Regular Articles

• Vol. XXXII No. 23, March 16-31, 2023

Egmore Station to undergo extensive makeover

-- by The Dy. Editor

The Southern Railway, which has been chalking up plans to modernise the Egmore railway station, has finally released details. In what promises to be a complete sweep of the premises, the station will get a much-needed infrastructural upgrade. What is heartening is that the heritage aspect of the station is to be retained, with much […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 23, March 16-31, 2023

Heat of migrant worker row singes state entities, both business and political

-- by A Special Correspondent

The two-minute video appeared on social media channels in the first week of March. Set in what seems to be an unreserved coach on a moving train in Tamil Nadu, it shows a man asking one of his co-passengers whether he speaks Tamil or Hindi; the scene then shows him proceeding to abuse

• Vol. XXXII No. 23, March 16-31, 2023

Heritage Watch: Egmore Station – Then, Now and In Future

And so, finally, Egmore station is to see some sweeping changes, much of it essential. The story “Egmore Station to undergo extensive makeover” has all the details. Once the Madras terminal of what was the South Indian Railway Company

• Vol. XXXII No. 23, March 16-31, 2023

Lost Landmarks of Chennai

-- by Sriram V

The Round Tana The name has been around for long, in fact so long, that nobody knows how it came about. As is usual, a number of stories with no facts to support them have been bandied around. There is no round tana in fact – all that remains is a statue of Annadurai marking […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 23, March 16-31, 2023

Our Readers Write

Statues on the Marina Talking of statues on the Marina (MM: February 16, 2023) I remember, after the statues of Tamil scholars were erected as a part of the World Tamil Conference over 50 years ago, it was then rumored that the statues actually came to life in the dark of the night in celebration […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 23, March 16-31, 2023

Short ‘N’ Snappy

– MMM

Poster Play Tamil Nadu, in the considered view of The Man from Madras Musings, is the heartland of posters. And Chennai, being the capital, is the headquarters of the poster world. There are posters for just about anything – birth, death, puberty and marriage announcements, the latest issue of magazines, music and dance performances, plays, […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 22, March 1-15, 2023

Chennai’s increase in FSI needs careful study

-- by The Editor

The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr. M.K. Stalin, speaking at a real estate event recently, assured the stakeholders present that his administration would be happy to consider an increase in the Floor Space Index as presently stipulated by law for construction within the city. This announcement was received with much jubilation by the […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 22, March 1-15, 2023

New experiment makes Chennai Central India’s first ‘silent’ railway station

-- by A Special Correspondent

The hoary public announcement system in India’s railway stations is a cultural phenomenon in itself. The announcements are singularly uniform in all stations across the country and the trademark jingle played before and after announcements is so recognizable that one could argue that passengers’ ears have been trained to pay attention to the travel advisories.

• Vol. XXXII No. 22, March 1-15, 2023

Heritage Watch: The Petrus Uscan Plaque

It was in February 2018 that we last wrote about this historic plaque. For those not in the know, it records in three languages the munificence of the Armenian merchant Coja Petrus Uscan, who in 1728 funded the first bridge across the Adyar. Known as the Marmalong (Mambalam) Bridge, it has since made way for […]

• Vol. XXXII No. 22, March 1-15, 2023

Our Readers Write

What connects Calicut and Mylapore? Heritage is one. I spent four days in Calicut, Kozhikode, in Kerala. And as I always do, I soaked in well and also learnt much. The idea of a literary festival on the beach partly drew me there. But I was not expecting the mela atmosphere that this annual event […]