Category Archives: Leaders

AIR Chennai’s 80-year journey

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

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June next year will see All India Radio (AIR) Madras/Chennai celebrate its 80th birthday. The station had evolved from the first broadcasting service in India, V Krishnaswamy Chetty’s Madras Presidency Radio Club established in 1924. It made its first broadcast from Holloway’s Garden in Egmore on July 31. The Club was rescued from financial difficulties in 1927 by the Madras Municipal Corporation which ran it till AIR put down roots in Madras.

AIR itself celebrated the 80th birthday of its naming last year. Lionel Fielden, an Oxonian from the BBC, arrived in India in 1935 to head what had been set up in 1930 as the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS). He thought the name not catchy enough. But to change a Viceroy-approved name was not the done thing. He relates how he got it done:

“I cornered Lord Linlithgow after a Viceregal banquet and said plaintively that I was in great difficulty. … I said I was sure he agreed with me that ISBS was a clumsy title. … But I could not, I said, think of another title; could you help me? … It should be something general. He rose beautifully to the bait. ‘All India?’ I expressed my astonishment … [It was] the very thing. But surely not ‘Broadcasting?’ After some thought he suggested ‘Radio’. Splendid, I said, and what beautiful initials.” (Fielden in The Broadcasting in India, Awasthy G. C., 1965).

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Much of that may have been related tongue-in-cheek, but he was more serious — and possibly prophetic — when, as Controller of Broadcasting, he wrote an article for The Hindu’s supplement to mark the inauguration of AIR (Madras). In the article on the future of Carnatic music, written as a letter to the Station Director, Madras, in 2,500 AD, he said:

“I fear that in your day (2,500 A.D.) Indian music as we know it will be forgotten. I can only say we are doing our best to save it. The impact of the West in our time is strong enough to make it clear that the younger generation is drifting into an easy acceptance of Western harmonies and moving away from the static and intricate melodies — often too prolonged — of their own tradition. It seems that if Indian music is not to be drowned by the clangours of jazz, the addition of harmony — or at any rate some growth and progress in that direction — is essential. I do not mean by this that there is any failure to recognise the inherent beauty and individualism of Indian Classical music and the inestimable value of its freedom in improvisation. The trouble is that the Sangit Vidwans refuse to accept the necessity for any measure of adaptation and persist in their contention that Indian music has already reached perfection. Acrobatic feats of the larynx, no matter what quality of voice, are accepted as sufficient indications of a perfected art. In these days of mechanical reproduction and rapid communication, the musical language of four continents cannot but exert pressure on the fifth and while Indian classicists still insist on long performances — stretching to even three hours for a single musician — and ignore the necessity of proper voice production, the youth of India is in danger of forgetting its own musical language altogether.”

A sahib from on high speaking down to the natives, or prophetic? I’m no music fan, so I don’t know. Perhaps Sriram V would like to respond.

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The uncivil civil servant

My reference to Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair (Miscellany, April 30) had MN Nair wondering whether I had heard of Sir Sankaran Nair’s distant cousin, SK Chettur, ICS, who on one occasion had been not only uncivil but vindictive. I had indeed heard the story, but it is worth repeating.

In January 1939, when Chettur was a Sub-Collector, he and his wife and a friend went to an event in Palghat being held as part of the Sri Thyagaraja Festival. When an usher noticed Chettur and his friend smoking, he namaskaramed to them and politely requested them to stop smoking as it was not appropriate to do so on what was a semi-religious occasion. The friend put out his cigarette, but Chettur continued smoking. When several in the audience started shouting at him to stop smoking, the Chetturs and their friend walked out. Outside the temporary pandal, Chettur shouted for the usher and asked him to apologise. In his stead, the organisers apologised, but Chettur walked away in a huff followed by his wife and friend.

The next day, January 11, The Hindu reported, “Sensation prevails in Palghat following the demolition of the entertainment pandal put up at the Ram Dhyan Matom in Kalapathy Agraharam on the order of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Palghat (Chettur). The pandal had been put up in connection with the Sri Thyagaraja festival which commenced yesterday.” The report followed the Police informing the organisers that, despite having Municipal permission for it, they had to dismantle it by 4 pm. The organisers rushed to Chettur and apologised all over again. All he would say was that his order stood. And the organisers carried them out in front of a large posse of policemen who were there to keep protesters out.

A few days later, “A memorial on behalf of the citizens of Palghat” was submitted to the Prime Minister (as Chief Ministers were then titled) stating the facts. What Prime Minister Rajagoplachari had to reply is not known, but the next we hear is of a two-column long letter in The Hindu from nine citizens of Palghat reiterating the facts.

Then came the sting in the tail. The Police registered a case against the organisers for “Putting up a pandal in the public street and obstructing traffic.” I am sure the Sub-Divisional Magistrate would have found in favour of the Police.

The chronicler of Madras that is Chennai tells stories of people, places, and events from the years gone by, and sometimes, from today.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> Madras Miscellany – History & Culture / by S. Muthiah / May 21st, 2018

The Tawkers of Madras

Business & Economy, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All

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Thanks to that recorder of the stories of famous old houses in Madras, Sriram V, I recently discovered where a once-legendary old family of Madras, the Tawkers, had their mansion. After passing out of the Tawker hands into Government’s hands in 1925, it became the residence of the Rajah of Panagal (pronounced Paanagal) when he was the Premier of Madras. He stayed there till 1928. Tawker’s Gardens then became Limbdi Gardens, when the Raja of Limbdi (in Gujarat) acquired it. Next we find the University of Madras renting it in the 1930s for some of its departments and staying there till 1948 when it was auctioned. The buyer was the Muslim Educational Association of South India (MEASI) and there it developed in the 12-acre campus on Peter’s Road what is today New College, a name inspired by an eponymous one in Oxford. The college opened in 1951.

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The Tawkers were one of the earliest Gujarati families to settle in Madras, moving here from Trichinopoly in the early 18th Century. In time, they were to become the leading gem and jewellery merchants in South India, under the name TR Tawker and Sons from 1761. As befitting their status they had Henry Irwin design a palatial headquarters building for the firm on Mount Road. The Indo-Saracenic-styled building was built in the 1890s by T Manavala Chetty, a leading contractor. The Tawker Building, like Tawker’s Gardens, passed out of the family’s hands when the firm’s dues from many of the leading citizens of the South, particularly the Nizam of Hyderabad (or, rather, his estate when he died), were not paid, leading to bankruptcy in 1925.

Tawker’s Building, next to what is now VGP’s main showroom on Mount Road (but once Victory House, home of the then leading Tamil daily, Swadesamitran), after its sale, became the property of the Maharajah of Venkatagiri in 1926. It next passed into the hands of Kasturi Estates (The Hindu family) in 1931. The South India Cooperative Insurance Company bought it in 1948 as its headquarters and when insurance was nationalised it became LIC property. In 1953, the year Indian Airlines started, its Madras office moved into a part of this spaciousness. Indian Airlines remained there till 1980 before it moved out whereupon the building, an architectural heritage building if ever there was one, was pulled down by the LIC and a mundane highrise took its place, now housing several offices.

The philanthropy of the Tawkers was legendary. Two women of the family, Ramba Bai and Ratna Bai, set up a trust in 1804 and the next year built the Sri Kasi Viswanathar Temple in Ayyanavaram. Other charities they endowed included building a choultry, now an agraharam, next to the temple. The Tirupati umbrellas taken to the Seven Hills from Madras are traditionally kept in this temple for one night before their onward journey. Trichy is also a place that has benefited from Tawker munificence.

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There are still Tawkers in Madras, but the name no long creates the awe it once did.

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The coffee blight

The news that the White Stem Borer (WSB) is back, threatening the three major coffee-producing districts of Karnataka; Kodagu, Chikmagaluru and Hassan, causing them to be declared “pest affected areas”, took my mind back to the horror stories I had read dating to when Leaf Blight / Leaf Rust and the Borer wiped out the coffee plantations of Ceylon and those in the Nilgiris-Wynaad. A South Indian planter wrote in 1896, “In all these once beautiful plantations, complete desolation now reigns…The destruction came in gradually from 1864-65, first by borer (1868) and completed by leaf disease (from 1875) caused by Hemileia vastatrix…The destruction that went on before one’s eyes would have to be seen to be believed.” Another writer wrote of the disaster, “Acre after acre, mile upon mile died out and what were once happy valleys became valleys of dry bones and there was no hope of resurrection.” But resurrection though there was. Anon.

Ceylon started planting coffee before South India, though there were small coffee gardens in Mysore State and Coorg long years before the 1830s when George Bird opened up the first coffee estate in the Island. By the 1860s, coffee was driving Ceylon’s economy. It was from those estates that the blight slowly spread into the Nilgiris. In South India, coffee on estate scale was first planted in 1798 by Murdoch Brown in Anjaracandy in North Malabar, but the effort did not take off. It was in the 1840s and 1850s that venturesome Europeans got into growing coffee on plantation scale. By 1870, there were 20,000 hectares of coffee in Mysore planted by Europeans from 1854 and producing 6,000 tonnes. However, in the same territory, there were nearly 28,000 ‘Native plantations’ with an area of 80,000 hectares and producing around 9,000 tonnes. Much of this escaped the coffee blight, whose spread from the Nilgiris was, fortuitously, slow. Coffee planting in the Nilgiris by “enthusiastic lunatics” began in the late 1850s and by 1863-64 there were 40 estates.

Resurrection came when Ceylon planters who had not sold their estates for a passage home began experimenting with tea in 1867 and made a success of it by the 1870s. South Indian tea, on the other hand, was slow to take off. The gold rush (Miscellany, April 23) was one of the reasons. It was not till James Finlay’s developed the Kannan Devan High Range that tea began to make slow but steady progress till South India became the major tea producer it is today. Its slow beginnings were in 1854 in Coonoor, on Thiashola estate, southwest of Coonoor. Post-Second World War, the tea industry in South India has boomed but despite ups-and-downs, it is one of the healthiest industries in the country. So is coffee today.

The chronicler of Madras that is Chennai tells stories of people, places, and events from the years gone by, and sometimes from today.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture> Madras Miscellany / by S. Muthiah / May 07th, 2018

Taking on British justice

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

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I had meant to write this piece for my April 2nd column, but events overtook me, so it comes as a bit later reminder of new ownership taking over The Hindu on April 1, 1905. In selling it to the paper’s legal adviser, S Kasturiranga Iyengar, M Veeraraghavachariar, a founder who had become sole owner, made sure with a formal notice that this would not be considered an April Fools’ Day story.

But before that happened, Veeraraghavachariar made one last effort to keep control of the paper. On the advice of Kasturiranga Iyengar, a company with capital of ₹1,20,000 (1200 shares of ₹100 each) was formed with P Rungiah Naidu (Chairman), Dewan Bahadur R Ragoonath Row, P Anandacharlu, C Jambulinga Mudaliar, C Sankaran Nair, TV Seshagiri Iyer and M Tirumalachariar as Directors. Kasturiranga Iyengar was the Legal Adviser and Veeraraghavachariar the Manager. But by 1903 the scheme failed with less than half the shares subscribed. Two years later, on March 18, 1905, Kasturiranga Iyengar announced, “Mr. Sankaran Nair and myself have agreed to purchase The Hindu from Mr. Veeraraghavachariar for ₹75,000,” the latter selling it to them though he had received an offer for ₹5000 more. Sankaran Nair remained a co-owner till 1922.

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Over the years, there were to be differences between The Hindu and Sir Sankaran, but the break came when they took opposing views on the question of Gandhiji and civil disobedience. Nair even wrote a book, Gandhi and Anarchy, in which he attacked Gandhiji and the Congress. The consequences of the book were unexpected. In it Nair wrote, “Before the reforms it was in the power of the Lieutenant-Governor (Sir Michael O’Dwyer of the Punjab), a single individual, to commit the atrocities in the Punjab we know too well.” This was with reference to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that Sir Sankaran held was due to O’Dwyer giving the man-on-the-spot, Col. Reginald Dyer, an excessively free hand. O’Dwyer, angered by Nair’s charge, sued for libel in London, which is where Nair had once thought he would file charges against the Authorities for the massacre. Instead, as a member of the Secretary of State for India’s Council, he moved to England, and campaigned for a Royal Commission of Inquiry which led to several civil and military officials being punished for what happened in 1919. “As far as it lay in my power, I was determined to prevent another Jallianwala Bagh in India,” Nair stated of his success.

You win some, you lose some and the lawyer Sankaran Nair found himself paying for his views on Jallianwala Bagh and O’Dwyer. In London, the jury ruled against him after Justice McCardie kept intervening at every stage of the trial asking questions that favoured the plaintiff. O’Dwyer was awarded £500 damages and costs, which came to £7000.

The Hindu, which covered the trial extensively, called it “a hideous mockery,” adding, “almost from the first day when the trial commenced, it was apparent that Sir Sankaran Nair had lost the case.” The paper later wrote, “The case has only served to demonstrate once again that when there is the slightest touch of politics involved for an Indian, justice cannot be expected in an English Court and from an English jury. In such cases both judge and jury become weighted with the cares of empire. No wonder a case which was meant to test whether Sir Michael O’Dwyer was guilty of terrorism, resulted in the finding, altogether gratuitous, that O’Dwyer saved the empire, that justice was not done to Dyer… and that (the Inquiry had got it all wrong…)”

Ironically, the case led to Nair in 1924 wanting to sue The Hindu for libel alleging that it had accused him of “appealing to the Congress leaders in the matter of the suit (filed by Sir Michael O’Dwyer).” Matters were settled out of court.

Sir Sankaran Nair lived in The Palms on Poonamallee High Road and was, with Kasturiranga Iyengar, a member of the Egmore Group of lawyers, rivals of the Mylapore Group, which was mainly Brahmin.

Music maestro’s centenary

April 27th was the birth centenary of Handel Manuel, Madras’s ‘Mr. Western Classical Music’, (Miscellany, March 19) and it was a grand music event in the Manuel style at St Andrew’s Kirk, with which he was associated for over fifty years as organist and choirmaster.

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Born in Tuticorin into an old Nagercoil family, he was named Handel by his music-loving father who thought George Frederic Handel’s Messiah was the greatest piece of Western Classical music ever written. His son lived up to his hopes. An untrained composer, he became an outstanding Classical musician after his time at Madras Christian College. But Handel Manuel was down-to-earth as well: He was Station Director Western Music, Madras.

A part of his legacy includes founding the Madras Philharmonic and Choral Society. And the Handel Manuel Chorus is a memorial to him founded by his younger brother and his wife, flautist Surender and Sarada Schaffter, in 2003. He was also instrumental in writing and augmenting the Western musical notes for the National Anthem. His son Vijay, considered by many the best pianist and bass player in India in his time, worked long with composer Ilayaraja for whom he played the keyboard. Handel Manuel was elected an Honorary Life Member of the Royal School of Church Music, London.

The chronicler of Madras that is Chennai tells stories of people, places, and events from the years gone by, and sometimes, from today.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / by S. Muthiah / April 30th, 2018

Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy, a rebel with a cause

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All
Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy
Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy

Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy fought for women against many wrong things, including the devadasi system

World Dance Day brings the focus back on “The dancing girl of Mohenjo daro.” This 10.8 cm long bronze statue (see below)was found in 1926 from a broken down house on the ‘ninth lane’ in Mohenjo-daro. The ‘pert liveliness’ of the minute figure opened up a debate on the antiquity of arts in India. In a language of creative expression, archaeologists reshaped and extended the assumption about her being the dancing girl. She is in a Tribhangi they said and “beats time to the music with her legs and feet…”

dancing girl of Mohenjo daro
dancing girl of Mohenjo daro

But she is actually standing straight. Only one arm is adorned with bangles and she is holding something in her left hand. Naman Ahuja, the historian, says, “Look at the way she is standing. Look at her confidence. One arm on hip. Head thrown back. The way her hand is sculpted, there might have been a spear in her hand. Is she a warrior figure? Could she be a soldier rather than a dancing girl?”

Focus on the dancing girl

A recent discussion has brought focus on the dancing girl of Mohenjo daro and at the centre is the Devadasi, a system prevalent in the 1920s and abolished. This brings us to another dancing girl — Edgar Degas’s ground-breaking statuette of a young ballerina that caused a sensation at the 1881 impressionist exhibition. Degas was a keen observer and wry but sympathetic chronicler of the daily life of dancers, depicting their world off-stage, at rehearsal or in the wings. Degas’s Little Dancer showcases this world of gaslight and struggle. “It is the image of a sickly gawky adolescent, who is being made to do something she doesn’t totally want to do,” said the critic, Tim Marlow.

This thought brings us to Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy, who fought against the dedication of young girls as Devadasis and Rukmini Devi Arundale, who crusaded against exclusivity.

Muthulakshmi, daughter of a Devadasi Chandrammal married to Narayanaswamy, the principal of Maharaja’s College in Pudukkottai, became the first girl student of the college. Also, she was the first Indian girl student in the Department of Surgery at the Madras Medical College. When she was admitted to Maharaja’s High School, parents of boys threatened to withdraw their children from the school. Her father had been ostracised by his family for marrying a Devadasi and Muthulakshmi became closer to her maternal relatives and saw the situation first hand. After she became a doctor, among the first things Muthulakshmi began to fight against was the system of wet nursing, where women of the upper class got Dalit women to breast feed their babies. She fought to raise the age of marriage for girls, women’s right to property and for choice in the matter of education and career.

It was in 1893 that the Madras Hindu Reform Association sent appeals to put an end to the practice of dances performed at private and public functions in which the British officials also participated. In 1900, M. Ramachandran, secretary of Arya Mission, Kanchipuram, openly protested against the Devadasi system by publishing articles and distributing pamphlets. In 1913, a bill to prevent dedication of girls under 16 years of age was introduced but the bill just dropped out.

In 1927, V.R. Pantulu made a resolution in the Council of State to prohibit dedication of girls. In the same year, Muthulakshmi Reddy was nominated to the Madras Presidency Council and was chosen as the first woman deputy president. She organised several seminars and meetings all over the Madras presidency and interviewed several hundred Devadasis. The Isai Vellalar Sangam in Thanjavur and Mayavaram met in support of the bill. Cochin Devadasis took out a procession in support of the bill. But the George Town Devadasis lead by Duraikannu Ammal and Bengaluru Nagarathnamma opposed the bill.

The bill was dormant after Muthulakshmi Reddy resigned from the Council in 1930 protesting Mahatma Gandhi’s arrest after the Salt March. Then the World War intervened. It was only in December 1947 that the Madras Devadasi (Prevention of Dedication) bill was passed in the Madras Legislative Assembly.

While all the debate was going on, two young girls approached Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy and asked her what alternative she had for them. They were running away from being dedicated as Devadasis. She took them into her house, tried putting them in hostels and schools but no one would take them. She decided to start Avvai Home hostel and school and offered them anonymity and choice in the matter.

Coincidentally, in 1936, when Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy started Avvai Home, in the Theosophical Society, yet another disciple of Annie Besant, Rukmini Devi Arundale, began to learn a dance she had a chance to encounter and opened it up for all of us to savour.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Dance / by V.R. Devika / April 26th, 2018

The Serbian connection

About Chennai(Madras) / TamilNadu, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

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The news that TAFE, India’s second largest tractor manufacturer, has bought the Serbian company Industrija Masina i Traktora (IMT) is the culmination of a 55-year-old relationship that has gone through different phases. It is a story that began with TAFE establishing its offices on January 1, 1961 on Kothari Road after it had been decided that TAFE would thereafter manufacture Massey Ferguson (MF) tractors in India. The TAFE factory opened in Sembiam and the first tractor assembled with components from Coventry was driven out by S Anantharamakrishnan in 1961, watched by his son A Sivasailam who was in charge of TAFE, now one of the most successful flag-bearers of the Amalgamations Group.

But it wasn’t all wine and roses in those early days. The first challenge was posed by IMT who had a 10-year agreement with MF to manufacture tractors in what was then Yugoslavia. India, in those Rupee-payment days, was able to import these IMT-MF tractors, while TAFE was struggling to get foreign exchange to import its CKD components from the UK. Sivasailam’s answer was to go to Yugoslavia. With him went one of his sales representatives in North India, V P Ahuja – who was to make Yugoslavia his home – and they successfully negotiated for IMT-MF components to be regularly supplied to TAFE, meeting Rupee-payment requirements. Slowly business picked up.

The initial imports from IMT were not without their headaches. Yugoslavia used the metric system, India the imperial. TAFE’s technical staff had to devise ways and means to adapt IMT components to TAFE’s requirements. Ahuja (made Chief Liaison Officer, TAFE, in Yugoslavia in 1962) also remembers that while the IMT parts were very good, the factory’s documentation was “terrible”. TAFE would get crates-ful of components but would not know what was packed in what; Ahuja was the problem-solver.

Profits, however, were yet slow in coming. Then came windfall. A World Bank tender called for 3000 tractors to be sold to farmers in the Punjab, where the Green Revolution was taking place, under a financing scheme of the Bank. The Punjab Agro Industries Corporation was to distribute the tractors to farmers who could prove they owned land in the Punjab and nowhere else. TAFE won the tender. Later, even as the deadline for the closure of the scheme neared, TAFE still had 600 tractors on its hands. Sivasailam persuaded the Punjab Government to let the firm sell them to Punjab farmers who owned land in Haryana. And TAFE was on its way.

With the business relationship in Yugoslavia well-settled, Ahuja, who is now Offshore Director, established an agency business for TAFE in Belgrade helping the firm’s export business by representing several Indian auto-product firms in the region. Gradually he also began introducing TAFE tractors, which before long were outselling IMT tractors, even though being more costly but being superior in quality. But, adds Ahuja, we remained “passive sellers throughout because of the Chairman’s regard for IMT.”

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With the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 1980s, IMT slowly started slipping till it finally closed in 2015. At an auction, Mallika Srinivasan, Sivasailam’s daughter, closed the over 50-year-old circle. IMT tractors will be in the East European market again in a year or so, she promises.

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Madras’ first American Church

Zion Church I’ve long known as one of Chintadripet’s three landmarks, the other two being the Sathianathan memorial and the Goschen Library. As an architectural precinct it was quite a striking one, inevitably drawing attention to it. What I didn’t know then was that this was the first and only church built by American missionaries in Madras.

The legendary Dr John Scudder, who founded the American Madras Mission after arriving from Jaffna, and the Rev Miron Winslow, his colleague in Jaffna where he started work on the dictionary that is part of Tamil literary history, built a small church in 1847 in the weavers’ settlement after buying the land from a G V Naidu. They named it the Zion Church and it is now in its 170th year, a Church of South India church since independence.

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In April 1865, the American Mission, then concentrating on the Arcots and Madurai, sold the Church for ₹10,000 to the Church Mission Society, London. Some years later, in 1878, the Church was gifted its bell by the Christian Missionary Society; it is said to be the second oldest church bell in Madras. Another piece of antiquity is the pipe organ which was made in England in 1895. The church was completely renovated in 1995.

Noteworthy has been the long pastoral connection of the Sathianathans/Clarkes with this church. I’ve written about this in the past (Miscellany January 28, 2002) but it deserves retelling. The Rev W T Sathianathan became, in 1862, the Church’s second pastor and its first Indian one. There followed five generations of the family who have preached in the Church. Rev W T, after 30 years of pastoral care there, was followed by his son-in-law W D Clarke. The Rev Clarke was followed after 28 years by his son Samuel S Clarke, who served for about 20 years. He was followed by his son Sundar Clarke, who served a few years and went on to become Bishop of Madras.

In 1995 the Clarke family gathered at the Church to celebrate their connection with it and the service was conducted by Sathianathan Clarke, the great-great-grandson of the Rev W.T. The fifth generation Clarke was visiting after completing a Doctor of Divinity degree at Harvard after a Master’s at Yale.

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Congratulations to a contributor

The Indian National Science Academy (Delhi) has awarded the prestigious Vulmiri Ramalingaswami Chair for 2018 to my regular contributor on Madras medical history, Dr. Anantanarayanan Raman of Charles Sturt University, New South Wales.

Ramalingaswami was a distinguished medical doctor and Director General of the Indian Council for Medical Research.

At the same time Dr M S Swaminathan was Director General of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research.

Dr Raman will spend July in India, headquartered at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, but travelling around to deliver lectures and conduct workshops. Congratulations, Dr Raman; it couldn’t have been awarded to a more dedicated researcher.

The chronicler of Madras that is Chennai tells stories of people, places, and events from the years gone by, and sometimes, from today.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture> Madras Miscellany / by S. Muthiah / April 16th, 2018

The Palayamkottai mystery

Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

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Dr Samuel Vasundaran who is determined to prove his family’s links with Yusuf Khan (Miscellany, March 5) aka Maruthanayagam Pillai spent a morning with me recently telling me a fascinating story. He’d heard it from his paternal grandmother, Alice Samuel Mathuranayagam Pillai in 1981 and had been following the trail ever since.

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As a starting point, she pointed him to two tombs in the Adaikalapuram cemetery near the family home in Palayamkottai. The pictures he sent me show today the tomb of Veyagammal (died 1858) and, partly hidden, that of her husband the Rev Srinivasagam Mathuranayagam (the inscription shown better in the second picture). Born in 1802, the Reverend was trained by ‘The Apostle of Tinnevelly’, the Rev CTF Rhenius, and served in the area till his death in 1861.

From Dr Vasundaran’s point of view, the Rev. is his father’s great grandfather but from Alice Paati’s view he was the grandson of Yusuf Khan! And in trying to follow that trail, Dr Vasundaran had found some intriguing – but not definitive – information.

Apparently, a boy called Mathuranayagam, said to be the adopted son of Yusuf Khan’s Dewan, Srinivasa Rao, a Vaishnavite Brahmin of Tanjore, was christened Samuel one day in 1778 according to the Palayamkottai Church records. Baptised by Schwartz on the same day at the same place was the legendary Clarinda (Miscellany, December 18, 2017) and Vedanayagam Sastriar (Miscellany 22, 2009). Intriguingly, the same records show a Brahmin woman baptised on the same day. But her name has been erased. She, the legend goes, was the mother of Yusuf Khan’s son whom Srinivasa Rao adopted after the death of the Khan Sahib. Yusuf Khan’s wife has been well recorded as Maza (possibly Marcia), a Luso-Indian. Did she become a Hindu when she sought Srinivasa Rao’s protection?

Now comes one more twist. Who this Samuel Mathuranayagam (Srinivasa Rao) married is not known, but he named his first son Srinivasagam, after Srinivasa Rao and the family have followed the practice to this day.

After a long morning’s conversation, neither Vasundaran nor I was able to convince each other about the antecedents of Yusuf Khan, but the roots from the Srinvasagam Mathuranayagam life have certainly been traced on solid ground.

Samuel Srinivasagam Pillai (1856-1909), for instance, better known as ML Pillai because he was the first person in the Tinnevelly District to have a Master of Law degree, was the grandson of Rev Srinivasagam Mathuranayagam. He was an eminent lawyer, much sought after by litigating Zamindars and land-owners. His fourth daughter, Thai Elizabeth, was Dr Chandran Devanesen’s mother and his fifth daughter, Kothai, was Manohar Devadoss’ maternal grandmother.

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A 300-year-old spy story

Governor Joseph Collett (1717-20) is best remembered for his establishing Collettpetta that at some point in time got corrupted to Kaladipet (Miscellany, November 21, 2016). As intriguing as that story of his Head Clerk going to Kanchipuram every day to worship is the story of the spy Collett had to deal with in Fort St George. It was for the first time that, in February 1718, Collett informed the Board that he had held prisoner for some time one Francisco Ferera who claimed to be a doctor. Ferera was being held “a close prisoner” because he had been passing on Fort St George information to the Moors in the surrounding country.’

Typical of the times, Ferera was a multi-faceted personality. Or at least he claimed to be so. He had been a Jew in Italy, Constantinople and Grand Cairo. In Cairo he became a Turk (a Moor), married and had children there, settling down as a family. He is next heard of on the Coromandel Coast, claiming to be a Christian and married to a Portuguese woman who lived in Madras.

Collett offered the view that Ferera had been kept in captivity long enough, could do no more harm, and had many citizens appealing for his release. He proposed that the prisoner be freed on giving security for his behaviour and agreeing that he would not go out of the bounds of Madras without the permission of the Governor. The Board agreed with the Governor’s recommendation.

Francisco Gregorio, a resident of Madras, and referred to by the prisoner as, and known to be, a person of substance, offered to be “bound with him in the penal sum of 1,000 pagodas for his good behaviour”. Ferera was freed and vanishes into the mists of lesser history.

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When the postman knocked…

A quizzer wants to know how Beri Thimmappa, one of the founders of Madras, was connected with Guindy Lodge that has now grown into Raj Bhavan. It’s an indirect connection. His youngest brother Chinna Venkatadri was the dubash of Governor William Langhorne. Before leaving for England in January 1678, Langhorne sold Guindy Lodge and its environs to Chinna Venkatagri who, before long, had problems with the Company and had to virtually gift the property to the Government.

He also wants to know who was the only Chief Minister to occupy the official residence meant for the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Cooum House. T Prakasam. It later became for some years the official residence of the Speakers of the Legislative Assembly.

Sad, sad, sad. Even the 1930s Bosotto’s façade seen in a picture last week as bitten the dust.

The chronicler of Madras that is Chennai tells stories of people, places, and events from the years gone by, and sometimes, from today

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / by S. Muthiah / April 02nd, 2018

Saluting women trailblazers

Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All

WomenAwards24mar2018

The Hindu ‘World of Women 2018’ awards presented

The Hindu ‘World of Women 2018’ awards that were given away on Friday celebrated talent, excellence and the accomplishments of women across various fields. The awardees were recognised not only for their contribution to their respective fields but also to society at large.

Nirmala Lakshman, director, The Hindu Group, welcomed the audience and the chief guest Kiran Bedi, Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, gave away the awards to 11 achievers.

Mrs. Y.G. Parthasarathy, founder and dean, P. S. B. B. Group of Institutions, was awarded The Hindu Torchbearer award — recognising excellence in education. The 92-year-old came to receive the award with her grand daughter-in-law, who spoke on her behalf. “I began my career as a journalist with The Hindu. I was the first woman journalist back then and I remember interviewing the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. I still have miles to go in keeping up with technological developments. I accept this award with all humility,” she read.

R. Tara, director, SCARF, received the Excellence in Healthcare award. She recalled the story of a young girl, Shanti, from a village in Tamil Nadu, who topped her school but developed schizophrenia. Since her brother didn’t know how to handle her, she was chained near a cowshed for over a year. “Today, she can take up a part-time job,” she said.

Beno Zephine N.L., the first visually-challenged IFS officer, was awarded the Inspiration award, in absentia. The Entrepreneur award was given to Nina Reddy, joint managing director, Savera Hotel; Visalakshi Ramaswamy, founder of M.Rm.Rm. Cultural Foundation, received The Hindu Agriculture and Rural Development Award. Akhila Srinivasan, MD, Shriram Life Insurance, was presented The Hindu Business Woman Award. The team from Tamil Nadu, which won the 23rd National Women’s Football Championship, was awarded The Hindu Flying Colours Award for Excellence in Sports.

Supriya Sahu, IAS, Director General of Doordarshan, received the Contribution to Society award. “My journey as an IAS officer from U.P. and Bihar to Kanniyakumari and The Nilgiris district has taught me how much I can serve as a government officer,” she said. Dancer Malavika Sarukkai, who received The Hindu Heritage in Arts and Entertainment Award, spoke of the need to look at dance beyond the ‘performative’. Actor Nayanthara won the Dazzler award.

Lifetime of service

The Hindu Lifetime Achievement Award was given to V. Shanta, founder/chairperson, Cancer Institute, Adyar. “I dedicate this award to the memory of Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy. It is 62 years today and I continue with this institution. We have been unique because we continue the same ethos even when health, which was a human service, has now become an industry,” she said.

“Each one of us women has fought our own battles to reach the centrestage; we must continue to be a support system for each other,” said Ms. Bedi.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – March 24th, 2018

What made D.K. Pattammal a trendsetter?

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All
D.K. Pattammal performing for Kalaniketan in 1959. Photo: Special Arrangement
D.K. Pattammal performing for Kalaniketan in 1959. Photo: Special Arrangement

Thanks to DKP, women musicians stand out not only in classical but cine field too, where she set a new path

How often do we get to celebrate the centenary of a musician who still shines as a singular phenomenon in the world of classical music? Rarer if that musician left deep imprint on all spheres of art and life and went around with an innocent smile and feet well grounded! D. K. Pattammal’s centenary gives us an opportunity to revisit traditional values, ethics and unflinching classicism. Her 99th birthday concludes and 100th begins on March 19. A function to mark this has been arranged at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai, tomorrow, March 17. Among others, the Vice-President of India and the Governor of Tamil Nadu are expected to participate.

As T. S. Parthasarathy said, “Pattammal’s greatness in the field is neither an accident nor a fortuitous coincidence. Prodigious effort, supported by a whole set of gifts bestowed on her by God and combined with a mighty stream of musical and artistic elements, have gone into the making of her art. Wonderfully assimilating and adapting, she pressed them into service to fashion her unique style. The results are an incomparable melodic richness, clarity and assurance that have few equals in the realm of Indian music even today.”

How can one ever imagine today, a Brahmin woman opting for a singing career a hundred years ago, defying the restrictions imposed by the community? Rukmini Devi Arundale had already cut the Gordian knot to become the first Brahmin woman to enter the Bharatanatyam field as a dancer. Still, it was with misgivings that Pattammal’s father agreed to her music being recorded by the gramophone company, when she was just thirteen. Then began the journey of tussles and challenge and today, thanks to her fortitude and forbearance, millions of woman singers and instrumentalists stand out not only in classical but cine field too, where she set a new path.

Music Academy invited her to sing when she was seventeen and she sang there uninterrupted for over 50 years and the last many years without receiving any as remuneration. Pattammal, was already a national icon by then, with record makers and film music producers, AIR and music organisations employing her versatility. Thanks to her husband R. Iswaran, who let go his well-paid Government job just to administer her career, Pattammal emerged as the first full-time professional woman musician of India. Not just being the first, but being on par, if not better than her male counterparts in all facets of music, especially in singing Ragam, Thanam and Pallavi.

Appeals to all

Her sonorous voice, uncanny musical acumen and complete dedication were well channelled, with the help of her gurus, in producing music that would satisfy the highbrow critic and provide joy to the lay rasika. There was no tentative attempt at perfection and every new exercise was an effort to better the best. Ananth Vaidhyanathan, noted voice specialist, once mentioned to this writer that only two musicians in this country had voice culturing woven into their music and hence sang with ease and firmness through their long career — Kishori Amonkar in the North and D. K. Pattammal in the South. Pattammal’s rendition of ‘Sri Jalandharam Ashrayayamyaham’ with breathless chittaswaras, a few months after she turned 79, can leave a musician of any generation gasping.

Pattammal was strongly attracted by the music of Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar. Ariyakkudi in turn regarded her as worthy counterpart among women.

Pattammal’s own style in many ways smacked of Ariyakkudi in its solidity and right mix of madhyama and vilamba kalam. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer had no hesitation in openly proclaiming that what Ariyakkudi was to male singers, Pattammal was to women. It looks like only a handful of musicians in the last century won the acceptance of their seniors, peers and juniors, very rare for a musician however intelligent or popular. Amongst them were the invincible Tiger Varadhachariar and later D.K. Pattammal.

Now, what marked her music?

— Uncompromising adherence to tradition

— Dedication to the art, with no eye on returns or glamour.

— Judicious selection of what to offer in her concerts, with dignity and spark and

— A rare sense of depth and bhavam communicated with ease and without sentimentality.

Thinking musician

Every composition she took up was studied in its structure, analysed in its scope and finally patterned into her own style as its most defined version. That is why whatever she sang still stands as a guiding light.

Think of a young Pattammal, who with the full support of her father Krishnaswamy Dikshitar, sang patriotic songs to hundreds and thousands braving the oppressive British Raj. The songs had strong words. She didn’t fear arrest. Luckily, she escaped it! She considered singing Bharatiar’s ‘Aaduvome’ over AIR at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, as a cherished occasion in her life.

As many as 55 film hits from ‘Tyaga Bhoomi’ to ‘Hey Ram,’ several patriotic songs, a classical repertoire that ranged from Tamil hymns to Bhajans of composers including her contemporaries such as Spencer Venugopal and Thanjavur Sankar Iyer — all these make Pattammal the musician beyond compare, of modern India.

Pattammal was no liberal as we comprehend the word today. Freedom, to her, meant being obedient to lofty traditional values and obedience was not a bad word! Independence, to her, meant non-interference in upholding dignity. With this faith and belief, she singularly brought about women’s liberation without ever mentioning that word.

Honours and awards came to her unsought. Even while being a busy performer, she continued to be a successful teacher and even trained a Chinese, Chong Chiu Sen, to be a Carnatic performer. But she remained a student and a typical Indian housewife, taking care of her husband, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her extended family included several students of all ages.

The entire 90 years of her life and music teaches us just one mantra — Simplicity.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by N Vijay Siva / March 15th, 2018

How a recent archaeological discovery throws light on the history of Tamil script

About Chennai(Madras) / TamilNadu, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion
DECODING THE SCRIPT Archaeologists taking an estampage of the Tamil script found on the oil press. Photo: Special Arrangement | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
DECODING THE SCRIPT Archaeologists taking an estampage of the Tamil script found on the oil press. Photo: Special Arrangement | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A team of amateur archaeologists discovered an oil press belonging to 10th century C.E. near Andipatti with a Tamil script. It is one of the earliest Tamil inscriptions to be found in this region.

When R. Udhayakumar a research scholar of Government Arts College, Melur got a call from Tamil teacher Balamurugan from Andipatti about an age-old stone structure that resembles a grinder, he did not take it seriously. But when he along with his friend C. Pandeeswaran, who is also a research scholar from Madurai Kamaraj University, visited the spot he came to know that it was not a grinder but a ‘chekku’ (oil press, used to extract oil).

“When I went there I could locate the oil press neatly carved on the rocky bed of a wild brook, which now runs dry,” says Udhayakumar. “The place is very near to the revenue department office in Andipatti and many villagers say that they had seen water flowing through when there was flood some years ago,” he says.

The team took estampage of the inscription and it was brought to C. Santhalingam, secretary, Pandyanadu Centre for Historical Research, to decipher. “Based on the inscription, the oil press belongs to 10th century CE. It is written in Tamil script and says that the oil press was installed by one Kudiyaan Thevan for common purpose. Also, the inscription throws light on the village and its geographical location. The place is inscribed as ‘Thenmutta Naatu Kannimangalam’. Probably, there should have been many Kannimangalams and this one is located in Thenmutta Naadu, a geographical unit Kings followed in those periods. Places in and around Andipatti region were called as Thenmutta Naadu and there are references,” says Santhalingam.

Though discovering an oil press is nothing new in these parts as the team identified similar one in Chitharevu near Periyakulam six months ago. What made the discovery significant is the Tamil script on it. Earlier ones had Vattezhuthu script. “King Raja Raja Chola I ruled Pandya Kingdom during 10th century CE and he introduced Tamil script here as he was quite adept in it. Also, he did not know to read Vattezhuthu. Hence, he recorded all his documents in Tamil script and encouraged the people to learn the same. The king had even translated Vattezhuthu script to Tamil script evident from the Kutralanathar Temple inscriptions in Courtallam. Comparatively, Tamil script was easy to learn than Vattezhuthu and public patronage grew that saw the decline of Vattezhuthu. Gradually, Tamil script gained prominence,” he says.

Tamil script was widely practiced and popularised by Pallavas who had inscribed on the door jambs of sanctum santorum of temples in Thanjavur. “In fact, it was Pallavas who helped Cholas learn the script. Most of the inscriptions after Chola rule in Pandya kingdom are in Tamil script,”

Early inscriptions found in Pandya Kingdom are in Tamil Brahmi and Vattezhuthu scripts. Even in Irukkandurai, a medieval period port city in Radhapuram Taluk in Tirunelveli, which was discovered by Santhalingam and his team last year, there are 25 inscriptions. Of them, only three belonged to early Pandyas and they are in Vattezhuthu whereas the rest are in Tamil script and they talk about the prowess of Rajendra Chola I.

The oil press found in Andipatti goes into history as the symbol of transition from Vattezhuthu to Tamil script.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by T. Saravanan / Madurai – February 21st, 2018

Radha Vishwanathan, daughter of M.S. Subbulakshmi, dies at 83

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders
Radha Viswanathan, vocalist and daughter of M. S. Subbulakshmi. | Photo Credit: K. Bhagya Prakash
Radha Viswanathan, vocalist and daughter of M. S. Subbulakshmi. | Photo Credit: K. Bhagya Prakash

Carnatic vocalist Radha Vishwanathan, 83, daughter of M.S. Subbulakshmi, who accompanied the legendary musician for nearly five decades on stage, died in Bengaluru on Tuesday night. “My mother Radha Vishwanathan breathed her last on Tuesday, 11.50 p.m. on January 2. She was suffering from pneumonia for the last few weeks but was mentally very active,” said her son V. Shrinivasan.

“It was unbelievable to see my mother pass away to the strains of a beautiful bhajan. She asked my daughter Aishwarya to sing one of the famous numbers of MS, Sriman Narayana and as the song treaded on the words Sripadame Sharanu in the Charanam, my mother bid a permanent goodbye,” said an emotional Mr. Shrinivasan. Ms. Vishwanathan had taken a music class as recently as two weeks ago to Ms. Aishwarya, and was teaching her from her bed at home, he said.

Ms. Vishwanathan had shifted base from Chennai more than a decade ago and moved to Bengaluru to stay with her son, and continue teaching music to her granddaughter. “My grandmother has taught me nearly 700 compositions and has asked me to carry on with the rich MS legacy,” said Ms. Aishwarya.

Born at Gopichettypalayam in Tamil Nadu in 1934, Radha Vishwanathan was two years old when M.S. Subbulakshmi married Sadashivam and came into the family. “My world was my MS Amma to me, she guided me not just in music, she was the light to my path of life,” she had one told this reporter during an interview in Bengaluru.

She is survived by her sons V. Chandrashekar and V. Shrinivasan; daughters-in-law Sikkil Mala Chandrashekar and Geetha Shrinivasan; and grand daughters S. Aishwarya and S. Saundarya.

The cremation will be at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, said Mr. Shrinivasan.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by Ranjani Govind / Bengaluru – January 03rd, 2018