute in Madras onJanuary 3, 1962.

(Continued fromlast fortnight)

R.A. Gopalaswami, ChiefSecretary of the Govern-

ment of Madras, who had astrong leaning towards themathematical sciences, askedFather on December 5th toformulate the aims and objec-tives of the proposed institute,at the suggestion of MinisterC. Subramaniam. Father wasready for this crucial momentand supplied the requesteddocument the next day. Mean-while, in New Delhi, the PrimeMinister had begun seekingopinions on initial proposalwhich Father had sent himthrough C. Subramanian soonafter the meeting with thePrime Minister at Raj Bhavanon October 8th.

There were two aspects inwhich C. Subramaniam playeda crucial role in the ultimatedecision: The first was to con-vince the Prime Minister that anew institute was necessary, ashad been proposed by Father.The second was that it shouldbe in Madras. C. Subramaniamlater wrote:

“The Prime Minister referredthe matter to Dr. Homi Bhabhafor his advice. Unfortunately,Dr. Bhabha was not very enthu-siastic. His contention was thatthe available limited resourceswould have to be utilised for theexisting institution, namely theTata Institute of FundamentalResearch (TIFR).

“When the Prime Ministerpassed on the opinion of Dr.Bhabha to me, I requested himto arrange a meeting betweenme, Dr. Bhabha and himself todiscuss this matter. The meet-ing was arranged and I argued

my case for a separate institu-tion in the South, particularlywhen talented students in theSouth were not gettingopportunities for pursuing theirinterests because of the limitednumber of students admitted toTIFR. I also emphasised thatmathematical sciences did notrequire heavy investment.Panditji also showed his inclina-tion to accept my point ofview. So Dr. Bhabha also gavehis consent. Thereafter stepswere taken to establish what isnow well known as the Instituteof Mathematical Sciences....Forthe purpose of emphasising theimportance of this Institute,and for its proper funding, Ithought we should haveJawaharlal Nehru himself as thePatron of the Institute. When Imentioned this to him, hegladly agreed. I requestedDr. Bhabha to be a member ofthe first Governing Body of theInstitute (and he agreed).”

With the approval given bythe Prime Minister, steps weretaken at a rapid pace to createan Institute in the next twoweeks. Prof. Ramakrishnanlater wrote:

“December 7th was a signifi-cant day. I met Mr. Subra-maniam and the Chief Secre-tary, both of whom agreed tothe creation of the Institute.Meanwhile seminars were goingon with unabated vigour inEkamra Nivas....

“On December 20th, I metMr. Subramaniam at theMadras airport on his returnfrom Delhi. What a thrillingmoment it was when heinformed me that the PrimeMinister had agreed to be thePatron of the Institute! OnDecember 22nd at 1:30 pm, I

was called by the EducationSecretary, K. Srinivasan, whoissued an order of appointmentto me as the Director of the In-stitute. What a providential co-incidence that it should be thebirthday of Srinivasa Rama-nujan! I met the great astro-physicist Subrahmanyam Chan-drasekar (of the University ofChicago) the same evening toinquire whether he couldinaugurate the Institute onJanuary 3, 1962. He agreed todo so provided we obtainedsuitable air reservations forhim (to return to the UnitedStates) the next day. What asimple request from so great aman!”

On December 22nd, therewas a music concert in theSeminar Hall of Ekamra Nivasfor the delegates of the AnnualSymposium on Cosmic Rays.The concert originally intendedfor the symposium delegatesturned out also to be a celebra-tion of the news about thelaunch of MATSCIENCE!

The next day, Fathertendered his resignation to theUniversity of Madras.

Time was short, with barelyten days for the inauguration.Overnight, more than a hun-dred letters were typed and sentto scientists all over the worldannouncing the launch ofMATSCIENCE, the Instituteof Mathematical Sciences.From December 27th onwards,telegrams started pouring infrom Nobel Laureates and other

eminent scientists heralding thecreation of the new Instituteand congratulating Father onhis appointment as its Director.These congratulatory messagesincluded several from NobelLaureates.

The speech was delivered ex-tempore, as was his style, andlater reproduced from a record-ing.

The academic work of thenew institute began immedi-ately with a lecture by ProfessorChandrasekhar on gravitationin the physics lecture roomwhere he and his illustriousuncle Nobel Laureate Sir C. V.Raman had studied as under-graduates. MATSCIENCE wasinitially given two rooms in thePresidency College where itfunctioned for two years beforemoving to the Central Poly-technic Campus in Adyar inApril 1964.

All members of the Theo-retical Physics Seminar as ofJanuary 1962 joined the newInstitute at various levels – R.Vasudevan, N.R. Ranganathan,T.K. Radha, G. Bhanumathi, S.Indumathi, R. Thunga, V.Devanathan, G. Ramachan-dran, K. Venkatesan, A.P. Bala-chandran, K. Ananthanaraya-nan, K. Raman, and R.K.Umerjee. They all continued togive seminars vigorously in thenew premises of the Institute.But from time to time, Fatherand his students held seminarsin the evenings at Ekamra Nivasfor a few years after the creationof the Institute.

Perhaps the first few years ofthe Institute were the finest interms of vibrancy of the Visit-ing Scientists Programme. Pro-fessor Rosenfeld who visited theInstitute in 1963 expressedwonder on how so much wasbeing done in such modest sur-roundings and with an evenmore modest budget. He alsosaid that in every place in Eu-rope where he had earlier been,there was someone who had vis-ited, or was intending to visit,MATSCIENCE. The Institutewas formally registered on Fri-day, July 13, 1962. The Institutemoved to more spacious accom-modation on the top floor of abuilding in the Central Poly-technic Campus in 1964 and,finally, to its own premises in1969 where it continues tofunction today.

(Concluded)

Prof. Ramakrishnan laterwrote: “What a thrill and ex-citement it was to greet theNew Year (in this fashion), andfor the Institute to be inaugu-rated on January 3rd by Profes-sor S. Chandrasekhar at a pub-lic function presided over by itsprimary supporter Mr. C.Subramaniam. I could not sleepthe whole night as cablegramsof greetings were being deliv-ered every hour and throughthe night from various parts ofthe world. I was too excited toprepare my inaugural speech,and I decided to deliver it ex-tempore under the inspirationof the exalted moment.

“The Institute was inaugu-rated at 9:00 am in the Old En-glish Lecture Hall of the Presi-dency College where I had lis-tened to many lectures duringmy study in the HonoursCourse. I gave my speech stat-ing it was a dream fulfilled. ...Itwas a reflection of the past, anestimate of the present, and apeep into the future of sciencein India.”

Father was an orator par ex-cellence, and I have enjoyedhearing many of his outstandinglectures and speeches over theyears, both in India and abroad.His speech The Miracle has Hap-pened at the inauguration ofMATSCIENCE was the finesthe delivered in his life! As a six-year-old boy, I was in the frontrow at the Old English LectureHall listening to this speechwhich still resonates within me.

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Manuel Aaron– an inspiration

for Madraschess players

One of the most appealing pictures we have seen in a long time. This is the front of a postcard invitation for Åta KapurChishti’s recent exhibition at Apparao Galleries, Sari: celebrating the unstiched garment.

When the Aaron family re-located in India from Burma, it wasthe opening move of Manuel Aaron’s chess career. India’s

first International Master, nine times National Champion and anInternational Arbiter, 79-year-old Aaron is a repository of facts onthe history of chess in India. He started an exclusive magazine forchess as early as in 1983, has authored several books on chess, andhas shared the nuances of the game with players who later becamecelebrities.

Manuel Aaron is from a family of chess players and was intro-duced to the game by his grandfather. Now his son Aravind is aNational Champion, chess journalist and a chess trainer and thegame goes on. Manuel Aaron talks about the game in response toM. Rajini’s questions.� A game of chess is actually a simulated war. Tell us about chess inearly times.

You know, Buddhist monks in the 6th Century were actuallyencouraged to play chess to keep them away from war. Playing thegame actually quenched their thirst for fighting a battle. Later,parents let their children play chess so they can keep them out ofmischief outdoors (laughts). Now India has made it to the interna-tional arena.� How tough was it to learn the technicalities of the game when booksand newspapers were the only media available then?

The challenge made it more exciting. I used to constantly readthe Encyclopaedia Britannica in the library. Newspapers used tocarry chess problems and also publish the names of those whosolved them. We used to avidly read all the literature available onthe subject. Then there was correspondence chess which kept uspondering over moves and strategies.� Oh! What is correspondence chess?

We played chess with other enthusiasts by sending a postcardrecording our move. The game went on through cards being sentback and forth. Sometimes it took months to finish a game. Wewould be playing with several people simultaneously. The pace wasslow, but for every game we had time to analyse our moves andpredict the outcome. It was a great opportunity to hone our skills.Even now we have Correspondence Chess Clubs.

There is an exciting category called ‘Blitz’ chess where playerscan set the timeframe for finishing the game. A clock is set besidethe player to clock the time taken for every move. Both playershustle to make a move and hit the clock simultaneously. The playerwho exhausts his/her time first is the loser. The standard rules ofmovement, capture and game ending apply to his game.

Analysing a game is a tradition. I used to analyse games playedby Russian players, give lectures and demonstrate on the board.Even parents used to attend those sessions.� You are a FIDE rated (2300) player. Who decides the ratings?

FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) is the organisa-tion that governs international chess competition. Women arerated together with men. Rating is a method for calculating therelative skill levels of players. If two people with the same ratingcompete, the chances of a win are 50-50. A system called the lawof probability is used to determine your chance of winning a game.If your expectancy curve is high and you lose, your rating will takea dive, whereas the other person, who was not expected to win butdid, will get a high rating. Vishwanath Anand’s rating is 2792.FIDE also decides the title ‘Grandmaster’. It is a title for life. Indiahas 38 Grandmasters at present.� Do children flood into classes only when India is in the internationalarena?

No. Chess is listed in the games which get you admission toprofessional colleges under the sports quota. Many parents are keenon introducing the game to their children. It is left to the child andthe academy to sustain its interest.� About Chessmate and the club...?

Aaron Chess Academy is the first of its kind in Chennai. It is ahub for all chess lovers and aspirants of the game. We offer open-ing advice and strategies, a chess library and information on forth-coming open tournaments. We also conduct classes throughInternet Chess Club and Skype at US $30 an hour.

Chessmate is our monthly chess magazine, a gateway to worldchess. (Courtesy: Adyar Times)

To many,heritage is amere facade

judgement by vested interests tosuit their ends. This has beentaken advantage of in severalinstances such as P Orr & Sonsand the Saidapet Teachers’Training College buildingswhere Metro Rail has bulldozedstructures. It would be best ifthe Indian National Trust forArts and Cultural Heritage(INTACH) represents the mat-ter in court once again andseeks a clarification in this re-gard. When it comes to heritagestructures, mere restoration offacades will not do. It is vitalthat CMDA, the HCC and theowners of properties adhere tothe High Court’s orders in thefull spirit of the law.

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