Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXVII No. 1, April 16-30, 2017
Our two pictures focus on two historical structures and reflect how we treat such relics of history. On the left is the Dr. James Anderson tomb in the St. Mary’s Cemetery on the Island. This tomb today sports trees growing from it. Some may say that’s appropriate for Anderson was the first of those Madras medico-botanists who pioneered the study of flora in India and established what could well be considered the first botanical gardens in the country (see this).
The second picture is of the Salt Bungalow in Ennore Creek, where rowing and sailing as a sport were born in Madras. This house, occupied by the Excise Inspector as home and office (it also commemorates the salt pans in the area), was often used by spectators during regattas to watch the action.
The Madras Boat Club plans to shortly row down memory lane at Ennore Creek where the Club had its beginnings many years before its official functioning 150 years ago, in 1867. The Salt Bungalow may well again host spectators watching the action.