Featured Articles

• Vol. XXXII No. 21, February 16-28, 2023

60th Anniversary Celebrations of the Elysée Treaty at The Madras Literary Society

-- by Thirupurasundari Sevvel

On January 23rd last month, an eager audience gathered before the facade of the Madras Literary Society, awaiting the sunset. A light show was to be projected upon the building in honour of the 60th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty – a treaty of friendship between France and Germany that was signed at Paris, in […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 21, February 16-28, 2023

Apollo Hospitals – Early struggles

-- Business Houses of the South by Sushila Ravindranath

The Apollo Group of hospitals makes it to the lists of the best hospitals not only in India, but globally as well. It is India’s first corporate hospital which was set up in 1983 in Chennai. When it was launched, many eyebrows were raised as the general opinion was that such a venture was not […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 21, February 16-28, 2023

S. Kannan: Quiet champion of the arts

-- by S. Janaki

In the passing away of S. Kannan, the world of eyal, isai, natakam has lost a quiet champion of the arts. Hailing from Karaikudi, this 73-year old connoisseur of the arts, had endeared himself to one and all in the field through his selfless service, sincerity, simple demeanour and sharing nature. He was best known […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 21, February 16-28, 2023

Performance Spaces in Chennai — The Ugly, The Bad & the Good

-- by Ramanathan Iyer

Chennai – a city that’s the epicentre of South Indian classical music and dance – and which takes justifiable pride in being included in the Creative Cities network of UNESCO, predictably has a wide variety of performance spaces dedicated to the arts. The hectic December music season sees maximum usage of these spaces, big and […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 21, February 16-28, 2023

A textbook artist amidst slam bang Cricket

-- by Partab Ramchand

In these days of slam bang cricket it is unusual for a young cricketer to emerge as a specialist Test player and this has to be Murali Vijay’s chief claim to fame. While others indulged in the reverse sweeps, the switch hits and helicopter shots here was a youngster who played by the text book, […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 20, February 1-15, 2023

Surf Turf turns ten

-- by Varsha V

Madras Musings chatted with founder Arun Vasu, who told us the story of Chennai’s first surfing school Surf Turf, the remarkable milestones it has reached and its aspirations for the future. “It would have been great to have you come down and meet the team – and, of course, take a surfing lesson!” said Arun […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 20, February 1-15, 2023

Public Hospitals in Madras and the people associated with it – II

-- by Anantanarayanan Raman, anant@raman.id.au

(Continued from last fortnight) The Lunatic Asylum Support for founding the Madras Lunatic Asylum (MLA) (the Government Mental Hospital until 1978; Institute of Mental Health, presently) in Kilpauk was signed by the Government of Madras in January 1867. A new building for the MLA was constructed in a 66.5-acre Locock’s Garden, Kilpauk, a little outside

• Vol. XXXII No. 20, February 1-15, 2023

Lost Leisure: The Mystery of the Pink Granite Stone with the Game of Panch Kone — Kapaleeshwarar Temple

-- by Vinita Sidhartha

Traditional games have a rich and interesting history. There is much we know about them, and there is much that we don’t. In some cases, we remember the rules, the names, and how we used to play them. But who created them? Where did they come from? Is there a deeper meaning? Of this we […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 20, February 1-15, 2023

Thank you, Donors

We today, publish donations received with thanks for the ­period November-December 2022. – The Editor Rs. 4900: Dr Biswakumar B Rs. 1400: P.S. Seshadri Rs. 1000: Vasanthu Mathew Rs. 900: C.N. Viswanathan Rs. 400: N. Raghavan, Sriramprasad Mukkala, M.V.S. Appa Rao, Srinivas Chari, R. Ranjarajan Rs. 150: T. Muralidharan Rs. 100: C.V. Nagarathinam

• Vol. XXXII No. 19, January 16-31, 2023

Minority groups and social welfare at Chennai’s 46th Annual Book Fair

-- by Shwetha Bai

With the buzz of Pongal in town, Chennai has been taken by storm once again by the 46th Annual Chennai Book Fair. Held at the YMCA grounds, the Book Fair has more than 400 stalls. While the fair serves as a place of zeal and fervour for bibliophiles, it has also become a medium to […]