Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXXIV No. 12, October 1-15, 2024
The walking stick is a device that is used mainly to assist walking, and to provide postural stability. The hold portion had a defining curve, and the stick had a consistent thickness to the very end. It was called a cane, because originally it was made of cane, then wood, and then the handle portion […]
Loyola College, Chennai, commemorated its centenary during the academic year 2024-25. The college has followed the triple mantra of Expansion, Inclusion, and Excellence for the last hundred years. It grew from three undergraduate courses with 75 students in 1925 to 24 UG and 21 PG courses at present. Fifteen disciplines offer full-time and part-time Ph.D. […]
Dr. U. Rama Rau was one of the most prominent personalities of Madras of the early and mid-20th century. Apart from being a medical practitioner, he was greatly public-spirited and wore several hats with ease. He was a member of the Madras Legislative Council (and later, its President as well), an elected member of the […]
GV Films, launched in 1989 in Chennai was the only public limited film company to be ever set up in India. G. Venkatesan better known as GV, also the brother of director Mani Ratnam, had a family background in the film industry. He was a trained chartered accountant. It was his contention that a company which handled […]
Chennai’s M. A. Chidambaram stadium in Chepauk is considered the home of the “knowledgeable cricket crowd.” Who coined this phrase, on what occasion, and when it appeared in print first: such details remain obscure, even unimportant. There is one thing we are certain about: the spectators in Chepauk spectacularly lived up to this badge of […]
I recently read the book Manikkodi Kalam by B.S. Ramaiah, and also leafed through (roughly) 40 issues of Manikkodi magazine published between 1936 and 1939. The periodical’s history has been covered before in the writings of those like A. R. Venkatachalapathy and others. These days, Manikkodi is pegged as a serious, literary magazine. To clear the misconception, writer Kadarkarai has […]
It’s Mangalore bonda time at the Woodlands Drive-In restaurant on Poonamallee high road. You bite into the tiny puffballs of fried batter light as air. Dip one half of the bonda into a steel katori with white coconut chutney and take a swipe of the sambhar next to it and Poof! You feel like you’re Alamelu in Wonderland who’s fallen into […]
Visiting the Hande Hospital in Shenoy Nagar and sitting with its pater familias Dr H. Venkataramana Hande, physician to the hoi polloi (leading the treatment of MGR when he took critically ill in 1984 is a different and compelling story), wise politico and author of books including a prose rendering in English of the Kamba […]
Talk of motor racing and instantly come memories of Sholavaram for old timers and then the Madras International circuit in Irungattukottai for the fans in relatively recent times. They say Chennai has a distinct tennis culture. Sure enough it also has a motor sport love that is something to be seen. No wonder then that […]
As part of Madras Week, an exhibition was organised at Lalit Kala Akademi. A set of paintings on display are featured here. Pics by S. Lashman.