Category Archives: Records, All

Four ‘narikurava’ children enter school for first time

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All

Madurai :

Four narikurava children in Devakottai are among the first from the community to enter the stream of formal education, thanks to the efforts put in by teachers and students of a school.

L Chokkalingam, the headmaster of Chairman Manickavasagam Middle School in Devakottai in Sivaganga district, says that he used to find narikurava children loitering around near their school during school hours. “These children were just wasting their time and following their parents around and hence we decided to sensitize the parents on the importance of education,” he said.

The teachers accompanied by many eager students took up the challenge of visiting the narikurava colony which was near to their school at 6am. They had to go at that time so they could talk to the narikurava parents who would leave for work early. The narikurava parents were at first not receptive to the idea of sending their children to school. Undeterred, the students staged plays at the colony to explain the importance of education. The narikurava parents came to watch these plays.

It was Pandimeenal, a narikurava mother, who stepped forward. “We are nomads and migrate often. It was not a problem till we moved around by foot. Now we travel by bus and none of us knows how to read the name of the destination written on the bus. We often end up going to the wrong place, hence we want our children to be educated,” she said.

Pandimeenal had taken it upon herself to ensure that the narikurava children come to school. Today, Simbu, 5, a class 1 student, comes to the school every day along with Packialakshmi , 8, Kartheeswari, 8, and Santosh, 7. Teachers say that the regular students are welcoming of their nomadic peers.

The narikurava children were given new uniforms. As these students were admitted to the classes based on their age, they do have problems with writing skills but all of them excel in sports. “But, they are learning fast,” says Chokkalingam, who has been assured by the leader of the narikuravas that they will not take their children when they move around. Someone would be there at the colony to take care of the children so that they can come to school, says Chokkalingam.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / by Padmini Sivarajah, TNN / September 20th, 2014

On eve of referendum, Ooty recalls its famous Scots

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

Udhagamandalam  :

As the people of Scotland cast their votes in a referendum on whether theirs should be an independent country, old-timers in Nilgiris recall with irony that it was the union of Scotland and England in 1707 to form Great Britain that opened the gates for Scottish immigration to India.

Scottish settlers played a crucial role in turning the Nilgiris, and Ooty in particular, into a modern hill station. Under the 1707 agreement, Scotland’s landed families gained access to the East India Company and gradually dominated it. Scots came to India as writers, traders, engineers, missionaries, tea and indigo planters, jute traders and teachers. By 1771, almost half of the East India Company’s writers were Scots.

The Scots were missionaries, planters and administrators in the Nilgiris. The first Scot to set foot in the Nilgiri hills was explorer Francis Buchanan who travelled to Aracode on the eastern slopes in 1812 to survey the newly acquired territories of the East India Company after the war of Seringapattanam.

Dharmalingam Venugopal, director, NDC, says the next was probably a gardener Johnston, who looked after the kitchen garden of John Sullivan, known as the father of Nilgiris, in Kotagiri.

Another famous Scot buried in the cemetery of St Thomas Church in Ooty is William Patrick Adam. “Though his tenure was short, Governor Adam was popular in the Nilgiris and citizens remembered him with a statue in his name at Charing Cross,” said Venugopal.

Among the gravestones in St Stephen’s Church is a marker for W G McIvor, who introduced cinchona to fight malaria and laid the foundation for the botanical garden at Ooty. John Ouchterlony and his brother James Ouchterlony, who founded a township around tea plantations which is still flourishing as O’Valley in Gudalur taluk, are also buried here. Nearby is the grave of Judge C Z Casamajor, the founder of modern Ketti. “He paid one anna to each parent who sent a child to Ketti School,” said Venugopal.

The Cockburns, the builders of modern Yercaud and Kotagiri, were a distinguished family of administrators, churchmen and painters, all of whom are buried in the European cemetery at Kotagiri.

Sir Frederick Nicholson, father of fisheries in Madras Presidency and the cooperative movement in the country, is buried unnoticed at All Saints’ Church, Coonoor. “The impact of his contribution is seen across India in many successful co-operative banks and cooperative societies such as Amul and Sewa,” said Venugopal.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / September 18th, 2014

MADRAS 375 – When Madras marked Independence

About Chennai(Madras) / TamilNadu, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
As the sun set on August 15, 1947, public landmarks like Central station were lit up with coloured bulbs — Photo: The Hindu Archives
As the sun set on August 15, 1947, public landmarks like Central station were lit up with coloured bulbs — Photo: The Hindu Archives

67 years ago, celebrations took on various hues as the city rose to the dawn of the country’s Independence

As the clock struck twelve on Friday the 15, 67 years ago, the air in the Old Congress House Grounds in Royapettah resounded with the jubilant cheers of a thronging crowd.

The Congress Party flag bearing the charkha was being lowered, just as the new flag of the Indian Dominion was unfurled to its newly sovereign people. Meanwhile, thousands in other pockets of the city frantically tuned into community radio sets to follow the proceedings of the transfer of power taking place in New Delhi.

Amidst an electric refrain of ‘Vande mataram’, Madras ushered in the dawn of the country’s independence.

People flooded the streets across the city, participating enthusiastically in elaborate processions heralding a new era. Long parades bearing photos of Gandhi, Nehru and Bose, and accompanied by chariots, triumphantly powered through alleys in People’s Park, George Town and High Court Beach, where a public meeting was observed.

Triplicane beach welcomed another procession bedecked with elephants and camels, and led by K. Kamaraj, under the auspices of the Madras District Congress Committee.

Interestingly, celebrations appropriated varied tones as varied stakeholders of the city made it their own. The mill workers of the B&C mills of the Perambur Barracks celebrated in the hope that ‘freedom’ would also propel independence for labourers.

For the Muslim community in the city, the revelry was marked by the need to pronounce allegiance to the Indian nation at a time when the memory of Partition was still fresh.

The city had transformed into an arena of carnivalesque festivity. The tricolour and festoons competed against each other in leaving every façade adorned.

The merchant communities in the Kotwal Bazaar, Bunder Street and Park Town areas distributedpayasam and cooked rice to the needy. Banners reading ‘Long live India’, plastered across roads in Pondy Bazaar and T. Nagar, screamed for attention.

Celebrations, as it were, were not merely land-bound. In Madras Harbour, the sirens of docked ships pierced the air soon after the chairman of the Port Trust, M.S. Venkatraman, hoisted the national flag.

At Meenambakkam, an aircraft of the Madras Flying club piloted by Mr. Tyndale Biscoe wowed audiences by flying low over a flag mast and tipping its wing in salute.

As the sun set on August 15, 1947, public landmarks like Ripon Buildings were lit up with coloured bulbs — Photo: The Hindu Archives
As the sun set on August 15, 1947, public landmarks like Ripon Buildings were lit up with coloured bulbs — Photo: The Hindu Archives

As the sun set, the city was illuminated with a sea of lamps. Public landmarks like Ripon building and Central and Egmore stations were lit up with coloured bulbs.

Madras celebrated the nation’s independence in style. While it may have been one of the first bases to be subsumed by colonial dominion, it sure did pull out all stops to rejoice in its liberation.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai> Madras 375 / by Nitya Menon / Chennai – August 15th, 2014

Madras 375 – A gastronomic journey with biryani

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All
The Anna Salai branch of Buhari Hotel is its most famous -- Photo: Special Arrangement / The Hindu
The Anna Salai branch of Buhari Hotel is its most famous — Photo: Special Arrangement / The Hindu

When Buhari hotel on Anna Salai threw its gates open to the public in 1951, it ushered in a number of firsts: espresso machines making cup after cup of steaming coffee, a jukebox playing tunes of the times, and cutlery and crockery brought from London to give a “fine-dining experience to Madras’ foodies.”

A.M. Buhari, who brought the mildly spiced, fragrant biryani from Colombo, was a pioneer of sorts. Whether it was a boiled egg nestled in a bed of saffron-infused rice or Chicken 65 fried to perfection —called thus after the year it was created in, he set himself apart in the restaurant business early on.

Buhari Hotel's Anna Salai branch is its most famous -- Photo: R. Ragu / The Hindu
Buhari Hotel’s Anna Salai branch is its most famous — Photo: R. Ragu / The Hindu

The brand Buhari that has now become synonymous with biryani in the city emerged out of 200 different blends Mr. Buhari experimented with.

As a ten-year-old, Mr. Buhari had to leave his village in Tirunelveli district and go to Sri Lanka. After a self-sponsored education, it just took a few years to figure out his calling. Starting with trading in food and groceries, he finally set up Hotel De Buhari in Colombo and introduced the brand’s eponymous dish.

“My grandfather then wanted to return to India and came to Madras to set up Buhari,” says Nawaz Buhari, who currently heads the original branch. Today, the brand has proliferated with nine branches in the city and is looking to set up four more in the near future

___________________________________________________________________________________

Dates in History
1956
A.M. Buhari introduced a jukebox and a espresso coffee machine at the Anna Salai branch
1965
Chicken 65, a deep fired chicken dish with telltale red colouring, was introduced at the hotel
1996
The one-man show by A.M. Buhari ended, after a 45 year period with his death
Did you know !

Actor M.G. Ramachandran loved the special almond chicken soup and the cassata icecream from buhari so much that a parcel of both was frequently requested to be delivered to his house

___________________________________________________________________________

While the Anna Salai branch is its most famous, the one at Marina, set up in 1956, became the popular hangout of the 60s and 70s.

Seventy-year-old A.H. Lathif, as famous as the restaurant, has worked in the restaurant for 54 years. “I have served actors Raj Kapoor, Sivaji Ganesan and Sridevi,” he says.

Having lost the branch at Marina beach in the 80s, and the one opposite Central station very recently, the brand, headed by the patriarch till the time of his death in 1996, is now run by the family’s third generation.

With the increase in the number of branches, there are, predictably, differences in the quality and taste of the biryani. “The family has taken a decision to never go for the franchise model of business, because we cannot compromise on the brand image my grandfather worked so hard to build,” says Mr. Nawaz Buhari.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai> Madras 375 / by Evelyn Ratnakumar / Chennai – August 13th, 2014

The postman knocked

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Reader Sriram Venkatakrishnan tells me that the wives of two judges I recently mentioned in this column (Sir C. Sankaran Nair, Miscellany, April 23, and Sir T. Sadasiva Aiyar, Miscellany April 16) founded the Egmore Ladies’ Recreation Club (does it exist today, I wonder) which provided one of the first platforms for women outside the Devadasi community to demonstrate their talents. The first person to use this stage was C. Saraswathi Bai, “the first Lady Bhagavatar”, who gave a Harikatha recital. It was her first public performance – and she was all of 11. The Sankaran Nairs were taken to task by many eminent citizens of Madras for encouraging her, but they ignored the protests and continued to champion the unconventional. Many years later, adds reader Venkatakrishnan, D. K. Pattammal too gave her first performance at the Club. By then “Society’s attitude to women had changed considerably for the better.”

* With Gokhale Hall being much in the news these days, it would only be meet to remember Sir Sankaran Nair’s connection with the Young Men’s Indian Association, whose home the Hall was to become, writes a reader who prefers anonymity. The Hindu which was for long at loggerheads with Annie Besant did not take too kindly to the founding of the YMIA in January 1914. It wrote, “The manner in which she has lately figured in the civil and criminal courts in Madras, the heated controversy in which she has embroiled herself with the Christian Missionaries of Madras, and what is far more important than all, the proceedings now actually pending in the High Court against her for committal of contempt – ought to make responsible members of the community, Indian and European, feel very reluctant in the manner of associating with her for any common and ostensibly good purpose. It seems to us…there is the want of a sense of propriety in judges of the High Court and others holding high official and unofficial positions giving countenance to Mrs. Besant’s public activities in the present stage of her litigation.” Sir Sankaran Nair, who had agreed to be the Chairman of the YMIA, promptly resigned – stating that he had accepted Mrs. Besant’s invitation “on certain conditions” and since these had not been met, he did not consider himself a member of the Association.

* Reader M. Narayanan writes apropos the mention of Dr. S. Rangachary (Miscellany, April 23) that the doctor owned Ranga Nursing Home on Mowbray’s Road (now TTK Road) and loved cars and aircraft. One of the first Indians to get a pilot’s licence, he often flew the Puss Moth he owned to visit patients in the mofussil areas, landing on non-existent airstrips that were barren fields. He also owned a Rolls Royce and a Lanchester – which as early as the 1930s had pre-selector gears. (A Lanchester 1950 model was once my pride – and spoilt me for driving any other type of car. Karumuthu Thyagaraja Chettiar was another who mollycoddled a Lanchester of the same vintage.) Dr. Rangachary once drove his Rolls Royce all the way from Madras to Mettur, about 200 miles, treated a patient there and drove back – a 14-hour day – to treat patients waiting in Madras.

* Reader P.K. Belliappa writes that his father P.K. Monappa (Miscellany, May 7), probably held a record of sorts, nine years as an Inspector General of Police, heading the Police in three States: in Hyderabad after the Police Action, in newly formed Andhra Pradesh, and in Karnataka, where he retired in 1958. Rao Bahadur Monappa had an exemplary career in the Public Service, reflected duly by his titles and medals. That career of service in Madras State of his father is what made Belliappa opt for Madras and not his home State, Karnataka, when he joined the IAS.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / May 14th, 2007

SRU cardiac centre completes 20 years

Records, All, Science & Technologies

Exclusive research in cardiac care is the need of the hour, said K.M. Cherian, chairman and CEO of Frontier Lifeline Hospital, on Friday.

He was speaking at the 20th anniversary celebration of Sri Ramachandra University’s (SRU) Cardiac Care Centre. He was conferred with visiting professorship at SRU.

In his address, Dr. Cherian traced the growth of cardiac surgery from ‘a scratch made at Perambur Railway Hospital’, three decades ago, to modern-day, high-tech cardio thoracic surgeries carried out in the city.

While conferring the visiting professorship on Dr. Cherian, V.R. Venkataachalam, chancellor of SRU, said Dr. Cherian had performed nearly 41,000 surgeries, many of them firsts in the country.

Doctors present on the occasion said the cardiac care centre would focus on sophisticated, minimally-invasive neonatal and heart transplant surgeries.   Plans are on to start a fund for the benefit of children who cannot afford expensive surgeries, said a press release.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai> Health / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – September 06th, 2014

When the Queen of Song captured the West

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion
M.S. Subbulakshmi and her husband, T. Sadasivam (third from left), are greeted by the Duke of Edinburgh at the International Music Festival. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
M.S. Subbulakshmi and her husband, T. Sadasivam (third from left), are greeted by the Duke of Edinburgh at the International Music Festival. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

In 1963, M.S. Subbulakshmi enthralled audiences at the International Music Festival in Edinburgh

M.S. Subbulakshmi, the ‘queen of song’ would have turned 98 on September 16. While she continues to be celebrated as a legend of Indian classical music around the globe, not many are aware that up until 1963, the Western world knew little of her or her music.

It was only with the International Music Festival held in Edinburgh in September that year that things changed. The West finally discovered Carnatic music as it were, and the voice that rendered it best.

The Carnatic musician and her husband, T. Sadasivam, received Lord Harewood, the president of the festival, at their home in Madras. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
The Carnatic musician and her husband, T. Sadasivam, received Lord Harewood, the president of the festival, at their home in Madras. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

Lord Harewood, the president of the festival and a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, however, had the good fortune of hearing M.S. five years prior to his fellow countrymen. It was in October 1958, in Delhi, that Lord Harewood and his Countess found themselves enthralled by one of M.S.’ many national broadcasts.

T. Sadasivam, the icon’s husband, writes in M.S: The Queen of Song (1987): “Evidently they were taken up by her music and later gave us the pleasure of receiving them in our home in Madras. They invited us to Edinburgh in order that Subbulakshmi could participate in the International Music Festival.”

The show, conceived as an opportunity to initiate Western audiences to the riches of India’s performing arts, also featured sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, violinist Yehudi Menuhin and dancer Balasaraswati, among others.

For M.S., this was a first on many accounts. Not only was it her first overseas performance, but also her very first trip abroad.

On August 21, she left Madras by train to Bombay, from where she flew to London four days later. During her two-hour-long recitals on August 30 and September 2, she was accompanied by R.S. Gopalakrishnan on the violin, T.K. Murthy on the mridangam, and Alangudi Ramachandran on the ghatam.

Narayana Menon, secretary of the Sangeet Natak Academy, also educated the unfamiliar audience in the history, dynamics and nuances of the Carnatic music system, with special reference to the songs being performed.

M.S.’ concerts ran to packed houses in the Freemason Hall. A jubilant headline on the front page of The Hindu on September 4 read ‘M.S In Top Form at Edinburgh’.

The artist exhilarated crowds with her performance of compositions by Thyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Swathi Thirunal, Papanasam Sivan, Panchanadeeswarar Aiyar and Tagore. It was Hari tuma haro, a favourite of Mahatma Gandhi, with which she chose to conclude.

Soon after, M.S. was invited to Europe and then America to perform.

This was the landmark which enabled Carnatic music to be unveiled to the West and find a truly international audience. For that, and much more, we have M.S. Subbulakshmi to thank.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Nitya Menon / Chennai – September 18th, 2014

Last chance to breathe life into 140-year-old trust

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

Chennai :

Academics and jurists are waiting with bated breath, even as Madras high court is busy finalizing the list of trustees to run the 140 year old P T Lee Chengalvaraya Naicker Trust, which has institutions and properties valued at more than Rs 1,000 crore in Chennai and Kancheepuram districts. To this day, the HSBC Bank is sending dividend amount ranging from Rs 51 lakh to Rs 1.1 crore to the trust every year. Such was the vision of the man.

At the time of his death, philanthropist Chengalvaraya Naicker was barely 45 years old. But he had bequeathed all his wealth with an intention to establish educational institutions and orphanages. As on date, the trust runs at least a dozen institutions and has properties on Anna Salai, Vepery, Royapettah, Choolai and Kancheepuram district.

A division bench of Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice K Ravichandrabaabu is slated to pass orders in the matter in a day or two.

Though more than five teams of trustees have had their full tenures in the past, the quality and volume of activities at the trust-run institutions have been steadily declining, say academics. “This year only a handful of students have joined our engineering college near Kancheepuram though we do not collect any capitation and we have good facilities,” he said, blaming the trustees’ misplaced priorities for the poor condition of the institutions. A former chairman suggested that the trust donate Rs 51 lakh to a city temple, while another wanted to sell a trust property at Mint street for a throwaway price, he rued. Another chairman appropriated all powers of all trustees, resulting in an internal revolt, while a chairman diverted all fixed deposit funds of the trust to a bank and branch of his personal choice.

“Malgovernance, rampant corruption and favouritism, besides discrimination of non-Vanniar staff members and employees at the trust and the trust-run institutions are causes of concern,” a jurist associated with the trust proceedings for a long time told The Times of India. Though the decree nowhere states that the retired HC judge who would head the team of trustees should be only from Vanniar community, for the past few terms only such candidates are being considered, resulting in the contraction of choices, he said.

Precious pieces of land such as the one in Royapettah are under illegal encroachment, and the trustees have not taken steps to get back Rs 2 crore from Pachaiyappa’s trust, a lawyer said, adding that the engineering college is deliberately being pushed into oblivion.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by A. Subramani,  TNN / September 18th, 2014

Chennai’s oldest telephone line is ringing loud at 100

Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Science & Technologies

Chennai :

When Oriental Telephone Company Ltd of England started telephone services in a few Indian cities at the turn of the last century, only a few privileged citizens of Madras had a telephone. One of them continues to ring, at the Indian Commerce and Industries Co Pvt Ltd in Broadway.

The building where the company is located.
The building where the company is located.

The Beehive Foundry, established in 1907 as the flagship company of the Beehive Kowtha Group, received the connection in 1915.

Indian Commerce and Industries took over Beehive Foundry in 1924 and acquired the historic line with the purchase. Indian Commerce and Industries director Ramesh C Kumar, the fourth generation head of the company, retains the connection and intends to keep it in the family.

“Our first and currently working telephone line completed 99 years on July 11, 2014 and has entered the 100th year of service. It is a proud moment for us as a company and as a family,” said Ramesh, who BSNL felicitated on Wednesday as the owner of the oldest existing telephone line in Chennai.

The telephone number has changed so many times over the decades that it’s uncertain what it was to start out with, apart from the fact that it was a three digit number — and that the address of the connection remains Beehive Building, No 57 (Old No 29), Prakasam Road, Broadway, Chennai – 600 108.

“We first had a three-digit number, which changed to 2020 in 1952. It later changed to 21071,” Ramesh said. “With the introduction of Kalmandapam Telephone Exchange, our line shifted to the new exchange and it allotted us the number 555021. When the Harbour Telephone Exchange opened, the line shifted again and the number changed to 512221.”

When telephone subscribers had to adopt seven digit numbers, it changed to 5231477. Finally, when BSNL allotted eight digit numbers in metros in 2002, it became 25231477 and has remained the same till today.

Oriental Telephone — which was set up on January 25, 1881 under an agreement between Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, the Oriental Bell Telephone Company of New York and the Anglo-Indian Telephone Company Ltd — installed the telephone line on July 11, 1915.

“Our line was under Madras Telephones Company, which took over Oriental Telephone in 1923,” Ramesh said. “We had the billing address changed to include the name of our parent company only in the early 1990s.”

For Ramesh, the telephone line is a piece of history. “This is probably the oldest telephone line in the country,” he said. “It is an heirloom.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Daniel George, TNN / September 18th, 2014

DMK, AIADMK Pay Tributes to Veteran Leader Anna

Leaders, Records, All

Veteran Dravidian leader and former Chief Minister C N Annadurai was remembered in the state on the occasion of his 106th birth anniversary.

DMK President M Karunanidhi, accompanied by senior leaders including M K Stalin, paid floral tributes to the portrait of Annadurai, fondly addressed as Anna by his followers.

AIADMK leaders also paid tributes to the leader under party’s Presidium Chairman E Madhusudhanan.

MDMK leader Vaiko and DMDK founder Vijayakanth also paid floral tributes to Annadurai. In Delhi, Principal Resident Commissioner of Tamil Nadu House, Jasbir Singh Bajaj, garlanded a statue of Anna.

Annadurai, founder of DMK, ushered in the first non-Congress government in Tamil Nadu. His party had unseated the Congress government in 1967 and he became the Chief Minister.

A veteran Dravidian leader, he is respected across party lines.

source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> News> Chennai / September 15th, 2014