Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Beyond the ramp

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All

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With Suvastra Designs, this NIFT graduate creates fashion for everyone, regardless of disability

Meet fashion designer Shalini Visakan, a pioneer in adaptive clothing style in India.

When big brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Burberry launched their adaptive clothing lines in 2016, they weren’t successful, mainly because their designs were wearable for only a certain category of the differently-abled.

The physique of each differently-abled individual differs according to their disorder and lifestyle, and Visakan understood this. She understood such requirements better, since her husband is also differently-abled. And that is how Suvastra Designs was born.

Ergonomic designs

She says, “We used to travel a lot, and every time he had to move, people wouldn’t know how to lift or handle him. So, I designed pants with handles to carry him along, with extra crotch length that would give space for his urinal cups, unlike normal pants. The important part is that it should also look good and formal.”

Visakan took it forward by designing a one-piece sari for her friend’s mother, who wasn’t allowed inside a temple because she was wearing a nightie. The sari has an attached blouse, inskirt, pleats and pallu.

She states, “My friend’s mother is very religious and had to stop visiting the temple since she couldn’t wear a sari any more. So, after looking at the clothes that I had designed for my husband, he requested me to do the same for his mother.”

“We either meet the customer in person or ask them to send a video about themselves to understand their demands. For example, thicker fabrics such as denim are used to stitch pants for someone with polio.

Likewise, for people with spinal cord problems, clothes are designed using materials that allow free air circulation. Velcro or elastic-attached towels are made for people who are fragile and unable to control their own body. People who are paralysed on one side of their body can use shirts with magnetic buttons and an easy-to-handle zipper,” she explains.

Bridging the gap

Her husband and pillar of support, Visakan Rajendiran, says, “In a country like India, people feel more comfortable attending a social gathering in traditional attire. We realised that there is a big gap between the clothes available in the market and the requirements of the people.”

The Trios fashion show, held at Hilton, Chennai,  in January this year, was India’s first fashion show that had models on the ramp in wheelchairs, alongside able-bodied odels. Visakan took the initiative to include physically-challenged models, and designed outfits for the ramp.

She explains her intent, “The idea was to create awareness about an inclusive society. There is no need to be sympathetic. The disabled also live a normal, happy life. This show was not made to showcase their struggles or tell inspiring stories. It was instead a show where the platform about equality; to show that beauty is inclusive.”

The success of the event was soon evident, as a lot of people started approaching Visakan. Their recent ad shoot for Suvastra Designs showed a differently-abled model.

“We approached a lot of brands, offering to shoot for free, but the idea was rejected. Only then did we decide to shoot an advertisement for our own brand, Suvastra Designs. Many people weren’t able to tell that the model is differently-abled. We wanted this to be a motivating factor for others,” discloses Shalini.

Bigger gains

The custom-made clothes start from a basic price range of ₹1,000. The couple reveals that although the business isn’t profitable yet, they want to expand its reach, rather than focus on profits.

The couple is also planning to train differently-abled persons to groom themselves, maintain fitness, ramp walk and build confidence, so that they can enter beauty pageants. They also hope to expand their stores across India to cater to the larger population.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Priyadarshini Natarajan / December 29th, 2017

Call to undertake research in ancient Tamil music

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All

Madurai :

Poet N S Sundararaman of Dharumai Aadheena mutt has said that the names of many renowned Shiva temples, revered in Thevaram (garland of divine songs praising Lord Shiva), were sanskritised in the past and the same fate should not befall Pannisai (ancient Tamil music and a predecessor of Carnatic music).

He further urged the Tamil Isai Sangam to undertake research in Pannisai. He was speaking at the Tamil Isai Sangam’s silver jubilee anniversary celebrations on Monday. The Sangam honoured its octogenarian trustee S Mohangandhi, also a former income tax officer on the occasion. Mohangandhi was a student of the first batch of Thevaram class and was praised for his untiring efforts to promote it for 25 years.

Since 1992, the Tamil Isai Sangam, functioning at the Raja Muthiah Mandram, has been conducting free music class on Thevaram on its premises and more than 2,000 people have studied there so far.

Sundararaman said that learning of Thirumurai (Shaiva literary works, twelve in number) will help one in many ways. “Thirumurai will uplift humans. It will change the thinking of chicanery and will help one to attain self-realisation. People belonging to Nagarathaar clan have contributed much to spreading Tamil Isai. The Tamil Isai Sangam needs to do research in Pannisai,” Sundararaman said.

Former Income Tax commissioner of Madurai S Sankaralingam who presided over the function said “One who wishes to see progress in life needs to learn Thevaram and read Thirumurai.” Trustee Thu. Meikandaan said “Thevaram music will help better functioning of brain.” Tamil Isai Sangam secretary P R Chockalingam and treasurer R M Somasundaram offered felicitations. V S Janaranjani welcomed the gathering. A G Sankar proposed a vote of thanks. A women’s troupe also sang Thevaram at the function.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Madurai News / TNN / December 26th, 2017

A glorious tradition of supporting the arts

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

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New book showcases contribution of Thanjavur Marathas

The contributions of the Thanjavur Maratha rulers to the State were recalled at a book launch in the city on Tuesday. Pratap Sinh Serfoji Raje Bhosle, sixth descendant of the Thanjavur Maratha royal family, released his book — Contributions of Thanjavur Maratha Kings — chronicling their impact on fields such as art, culture and literature.

“This covers not only the history of the former rulers, but also the lives of Shivaji Maharaj, his son Sambaji, their guru Samartha Ramdas Swami, the Cholas and the Nayakas, and also contains historical facts about their contribution to bharatanatyam,” he said.

Actor Vyjayanthimala Bali presided over the event and released the book. “Thanjavur is unique in so many ways and what the Serfoji family has contributed to bharatanatyam is part of history,” she said, recalling the time when there were Marathi compositions written for the dance form. “There was a time when it used to be called Maratha bharatanatyam, I have seen dancers perform on Marathi compositions written by the rulers.Bharatanatyam exponent Lakshmi Vishwanathan and Aravinth Kumarasamy, artistic director of Apsara Art Singapore, were present at the event.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – December 27th, 2017

The church by the sea

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion

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St Thomas English Church that turned 175, stands a solemn witness to the passage of time

It’s late afternoon and birds keel over the squat steeple of St Thomas English Church (STEC) that stands at a bend on Santhome High Road. Children rush out of the school gate, a few swing from the low branches of trees that swish noisily in the brisk sea breeze. A winter coastal light washes over STEC’s white structure, complete with arches and turrets. Beyond stands a fishing hamlet barnacled to its compound wall that has replaced the fence with a wicket gate that opened to the beach and the bay beyond. Here, in the sweep of golden sands where Thomas, the saint who lends his name to the church and one of Christ’s 12 apostles walked, there is a mercurial stillness that hangs in the air — a quietude that has conquered the call of birds, chatter of children and the roar of waves for 175 years now.

I’m led on a guided tour of the 14-ground campus by Rev Richard Ambrose Jebakumar, the present presbyter, and Sheeba and Roshan, who were born and raised in this pastorate and whose families have been members for generations. High above the arched doorway is a crest emblazoned into the wall that spells out 1842 – the year the church was founded — and reads ‘Quarto septennial – abounding in grace, faith and love.’

“These are words that have largely inspired the philosophy of this church and its members,” says Rev Jebakumar. “Raised to meet the spiritual needs of the large number of Europeans who had made Santhome home, the church owes its existence largely to the dynamic Methodist missionary Robert Carver.” Carver, who is buried under the main altar of the church, arrived in India in 1824 and was a pioneer in the work of the oldest mission of the Church of England in India that worked at promoting Christian knowledge. By 1836, Bishop Daniel Corrie obtained a grant to build the church. By 1842, Carver had moved back to Madras from Mannargudi, and STEC was consecrated later that year. After Carver died a few years later, the church had many notable presbyters leading it, including AR Symonds and A Westcott, with the first Indian presbyters taking over in the 1930s. Their names now fill the wooden plaques that hang in a quiet corner of the church, although their work has for long defined the character of this pastorate. “St Thomas’ strength lies in the fact that it is a family church. Governor Thomas Munro worshipped here, and generations of families have been members here. It has helped foster a rare bond,” says Sheeba, member of the pastorate committee, outlining the many activities the 250 member-families pitch in for.

“Hospital visits and working with women and children from disadvantaged backgrounds, especially those from the nearby CSI School for the Deaf, are some of the areas of focus.” Sheeba’s husband, Roshan, was a member of ADAG (Anti-Drug Action Group), a church band in the 1980s. “The church also pitched in to help the flood-affected people in the locality. The school, established in 1986, serves children from modest backgrounds. Weddings for the poor were held for the 175th anniversary. We also organised special services and installed a statue to mark the occasion,” adds Rev Jebakumar.

The church has changed little since it was first raised. Massive wooden doors open to aisles lined with beautifully carved pews and walls with poignant marble plaques that tell tales of English men land women ost to battles, sunken ships and tropical disease. The stained glass behind the brass and stone-embedded cross on the altar was replaced after the tsunami struck. “We were at service that Sunday. It was the only part of the church that was destroyed,” says Sheeba. On the brass lectern stands a version of the King James Bible, its pages brittle with the weight of history, but its words firm.

Music has been a strong tradition in the church. The Thomas Robson pipe organ, built in 1868 and played by organist Anila Manoharan, is the second-oldest in the city. Its strains wash over the cobble stone altar outside and to the sunset lingering across the foam-topped waves. And, above the roar of the traffic rise the words so loved by the people here — ‘There’s a church near a bend on the sea shore, No lovelier place I love more.’

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Deepa Alexander / December 27th, 2017

Of numbers and notes

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Vocalist Palghat Ramprasad.
Vocalist Palghat Ramprasad.

Chennai :

It is not often that a scholar in applied econometrics gets his alaaps right. But Palghat Ramprasad, born into the family of legendary Carnatic musician Palghat Mani Iyer, found his love for numbers and music was not mutually exclusive.

 
Grandson of the incomparable mridangam legend, the persona of Mani Iyer is writ large over the thoughts, words and deeds of all the musical reflections of Ramprasad. “I have grown up listening to more stories about my grandfather than tales from epics,” says the independent economist who consults for Tamil Nadu government projects as well as organisations like the UN and its sister concerns.

In 2004, when he was making a name in music circles, he had to take a hard decision to become a full-time economist. Having bagged a record of gold medals in his postgraduate study in economics at University of Madras, academics seemed a stable investment. He went onto get a PhD in applied econometrics on gender, poverty and other social issues from the University of Georgia, Atlanta, but his loyalty to music remained and he eventually devoted enough time for ‘sadhakam’.

His initiation into music as a vocalist  was influenced by his grandfather. “Though my father and guru Rajamani was a violinist I did not follow in his footsteps because my grandfather felt that being an accompanist relegated one to a corner. He could not achieve what the main artist could and he had that sense of longing always in him,” says the 36-year-old, who was a visiting post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University.

Ramprasad sticks to tradition, not believing in detracting from songs made popular by masters such as Ariyakudi, Semmangudi, Madurai Mani Iyer and G N Balasubramaniam. For him, repetition is a way of establishing a rapport with the audience a la Semmangudi. “It helps me recognise the intrinsic value in the krithis. In fact, I listen to recorded performances of the 1970s more than those belonging to the later years,” he says. He still includes quite a few ‘neravals’ (extempore rendering of varieties for the same line in a song), a suggestion of Mani Iyer, with an amazing clarity in the lyrics.

Having made his debut when he was seven-and-a-half years old, he has been accompanied by mridangam maestros like Umayalpuram Sivaraman and Palghat Raghu.

In between preparing for concerts this season, he also found time to merge his profession and passion by developing an algorithm that could help musicians save hours of labour. Named ‘Manipravaha’, after his grandfather, it is part of the Zeekh app and helps create and document song lists for concerts. ‘Manipravaha’ is able to identify a variety in songs with respect to ragam, talam and composers and the artist is thus able to avoid repetitions by keeping track of songs rendered by him in previous concerts. Listeners can also make requests for songs by directly communicating with the artist. “A theory called the Delanay triangulation, an optimisation technique used in computational geometry, has been deployed in developing this algorithm,” says Ramprasad. The app has been downloaded around 2,000 times this season by artists and rasikas.

(The author is a music enthusiast)

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Chennai News / by Aarvalani / TNN / December 26th, 2017

How a coast got its name

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

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An Italian adventurer, who travelled to India for travel’s sake, has a good claim

Ever since Charles Allen, writer and historian, can remember, he has been immersing himself in India’s “muddy waters, getting her dust between my toes.” Returning to the country of his birth time and again, he has made pilgrimages to Kedarnath and Badrinath, visited “thousands of Hindu mandirs and kovils, Jain bastis, Sikh gurdwaras and Buddhist stupas…” and written on India for 40 years. But, as he says in the introduction to Coromandel: A Personal History of South India, “…the fact is that I know far more about North India than I do about the South, which is partly why I set myself the task of researching and writing this book, which concentrates on the country south of the Narmada…” The greatest difference between North and South — ‘Arya’ and ‘Dravida’, ‘wheat’ and ‘rice’, ‘alluvial’ and ‘volcano’ — is language, he writes. An excerpt:

The word Coromandel makes its first appearance on Portuguese maps at the start of the sixteenth century. It was then picked up in quick succession by the Dutch, the French, the Danes and the English. Like so many Indian words that crept into the English language from late-Elizabethan times onwards, it is a corruption. That quintessential portmanteau of Anglo-Indian words and their derivations Hobson-Jobson has this to say about it:

Coromandel, n.p. A name which has been long applied by Europeans to the Northern Tamil Country, or (more comprehensively) to the eastern coast of the Peninsula of India from Point Calimere to the mouth of the Kistna, sometimes to Orissa… The name is in fact Choramandala, the Realm of Chora; this being the Tamil form of the very ancient title of the Tamil Kings who reigned at Tanjore… The name occurs in the forms Cholamandalam or Solamandalam on the great temple inscription of Tanjore.

So Coromandel takes its name from the ancient dynasty of Tamil rulers known as the Cholas. That word ‘Chola’ first appears on rock inscriptions that can be accurately dated to within a year or two either side of 260 BCE, carved by order of Emperor Ashoka, and it continues to reappear century after century on the walls and monuments of the great temple cities of Tamil country, right up to a final appearance in the year 1279 CE.

The adventures of Ludovico

As to who first coined the word Coromandel, a young Italian adventurer from Bologna named Ludovico di Varthema has a good claim. If Ludovico is remembered at all today it is because he was the first non-Muslim European to visit Mecca, and to live to tell the tale. However, what makes Ludovico and his Itinerario — first published in Rome in 1510 and subsequently in English in 1577 — special and so unusual for the time is that the author’s main concern was not to enrich himself through trading in spices or slaves, or to boast about slaying idolators or saving their souls for Christ. He travelled for travel’s sake, filled, in his own words, with ‘a desire to behold the various kingdoms of the world… with my own eyes.’

When Ludovico di Varthema’s Itinerario was published in Rome in 1510 every copy was snapped up. Up to that point the Portuguese had successfully guarded the trade secrets of their navigation in the Indies. Thanks in part to Ludovico’s descriptions of India’s eastern seaboard, the coast of Coromandel now became a target for Portugal’s maritime rivals: the Dutch, Danes, French and English. It was the Dutch, through the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC), or the Dutch East Indies Company, who went on to show the Portuguese how to trade without scruples. In 1609 they captured the Portuguese fort at Pulicat, which stands at the mouth of the Pulicat lagoon, today a placid bird sanctuary.

Pulicat subsequently became the headquarters of the VOC for its trading operations up and down the Coromandel coast, with slaving as a sideline. Between 1621 and 1665, VOC ships transported 38,441 slaves from the Coromandel coast, chiefly through Pulicat, for sale to Dutch plantations in Batavia, an activity done with the connivance of local rulers and helped along by several local famines. By such means the VOC became the wealthiest private company the world had ever seen, paying 40 per cent dividends to its shareholders in Amsterdam — which may help to explain why the Dutch named their fort at Pulicat Guelderland.

Shift to Nagapattinam

In 1690 the VOC shifted its Coromandel headquarters from Pulicat to Nagapattinam, which remained under the control of the VOC until 1781, when it fell to the East India Company (EICo) following two sea-battles fought directly offshore between two evenly matched fleets, the British and the French.

When Ludovico stepped ashore at Nagapattinam in 1505 he had unknowingly arrived in what had been the Chola heartland for fifteen hundred years and more. Nagapattinam stands at the mouth of the Kollidam, the southern channel of the Cauvery River, and it was here within this fecund triangle of silt threaded with waterways that the Chola kings established their temple capitals: initially, inland at Uraiyur; then on the coast at Kaveripattinam (today Poompuhar); later still in Thanjavur; and then, as their territories continued to expand, at a new site further north which the ruler of the day named Gangaikondacholapuram — ‘the city of the Chola who took the Ganges’ — which became their fourth and last capital.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books / by Charles Allen / December 11th, 2017

Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan wins National Geographic’s Nature Photographer of the year 2017

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature, Records, All, World Opinion

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Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan, who is National Geographic’s Nature Photographer of the Year 2017, talks about his award-winning shot and love for wildlife photography

He was a point-and-shoot photographer for 10 years. Four years ago, his wife got him a DSLR and today Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan is the National Geographic’s Nature Photographer of the Year 2017 for his photograph of an orangutan crossing a river in the wilds of Borneo.

Excitement ripples through his voice as he talks about his award-winning shot. “In August, I was in Kalimantan on the Indonesian side of Borneo and heard about this orangutan that crossed the river. I found this amazing because orangutans normally avoid water. They’re arboreal creatures. And, there were crocodiles in the river.”

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So he made for the area but didn’t see anything for a couple of days. But he decided to wait. “I had a hunch this would be special.” On the third day, he heard that the animal had been spotted on the other side of the river and rushed to the spot. “When the orangutan appeared, I climbed into the water.” Didn’t he remember the crocs? “Yes but I had to do it if I wanted that truly unique shot.” His appearance made the orangutan nervous and it retreated behind a tree. They played peekaboo till the animal decided that it could ignore him. “I got around 25 shots of it peeping out from behind the tree and retreating,” laughs Bojan. “Then he came out and began to cross the river and I got this shot.”

Bojan, who is from the Nilgiris, says his interest in wildlife came naturally. His grandparents lived in a village just a few kilometres from Dodabetta. “I was surrounded by birds and lot of wildlife.” He also lived in Bengaluru so he got in a lot of “backyard birding” and travelled to all the National Parks in India (one of his favourites is Nagarhole). But he started taking wildlife photography seriously when his wife was transferred to Singapore two years ago and he quit his job to move there. A visit to the Singapore Zoo triggered his interest in primates. “It was the first time I had seen them and I wanted to see them in the wild.” He began to research and reach out to people across Southeast Asia. “Southeast Asia has approximately 25% of the most highly endangered species of primates. You don’t have the usual photo-safari destinations here and it was hard to find people who knew where to spot them. Slowly my connections grew and I’ve been able to photograph around eight or nine species.”

Bojan’s photos were earlier picked as the Editor’s favourites in the National Geographic Nature Photography Awards but he’s glad it’s the orangutan that won. “More people will see this and there will be more visibility and may be more people will be willing to help. The orangutans need more help than they’re getting.”

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His favourite subjects apart from primates, and organutans in particular, are the tiger and otters. “My first tiger shot was in Bandipur,” he reminisces. “It was a female called Gauri and she had two cubs.” On the subject of otters, he has a lot more to say. While he has photographed otters in the wild in Kabini and Corbett National Park, it is a family of wild otters near his house in Singapore that currently has him captured. “They’ve figured out a way to live in an urban place like Singapore. There’s a community called Otter Watch that tracks the otters across Singapore. They post updates on social media and recently celebrated the birth of new pups. The otters roll on the sand or the grass to clean their fur as the humans watch and even take food from them.” One of Bojan’s photos of a couple of elderly men reaching out to the otters won an award from the Indian website Nature in Focus.

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Going forward, Bojan hopes to do a photo-story book on primates. “Some of these species number just 50-100 in the wild.” He’s also looking forward to a trip in Japan in February to shoot the snow monkey, the red fox and migrating raptors. He hopes to get some sightings of the elusive snow leopard from a trip to the Spiti Valley later in 2018. Towards the end of the year, if his permissions come through, he’ll be tracking a rare monkey on the Vietnam-China border. “I have lots of photographs to come; many more stories to tell,” he says.

A tough battle

Halfway through the story of his award-winning shot, Bojan gets side-tracked into the story of a ranger-turned-conservationist who is trying to buy land around the periphery of the national parks to ensure that it doesn’t fall into the hands of palm oil companies. “He’s educating the local people about habitats and the animals there and training them to be guides. The profits from guided tours are being invested into ensuring that land around the forest stays wild.”

While Bojan admits it’s a tough call to choose between preserving habitats and finding employment, he hopes they can sustain this initiative. “Obviously they cannot pay as much as the bigger companies. I am donating a part of the award money towards this cause. They’ve managed to buy around 12 acres in the last year, which is a great feat.” Around 30% of Indonesia’s income comes from palm oil, so it’s a “tricky affair for all concerned: the government and the people on the ground.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style / by R. Krithika / December 25th, 2017

Hidden Trails: A walking tour in Ponmar

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Agricultural fields and concrete structures stand cheek-by-jowl; ASI sites show up at every turn

There are two easy routes to reach Ponmar and each of these introduces the visitor to one of two features that largely define it.

So, I enter this semi-urban village through one and head out of it through the other. From Old Mahabalipuram Road, I reach Thalambur Koot Road, which forks into two roads, one of which leads to Ponmar.

As I enter the village, I am greeted by a board, which announces the place’s living link with the past. Ironically, what keeps Ponmar’s connection with a long-gone era alive, is its dead.

In parts of Ponmar, ancient burial grounds lie hidden; boards installed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) call attention to this fact. Driving down Malai Theru (also known as Mount Street), I reach a hillock, which has a 104-year-old church atop. ASI boards are found on sections of this hillock, from where one gets an arresting view of three striking features of the neighbouring locality, Ottiambakkam — a lake, an abandoned quarry and a massive power installation. Walking down Mount Street leads to the abandoned Ottiambakkam quarry. The Ottiambakkam panchayat has installed a board, warning visitors off the waters in this abandoned quarry. There are many rocky protrusions under the waters, which are said to have claimed many lives. According to the board, swimming, washing of clothes and bathing are prohibited. Every day, one can see this message being ignored. It’s a Sunday, and I see people swimming in these waters.

At one point, I hear a swimmer yelling out a word of caution to another — “There are rocks there! Don’t dive there!” A little distance away, I come upon another defining feature of Ponmar: The defiant presence of agriculture amidst real estate development. On a stretch leading off Mount Street, I see a paddy field and a multi-storey building under construction, stand cheek-by-jowl. While heading out of Ponmar, taking Periya Street and Easwaran Koil Street, which leads to Medavakkam-Mambakkam Main Road, I get some more glimpses of agriculture.

(Hidden Trails is a column that shows you how to be a tourist in your own city.)

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Prince Frederick / December 22nd, 2017

The musicmakers of Chennai

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

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As one enters Balasubramaniyam Street, just off PS Sivaswami Road, the sounds of a full-on percussion can be clearly heard.

Though it’s only 10.30 in the morning, work is on in full swing at this one-room manufacturing-cum-repair shop, where A Arogyam and others are busy with their work on mridangams and tablas.

This being Margazhi, he’s busy as ever. “We work on all leather instruments, but we specialise in mridangams.

We are originally from Thanjavur, but my grandfather came and settled here in Chennai because of better prospects as Chennai is the seat of Carnatic music.

During Margazhi, many people, including senior artistes, who come to Chennai from abroad, approach us for repairing the musical instrument they own, or buying new ones.

Also, those artistes give us bulk orders for their students abroad.

We export at least 50 mridangams every year,” shares Arogyam and adds, “Here, we’ve been repairing instrument for senior artistes like TV Gopalakrishnan sir (TVG) and Mannargudi Easwaran sir for quite some time. Staring with my thatha, we’ve been repairing mridangams for TVG. We have been doing it for the last 60 years.”

Ask Arogyam if it is important for a repairer to know how to play the instrument, and he replies, “It’s good if we know how to play, but the knowledge of tuning the instrument to sruthi is good enough for us to manufacture and repair them.”
Arogyam adds, “My son plays mridangam. So, when patrons want to buy mridangam, he plays for them so that they can judge the sound quality and it helps them choose what the instrument.”

According to him, the art of manufacturing and repairing instrument don’t come easily to everyone. “You need to have a sense of music for that, you have to appreciate music. It’s not something that can be taught; it has to be developed over years through practice. Though I started doing this in 1994, it took me almost eight years to gain the confidence to start making these instrument on my own,” he says.
Veena manufacturer and repairer, S Shankar, who has his workshop on Warren Road, in Mylapore, has been into this business for the last five generations. He says, “I belong to the fourth generation of veena manufacturers, and my son is also doing the same.” According to him, more than repair works, sale peak during Margazhi. “Artistes would have already repaired their instrument by end of November. But we sell a lot of instrument this time of the year because people from abroad come here to buy them,” he notes, “On the other hand, it’s during Navaratri that we get maximum requests to undertake repair work. People who keep these instrument at home just as showpieces want to keep them in good condition for puja.”
Shankar, who is also into manufacturing, adds, “We get the body from Thanjavur. We assemble veena here, including placing strings and frets. The cost of each veena ranges from `18,000 up to a lakh, depending on the finishing. Ekanda veena, which is made out of a single piece of wood, is quite costly.”
Arogyam also sources raw materials from different parts and manufactures mridangams at his shop. He informs, “I buy leather from Vyasarpadi or sometimes, it is brought from Ambur. The black disk at the center is made of a paste that’s made from stones that we buy from Thanjavur. And the wood for the mridangam comes from
Panruti.”
While some of them say that business has been on the rise, a few others beg to differ. Repairer M Navaneethakrishnan says, “My thatha and periappa were vidwans, but my father and I got into repairs as it was good business back then. But now, there are many who take up this job. Many of them go the artistes’ home to repair their instrument. But I find it comfortable to work out of my shop. So, business is not as great as it used to be earlier.”
Thiruvanmiyur-based D Udhayakumar, who undertakes repair work, says, “There was lull a few years ago because there was a strong inclination towards western music. It’s only now that things are changing in favour of Indian music. More youngsters are learning Carnatic music as it’s become popular across the globe. My father used to regularly repair violin for Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan sir. He has also worked on the instrument of several senior artistes, including Veena Gayatri and Kanyakumari.”
Meanwhile, M Govind Das, who has been in this business for the last few decades, says, “It is mostly students who come for repairs. For big artistes, their instrument are precious to them and they take care of them very well. Also, each artiste will have a repairer who he/she regularly goes to. A few of them come to me for repair. They send the instrument to my shop and I repair them and send them back.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Chennai News / by Ashish Ittyerah Joseph / December 23rd, 2017

Gift of a chapel for his missionary zeal

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion

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At first appearance, the small chapel inside St Andrews Girls Higher Secondary School at Singarathoppu in Ramanathapuram district appears like an inverted ship. Its build is different, unlike the usual Gothic or Anglican architecture in which Catholic and protestant churches were built earlier. Not many know that this humble 117-year-old chapel has a tale of its own. It was erected in 1900 in memory of Arthur Heber Thomas, an English missionary, who worked for dalits and cholera-affected people in the nearby villages before dying of malaria in 1890.
Hailing from Warmsworth in England, a 25-year-old Thomas, a member of the Society for the Propagation of Gospel, reached Madras on May 2, 1887, by steam ship, S S Manorama. His missionary work took him to Ramanathapuram, where he began working for dalits in Venkulam and treating cholera-affected people in Singarathoppu. He died on November 2, 1890, and was fondly remembered by locals for treating cholera patients even in the last days of his life. Residents of Venkulam built another church called ‘Thomas Church’ in his memory.

“His letters written to his brother and father reveal his love for the region, especially for Tamil language, which he was learning to speak and write. He had also documented the extreme tropical weather in the region, onset of cholera in 1888 after a cyclone hit the region in December that year and spotting numerous deer at Sayalkudi,” said V Rajaguru of Ramanathapuram Archaeological Research Foundation.

Rajaguru ascertained these facts from the book, ‘The Steep Ascent – Memorials of Arthur Heber Thomas and Records of Ramnad Mission’, published by Bemrose & Sons Limited and Snow Hill and Derby in 1907, and field visits to Venkulam area near Utharakosamangai where Thomas worked.

The Thomas Chapel at Singarathoppu was built by his English friends after his death. “They designed it like a ship — a symbol of Thomas’ voyage to India,” Rajaguru said.

All the material except the church bell was sourced from the region. Lime was obtained from sea shells along the Ramanathapuram coast. Grinders using bullocks were used to make lime mortar and soap stones were used to polish the floors.

“The architecture of a tiled roof over the vault gives a weather control feature to this church. No matter what the weather is outside, the atmosphere inside the church is always pleasant. Considering that the missionary wrote to his family about extreme tropical weather in the region, his friends may have given a thought about this special architecture.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Chennai News / by Arockiaraj Johnbosco / TNN / December 22nd, 2017