Renovation work under progress at Ripon Building. / Photo:B.Jothi Ramalingam. / The Hindu
Two heritage buildings of Chennai Corporation — Ripon Buildings and Victoria Public Hall — will sport a new look by the end of this year.
Addressing the Assembly on Monday, Municipal Administration Minister K.P. Munusamy said that the work to restore the Ripon Buildings, the headquarters of the Corporation, will be completed by October this year, to facilitate centenary celebration of the heritage structure in November. The project to renovate Victoria Public Hall too would be completed in July this year. The Corporation has spent nearly Rs.11.06 crore towards renovating these two buildings.
This fiscal, the Corporation proposes to construct five bridges across the city to ease traffic congestion at a total cost of Rs.13 crore. Residents of Bojaraja Nagar, Old Washermenpet, would soon have vehicular subway in their area.
The civic agency also plans to build a box culvert linking R.K. Link Road at Korattur and Jawaharlal Nehru Salai at Baba Nagar and another culvert at Narayanapuram across Keelkattalai tank surplus course. One more bridge would be constructed to link Rajiv Gandhi Salai and East Coast Road. It will come up across Buckingham canal connecting Thoraipakkam Murugesan Nagar and Pandiyan Salai, Neelankarai. A box culvert at Padi Pudu Nagar Road across Padikuppam canal will also be reconstructed in 2013-14.
As the generation of solid waste has increased to 4,700 metric tonnes per day after the city expansion, the Corporation is taking measures to set up waste processing facilities at Minjur-Vallur and Kuthambakkam. Once the tenders are settled and projects are started, garbage would not be disposed at the Kodungaiyur and Perungudi sites.
source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / April 02nd, 2013
Kal Raman , Chief Operating Officer of Groupon./ The Hindu
Hailing from small-town Tamil Nadu, Groupon COO Kal Raman has taken many a risk in his dream career — all ‘for the learning and not the money’.
I am mad at Kal Raman — he’s kept me waiting for 45 minutes. I threaten to leave, but don’t because he has a great story to tell — a textbook rags-to-riches tale. When he finally arrives, I mention punctuality, but he is sufficiently, and smartly, contrite. He isn’t feeling too well, and so on.
In two minutes, I can see why the man who couldn’t “even say ‘My name is Kalyan Raman in English without shivering’” when he joined Anna University’s electrical engineering course in 1984, has today become the Chief Operating Officer of American company Groupon, with an annual billing of $5.5 billion.
Raman is disarming, can talk his way through tough spots and, in his dream career, has taken huge risks — but more for learning, he says, than money.
EARLY YEARS
The son of a tahsildar from a village in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, a 15-year-old Raman, his mother and four siblings were literally thrown out on the streets after his father died of a heart attack. “From a nice house, three servants and a jeep, we were on the road.”
With a pension of Rs 420, and the Rs 100 she earned through reading palms, his mother raised the five children with a single goal — they’d have the best of education. “She became an expert at pawning; pay the interest for a piece of jewellery or kodam (utensil) by pawning another.”
After high school, he qualified for both a medical course in Tirunelveli and an engineering course at Anna University, Chennai. He opted for the latter; “I took the first risk of my life because I didn’t want my life to begin and end in Tirunelveli, so I chose Madras.” He didn’t even know about the existence of Anna University — “a friend’s dad applied and picked my courses. There was nobody to help or guide.”
One of the toppers in his batch, Raman cruised into Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE). We now have the famous story of how he landed at 4 a.m. at Dadar East in Bombay, slept on the platform, and left his bag with a vegetable vendor from Tirunelveli. Reporting to the office in chappals, he got ticked off by his boss, who soon turned sympathetic after hearing his story and gave him a month’s advance… and shoes!
AC, NOT COMPUTERS, IMPORTANT!
After nine months at TCE, when Tata Consulting Services wanted staff, he volunteered, “because the computer guys worked in AC rooms”. At TCE, he had done very well, and was offered a jump from Rs 2,350 to Rs 3,600, but he turned it down, quit, and applied to TCS. “Maybe I was naïve, crazy or audacious, but I enjoyed the power of computers and wanted it as a full-time job.”
He stayed at TCS for six months, his last stint in India. The highlight of it was his trip to Singapore as a “glorified courier” to deliver a software tape to IBM — but it crashed, robbing him of the opportunity to shop at Mustafa! After fixing the problem over two days, he whined to a senior about his bad luck. “He extended my trip, gave me an extra $1,000, and a car and driver. And I returned to India like a king, with a new suitcase, two gold chains for my mother and sister, shoes for my brother, TDK cassettes, Tiger Balm, etc.”
AUDACITY PAYS
TCS next sent him to work for a Scottish insurance company. It was launching five new policies, and Raman found the statistical fundamentals of one model flawed. When he pointed that out to his TCS boss in Bombay, he was asked to mind his business and stick to software writing! But when a director of the company, Chris Nicolty, stopped to chat with him, “I told him, ‘Please educate me, I am trying to understand how this will work.’ He listened and said ‘You might have a point’… but nothing more, and walked on.”
Two weeks later, the Scotsman came back to him and said, “Good job, I’m proud of you.” The project was stalled, Raman was given a bonus, and even offered a job at that company, hiking his salary from £500 to £2,500. “My life was made; in my mind I could see a house for my family, sister’s marriage, etc.”
But, interestingly, Nicolty advised him not to take the job because his biggest strength was the ability to take risks. In the UK he would soon hit a glass ceiling, so he should go to the US. “He said ‘don’t make your strength your weakness’.”
US CALLING
It was 1992. Fighting the urge to grab the opportunity, with his Scottish friend’s help, Raman soon had an offer for a contracting job with Walmart at an annual salary of $34,000. “But by the time they processed my visa, within a month the offer had gone up to $60,000,” he says.
By then he was married; he met his wife at TCS. “So with a Prestige cooker, two suitcases, and $100, we landed in Atlanta.” He joined as a Cobol programmer.
Raman’s dream run continued, with a helping hand from his ability to take risks. Walmart was making some of its contractors permanent employees, but the catch was reduced income — from $60,000 to $34,000. “Many others refused, but I took the job. By now my wife was also working, and we were comfortably sending $1,000 home every month,” he says.
FAIRYTALE RUN
Unbelievably, Raman says he got 18 promotions within just 18 months, and his salary jumped from $34,000 to $96,000.
Fascinated, I ask Raman how much more time he has for the interview. “I came late, so I don’t get to decide on the time; you do,” he says.
So, is he really good, or is it his gift of the gab that got him so far, I ask cheekily. Or does the US really recognise and reward talent? “I happened to be lucky; just like Forrest Gump, I was at the right place at the right time. God was disproportionately unkind to me when I was young, and disproportionately kind to me later.” He believes the US is “the most meritocracy country in the world… there is no question about it. You can take shots at America for so many things, but for honesty, work ethics and meritocracy, there is no country like it.”
So, was Nicolty right about the UK? “I think so… experience, tenure, that s**t works there. But in the US, I became a director so soon. At 24, I was negotiating $100 million deals with AT&T, without knowing the zeroes in one million.”
By 1993, he had shifted to retail, and when Walmart bought Pace Club the day before Thanksgiving, his challenge was to “integrate everything by Christmas — only six weeks. At this time, about 90 per cent of the people are on vacation. I wrote a bunch of codes and the system went live the day after Christmas.”
This is the day of heaviest returns, but everything worked without glitches. “So my boss introduced me to Rob Walton (the Chairman), saying, ‘he is the guy who did it’.”
Next, he moved to Walmart’s international division; “I moved away from technology to marketing and sales, and in the six years I spent in Walmart, I played every single role you can in retail business.” That laid the seed for his present role in Groupon.
So why did he leave?
“Because my boss, Doyle Graham, a father figure to me, died at 45 — just like my father. After he died, I lost the spark.” He next went to Blockbuster (a home movie rental provider) as a senior director running international technology for 26 countries. Here, too, he found the business model was flawed, and wrote a white paper detailing why it would go bust. But the Chief Executive Officer didn’t care for his views. So he left for Drugstore.com. “It was 1998 and the Internet was becoming big.” He joined as Chief Information Officer, became COO, and then CEO — all within two years.
Then the dotcom bust happened; everybody wrote the company off, but “I said the company would be profitable in two years. We got there a quarter earlier… and then I got bored.”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was on the board of Drugstore; “and I made another weird call. I became CEO when I was 31, and when I left I was 34, I said I’ve got promotions too fast in my career, so for the next two years I won’t be CEO and will undo all the bad habits I’ve learnt.” Bezos “invited me to solve a complicated technology problem at Amazon. I said I’ll work for a couple of years, but I want to start my own company in education.”
“I DON’T WORK FOR MONEY”
In 2007, he started Global Scholar to “help teachers give differentiated education to kids using technology. It was a fantastic experience. I raised $50 million in the toughest economy since the Depression. In 30 months, I gave four times returns to my investors and then sold the company in 2010-11.” On why he did so, he quips, “The moment you start a company, it is for sale… at the right price. You can’t have emotions…”
Also, by then he must have made enough money, I prompt. “I don’t work for money; every penny I make in Groupon, I’ve pledged to charities…”
To my sceptical look and arched eyebrows he responds: “I don’t need money; I work hard because I want to work hard. Why do I need money? My daughter (studying computer science at Carnegie Mellon) says she won’t take a penny from me. My son, too, is the same, and my wife is cool with it. I still take care of my siblings… I play cricket, watch Tamil movies, read books, that’s it.”
No fancy yachts? “I can’t even swim. I have the same car, a Lexus, since 2001.”
Groupon’s Chief Financial Officer, Jason Child, a colleague in Amazon, got him on the board of the company, which has 14,000 people and 500 offices in 46 countries.
But isn’t Groupon doing badly?
“It is under pressure, true, but not doing badly. That is a distorted reality. I like it this way, though. I want everybody to think we are doing badly, so that all of a sudden you guys will call me a magician. We’re not going to do anything different, but will look like winners.”
On the speculation that he might be named Groupon CEO, he says, “Why should anybody care? Let’s get the stuff going in the right direction.”
During his last visit to India, Raman adopted 24,000 physically challenged kids in a village in Tenkasi — he’ll help with their education, healthcare, vocational training, and employment. “My goal is to give them both dignity and hope… and the ultimate goal is to create one million jobs in Tirunelveli district.” And to own an IPL team!
On India’s future, he says nobody can stop the country from becoming a superpower — “We will work hard to mess it up, but India will prevail because of our intellectual talent and the average age of Indians.”
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Home> Features> Weekend Life / by Rasheeda Bhagat rasheeda.bhagat@thehindu.co.in / 2013
Mitticool, a terracotta refrigerator./ Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu
With more than 12 hours of power cut a day, consumers, including students, are looking at ways that will improve power availability.
Be it industries, students or the common man, many are coming up with new concepts and products that will reduce the dependence on conventional electricity, improve energy conservation and generation.
The State-level science expo organised in Coimbatore a couple of months ago by the Department of School Education saw a significant number of entries related to energy conservation and generation of power from alternative sources. This included off-shore wind mills and an improvised pedal-operated generator to power home appliances.
On the industrial front, two companies went in for bio-diesel production using non-edible vegetable seeds. Though awareness is high, production of bio-diesel is not viable in this region at present because of non-availability of seeds. If there is an assured supply of the seeds and support from the Government, production and use of bio-diesel can increase, says an industry source. The plants require nearly three kg of seeds to produce one litre of diesel and the total cost works out to Rs. 40 a litre. The cost varies according to the availability and price of the seeds. The diesel can be used to run generators and in industries.
Similarly, a product that has found a market here is terracotta refrigerator manufactured buy a Gujarat-based entrepreneur.
The 50 litre refrigerator does not require electricity to keep vegetables, fruits, milk and water cool. According to Mansukhbhai Prajapati, who makes “Mitticool” from 2004, he entered the Tamil Nadu market recently by appointing dealers. In Coimbatore and Erode Districts, over 50 have been sold in the last two months. Mr. Prajapati is now working on “Mitticool house”, which is an environment-friendly air-conditioner.
source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore /by M. Soundariya Preetha / Coimbatore, April 04th, 2013
Kashmiri creations have been retailed from Spencer’s Plaza for a long time,despite the mall having hit a rough patch | P Ravikumar
Spencer Plaza, one of the oldest shopping malls in the country, is now probably just a remnant of the British Raj. But, a horde of Kashmiri Muslim merchants have kept the place buzzing with activity for decades now, despite other shops moving out to more feasible locations after the advent of modern-age malls
Rows of shops dot the maze of floors at the Spencer Plaza that otherwise bears a desolate look, except for one thing: goodwill drives trade despite tough competition. S A Shawl of Master Collections explains, “So many shops have shut down over the years, especially in the last decade. But, I have a stream of customers at my store and they are not just the foreign clients.”
Shawl, like most of the other shop owners is from Srinagar, Kashmir and has been a resident of Chennai for the last two decades. For many generations now, the Shawl family has been engaged in handicrafts. “We had the license from the British government in those days. Our family name, Shawl, indicates our occupation,” he adds.
Quite a few procure the handicrafts from Kashmir, he explains, “It is a labour-intensive sector and it takes many days for us to manufacture one handicraft item. And, it has a long procedure involved as well.”
Jewel Mine, another shop that is popular among the local shoppers and foreign clientele is a hotspot for its exclusive handicrafts, shawls, gold and silver jewellery. Parvez Ahmed Khan, owner, Jewel Mine, shares his views on the consistent popularity of Kashmiri handicrafts among the crowd. “The reason why none of the handicrafts shops moved out of Spencer is because of the places popularity among the foreign crowd. They come here because it doesn’t have a European or American feel to it.”
He adds that it is impossible to run a unit in Chennai, though it might possibly save much of costs for the shop owners. “For many, it is easier to procure the handicrafts and other items like carpets and shawls from Kashmir,” he says rather ruefully.
Shabarat Sidiq who runs Aarasz, another Kashmiri emporium explains why Spencer is the ideal set up for many like him.
“Over the years, emporiums have thrived because of their appeal among foreign clients. There are close to 72 shops here and everyone has an exclusive client,” he says.
With the fashion boom that has spread even to a traditional city like Chennai, emporiums have benefitted from the sudden surge in demand. Shawl says, “Even college girls in Chennai are now keen on the original pashmina shawls.”
Khan echoes similar thoughts and says, “Earlier, Chennai’s customers were interested only in gold but today we see people like to invest even in gems.” Now they are open to spending on new things,” he laughs.
However, there has been a 70 per cent decline in the production because of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), over the past 5 years, says Shawl. “That has directly affected the manufacturing of handicrafts. Labourers don’t want to engage in the process as the act has a provision to provide them with the basic amount.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Janani Sampath – Chennai / April 01st, 2013
Full Of Ideas – Ron D. Burton / Photo: S. R. Raghunathan / The Hindu
There are so many opportunities to change the world, says Ron D. Burton, president elect of Rotary International during an interaction in Chennai
“If I threw a dart on a world map blindfolded, and it fell on a landmass anywhere (except for three countries) I will know somebody there, and they will know me,” says Ron D. Burton, president elect (2013-14), Rotary International. That’s the reach of Rotary, and Rotarians, he says, are united in wanting to make the world a better place. Rotary is not merely about meeting, greeting and eating, avers Ron. “I want Rotarians around the world to get involved in some project, locally or internationally”. And it is because of his long association with Rotary (from 1979), he’s been able to forge partnerships with P.T. Prabhakar (director, Rotary International, 2013-15) and V. Raja Seenivasan (district governor) in Chennai, and impact the projects they’re involved in.
On a recent visit to the city — Chennai being the first Indian city he is visiting as president elect — Ron says there are so many wonderful projects in the country (he’s especially impressed with ‘Happy Villages’), which will do well to be emulated worldwide. He talks about being moved during his visit to the blood bank where he saw Rotaracters donating blood, and in the next room, Thallasemic children receiving a transfusion. “I thought, they could be my children,” he says, moved. “And when I looked into their eyes, it melted my heart.” And it’s this message that’s at the heart of his theme for the year — ‘Engage Rotary, Change Lives’.
While a life in service changes lives, the one it will change the most will be yours, says Ron. He recalls a training programme in New Jersey, when a gentleman walked up to him, with a picture of his three children, all of whom had a congenital kidney disease, necessitating kidney transplants. “The father told me that the oldest child got a kidney from a donor, and the second, received a kidney from a member in his Rotary club,” he said, adding he had many similar stories. “Every second, 1.2 million Rotary members worldwide are changing lives; what can we do if we had 2.4million?” Monetary contribution accounts for 200 to 300 million dollars, annually, but if you put a value on the time that was contributed by members, that number becomes astronomical!
CHEERFUL AND ENERGETIC, RON RECALLS WHAT INITIALLY SEEMED LIKE A HUMUNGOUS TASK — RAISING $ 120 MILLION TO ERADICATE POLIO BACK IN 1987-88. ONLY, THEY MANAGED TO RAISE MORE THAN DOUBLE THAT, HE LAUGHS.
EARLY SUCCESSES
But, he acknowledges, there were a lot of early successes; and maybe they lost focus, because, 26 years later, they’re still at it. “However, look at a map with endemic polio countries (marked red) from 87-88 and look at it now; the red has gradually bleached out to white.” The world thought India would never get rid of polio, but Ron says he tips his hat to the government of India and the Rotarians on the field, for their commitment to eradicate the disease. “We’re this close, it’s time to finish it,” he says, adding he will be back in India in January 2014, when WHO is expected to certify India polio-free.
COMMENTING ON THE DIVERSITY IN ROTARY, RON SAYS THAT EVERY-TIME HE SEES HIS CLUB DIRECTORY, HE’S CHUFFED TO SEE NEW MEMBERS, CUTTING ACROSS AGE, SEX AND RACE. “I SEE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES, IF THEY CAN GET OUT THERE, THEY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!” HE SAYS. ROTARY INTERNATIONAL MAY SOON SEE A WOMAN PRESIDENT, SAYS PRABHAKAR, WHILE RON ADDS THAT THE WOMEN IN THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND BOARD GOT THERE PRIMARILY BECAUSE THEY’RE GREAT ROTARIANS.
TOUCHING UPON THE GRANTS INDIA RECEIVES FROM ROTARY FOUNDATION, RON SAYS THE COUNTRY ALSO RAISES A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY (INDIA IS THE SECOND LARGEST MONETARY CONTRIBUTOR TO ROTARY, BESIDES RECORDING THE HIGHEST GROWTH IN TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP NUMBERS, ADD RAJA SEENIVASAN AND PRABHAKAR). RON TALKS OF INSTANCES WHEN PEOPLE IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DO NOT WISH TO CONTRIBUTE MONEY, AS THEY THINK THE ‘MONEY GOES OUT THERE’ (TO DEVELOPING NATIONS). “I TELL THEM ‘TAKE A VACATION, GO TO INDIA AD SEE WHAT THEY’RE DOING WITH YOUR MONEY’. ROTARY IS ALIVE AND WELL IN INDIA,” SAYS RON.
source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Society / by Aparna Karthikeyan / March 31st, 2013
Artistes from Abhinava Dance Company, Bengaluru perform on the inaugural day of the Panguni Peruvizha and Vidyaatri Festival at Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore. The festival is on till April 8, with renowned artistes performing every single evening at the venue | P Ravikumar
The ten-day Panguni Peruvizha and Vidyaatri festival commenced on Friday at the Kapaleeswarar Kovil with a dance performance by Bengaluru-based Abhinava Dance Company. The event was presided over by P S Sachu, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Mandram, who inaugurated the festival. Other special guests at the function included renowned city-based gynaecologist and obstetrician Dr Kamala Selvaraj.
The music and dance programmes for the Kapaleeswarar Temple’s Panguni Peruvizha and Vidayaatri festival have been sponsored by Preetha Reddy and P Vijaykumar Reddy in memory of P Gnanamba and Obul Reddy (parents of P Vijaykumar Reddy).
Beginning with a Shiva Stuthi, Nirupama and Rajendra, who have been performing together for the last 25 years enthralled audience that included devotees at the temple, who joined the enraptured crowd that began streaming in. Moving on to chaturang (the combination of four elements – sangeet, nritya, tarana bol and sahitya), the group dance piece by Abhinava, set to tune in raag Khamaj was a stupendous presentation. The vibrant colours of the costumes and the energy were consistent in the following performances that included Shringara Rama — an excerpt from Ramcharitmanas by Saint Tulsidas that explored the human side of the lord and his love for Sita. The depiction of restrained and dignified love by Rama was contrasted with the more-explicit love of another incarnation of Vishnu— Raas Leela of Lord Krishna who danced with his beloved Radha and gopikas on the banks of the Yamuna.
Artistes from Abhinava Dance Company, Bengaluru perform on the inaugural day of the Panguni Peruvizha and Vidyaatri Festival at Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore. The festival is on till April 8, with renowned artistes performing every single evening at the venue | P Ravikumar
Befittingly, as the mercury soars in the city with every passing day, the group also appealed to the rain God to bless Chennai with much-needed showers. Varsha, was an astounding group rendition of the joy that is synonymous with rain.
Talking to City Express about the performance, Nirupama said that performing in Chennai was always special, and that the group was glad that the organisers thought about bringing kathak to the audience at the temple.
Vijaykumar Reddy, Thakkar, Kapaleeswarar Temple, said that the ten-day festival will showcase performances of both music and dance. “We are having a host of performances by renowned artistes. Performing the arts is an important part of the temple’s activities and we are looking at having some remarkable performances here,” he said.
source: http://www,newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express Features- Chennai / April 01st, 2013
Tamil poet Vairamuthu on Thursday called upon educationists to produce candidates who can successfully face the global competition in various fields.
The world had shrunk in the era of globalisation and information technology. There was a sea change in the globalised employment scenario. The situation had warranted that the higher, technical and professional educational institutions need to prepare students to face the tough competition from countries such as the United States, England, Australia and others, he said.
Speaking at a programme held at Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College at Madagadipet, Mr. Vairamuthu said that there were reports that several developed countries had been following inventive approaches to produce super rich students basically to outshine students from upcoming countries. The educationalists should take note of this so that they could strive to provide global standard education to Indian students. While stating that women education had seen spectacular improvement in India, he said there was a need to bridge the gap between rural and urban women.
M. Dhanasekaran, Chairman, S.V. Sugumaran, Vice Chairman, SMVE Trust and K. Venkatachalapathy, Director, spoke.
source: http://www.TheHindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Puducherry, March 29th, 2013
Flashback: S.A. Raju, the founding member of Chamundeswari Studio, seen working on the projector at the studio / Photo: Special Arrangement / The Hindu
He trekked the seven hills of the Velliangiri Mountain and photographed the buttery sun at dawn with his prized Kodak box camera. “It cost just 52 rupees!” recalls S. A. Raju as he shows it off. “I captured the sunrise and sunset at the Singanallur tank, birds, and scenery in and around my area.” When he was studying at Sarvajana School, he would develop the negatives at Art Studios on V.H. Road, and send the photographs to the Illustrated Weekly of India in Mumbai. They paid Rs.100 for every good photograph.
A pigeon couple captured by S.A. Raj in his Kodak box camera. The photograph won him a cash prize of Rs.1,000 from the Illustrated Weekly of India magazine / Photo: Special Arrangement / The Hindu
S. A. Raju’s house in Singanallur retains the old world charm. Wooden pillars and a sturdy teakwood roof add to the aesthetics. It is from this very house that his journey into the world of filmmaking began. He has worked for 30 years in film studios in various capacities as the cinema projector operator, cameraman, and sound recordist. It was the immaculately dressed S.K. Kannan, a sound engineer at Pakshiraja Studio, who inspired Raju to join the studios. “He was my father’s friend and he earned a monthly salary of Rs. 900, a big amount then,” he remembers.
After his SSLC, Raju became an apprentice at the Pakshiraja Studio. By then, he was a licensed cinema projector operator too. “Pakshiraja Studio worked like clockwork and the shooting began at 9 a.m. By the end of the day, the film would be processed at the laboratory and the print shown to technical crew. I learnt everything about film processes, right from the time the roll was mounted till it rolled out as a motion film in the theatres,” he says. It was during the shooting of MalaiKallan that Raju became a projector operator. “I remember the scene. Actors Chakrapani (MGR’s brother) and Dorairaj were perched on a tree at Sungam. They had to spy on the Malaikallan with a binocular. As the actors had to leave for Chennai, dubbing had to be done on the same day. The projector operator didn’t turn up and I got the opportunity. Chakrapani put Rs. 100 in my pocket as a token of appreciation,” he recalls.
Flashback: S.A. Raju as a young projector operator at Pakshiraja Studio in Coimbatore. / Photo:: Special Arrangement / The Hindu
He learnt cinematography from Sailen Bose, a noted cinematographer from Kolkatta, who also worked in Malai Kallan. He recounts a complicated scene from the film. “A forest set was put up with mountains and trees. Actor Bhanumathi entered humming a song. She threw a mango up in the air, and Malaikallan (played by MGR) caught it. Those days we had the ‘boom man’ to place mikes and record the sounds. As the shadow of the mike fell on the screen, I climbed up in my veshti and operated the mike. MGR noticed the difficulty of my attire ”
During the tea break (sweet, kaaram and coffee was served free) MGR summoned the studio tailor and ordered two pants. Two khaki trousers were ready the next day and Raju started wearing pants from then on.
Besides MGR and Sivaji Ganesan, the reigning stars, other popular stars included Bhanumathi, and the Travancore sisters (introduced by S.M. Sriramulu Naidu in the Malayalam film Prasanna). “The actors shopped at Meeran & Co in Town Hall which sold gramophone and music discs.”
Raju’s acquaintance with the manager at the studio got him an opportunity to take inventory of various departments. “I helped him with typing official letters on a typewriter. As I took account of the different kinds of microphone (pressure, dynamic and ribbon), the mikes used for song recording, for dialogues, the different lenses such as 25 mm, 30 mm, 70 mm ( for close-up) and 100 mm ( for close-up of eyes), I learnt so much.”
The veteran then shares the story of Frank and Mary, a pair of tigers, which S.M. Sriramulu Naidu bought from the Madras Zoo for his film Swami Ayyappan. “Carpenters at the studio made two cages to transport the tigers. The cages were kept at the car shed for a month and later the tigers were tied outside in the open ground. In a few days, Frank became everyone’s pet. But he was scared of light, so we used a stuffed tiger to take long shots.”
Swami Ayyappan in Malayalam was a big success and the dubbed version in Tamil also ran to packed houses. “Local drama troupe members dubbed in Tamil for free,” he remembers.
Raju also mentions the flops such as Kalyaniyin Kanavan that starred Sivaji Ganesan and Saroja Devi. When Pakshiraja Studios wound up and moved to Bangalore it became Chamundeswari Studios, and Raju became its founding member .
He narrates the friendship MGR shared with Kalaignar Karunanidhi, M.N Nambiar, and Chinnappa Thevar. “Chinnappa Thevar was a milk vendor at Central Studios. He did maalish for MGR during his workout and struck up a friendship. Later, he became a junior artist and a popular film producer.”
(as told to S.A. Raju born in March 1932, studied at the Elementary School in Singanallur and later at Sarvajana. As a teenager he joined the Pakshiraja Studios and worked there till 1965. As a founding member of Chamundeswari Studios in Bangalore he worked there till 1980 and then moved back to Coimbatore. He was in-charge of a storage facility of picture and sound negatives of notable films, cameras and other studio equipment. Before retiring, he worked as cinema projector operator at Krishna and Raja theatres. His favourite films include Aryamala, Utthama Puthiren (where P.U. Chinnappa played a double role), Shantaram’s Jhanak Jhanak Paayal Baje, and Sivakavi and Haridas, with M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the lead role.
I REMEMBER
The filming of the tiger and leopard fight scene in Malai Kallan. A huge pit was dug up inside the Paskhiraja Studio and Puli Govindarajan controlled the animals.
source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by K. Jeshi / Coimbatore, April 02nd, 2013
The inhabitants of the remote villages tucked away in Jawadhu Hills, about 70 km from here, got the shock of their impoverished lives the other day when their district collector came riding a motorbike to check on their needs.
The young IAS officer, Dr. Pingale Vijay Maruti, brought his additional collector T. Anand on the pillion, riding through 15 km of tough forest tracks winding along steep slopes amidst loose boulders to reach those miserable people and see firsthand the generations of neglect they have suffered through successive regimes. About 5,000 people live in these 11 villages that lack most of the basic needs, including schools, healthcare and ration shops.
“Almost all the people he met told the collector that their most vital need is a road to link them to civilisation. They carried their sick 17 km down the difficult forest track to reach the nearest PHC (public health centre), often too late, and carried the dead body on their shoulders for final rites at home. Moved by their plight, the collector has initiated steps to lay roads through the hills”, said a local official, who had struggled to keep pace with Dr. Maruti on that trip on Tuesday.
Asked for details, Dr. Maruti told DC that he met several village leaders during his motorbike ride up the hills and told them to activate their ‘forest rights committees’ for helping him to lay the roads. Under the forest laws, only thin paths of 3.5 metres width were allowed through reserved forests but the ‘forest rights act’ permitted exceptions to make life better for the inhabitants of inner villages.
Once the roads are completed, it would be possible to motor from Polur on Tiruvannamalai side to Jamunamaruthur and on to Amrithi on Vellore side. “A villager now has to either walk or take the bus on a circuitous route of over 50 km for this travel, whereas the new road will shorten the distance to 12 km”, Dr Maruti said.
“It’s been over two years since I rode a two-wheeler, but this ride was quite exciting. And very satisfying in its results”, added the collector, who hails from Nasik in Maharashtra.
source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / March 29th, 2013
Wellington Lake in The Nilgiris thrown open for boating on Thursday / Photo: Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Wellington near Coonoor which was hitherto known within the country and abroad mainly for its long association with the defence sector and the presence of two of the most prestigious establishments of the Indian Army- the Defence Service Staff College (DSSC) and the Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) — would henceforth be linked to the tourism sector also.
The Wellington Lake in a picturesque spot of the barracks was thrown open for boating on Thursday.
Inaugurating the facility, the Commandant, MRC, and President, Wellington Cantonment Board (WCB) Brigadier S. Suresh Kumar said that it would be promoted as a tourist spot. Shortly it would feature a children’s park, he said adding that a restaurant overlooking the lake would come into being, later.
MUSICAL FOUNTAIN
Efforts are also on to provide a walking plaza and install a musical fountain.
The lake would also be used for imparting training in watermanship for soldiers.
Brigadier Suresh Kumar acknowledged the contribution of the district administration and others in the execution of the scheme.
source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by D. RadhaKrishnan / Udhagamandalam, March 30th, 2013
