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Time to restore vanishing

Vol. XXVIII No. 2 May 1-15, 2018

WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

INSIDE

Short ‘N’ Snappy Goli Soda again� �Our loss, Andhra’s gain� The Tawkers’ home� Exporting Iron & Steel�

Shrinking Porur Lake (above), thanks to all the buildings encroaching on its banks. Insert: a comparatively new embankment marking the presentbounds of the lake. Below, a well-tended tank, the Kapaliswarar Temple’s, showing what can be done, and the neighbouring Chitrakulam tank madea garbage dump. (Pictures: R. Raja Pandian.)

(by The Editor)

Where arethe fundsto saveheritage?

� by A Special Correspondent

had in its budget decided tosanction money for the restora-tion of three heritage buildings– Victoria Hostel, QueenMary’s College and theKumbakonam GovernmentArts College. We had rejoicedat this sudden change of atti-tude towards heritage. It is onlynow that we know that an an-nouncement to this effect doesnot mean an automatic releaseof funds. Apparently that cantake till eternity.

A news report dated April 7,2018 carried the full details.The Public Works Department(PWD) is eagerly awaitingfunds to the tune of around Rs100 crore for the restoration of25 heritage buildings spreadacross the entire State. TheBuilding Centre and Conserva-tion Division of the PWD (yesthere does exist such an entity)has completed detailed projectreports for all these structuresand has submitted them to theauthorities, after which it hasheard nothing about them.

On the anvil are such presti-gious restorations as the Huma-yun Mahal of the ChepaukPalace, now a mere shell withmuch of its interiors in a state

It was only a month ago that we carriedthe story about how the Government

(Continued on page 2)

To long term Chennai resi-dents, it is not new to learn

that numerous water bodies ofthe city and suburbs havedisappeared over the years.Unloading boatloads of veg-etables and fruits on theBuckingham Canal at Thanni-thurai, the flowing Adyar which,in the 1940s, could be crossedonly by boat at Kottur with alone bus service from Mylaporetank to Guindy Engineeringtwice a day, the AaraatthaKuttai that has become today’sNageswara Rao Park inAlwarpet, the Lake area inNungambakkam where Vallu-var Kottam stands now, and theMedavakkam tank have all be-come memories of a bygone era.

The shrinkage of waterbodies is here in statisticalterms. It is estimated that theexpanse of water bodies in andaround the City contractedfrom 12.6 sq. km. in 1893 to 3.2sq. km. in 2017. There were asmany as 60 large water bodiesat one time which have comedown to just 28, most of whichare small.

The depleted state of majorlakes is disturbing, as what has

been lost, perhaps forever, is im-mense. According to NGOs likeArappor Iyakkam and CareEarth Trust, our major lakeshave suffered serious encroach-ment and abuse, depleting theirholding capacity over the years.

examples and there are others ina similar state.

Lately, there is some concernover this depleting natural as-set. NGOs like Environmental-ist Foundation of India (EFI),are involved in rejuvenating

Villivakkam Lake was nearly214 acres in 1972 and has beenreduced to 20 acres. The irony isthat government organisationsthemselves have been putting upconstructions on the banks ofthe lake. Korattur fresh waterlake is spread over 600 acres andexperts believe it can contributesignificantly to Chennai’s waterrequirement if it is recovered.The 8-acre Avadi lake, which isconsidered to have been at onetime in “pristine condition”, ispractically lost and recoveryseems impossible as it has beenextensively built upon. So hasPorur Lake. These are a few

smaller ponds to sustain theecological balance in Madha-varam, Sholinganallur andMudichur. Commendable workis also being done in creatingawareness and enlisting volun-teers from among the public toserve as watchdogs against mis-use. Volunteer teams have beendesilting and clearing dumpedrubbish to restore the waterbody’s natural capacity and tomake the water cleaner.

That the Forest Departmenthas recently taken over thePallikaranai marshland and em-ployed earthmovers to removeaccumulated rubbish is another

positive sign. This campaign iscarried out in the face of over athousand encroachers hinder-ing eco-restoration by legal andother means. Chennai Cor-poration’s proposal to build a26-km wall along the Adyarbank to prevent encroachmentis promising. The public is anx-iously looking forward to thespeedy completion of theseplans.

To avert the annual night-mare of man-made floods,action is also needed, on emer-gency footing, to remove plasticand garbage blockages ofstormwater drains. In 2012, theChennai Corporation beganwork on construction of 5,000rainwater harvesting structuresin storm water drains. We donot know the status of thatproject and whether they werecompleted.

Cities of the world celebratewaterways flowing throughthem, create parks and archi-tectural splendours around thewaterways with attractive civicamenities. Waterbodies, impor-tantly, act as flood control de-vices to moderate the effects of

(Continued on page 2)

water bodies

2 MADRAS MUSINGS May 1-15, 2018

Where arethe funds?(Continued from page 1)

of collapse for several years.This will cost around Rs 38crore and needs immediate at-tention. Also of urgency is therestoration of the GovernmentPress in the Mint. The oldestbuildings there have alreadybeen destroyed by fire. Theoffice of the Deputy InspectorGeneral of Registration, onRajaji Salai, has long been iden-tified for restoration, but heretoo there is no action. And in adelicious twist, the PWD findsthat its own historic premises onthe Marina need urgent atten-tion to the tune of Rs 17 crore,but has no money for it. Lastseen, despite a seemingly solidexterior, the building was cryingout for maintenance. Much ofits priceless stained glass hasbeen replaced by plastic.

If this be the situation inMadras, the condition of build-ings upcountry is said to be farworse. Structures as far afield asPudukkottai and Nagapattinamawait funds.

The Government in ourview is being short-sighted inthe extreme. Surely sanctioningof Rs 100 crore is nothing for itgiven that that value appears tobe the lowest denominationthat it sanctions for anythingand everything in its annualbudgets. It should also realisethat most of these proposals for

restoration are time-bound andany delay will only push up thecosts. What is the value of acost estimation if execution istaken up a few years after it wasprepared?

There is also another aspectthat the Government needs toconsider. Delays in restorationprojects invariably mean thatsome other macro-level devel-opment nullifies whatever littleis done. Take, for instance, therenovation of VP Hall and RiponBuilding, both of which cost atidy sum of money. The Gov-ernment dithered for years andthen, just as work began, theMetrorail stepped in. As aresult, work on VP Hall had tobe given up and as for RiponBuilding, it is full of (structural)cracks.

There is another aspect to itall – how serious is the Govern-ment about actual restoration?Perhaps it is not and all that itwants is the goodwill that isgenerated by such announce-ments. In this era of socialmedia, it is the optics that countand all that seem to matter, beit in Delhi or at State level.Those not wishing to attributesuch diabolic thoughts to ourGovernment can take solace inthese intentions to restore heri-tage. Action may be a longwhile in coming.

Our water bodies(Continued from page 1)

sudden heavy rainfall. Whennatural storage capacity is de-pleted by human neglect or mis-use, storm water run offhappens, which is rainfall thathas nowhere to collect. It fallson roads, driveways, parkinglots, rooftops and other pavedsurfaces that do not allow waterto soak into the ground, leavingunderground aquifers un-charged. The dry sub-soil isquenched by incursion of salt-water from the sea, in coastalareas. Reversing saline con-tamination needs consecutiveseasons of good rainfall which attimes takes years to occur.Thus, water bodies serve thevaluable function of water bal-ancing and avoidance of salineincursion in coastal areas.

There are lessons from the“water-body experience”.Restoration of water bodies, re-vamping the stormwater drainsystem, modernising sewage wa-ter treatment and solid wastedisposal system are projects thatspan over more than one Bud-get, more than one governmentterm and more than one agency

of the government. At the sametime, these projects are toocritical for the basic needs of theCity to be subject to politicalchanges and vagaries. Suchprojects supplying basic needsshould, ideally, have the fullcapital cost sanctioned andcommitted right at the start andmonies provided subsequentlyin each year’s Budget – even ifgovernments change – accord-ing to that year’s estimated cashneeds within their respectivesanctioned sums. Thereby, theBudget would also have theoccasion to report the physicalprogress of the projects whilemaking provision for funds forthem for each year.

Another lesson is that pre-vention is relatively easier andless expensive than cure. Re-possession and restoration byrearguard action is complicated– going through agitation, hu-man rights, litigation, pro-longed court proceedings,politicians/NGOs espousing in-truders’ cause and so on. Strongvigilance and severe punish-ment for violation are necessaryto save further loss of valuablenatural resources.

The Man from MadrasMusings has often been

accused of being cheeky in thiscolumn, but whatever fun hehas got out of it has been at theexpense of his cheeks aloneand not anyone else’s. Whichis why the recent news itemand what followed thereafterconcerning the Governor andthe Journalist made MMM situp and take notice. The in-cumbent of that high office hassince explained it all saying hedid it in an avuncular, and notamorous, fashion. The lady hasbeen gracious enough toaccept the apology and not letthe worm i’the bud feed on herdamask cheek, as Shakespeareput it so well. But others havebeen up in arms demandingthe Governor’s resignation. ToMMM, however, it appearsthat His Excellency is in herefor a long haul and is as snugas a bug in a rug. Others canprotest till they are blue in theface.

What made the old man doit is what puzzled MMM. Afterall, you don’t go patting anyrandom person’s cheek nomatter how grandfatherly youfelt. And then it all came toMMM – it was the miasma ofthe office that made him do it.Just look back at the post ofGovernor of Madras and youwill know.

Take Francis Day, the firstincumbent (all right, Chief –he was not Governor butsomething else) was known forhis successes with the oppositesex. And when he went, thewoman he left behind washanded over to Greenhill, whoin the fullness of time becameGovernor himself. Thereafterwe had Elihu Yale, of whomthe less said the better. Sufficeit to say that many women ofMadras went about claiming tobe Mrs. Yale, while the realholder of that title retired toEngland in high dudgeon.Hastings had his Marian andhe was not even married toher. What is more, there waseven a Mr. Marian with an un-pronounceable German name(MMM is fairly certain it had aVon to it) alongside. As forConnemara, what can MMMsay other than that he was per-haps more sinned against thansinning but that is not what thejury and the Judges believed.He (Connemara, not MMM)had to resign under a cloud,and all because he (Conne-mara and not MMM) took agreat shine for a niece who wasalso married to his aide-de-camp. In MMM’s view, beinga fond uncle, as also dotinggrandfather with long hands,can be dangerous.

Closer to our times, letMMM remind readers of thewidower Governor who cameto Madras and fell head overheels in love with a prominentsocial worker. He followed herabout like a lamb, but wasdisappointed when the ladymarried someone else, ensecondes noces as the expres-sion is. But that did not in any

way sour his friendship with yeolde social worker and he stillcame to all her events and wasa pillar of support. And in veryrecent times, we have had atleast one episode of where theholder of the highest electedoffice in our State accused theGovernor of misbehaving withher.

It is all in the air. With somuch having happened in thepast in that historic office,there must have been anunseen force, most likelyghosts of Governors past, thatmade the Governor, who hadprobably just lifted his hand toscratch his cheek, extend it andpat someone else’s. They call itthe fourth dimension in super-natural studies.

The ways of GovernorsThere arose a protest that

we were callously enjoying acolonial game when farmers inthe mofussil were dyingwithout water. This said someprotestors, was not cricket.Not quite straight bat, theysaid. They became allCromwellian and demandedthat such amusements ascricket ought to be bannedhere till we got water for thefarmers. There were otherswho believed that just by shift-ing cricket out of Madras,water would gush forth in thepaddy fields, released inremorse by the neighbouringState that is forever buildingdams and storing the preciousliquid. And so cricket went.

It is now held in a far-awayState, where they probablyhave never heard of Madras orits mofussil districts. Thecricketers are happy, the localsponsors there are delighted.Cricket fans are going by trainto the city where the tourna-ments are now being held.MMM guesses that the pro-testors too are overjoyed. Allof a sudden there is no noisebeing made about the water orthe lack of it. Has it begun topour down? To what purposeare such token gestures?

What is ironic is that otherforms of celebrations and gai-ety were in no way curtailed.There was a competition forcinema songs in a venue not farremoved from the cricket sta-dium where the matches weresupposed to be held. Youshould have seen the crowdsthat poured in. And amongthese were several of the filmstars who demanded the ban-ning of the cricket matches, orat least wanted us to wear blackbadges in support of the de-mand for water. And did theyprotest at the cinema eventvenue or wear black badges?Not one. There everything wasunbridled revelry. Farmer sui-cides and water crises bedamned. The same lot has alsonot said the release of theirfilms can be withheld in view ofthe ongoing river water issue.Talk about double standards!

Tailpiece

Driving by in our Madrasthat is Chennai, The Man

from Madras Musings tooknote of this pharmacy that,apart from medication, alsoappears to deal in humanparts. And on that happy note,here’s to a great summer.

–MMM

Not quite cricket

The Man from MadrasMusings has never been

good in any form of sport. Inthis he knows he is markedlydifferent from the Chief. Healso diverges in this from hisgood lady, whom he otherwiseobeys no matter what. But puta ball in his hand, or for thatmatter a racquet or a bat, andMMM would be at a loss as towhat to do with it. Terms suchas mid-on, mid-off, mid-wicketand deep-backward-square-legare Greek to MMM and hewould assume silly mid-on wasan insult. But be that as it may,he is all for the sporting spirit.To him, the fact that a primepatch of green in the heart ofthe city has remained vacantfor years is a matter of greatregret.

Which is why, when thatstrange mutation of cricket,which rejoices in the name ofIPL recently made a comebackto our garden of Eden, MMMrejoiced. His good lady did onebetter and having made MMMarrange for tickets, went offand witnessed the one matchthat took place, in person. Notso MMM, who preferred towatch it amidst the comforts ofhome and also enjoyed it. Itwas a situation where everyprospect was pleasing. But alas!Man proved to be vile.

SHORT

’N’

SNAPPY

May 1-15, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

Krea University to be set up at Sri City, promises to be different. The privateuniversity will offer four-year residential undergraduate programmes in liberal

arts and sciences.Thought leaders – Raghuram Rajan, N. Vaghul, R. Seshasayee and Sunder

Ramaswamy, have been working on this unique project. Their passion and staturehave helped bring together several business leaders, including Anand Mahindra,Sajjan Jindal, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Anu Aga and young Kapil Viswanathan to setup this unique university. The academic council has academicians from the presti-gious Princeton, Stanford and Columbia universities. The broad base includes amusician, a journalist, and social workers.

For decades, higher educa-tion remained in the domain ofthe state. Though India has hada tradition of private philan-thropy that liberally supportededucation and health, overtime, these also suffered fromsevere restrictions.

Tamil Nadu, under M.G.Ramachandran, opened uphigher education for privateparticipation. Unfortunately,the massive demand for engi-neering and medical educationallowed politicians and influ-ence peddlers to grab the oppor-tunity. High capitation fees,corruption, and black moneyruled the roost; the field be-came fertile ground for politi-cians and all and sundry busi-nessmen to enter. Many ofthese became flourishing familybusinesses with sons, daughters,in-laws, and outlaws becomingchancellors and vice-chancel-lors.

Emienent educationist Dr.M. Anandakrishnan frequentlypointed to the corruption andcommercialisation in the selec-tion of vice-chancellors throughauctions. The “the short three-year term for vice-chancellorsand the huge bribes involved inthe selection process, deniedhigh calibre academicians get-ting selected,” he used to la-ment.

There were a few private ini-tiatives from industry captains.Decades back, industry leaderslike A. Sivasailam and A.M.M.Arunachalam, got together toset up a management educationinstitute. But it made littleprogress.

The Chennai MathematicalInstitute that imparts educationin mathematical science isamong the rare exceptions.When CMI was under financialconstraints, Shriram Group’s R.Thyagarajan stepped in and un-der the lead of Dr. C.S.Seshadri, built it to interna-tional standards.

After liberalisation of theeconomy in 1991, Rajat Guptaof McKinsay succeeded in get-ting the participation of topbusiness schools – Wharton,Columbia, and the LondonBusiness School – to set up aglobal B-school in India.Chandrababu Naidu seized the

opportunity with alacrity andthe Indian School of Businesswas set up. It proved a runawaysuccess.

Krea promises to be anotherbig success. With a renowenedeconomist, banker and char-

blend of liberal arts, science andtechnology. The association ofthe prestigious Ivy League insti-tutions should help offer a fulloption of subjects to choose andexcel. The curriculum will havethree distinct features that aredifferent from the existinglearning patterns: problem-solving capabilities; acquiringskills for design; and ethics withsocial concerns. Significantly,Krea had opted for a four-yearundergraduate course withhonours on the US patternwhich should facilitate pursuinghigher studies elsewhere.

Raghuram Rajan says thatKrea would attempt to create anew generation of thinkingIndians who will contribute tothe development of the globe.Seshasayee adds that the inter-woven learning approach wouldgive creativity and action in artsand sciences, theory and prac-tice, Eastern and Westernperspectives and learning of thepast with readiness for thefuture.

To be set up at an initial costof Rs. 750 crore, the universitywill function from the 300,000sq.ft IFMR campus in Sri City.Admissions will open in No-vember this year. Over the nextcouple of years, it will move to a200-acre campus nearby. Theannual fee is around Rs. 7-8lakh – (Courtesy: IndustrialEconomist).

S. Viswanathan

Our losses,Sri City’s gainsThe latest conquest of Sri City is the Krea University. Even

while I admire Chandrababu Naidu and RavindraSannareddy for winning such prestigious projects, I should pointto the Tamil Nadu government losing several projects. I cite afew:

• Chennai Metro attracted Alstom to set up facilities in Indiato manufacture rail coaches for the metro rail systems. Afterall, several years back SIPCOT developed Gummidipoondion the southern side of the border with Andhra Pradesh as anindustrial centre. But Sri City proved more attractive.

• A couple of years ago Indira Nooyi, a daughter of this soil,was keen to set up a mango pulp plant for PepsiCo. Theinvestment indicated was Rs 1200 crore. PepsiCo’s fruitdrinks needed the pulp. Sri City proved more mango-thirsty.

• International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. have, for years, beenhaving its plant at St. Thomas Mount in the heart of the city.IFF planned its expansion. A couple of months back IFFperformed the Bhoomi puja for their new facility at Sri City.

• B. Thiagarajan, head of Blue Star, has been talking of settingup a new facility in the South. Thiagarajan was active in theCII in offering invaluable suggestions on cold storages for foodpreservation. Last month, he announced a Rs 500 croreinvestment for a production facility in Sri City.

• Another recent addition to Sri City is the two-wheeler marketleader Hero Motocorp. The company plans to launch itseighth factory with an investment of Rs 1600 crore with acapacity of 1.8 million units. It is expected to become opera-tional before December 2019.

Tamil Nadu needs to look closely at setting up an aggressivemarketing team at the helm.

The reluctance of the top political leadership to interactclosely with business leaders and other investors has been a ma-jor handicap. The contrast is provided by Narendra Modi aschief minister of Gujarat, Sheila Dixit in Delhi, ChandrababuNaidu in AP and Chandrashekara Rao in Telangana.

Tamil Nadu’s top bureaucracy, star-studded with brilliantadministrators, has also been constrained by powerful politicianscurbing its initiatives. Sadly, the popular stature of the charis-matic leaders and their limited interests failed to nurture anddevelop second and third line political leadership. Just look atthe contrast of Kamaraj who groomed R. Venkataraman,C. Subramaniam, M. Bhaktavatsalam and others as leaders ofgreat capabilities!

However, under the current dispensation welcome changesare noticed with ministers and civil servants taking new initia-tives. This effort should be expanded.

Tamil Nadu has talent in abundance like Dr. V. Krishna-murthy who built BHEL, Maruti and SAIL, Dr. C. Rangarajan,N. Vaghul, S.V.S. Raghavan, S. Venkitaramanan, T.N. Seshan,Dr. M. Anandakrishnan, K.P. Geethakrishnan, K. Venkatesanand a galaxy of other civil servants, Dr. V. Sumantran, LakshmiNarayanan, R. Thyagarajan, B. Santhanam, R. Dinesh… Itshould be possible to draw on their rich expertise to take theState forward.

Of course, this will call for the willingness of the politicalleadership to free themselves from the routine political meet-ings and vizhas and set apart liberal time on development issues.

For five decades Tamil Nadu’s charismatic leaders had wonmassive following through populist measures. Today the need isto win votes on performance.

– SV

A university forThinking Indians

A star-studded Krea team (front row: left to right) R. Seshasayee, Sajjan Jindal, Vishaka Desai,Anand Mahindra and Raghuram Rajan during the announcement of Krea University.

tered accountant on the lead,understandably, the focus is noton engineering: Seshasayee, aconnoisseur of music and litera-ture, has been stressing a nice

� At the end of the 19th Cen-tury, Jamshedji NusserwanjiTata conceived of a higherinstitute for science. Hetoured the country to selectthe ideal location and asupportive government. Thethen Dewan of the princelystate of Mysore, K. SeshadriIyer, persuaded the Maharajato grab the opportunity withgenerous funding. Bengalurubecame the choice. The TataInstitute of Science (that laterbecame the Indian Institute ofScience) was born. The new‘maharaja’ ChandrababuNaidu seems adept in winningsuch unique projects for hisstate; earlier the ISB and nowKrea.

Rs. 100: C.K. Gopala Krishnan

Rs. 150: P.S. Thiyagharajan

Rs. 200: Indukanth Ragade, P.N. Naga Raj, C.

Suryanarayanan, M. Velu

Rs. 300: R. Srinivasan

Rs. 400: K.R. Lenin, S. Ponnuswamy, Prema Seetharam

Rs. 900: C.T. Lakshmanan

Rs. 1000: Nalli Chinnasami Chetty, Col. Jason Peter

Rs. 1400: S. Mahendran

Rs. 1950: N.S. Parthasarathy

Thank you, DonorsWe today, publish donations received with thanks for

the period from 16.3.18-15.4.18– The Editor

4 MADRAS MUSINGS May 1-15, 2018 May 1-15, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

LOST LANDMARKS OF CHENNAI– SRIRAM V

The Tawkers of Gujaratremembered

A portion of Tawker’s showroom on Mount Road – a landmark now only amemory. (Courtesy: Vintage Vignettes.)

When we exportedIron & Steel to the UK

In their time, which was mid-19th to early 20th Century, the

Tawkers were among theforemost Gujarati families ofMadras. They were also amongthe earliest migrants from thewest coast of India to settle in thesouth. Their fortunes were madein gems and jewellery, and theywere the suppliers of choice toseveral royal families of India,wealthy business magnates andcourtesans. To be able to pur-chase from the Tawkers you hadto be of some status.

The Tawkers suffixed theirgiven names with the initial Tand this stood for Tiruchira-ppalli, which is where they hadlived for centuries. Even today,Tawker Chattiram Street nearthe Rock Fort area commemo-rates the family. In Madras,Ayanavaram has a TawkerChattiram (resthouse) and aKasi Viswanatha Swami templeadjoining it, both of which werebuilt in the 18th Century by twowomen of the clan – Ramkor Baiand Ratna Bai. The earliestTawker mentioned in therecords is Nilakanta and dates to1759. He features in a diary entryof Ananda Ranga Pillai. Thedescendants did business underthe name of T.R. Tawker &Sons.

By the mid-1890s, the firmhad shifted its headquarters toMadras, where Henry Irwin,Consulting Architect to theGovernment of Madras, built abeautiful showroom on MountRoad. The family residence wason a huge parcel of land onPeter’s Road and was namedTawkers’ Gardens. In its time itmust have been a well-knownlandmark, in keeping with theexalted status of the family.Who’s Who-s of the time givedetails of T. RanganathaKripashankar Tawker andmention this to be his residentialaddress.

But trouble was already brew-ing. In 1910 or so, the Tawkerswere ordered to make a dia-mond-studded robe for thatjewel-loving and fabulously richpotentate – His Highness AsafJah VI Mir Mahbub Ali Khan,the Nizam of Hyderabad. Busi-ness with royalty was done ontrust. No papers were signed andthe ruler’s word was as good ashis bond. The Tawkers deliveredthe robe sometime in 1911. TheNizam unfortunately died in Au-gust that year and nothing was

ever heard from his treasury ofeither the robe or the paymentfor it. That at least is the legend.In actual fact it would appearthat the Tawkers’ troubles beganin 1916 when they mortgagedthe title deeds of all their proper-ties in Madras, Bangalore andTrichy, and the village ofPallikarney (!!!), to the firm ofNagarseth & Sons, Bombay, fora sum of Rs 18.00 lakh. From thisit would appear that the GreatWar too was in some way respon-sible for their difficulties.

In 1922, the Nagarseths filed asuit against the Tawkers in theHigh Court of Bombay for the en-forcement of the mortgage.Thereafter, matters went down-hill for the Tawkers, leading totheir declaring insolvency onJanuary 17, 1925, even while thecase in Bombay was in progress.

Tawker’s Gardens, along with therest of the family’s possessions,became the responsibility of theOfficial Assignee of the Govern-ment. With the Tawkers movingout, the house became the resi-dence of the Chief Minister ofMadras – P Ramarayaningar, akathe Rajah of Panagal. He livedthere till his passing in 1928.

There were several cases in-volving the Tawker family inMadras and Trichy and in themidst of it all, the Thakur Sahibof Limbdi, a small princely statein Gujarat, interested himself inthe proceedings on the strengthof his having loaned money tothe Nagarseths for their loan tothe Tawkers. The title deeds ofTawkers’ Gardens were in fact inhis possession. Eventually, theproperty became his and hechanged its name to LimbdiGardens. The travails of theTawkers however ended only in1938 when all the suits filedagainst them were settled by ajudgement of Sir C. MadhavanNair. By then, the case also in-volved such well-known business

barons as P.M.A. MuthiahChettiar and S.Rm.M.Rm.Ramanathan Chettiar.

By the early 1930s, we findthe University of Madras wasrenting Limbdi Gardens. TheDepartments of History andZoology were occupants, and by1932, when it was founded, theSchool of Fine and PerformingArts, also known as the Depart-ment of Indian Music, beganfunctioning from here. TheOriental Research Institute toowas in the same premises. LimbdiGardens in its time must haveechoed therefore to the voices ofsuch greats as ‘Tiger’ Varadachariar, first head of the MusicDepartment, K.A. NilakantaSastry of the History Depart-ment, Sir. K. Ramunni Menon,who, despite being Vice-chancel-lor, found time to take classes in

Zoology, and S. Vaiyapuri Pillaiof the Tamil Department, theeditor of the hitherto unsur-passed Tamil Lexicon. QueenMary’s College too appears tohave used some parts of LimbdiGardens in the 1930s.

The University seems to havemoved its Departments out bythe early 1940s and the next wehear of the place is when, for rea-sons unknown, the propertycame up for auction in 1945. Itwas purchased by MohammedSulaiman, the founder of Presi-dency Transport Limited, a com-pany that ran bus services withinMadras and also from here toseveral towns in the districts.

Shortly after Indepedence,the Muslim Educational Asso-ciation for Southern India(MEASI) expressed interest inthe property. The Governmenthad changed the name of theMohammedan College, func-tioning from Umda Bagh onMount Road, to GovernmentArts College and also limited theadmission quota for Muslim stu-dents. MEASI felt it was time the

Muslims had a college of theirown. In his biography, JusticeBasheer Ahmed Sayeed statesthat Limbdi Gardens, whichcomprised a huge two-storeybuilding set amidst 12 acres ofland, was acquired for a sum ofRs 4,36,000 in 1948. This is also,significantly, the only descriptionof the old Tawker residence thathad stood at the southern end ofthe property.

New College, its nameinspired by the historic institu-

In recent times, the words‘Goli Soda’ became famous in

Tamil Nadu as the title of a suc-cessful Tamil feature filmreleased in 2014, warranting asequel titled Goli Soda-2 which isunder production. It is also thename of an online store inChennai which showcases prod-ucts of innovative designersusing recycled materials. But toa whole generation of Indians,Goli soda, or Goti soda meant afruit flavoured soft drink used toquench a thirsty throat in the siz-zling summer months. The pop-ping of the ‘goli’ or the marble,with the index finger paves theway for the fizz coming out of thebottle, which was an experienceby itself. When I had this experi-ence at a party in Chennairecently, I decided to explore thestory behind the ‘Goli Soda’.

The bottle and the idea forthe drink were imported intoIndia in the early 20th Century.Hiram Codd of Camberwell, UK,designed, developed and pat-ented the Codd Bottle for car-bonated drinks in 1872. Also

Iron production was self-suffi-cient in 18th Century India

and the excess was exported. Inthe 1800s, many individualironsmiths operated in the Ma-dras Presidency, producingwrought iron. An association wasformed in Madras with the objec-tive of establishing a charcoal-fired iron works in 1830, becausethe iron ore that occurred natu-rally in much of the MadrasPresidency had/by then beendetected. Consequently, anex-Madras Civil Servant, JosiahMarshall Heath, ventured toestablish a large-scale iron-steelworks in Parangipéttai (PortoNovo), 220 km south of Madras,naming it the Porto Novo IronWorks, which went through tur-bulent phases during its survival.

The remarkable aspect is thatthe Porto Novo Iron Works wasthe only large-scale iron and steelfactory in the whole of India inthe 1830s. Nothing matchedwith the Porto Novo Iron Worksin size and production capacity,which also included the state-of-the-art methods of production ofthe time. The Porto Novo IronWorks serviced the needs ofIndia and Britain for iron andsteel for close to 30 years,although, after 1849, it changednames to Indian Steel & IronCompany and, then, East India

Iron Company. In 1887, itsprominent 150’ (c.50 m) tallchimney functioned as a beaconfor ships sailing along the PortoNovo coast. The indiscriminateexploitation of wood for charcoaland other energy requirementswas one sad practice the BritishGovernment encouraged tosupport Heath’s enterprise,which resulted in the loss of pre-cious wood in vast tracts of theMadras Presidency.

Heath, when he was therelieving Commercial Residentof Coimbatore-Nilgiris District,Thomas Munro, the Governor ofMadras (1820-1827), instructedhim to trial the cultivation ofbourbon cotton, then newlyintroduced from the Americas,in Salem and Coimbatore. Heathresigned his administrativeposition in 1829 to take upexperiments in various scientificefforts towards better technol-ogy. He was also an enthusiasticnaturalist. He explored southernIndian birds in particular.

Heath’s efforts in making steelin India, in the late 1830s, wereblazing new trails towards pro-ducing cheaper steel, which heclaimed would match in qualitywith the then best Swedish andRussian steel. His trial of adding1-3% carburet of manganese as adeoxidiser led to steel produc-

tion, which cost less by 30-40%in the Sheffield (UK) steel mar-ket. This novelty trialled byHeath neither helped him nor hisindustry, because he failed topatent the procedure.

The following note appearedin the Mining Journal (1857;reproduced in the Sheffield DailyTelegraph, 1857) under ‘Manu-facture of Iron and Steel’:

“In 1839 comes the important

invention of Josiah Marshall Heath

for the manufacture of iron, and

which, as regards steel, was as

great a stride in the manufacture

as compared with any previous

steel manufacture, thus enablingand encouraging him to perse-cute this undertaking and tosecure a fair and reasonableremuneration for the risk, labourand expenditure.

The following from an articlein Indian Engineering is relevantin this context:

“Mr. Heath was a man of great

scientific knowledge, and failed to

see the advantage of manufactur-

ing Swedish iron and steel. He

applied to the Directors of the

Honorable E.I. Company, who

seeing the benefit to the country

of such manufacture, granted to

Mr Heath the exclusive privilege of

manufacturing iron, by the

iron ore in parisal (basket boats,small, circular ferries).

A contemporary descriptionof the layout of Heath’s ironworks and the yard reads:

“In front of the blast furnaces,

along with a platform ran the pigs

bed and the foundry hall…. The

foundry was 100’x60’ (30.48 x

18.29m) in size and had proper

cranes, air furnaces, cupolas, and

other foundry appliances, and

was terminated by drying stoves,

with their tracks and railway. …

The forge consisted of several

sheds – The first containing the re-

finery and afterwards the puddling

and reheating furnaces. Another

adjoining the helve. A third shed

contained the rolling mill, driven

by an engine of 50 horsepower.

The mill was provided with several

sets of rollers of round, square,

and flat iron bars, bending gear,

rolling plates, saws and shears.”

This facility included twoblast furnaces when the factorystarted (1830?). Two more wereadded later (date not available).The boilers occurred close to theengine and the flues were com-municated via a 150' (C. 50 m)tall chimney.

Smelting operations duringthe early days were a disaster.The first hiccup was deciding onthe shape of the hearth for acharcoal-fired furnace suitingthe chemical nature of the oreand the charcoal used as theenergy source. Secondly, theworkers brought from Britainwere unfamiliar with charcoal-fired furnaces. Conversion of thecast into wrought iron was thenext hiccup the British workersand engineers grappled with,although they solved that prob-lem by following the then preva-lent methods in France andGermany, using finery fires.Soon, the Porto Novo IronWorks managed to producegood-quality iron and steel andcould sell produce to the Gov-ernment (whether in Madras orin Britain, not clear) for use intheir arsenals. The weakness,however, was that they couldnever achieve and guaranteeconsistent quality.

(To be concluded)

New life for Goli Sodatermed as the Codd-neck bottle,it encloses a marble and a rubberwasher/gasket in the neck. Thebottle is filled upside down, andthe pressure of the gas in thebottle forces the marble againstthe washer, sealing in the car-bonation.

The 150-year-old eco-friendlybottle has remained unchangedover the years, and the design isquite ingenious. One side of thebottle has two ridges on theneck. It is only from this side thatthe drink can be poured out intoa glass or straight into the mouth.Try pouring it out the other side,and the marble automaticallypobs up and acts as a stopper.

The Codd Bottle becamepopular in Europe, Asia andAustralasia but not in the USA.In Japan, it is popular under thebrand name ‘Ramune’ availablein 36 flavours. In India, the CoddBottle is also known as kanchabottle, goli bottle, and soda bottlein different parts of the country,Goli Soda being the most popu-lar name: available in two variet-ies viz. Plain Soda Water

(Aerated Soda Water) andFlavoured Soda Water (AeratedBeverages) containing flavoursof lemon, ginger (masala soda),milk rose (panneer), mango,pineapple etc., in syrup base.This preparation is also madeusing a carbon dioxide gas (CO

2)

under pressure.Goli Soda production was

essentially a cottage industry inIndia because of the ease withwhich the manually operatedsystem could be set up. In thepast, many a well-to-do familyhad a unit operating within theirhomes. The clinking and clang-ing sound of the bottles by thevendors promoting various localbrands of Goli Soda was a famil-iar sight near bus and railterminals across the country.

The advent of the multi-national soft drink brands and awhole range of regional brands ofsoft drinks available in disposableplastic bottles at affordable pricesalmost sounded the death knellfor the traditional Goli Sodamakers. Besides the high cost ofthe Codd bottle and also strin-

gent rules governing food & bev-erages have resulted in many ofthe traditional bottlers of GoliSoda exiting the market. Ac-cording to a veteran Goli sodamaker in the city, Madras hadclose to 500 soda manufacturersin the 1970s. The number todayhas dwindled to less than 30.Most of them are cheap productsproduced in unhealthy surround-ings without any quality checksand are sold at Rs 10/- or less.

Kali Aerated Water Works,one of the oldest soft drink

(Continued on page 6)

� by Dr. A. Ramanaraman@csu.edu.au

process as the process of

Uchatius is at the present time.

The duration of this patent was,

after much litigation, prolonged,

by an application to the Privy

Council, for seven years. Although

the principle of Heath’s invention

had been previously described,

and even as early as 1799 William

Reynolds patented the employ-

ment of oxide of manganese or

manganese in the conversion of

pig iron into malleable iron or

steel, but gave no proportions of

details, it appears that until the

introduction of Heath’s patent no

practical results were arrived at.”

Heath applied to the Govern-ment at Fort St. George, seekingexclusive rights to build a fac-tory, which he argued would op-erate on European scientificlines. He further argued that hewould be able to supply iron andsteel at a much cheaper pricethan what Britain was gettingfrom Sweden and Russia. Ad-ministrators in Madras approvedhis request declaring that hewould enjoy the exclusive rightsover the ore material from a vasttract of public land (c. 38,000 sq.mile, 98,500 sq. km). They alsoin 1825 guaranteed Heath sub-stantial loans and purchase offinished products from his works.They considered it appropriateto grant him a temporarymonopoly for 21 years of iron and

European process, in the districts

of S. and N. Arcot, Trichinopoly,

Salem, Coimbatore and Malabar.

They granted him the right of

cutting in the jungles all the fuel

required for the production of iron

and also a grant in aid of 9000

pounds, showing the interest they

were taking in the industry.”

Before Heath became the fullCommercial Resident ofCoimbatore-Nilgiris District, hewas the relieving CommercialResident in Salem, which natu-rally includes a rich dose of ironore. In this role Heath learntmore about the highly endowedgeomorphology of the Salemlandscape.

The movement of iron orefrom Salem to Porto Novo forHeath’s company was via the sea,especially using the Khan SahibBrackish Water Canals, whichlinked the north-lying Véllãr andthe south-lying Kollidam (atributary of the Kaveri). TheKhan Sahib Canals were madenavigable in 1854 by integratingthree locks, one of which de-bouched into Véllãr, close towhich the Porto Novo IronWorks existed. Before this sea-route facility came about, Heathhad dug a short canal from Véllãrto the backwaters adjoining theembouchure of the Kollidam,through which Heath moved

tion at Oxford, began function-ing at Limbdi Gardens from July2, 1951. Over a period, theCollege demolished all of theTawkers’ residence for buildingpremises suited to its function-ing. It is said that there is aphotograph still surviving of theold edifice, but it is not in thepublic domain. Today’s genera-tion can only marvel at thepossibility of a family residenceset amidst 12 acres of land in aprime part of the city.

A sketch of the Porto Novo steel works.

New College, where Tawkers’ Gardens once was.

6 MADRAS MUSINGS May 1-15, 2018

(Quizmaster V.V. Ramanan’squestions are from April 1st to15th. Questions 11 to 20 relate to

Chennai and Tamil Nadu.)

1. Which Gulf nation recently an-nounced that a recently-discov-ered offshore oilfield in its territo-rial waters contains a whopping 80billion barrels of petroleum?2. Recently, Eurostar launched adirect rail service betweenLondon and which capital on theContinent?3. Which place, a scene of amajor disaster in the mid-1980s,has opened its doors to tourism?4. Which actor has been chosen,posthumously, for this year’sDadasaheb Phalke Award?5. Boeing India, HAL and Mahin-dra Defence Systems have enteredinto agreement to make which hi-tech fighter jet in India?6. What is the aim of ‘ProjectDhoop’ launched recently by theFood Safety and StandardsAuthority of India (FSSAI)?7. What feature has the UniqueIdentification Authority of India(UIDAI) introduced ine-Aadhaar?8. Experts recently discoveredWalmiki and Malhar was preva-lent in remote regions of Odisha.What are they?9. In a massive show of strength,the IAF recently conducted thebiggest ever war combat game ex-ercise on the Pakistan and Chinaborder. What was it called?10. Which institution has beenadjudged as overall best Indianuniversity in the National Institu-tional Ranking Framework(NIRF) 2018 (NIRF-3) releasedby the Ministry of Human Re-source Development?

* * *

11. For which play wasBharatidasan awarded theSahitya Academy Puraskar post-humously in 1970?12. Which singer (and for whichsong) won the first-ever NationalAward for Best Female Playbacksinger in 1968?13. By what name is Deodi Sardar-ul-mulk Dilawar Jung Bahadur inMylapore now known?14. According to a 1635 map byPedro Barretto de Rezende, therewere four churches in San ThoméFort apart from the Cathedral.Two were St. Paul’s and St.Dominic’s. Name the other two.15. The MGR film KalankaraiVilakkam is based on whichHitchcock thriller?16. Fill in the blanks. The firstand only church built in Madrasby American missionariesis ___ ___?17. Which 55,000 sq ft buildingnow stands on the site of the mili-tary fortification ‘AbercrombieBattery’?18. What came up on a sprawl of131 acres, bounded by the Theo-sophical Society, Adyar River andthe Buckingham Canal, that wasbought from the Archbishop ofMadras?19. Why was the fort nearCuddalore christened Fort St.David?20. In which Thoothukudi Dis-trict town was Nammalvar born?

(Answers on page 8)

At the opening of the MLS Tamil section.

Now, a TamilSectionat the MLS

� by

A Staff Reporterwith inputs from

Nivedita Louis

� The late Gopulu during his

Ananda Vikatan days had a series

of wordless jokes that brought

about loud laughter. These were

brought out as a book, in 2005,

and a copy was recently sent to

me by Charukesi. We are pleased

to publish these cartoons for a

new generation of Madrasis.

– THE EDITOR

WordlessGopulu

The Madras Literary Societyre-launched recently its

Tamil Section. The long over-due initiative was a dream ofMLS’s former Secretary RearAdmiral Mohan Raman. Thedream took shape last yearwhen heritage enthusiast andauthor of Holy Gods of Cooum,Padmapriya Baskaran, donatedRs.25,000 at the release of herbook at the MLS. The donationwas specifically for a separateTamil section.

MLS has a large collection ofTamil books, the oldest one be-ing a hand-written Ramayanadating to the 18th Century.However, over the course oftime, only English books werelent. Continuous donationsfrom people however kept thedream of a Tamil section aliveand, finally, with about 400books, the new Tamil Sectionhas been started.

After the inaugural func-tion, a passage from ChozharKaalathu Rani by J. Rajagopal,and a Tamil translation of a bitfrom S. Muthiah’s book MadrasRediscovered were read, andthen two books were handedover by Padmapriya Baskaran totwo senior members of MLS.This, was followed by a talk byhistorian and author Theodore

Baskaran titled From Print toScreen. He spoke at lengthabout how literature evolvedinto cinema and the interactionbetween them, though mutual,was not continuous.

He began with a brief of howcinema as a medium evolvedfrom drama, from PratapaMudaliyar Charithiram the firstTamil novel, and how literatureplayed a part in movies. Hementioned Ponmudi, the moviewritten by Barathidasan thatkick-started the Dravidianmovement in 1950. Parasakthiby Kalaignar in 1952 andVelaikkari by Anna in 1954

carried on the torch. Thencame Anna’s Rangoon Radha in1956 which when made into amovie diluted the radicalism ofthe novel.

Two films by Jeyakanthan,Unnai pol oruvan in 1965, andYarukaga azhuthan in 1965,both very realistic natural cin-ema, were written and directedby him. Nimai Ghosh shot the

movie Yarukaga azhuthan. Hewas a contemporary of SatyajitRay, and stayed in Madras toshoot the film. KiRa’s Kidai, thepoignant novel set in 1930s, wasmade as Oruthi in 2003,directed by Amshan Kumar.

Rajaji wrote the novelThikkatra Parvathi, filmed in1974, which was about a drunk-ard. The film bombed, probablybecause it showed the hero ad-dicted to toddy! Rajaji being ateetotaller had no idea abouttoddy and other liquor,Theodore mused. AnuradhaRamanan’s Sirai was filmed in1984. But, a great work of lit-erature need not make a greatfilm, felt Baskaran.

When he explained ThillanaMohanambal by Kothaman-galam Subbu was a movie sobadly made, in a very primitive‘drama’ style, the audience wasshocked! Was it not a big block-buster of those days?

He also mentioned thatshort stories could be made asgreat films. He cited BaskarSakthi’s 2011 story Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai, which had bril-liant surrealistic scenes thatspeak very subtly against super-stition. Another short film,Thakkaiyin meedhu nangu kangalfilmed in 2005 was also a greatadaptation of a short story.Sadly, he felt, except forJeyakanthan and ThiJa, mostwriters, including Asokamitran,Imaiyam, JeMo, PerumalMurugan, Rajam Krishnan,were ignored.

GOLI SODA(Continued from page 5)

manufacturers in the countrywith brands like ‘Bovonto’, wasa popular Goli Soda maker inTamil Nadu. They exited thebusiness because of difficultiesinvolved in cleaning the bottle.The shortage of glass bottlescontrolled by a single supplier inthe country based in UP alsoadded to the difficulties.

There is, however, hope forthe revival of this businessthanks to the initiative of someyoung entrepreneurs, profes-sionals who have given up se-cure corporate jobs in order togive the Goli Soda its fizz back.In its new avatar Goli Soda ispositioned as a premium prod-uct. In an attempt to capitaliseon the growing apprehensionsabout the negative effects ofplastic bottles on the health ofthe people, they are promotingthe eco-friendly nature of theglass bottles used in Goli Soda.The fact that the new brandsare adhering to quality stan-dards prescribed by FSSAI andare produced in hygienic condi-

tions adds credibility to the newefforts.

The brands are also trying toinvoke nostalgia in old-timersand offering the younger gen-eration a new experience ofdrinking an alternative softdrink in recyclable glass bottles,with less preservatives, chemi-cals and plastic contaminants.The negative publicity againstthe multinational brands andthe decision of the dealers toboycott such brands in TamilNadu last year have opened awindow of opportunity for theGoli Sodas in the highly com-petitive soft drink market.

Though priced at Rs.50 plus,(some high-end restaurants sell

the product at Rs.125) thegrowing popularity of Goli Sodaamong the younger generationbelonging to the upper class inChennai, especially at parties,high end restaurants and thepopular clubs, where thesebrands are available, provideshope for the revival of the GoliSoda idea. But how will any newcomer face the perennial prob-lem of short supply of the Coddbottles, when they decide toscale up, is an issue for whichthere seems to be no immediateanswer. Yet I am sure that theyoung men and women will finda solution to the problem as andwhen they have to cross thatbridge!

R.V. Rajanrvrajan42@gmail.com

MADRAS MUSINGS ON THE WEB

To reach out to as many readers as possible who share our

keen interest in Madras that is Chennai, and in response to

requests from many well-wishers – especially from outside

Chennai and abroad who receive their postal copies very

late – for an online edition. Madras Musings is now on the

web at www.madrasmusings.com

– THE EDITOR

May 1-15, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

� Birth of a Colony – 2

Bringing educationto Gandhi Nagar

� by

V.S. Ravikumar

vsoca@gmail.com

(Continued fromlast fortnight)

With the construction ofbungalows in full swing

in Gandhi Nagar, buyers startedoccupying them from early1950s. Builders of gatedcommunity nowadays alsoannounce a school in the comp-lex. Most buyers look for this sothat children need not com-mute to a school a distance faraway. A similar need arose forthe residents of Gandhi Nagar.

The colony already had St.Patrick’s School in the areaestablished in 1875. Back then,it was mostly providing educat-ion to Anglo-Indians in Madrasand was a boarding school.Besant Theosophical Schoolwas another educational instit-ution; it functioned in BesantAvenue. Other schools werelocated in the far away Mylaporearea. My two elder sisters went toBesant School, they had a hand-pulled rickshaw which tookthem to school every day.

The need for more schools inthe colony itself was much felt.A nursery was started for chil-dren in the age group 2-5 bythree visionary ladies of thecolony, V. Savithri Ammal, R.Balamma and Rukmani Sam-path in September 1951.Named Bala Brindavan, theschool was founded as a socialwelfare organisation and regis-tered under the Societies Regis-tration Act, 1860. It was startedon Vijayadasami Day in Octo-ber, 1951. In the early years, thenursery classes were held in thehouse of Rukmani Sampath in4th Main Road and I was a stu-dent in 1954/1955. We weregiven a variety of toys to playwith and compulsory sleepingwas part of the daily time table!Teachers took personal interestin the students. The house isnow staff flats for employees ofthe Indian Overseas Bank,named as Overseas Brindavan.

The Madras House Con-struction Society in 1954allotted six grounds of land on a99-year lease to the school in

4th Main Road on the westernside of the present Bala VidayaMandir school. In 1955, thePWD leased that 4 grounds ofland in Kottur and a free nurs-ery for children of the colonywas started by the school.

In April 1955, the founda-tion stone for the school build-ing in Gandhi Nagar was laid byC.Rajagopalachari. Buildingwith a thatched roof was con-structed to accommodate thechildren.

In 1965, one more room wasadded and the entire buildingwas provided with concreteceiling. It was opened by M.Bakthavatsalam. In 1968, thenursery school was up-graded toa primary school.

As the need for sufficientplace for future developmentwas felt, the school negotiatedwith the Gandhi Nagar Co-op-erative Housing Society to pur-chase 23 grounds of vacant landadjacent to the building. Itcomprised ditches, two ponds

and an an open air theatre atthe eastern end which wasknown as Kalki Mandapam. Itwas named after the famousTamil writer Krishnamurthy(Kalki) who was a resident of4th Main Road. The land wasacquired for a sum of Rs.48,000through donation and bankloan.

Our house was just oppositethe two ponds and during therainy season the overflowingwater from the ponds wouldsubmerge the road. We couldhear the continuous croaking offrogs. Frogs and water snakeswould enter our garden.

The ponds and ditches werefilled with the help of the Cor-poration of Madras and theHealth Department in the mid-1970s to enable construction ofa building. According to theoriginal layout, the ponds wereto be made into a swimmingpool. But, in fact, the colony gota school, and lost two large wa-ter bodies.

Bala Brindavan became BalaBrindavan Secondary School.

Class rooms were constructedin the filled up area in manyphases.

In the 1990s, the school fur-ther developed under the wingsof Vidya Mandir School,Mylapore. Its curriculumbecame more structured follow-ing the CBSE pattern. VidyaMandir then gave back thereins of administration to theschool and it became BalaVidya Mandir School. It hasbeen a very sought after schoolin the city ever since.

The colony should be deeplyindebted to the three ladies whosowed the seeds for a greatinstitution.

While Bala Brindavan, took

almost three decades to growinto a full-fledged higher sec-ondary school, another institu-tion, started almost at the sametime, developed very fast.

The by-laws of the MadrasCo-operative House Construc-tion Society provided for therunning of educational institu-tions for the benefit of residents.So, it was decided to approachthe House Construction Soci-ety to run a primary school. ThePresident of the Society, K.Venkataswamy Naidu, readilyagreed to the proposal. In 1950,a committee of some of the lo-cal residents was constitutedwith Rao Bahadur P.K.Gnanasambanda Mudaliar asPresident.

In the original layout of thecolony, a small bit of land wasreserved for a school onCrescent Avenue Road, behindthe present Bala Vidya MandirSchool and adjacent to a bigpond. The committee decidedto start a school on that land.Thus was started the “GandhiNagar School”, for which thefoundation stone was laid inJune 1950. It was opened in July1950. S.R. Kaiwar, I.C.S. was thefirst Chairman of the Commit-tee. A beautiful building,Shantha Memorial Hall was con-structed on the land and givento the school by Col. RamanaRao, a resident of the colony,and father-in-law of S.R.Kaiwar. From 1950 to 1954, itwas a primary school with fivestandards and a Telugu mediumsection.

When the young childrenwho were then in primaryschool had reached the second-ary stage, the Housing Society

could not continue to under-take the responsibility ofrunning the Secondary School.It was decided in April, 1954 bythe local residents that a newsociety be formed for bettermanagement of the school.Thus was formed “The GandhiNagar Education Society” reg-istered under Societies Regis-tration Act of 1860 in May,1954 by a Memorandum ofAssociation signed by sevenresidents who took lead in theformation. They were: (1)K.S. Ramamurthi, Executive ofan insurance company; (2) C.Ranganatha Aiyengar, a retiredHeadmaster; (3) K. Veera-swami, who later became ChiefJustice of Madras; (4) C.S.Hariharaputra Iyer, first occu-pant of the colony; (5) G.D.Boaz, Professor of Psychology;(6) V. Soundararajaan, a prac-ticing Chartered Accountant;and (7) R. Balamma, one of thefounder members of BalaBrindavan.

The Society faced financialproblems. Funds were requirednot only for day-to-day mainte-nance but also for expansion.The Society approachedVaiydasubramania Iyer, Secre-tary to Raja Sir. M.A. MuthiahChettiar of Chettinad, for do-nation from the Raja ofChettinad and to take over the

Society under his patronage.K.S. Ramamurthi, V. Sounda-rarajan, V. Nataraja Iyer andC.S. Hariharaputra Iyer playeda notable role in obtaining hisconsent to associate formallywith the Society from June,1956.

With the Raja of Chettinadfamily in control, funds weremade available as donations.Soon, thatched-roof classroomswere constructed and second-ary classes were started. Theschool was renamed RaniMeyyammai High School andthe primary school was calledRani Meyyammai PrimarySchool.They were co-educa-tional schools.

The first batch of SSLCpassed out from the school inMarch, 1959. They had studiedin the Tamil medium. TheEnglish medium sections werestarted in 1960 and the firstbatch of English medium SSLCpassed out in March, 1967.

The campus had three hugebanyan trees and students usedto swing hanging on to its rootsoften inviting the wrath of theteachers or the headmaster.Several Kodukka puli trees usedto abutt the pond. Climbingthat tree and plucking the podfor its pulp was our pastime inthe evenings.

Primary School Classes – 1976.

New Building – 1961.

Building – 1980.

(Continued on page 8)

C.Rajagopalachari laying the foundation stone for the school building in1955.

8 MADRAS MUSINGS May 1-15, 2018

Published by S. Muthiah for ëChennai Heritageí, 260-A, TTK Road, Chennai 600 018 and printed by T J George at Lokavani-Hallmark Press Pvt. Ltd., 122, Greams Road, Chennai 600 006. Edited by S. MUTHIAH.

Madras Musings is supported as a public service by the following organisations

Published by S. Muthiah for Chennai Heritage, No. 9, Cathedral Road, Chennai 600 086, printed by Anu Varghese at Lokavani Southern Printers Pvt. Ltd., 122, Greames Road, Chennai 600 006, edited by S. Muthiah, 2-F, 1st

Cross Street, Vijayaraghava Road, T’Nagar, Chennai 600 017, and owned by Chennai Heritage, Regd. Office No. 9, Cathedral Road, Chennai 600 086.

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Bata India Limited

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A much sought afterpharmacist

Answers to Quiz1. Bahrain, 2. Amsterdam, 3. Chernobyl, 4. Vinod Khanna, 5. F/A18 Super

Hornet, 6. To address rising incidence of Vitamin D deficiencies (VDD), par-ticularly amongst young people, 7. A secured digitally-signed QR that will con-tain the photograph of that Aadhaar holder in addition to demographic details,8. Two endangered languages, 9. Gagan Shakti 2018, 10. Indian Institute ofScience. * * *

11. Pisiranthaiyar, 12. P. Susheela for Paal polave vaan meedhile fromUyarntha Manithan, 13. Devadi Street, 14. St. Augustine’s and Our Lady, 15.Vertigo, 16. Zion Church in Chintadripet, 17. General Post Office (GPO) onRajaji Salai, 18. Gandhi Nagar, 19. Because the Governor of Madras at thetime, Elihu Yale, was Welsh and David is the patron saint of Wales, 20.Alwarthirunagiri.

The Telugu medium sectionwas closed in 1958 due toreduction in the number ofstudents and on formation ofseparate Andhra Pradesh state.

In June, 1961 a two-storeyedbuilding was constructed at acost of Rs.1.5 lakhs to accom-

modate the high school sec-tions. The school got perma-nent recognition from Directorof Public Instruction in June,1962.

Four Schools were started bythe Society in Rajah Anna-malipuram from 1956 to 1961.Till 1971 the high school was

co-educational. A separate in-stitution for girls was started on4th Main Road and was namedRani Meyyammai High School.The boys school was renamedthe Kumararajah Muthiah HighSchool.The pond has still givenway to a college.

(To be continued)

(Continued from page 7)

EDUCATION IN GANDHI NAGAR

Kannimangalam Parames-waran Anantanarayanan

was a highly sought-after personin the pharmaceutical businessat Vepery in the mid-20thCentury.

Recalling him in his birthcentenary year, a son, Dr. A.Raman, a regular contributor tothese columns writes thatAnantanarayanan joined the‘Chemist & Druggist’ course of-fered as a technical diploma ofthe Government of Madras,which later became Depart-ment of Pharmacology atMadras Medical College.

He studied pharmacy forthree years under the tutelage ofthe British qualified J. C. David,and graduated in 1940 when hewas 24. He was denied a jobwith the Government of Madrasbecause he belonged toKannimangalam, since Kanni-mangalam was a part of CochinState and not of the MadrasPresidency. He dropped ‘K’from his children's initials as asequel to this experience! How-ever, Wilfred Pereira, whoowned the then leading phar-maceutical retail chain –Wilfred Pereira (Private) Lim-ited – recruited him as theshowroom manager at Vepery

head office. Here he becameknown to the leading healthprofessionals and leading citi-zens of Madras.

While at Wilfred Pereira(Vepery), he enthusiasticallytrialled the efficacy of diamino-diphenyl sulphone (DapsoneTM)in managing psoriasis. What issurprising is that diamino-diphenyl sulphone is currentlyused in the management of in-verse and pustular psoriasis.Anantanarayan establishedhimself as one of the few phar-maceutical chemists of Madras,who could correctly read theother otherwise undecipherablehandwritten scripts of Madrasdoctors. The worst being that ofthe Madras practitioner, Al.Annamalai.

In 1962, Anantanarayananwas transferred as the Managerof the Kotagiri branch ofWilfred Pereira (The Nilgiris).His lonely stay at Kotagiri pro-voked the artist and poet inhim. He would spend his time,reading Narayaneeyam and dis-coursing on it with close friends

particularly M. SuryanarayanaRao, a Kotagiri medical practi-tioner.

Other spare time, was spentcomposing Tamil songs inpraise of his favourite deityMurugan. Because he had stud-ied in Malayalam medium athigh school, he generallystruggled to write Tamil rapidly.To keep up with the speed of histhoughts, he used Malayalamscript in composing close to 100Tamil songs (SwaminathaSatakam) in praise of Murugan,all of which consistently endedwith the fragment Én appanéSwaminãthã. His inspiration towrite poems came fromSubramania Bharati, whoseworks he read regularly.

S. Gnanadesikan (later theDirector of King Institute, Ma-dras), N. Subbiah (Surgeon,who later migrated toAmerica), M. Natarajan and T.K. Shanmugasundaram (Or-thopaedic Surgeons), M.Natarajan (Dermatologist), C.M. Leelavathi (E.N.T. Sur-geon), K. Bhasker Rao (Obste-

trician-Gynaecologist), to cite afew, were all Anantanarayan’sfriends. Whenever anyoneneeded help in consulting asenior surgeon in Madrasapproached Anantanarayanan,he would personally take themto one of these medical giantsof the day.

Another friend in Kotagiriwas P.K. Krishnan Kutty, a Brit-ish qualified physician whopractised in Madras. He hadalso studied in the same highschool as Anantanarayan. Thelink brought them close. An-other of Anantanarayan’sKotagiri friends was Mrs. SigridHydari, a Swedish woman andthe widow of Saleh AkbarHydari (ex-Indian Civil Ser-vant, and Secretary, Railways),who had made Kotagiri, herhome. She had a heart problem.Krishnan Kutty, who visited

Kotagiri on holidays, would notexamine a patient while on va-cation. But he obliged, whenAnantanarayan asked him toexamine Mrs. Hydari.

At the end of 1965,Anantanarayan started his ownpharmacy, Kelly’s at Kelly’sCorner, which he ran till hisdeath in 1967. He left behindhundreds of friends he hadhelped with medical advice orwhom he had taken to leadingdoctors for their advice.

May 5-7: Marx Matters, commemo-rating Karl Marx’s 200th Birthday.Talks, film and book release (atGoethe-Institut, Max MuellerBhavan, Chennai. 5th and 6th –7 p.m.; 7th – 4.30 p.m).

May 9-10: Existing Realities – II – anexhibition of paintings by S.A.V.Elaiyaraja & S.A.V. Elaiyaraja-barathy (at DakshinaChitra).

May 18: Celebrating Museum Day –Jasmin Eppert will speak about theZeigenbalg Museum in Taran-gambadi, which she curates. Shewill also highlight the involvementof the local community to thisproject (at DakshinaChitra).

Kannimangalam ParameswaranAnantanarayanan.