Mr.Vaidheeswaran's interview on Old Madras in Metro Plus was a real treat to us youngsters. Having been brought up in a very different Madras to the one he describes, I am intrigued to know how the city looked back in the day. I have been a resident of Besant Nagar ever since I came into existence and my life revolves around certain parts of the Elliots Beach, Adyar (on account of my educational institution) and maybe Nungambakkam (once in a while).
My paternal great-grandfather was apparently an influential man and owned a lot of property on C.P.Ramaswamy road- the Rasi building and surroundings to be precise. Born several decades later, I missed out on these old properties and have become accustomed to my maternal side's reliable housing board flats. So Besant Nagar to me became something like Swami's Malgudi.
The first time I heard about Fort St.George (which should have rightfully been in History class) was from a German friend. Embarrassed that a foreigner had to tell me about my own hometown, I ventured to North Madras in 2004 to volunteer in a shelter home for street kids in Tondiarpet. 6D was my vehicle as it wound down Beach road, Madras Port, Fort St.George....till it dropped me off at my desired stop. In fact, I was so excited to have made it through to 6D's last stop at Toll Gate once. I was, however, expecting to see a massive Gate leftover from colonial times but had to be satisfied with the bus stop's signboard.
For my generation, the suburbs of Madras have forever been associated with popular hangout spots. Mylapore-Saravana Bhavan, Nungambakkam-Ispahani Centre, Mount Road-Spencer Plaza and Marina Beach with Citi Centre. While my Patti would describe the Grand Old Music Sabhas in the backstreets of Mylapore, my only reference point is Idlys in Saravana or the Korathi beads I can pick up off the street vendors.
Now that the weather is getting a little bit bearable-I am wondering if I should sign up to volunteer in Anna Nagar so I get to see a little bit more of Pazhaya Madras.
My paternal great-grandfather was apparently an influential man and owned a lot of property on C.P.Ramaswamy road- the Rasi building and surroundings to be precise. Born several decades later, I missed out on these old properties and have become accustomed to my maternal side's reliable housing board flats. So Besant Nagar to me became something like Swami's Malgudi.
The first time I heard about Fort St.George (which should have rightfully been in History class) was from a German friend. Embarrassed that a foreigner had to tell me about my own hometown, I ventured to North Madras in 2004 to volunteer in a shelter home for street kids in Tondiarpet. 6D was my vehicle as it wound down Beach road, Madras Port, Fort St.George....till it dropped me off at my desired stop. In fact, I was so excited to have made it through to 6D's last stop at Toll Gate once. I was, however, expecting to see a massive Gate leftover from colonial times but had to be satisfied with the bus stop's signboard.
For my generation, the suburbs of Madras have forever been associated with popular hangout spots. Mylapore-Saravana Bhavan, Nungambakkam-Ispahani Centre, Mount Road-Spencer Plaza and Marina Beach with Citi Centre. While my Patti would describe the Grand Old Music Sabhas in the backstreets of Mylapore, my only reference point is Idlys in Saravana or the Korathi beads I can pick up off the street vendors.
Now that the weather is getting a little bit bearable-I am wondering if I should sign up to volunteer in Anna Nagar so I get to see a little bit more of Pazhaya Madras.
What is there in annanagar?
ReplyDeleteVolunteer? What are you upto this time?