Our Readers write

Car(e)-free in Bessy!

It has been some months since Elliot’s Beach (fondly referred to as ‘Bessy’) has been, through a laudable initiative of the Chennai Police (and The Hindu), made car-free (so, also, care-free) on Sundays from six to nine in the morning. The Police have effectively thwarted any attempts by car and bike owners to enter the road during these hours by blocking all entry points.

I have been an early morning walker in Bessy since 1991. Too many vehicles, some of them in ‘speed’ mode, and, of course, motor bike riders, many of whom have nary a concern for others, have irritated me no end. Would you believe it if I told you that one motor-biker had the gall to dash through the elevated walkway with, of course, the silencer off as many of these speed fiends do.

It was, therefore, a matter for delight that Sunday morning walks in Bessy have turned out to be very pleasant. Children frisk and run about happily without their parents having to worry about them being hit by passing vehicles. The young-and-the-not-so-young cycle about; others play frisbee and shuttle badminton. Some skate on rollers. Some play Pallanguzhi. An enterprising enterprise has put up fitness equipment on the road for use. Another is lending cycles on rent. Seniors move about without a care. All this right on the road. The only thing missing is a Sunday morning concert as in Nageswara Park, Mylapore. Will its sponsors oblige?

In a city where poor pedestrians seemingly and, for the most part, count for nothing in the scheme of road ‘planning’ and are, if anything, seen as hindrances to the smooth and speedy flow of traffic, the scene in Bessy on Sunday mornings comes as a welcome relief and a cool sight for sore eyes!

I was not surprised to read a report that people had come all the way from Anna Nagar and some other places to witness this almost unimaginable event and participate in it.

Why only Sundays? The walkers should have the run of Bessy every morning. This should not be difficult since, in any case, the vehicular traffic on weekday mornings is not heavy.

G. Sankaran
T43 A, 7th Avenue,
Besant Nagar, Chennai 600 090

Collegiate autonomy

Apropos A. Raman’s letter (MM, April 1st), I wish to state I was a member of the Academic Council during the Vice-Chancellorship of Dr. Malcolm S. Adiseshiah and actively supported the innovative measures initiated by him. When he faced some difficulties in the Syndicate, Fr. Kuriakose and Prof G.R. Damodaran stood by him. When some amendments to his proposals were made, he rejected all of them saying, “Take it as a whole or reject it in toto”.
In addition to the list of autonomous colleges mentioned by Raman, three other colleges in Coimbatore, namely P.S.G. College of Technology, P.S.G. College of Arts and Science, and Avinashilingam Home Science College (now a deemed university) were granted autonomy in the first phase. Now a good number of colleges have gained autonomous status; besides some of them have also become Deemed Universities.

While it was perceived that autonomy would improve the quality of education, in reality it was the other way. A college that produced not higher than 40 percent in University Examinations for years could boast of 90-100 percent results within one year of becoming autonomous. Manipulation was rampant in the examination system. Not much meaningful improvement in curricula happened, as teachers were not exposed to modern trends in education.

Dr. S.S. Rajagopalan
30, Kamarajar Street
Chennai 600 093

Monsoon Musings

Yes, it is good news from the Indian Meteoro-logical Department, which says that there will be an above normal monsoon this year. Following this, what Dr. M.S. Swaminathan has said regarding creating a “Good Weather Code,” which involves action in mobilising good quality seed resources and needed soil nutrients, is very important. Hopefully, the predictions can help us.

India: We are not prepared well enough on climatology. For example, we do not have a full-fledged weather TV Channel and the other channels just show only temperature charts with advertisement hoardings and some music as background. It is a waste of time looking at it.

Consider the presentation made by BBC for India, done every day, a few minutes before 9 a.m., 12 noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., and 9 p.m. There is a commentator explaining the events, with a map of our region, showing temperatures of major cities, cloud formation, direction of wind, and probable climatic pattern for the next day too. When there is a monsoon developing, it is interesting and educative to see when and where the monsoon will hit the land. These data are updated so many times in a day, a farmer knows what the position is at any given time.

Even though Chennai and India have the capability, with ISRO having a geo-positioning satellite and the country a very well organised Indian Meteorological Department, no suitable State-controlled or national monitoring system is in place. India can easily have a contract with BBC to get its input with the help of UN0. The damage to Chennai would not have been so much, if our people had been alerted.

When last year’s mega floods hit Chennai, Government was caught napping and the administration was totally exposed as, being unprepared, it was in no position to handle the huge calamity, leading to huge crops loss, loss of livestock, severe flooding, damage to several lakes and human life.

I used to see the BBC climatic chart every three hours during those bleak days. I could see the “Yellow” nucleus of the chart moving along the coast of Tamil Nadu, indicative of a cyclonic storm brewing. Usually, these do not come along the coast of Tamil Nadu, but would strike the Andhra coast or skim along to Odisha and land in West Bengal or Bangladesh. But, this time it did not happen and it was stuck at Cuddalore and then hit hard at Chennai. When it was happening, I wondered several times why our TV channels did not show this happening. Is prevention not better than cure? In the past, I have seen this happen to Mumbai, when they got a ducking with over 100 cm of rain in a day.

What the IMD has not mentioned is that the pre-industrial level of carbon-dioxide has gone up from 280 ppmv during the 1750s to 400 ppmv by 2015 and if 25% is added as CO2 equivalent to this, for the greenhouse gases, the figure comes to 500 ppmv. With more development, the problem only increases. And there is no solution is in sight.
The sea surface temperatures have already gone up by 0.85 Celsius in 2012, as against 1880, which increases the cloud formation and more than expected rain may come down, causing floods or drought.

K.V.S. Krishna
B8, Alsa Tower Residential Complex,
186/187 PH Road,
Kilpauk,
Chennai 600 010

Speaking in Shakespeare

Don’t say this has nothing to do with Madras; it is a part
of the everyday life of every Madras Musings reader, says
Abey from Canberra, who sends MM this item to indicate the
relevance of Shakespeare in 2016 and to mark the 400th anniversary
of his death. Take a look at these 60 well-used sayings
that come, courtesy of the Bard, says reader Abey:

“Fancy–free” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“Lie low” – Much Ado About Nothing
“Send packing” – Henry IV
“Foregone conclusion” – Othello
“A sorry sight” – Macbeth
“For goodness sake” – Henry VIII
“Good riddance” – The Merchant of Venice
“Neither here not there” – Othello
“Mum’s the word” – Henry VI, Part II
“What’s done is done” – Macbeth
“Break the ice” – The Taming of the Shrew
“Scuffle” – Antony and Cleopatra
“Catch a cold” – Cymbeline
“Uncomfortable” – Romeo and Juliet
“Manager” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“Devil incarnate” – Titus Andronicus
“Dishearten” – Henry V
“Eventful” – As You Like It
“New–fangled” – Love’s Labour’s Lost
“Hot–blooded” – King Lear
“Eaten out of house and home” – Henry IV, Part II
“Rant” – Hamlet
“Knock knock! Who’s there?” – Macbeth
“With bated breath” – The Merchant of Venice
“Laughable” – The Merchant of Venice
“Negotiate” – Much Ado About Nothing
“Jaded” – King Henry VI
“A wild goose chase” – Romeo and Juliet
“Assassination” – Macbeth
“Too much of a good thing” – As You Like It
“A heart of gold” – Henry V
“Such stuff as dreams are made on” – The Tempest
“Fashionable” – Troilus and Cressida
“Puking” – As You Like It
“Dead as a doornail” – Henry VI, Part II
“Not slept one wink” – Cymbeline
“The world’s mine oyster” – The Merry Wives of Windsor
“Obscene” – Love’s Labour’s Lost
“Bedazzled” – The Taming of the Shrew
“In stitches” – Twelfth Night
“Addiction” – Othello
“Faint–hearted” – Henry VI, Part I
“One fell swoop” – Macbeth
“Vanish into thin air” – Othello
“Swagger” – Henry V
“Own flesh and blood” – Hamlet
“Zany” – Love’s Labour’s Lost
“Give the devil his due” – Henry IV, Part I
“There’s method in my madness” – Hamlet
“Grovel” – Henry IV
“Lonely” – Coriolanus
“Unreal” – Macbeth
“Salad days” – Antony and Cleopatra
“Spotless reputation” – Richard II
“Full circle” – King Lear
“Epileptic” – King Lear
“Arch–villain” – Timon of Athens
“Bloodstained” – Titus Andronicus
“All of a sudden” – The Taming of the Shrew
“Come what, come may” – Macbeth