Our Readers Write

Nalla Madras /Chennai

I was glad to receive the latest issue of Madras Musings, which contained interesting, informative, and motivating narratives about Chennai. I’d like to share with readers and other senior citizens that Chennai has transformed into a lovable city with neat & broad roads, beaches with lots of greenery, as well as clean bus stations, railways, parks and the like. Those who visit the city from November to January have many compliments to share, weather-wise and otherwise, too. The city’s education and healthcare sectors – including facilities for yoga practice, pyramid meditation and dhyana centres – are to be celebrated. One classic example is the National Centre of Ageing at Guindy which has been established by the State and Central government under the Aayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana. 

I love my Madras, my Chennai and my Madras Musings.

Lakshman Rao
hklrao@gmail.com

Untold Stories

It was really interesting and informative to go through your issue dated October 1-15, 2024. Yes, the Tamil Nadu government should learn from Colombo on flood management. Coming to SWD drainage, pedestrians are the worst hit, especially at places where the Metro work is on. It is more so at Luz Junction in Mylapore, where the traffic is diverted near Sanskrit college, via Mundakkanni Amman Koil Street, which is too narrow to cater to such heavy traffic. With no proper footpath available, it is the pedestrians, especially senior citizens, who find it too difficult to walk on this road.
As averred by you, the planning of Chennai Metro Rail could have been better – not to inconvenience the residents of smaller roads, most of which are battered with potholes, filled with rain water. The unmarked speed breakers and uneven manholes add to our misery.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Puliyodharai Missile – A Chepauk Memory by V. Vijayasree. Apart from the Test match and ODI matches against Pakistan, we vividly remember the Tied Test against Australia. I was fortunate to watch the Test at Chepauk. It was a bold and sporting declaration by Allan Border at the 4th day overnight score of 170 for 5 to set a target of 348, and gave ample time for our team to score this in 90 overs, which was a daunting task at that time. But our openers, especially Kris Srikanth gave a rousing start along with Gavaskar, who scored 90 runs. Except Captain Kapil Dev, centurian of first innings, rest all performed well in their second innings. Hats off to Ravi Sastri for his knock of 48 in just 40 balls and his crucial decision to tie the score and allow Maninder Singh to score the one run needed for victory. Unfortunately he was given out LBW, by Umpire Raju to deny a victory for our team. Though the final day was interesting, right from ball one to the last ball, the behaviour of Tim Zoehrer and Greig Mathews took out the sheen. All these are etched in our memory.

N. Mahadevan
A4, First Floor, Gyan Darshan Aprt., T.M. Maistry Street Vannanthurai, Chennai 600 041

Chennai’s public pays the price!

This refers to the article in your issue dated October 16 2024, about the inadequate facilities for the airshow at the Marina beach. Of course, this is an article by an armchair writer! There was no reason for the huge crowd to have struggled to watch the show. They could have comfortably remained at home and watched the show, as we had done. As the author himself suggests, “Entry should have been restricted to the maximum number that could be safely taken care of.” An entry fee could have been collected, just as TTD does for devotees seeking darshan at Tirupati.

PS: I am hoping this will find a place in Madras Musings, as the periodical has a reputation for publishing contrary views, too!

Subramanian (M)
317, Kamaraj Salai
Valasaravakkam
Chennai 600 087

Editor’s Note: Reader Subramaniam seems to conveniently forget that five valuable lives were lost owing to shoddy planning of the infrastructure for the air show.

Vincent’s Jottings

A recent Sunday evening had me at two events. Both in ­Mylapore. Both at sabha halls. Back to back.

One was a play; the other a felicitation and a dance concert. I was checking out these performances, as I do across the city; this helps me choose some for the annual Mylapore Festival we hold every January in the precincts of Sri Kapali Temple. The first call was at the MFAC sabha hall. Dummies Drama, which has some successful plays to its credit, was staging two plays, back to back. Both plays had had a good run and the Sunday shows, I gathered were for some fund-raising effort.

Five minutes to the curtain raise, there were some 260 odd people. It was a 5 p.m. show. I noticed lots of senior couples streaming in. Ten minutes into the play, Payanam, and the hall had some 500 plus people. And more people kept coming in. The play is about a decade old, and yet remains relevant to the day. It is about the journeys of some seven people, all with an American connect; their delayed flights put them all in the lounge room of a Dubai airport, and their lives and outlooks unfold through the story.

The anecdotes resonated with the audience. Many laughed, some clapped lightly, some guffawed too. The stage was reflecting their lives, or of lives they knew too well. Since Mylapore is the hub of concerts and drama, most theatre artistes tune their scripts to be Mylaporean. Payanam too was just that. But did rasikas have a good time, laugh at all the slips and hiccups and go home to talk about it over tiffin or did some lines make them rethink the real life? Impact their outlook, their attitude?

And as I surveyed the packed hall as the curtains came down on Play One that evening, I just felt all over again that people must pay for music and theatre and all the rest today. Even one hundred rupees for a package by the Dummies that evening. Though a fair price would be Rs. 250 or Rs. 300.

My second stop was at Narada Gana Sabha’s hall. Feted artiste Sudha Raghunathan’s Foundation was 25 and was decorating two people and awarding support to some NGOs that evening. I wanted to catch the dance production – Kallazhagar. Inside, it was a slow-roll event. Delayed to start with, it went on and on; this should have been a 45-minute crisp first section. The dance started at 8.10 pm. Very delayed. Imagine the state of the artistes who had been at the venue since noon. Why do artistes dampen the spirits of artistes? I am told Sudha Raghunathan apologised to the dancers.

Appreciate this. But can organisers, sabha heads and guest speakers be snappy at the mike. And make way for the artistes. The stage is theirs.

Vincent D’Souza
Mylapore Times

Please follow and like us: