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Vol. XXXIII No. 8, August 1-15, 2023
Archives: Vol. XXXIII No. 8, August 1-15, 2023
Madras Week is here again! – But it could do with a lot more celebrants
-- by The Dy. Editor
Madras Day, Madras Week, Madras Month, call it what you will, is back. Here we are, celebrating our city and all that it stands for. Begun around 19 years ago by S. Muthiah, Vincent D’Souza and Sashi Nair, it now has a dedicated band of people who conduct events during the month of August, which was probably when the English first came here in 1639 and gave the growth of what was Madarasapattinam and its subsequent adjunct Chennapattinam a major fillip. That said, Madras Day is not a celebration of the founding of the city (it was not founded out of nothing) and it is not a day out for Raj apologists. It is a celebration of a thriving city.
What is heartening is that Madras Week celebrations have been going on for over nineteen years. And it has acquired adherents. There are some schools, a few colleges, a couple of consulates and embassies, some heritage enthusiasts, a corporate house or two and of course a larger presence on social media. What it seems to lack is more by way of organisers. The same faces keep coming back year after year.
GCC to set up dental clinics in all 200 wards in the city
-- by A Special Correspondent
A recent Times of India article reported that Councillor Nethaji U. Ganesan, the GCC Councilor of Ward 38 in Tondiarpet, raised an alert regarding the paucity of dental treatment facilities available to the public. The solitary dental clinic in his area could not meet the needs of the populace, he said. “GCC has 140 UPHCs (Urban Primary Health Centre) but only 16 dental clinics. Nowadays, people go to hospitals for dental issues in large numbers. There should be dental clinics
Heritage Watch: When Heritage has to be distanced
Among the treasures of Mamallapuram, the bas relief of Krishna lifting the Govardhana mountain is truly a gem. The detailing is of the highest order, and you can imagine the crowds that must have sheltered from the rain and marvelled at the miracle. Dating to the 7th century, it is unique in that it has a pavilion fronting it, which dates to the 16th century.
Lost Landmarks of Chennai
-- by Sriram V.
The Village of Puliyur
If I said Puliyur my guess is that the majority of people would not even know where it is. But if I said Kodambakkam or Vadapalani I am sure it will be instantly recognised. Puliyur was what it was till the 1940s or so, and what is more, it had that name from the Sangam Era. Yes, among the plethora of localities that make up Madras that is Chennai today, and of whose etymology we have no clue, Puliyur ranks high up among the few with an ancient history. Let us see what there is now of that hoary past.
As per K.V. Raman in his Early History of the Madras Region, the Mackenzie Manuscripts record that the Kurumbas, a martial tribe, had their headquarters at Madhavaram/Puzhal.
Dr. K.S. Sanjivi and the VHS
On June 22, 1965, the Rotary Club of Madras met at the Connemara Hotel to confer its For The Sake of Honour Award on Dr. K.S. Sanjivi. Conferring it was an equally illustrious man of medicine – Dr. R.V. Rajam, noted venereologist. What followed was a delightful tribute by the latter to the former and Dr. Sanjivi’s gracious response. We reproduce the report as it appeared in the Rotary Club of Madras’ in-house magazine The Lighthouse in its issue dated June 29, 1966.
Dr. R.V. Rajam, M.D. M.S. M.R. C.P who presented the award to Dr. Sanjivi said:
“I thank you for asking me to participate in today’s function marking your appreciation of the public work of Dr. Sanjivi, in the domain of health to the community. The legend has it that
