My Binny story last week had me recalling the life the early 19th Century sahibs led, as reflected in John Binny’s and Thomas Parry’s wills. Discussion of that lifestyle is sure to generate a plethora of views, but one view I don’t think can be denied, namely, that they had a conscience and a sense of obligation. But discussing the morality of the times is not my intent today, I merely present the gist of two fascinating documents.
John Binny, a bachelor, died in Madras in 1824. His last home leave began in August 1816. In his 1823 will he left a legacy to “a child now of the age 5 years and 5 months named John William Crouchley and boards with one under the charge of Mrs Wicklow…” Make of that what you will. Rather different is the record in India. The Company kept paying 8 pagodas (about ₹25) monthly in Binny’s name to each of two children. They each also received an annual clothing allowance of ₹105 and the elder, Charles, got ₹11 monthly from 1821 for education in the Madras Free School. In later years, the Binny records list a clerk, Charles Binny, who seemed of modest means. Was the second child his sister Belmina who received a marriage settlement of ₹3000, making you wonder whether that too had been left by John Binny? F De Souza, who wrote The House of Binny 50 years ago, leaves you wondering – particularly for answers.
Thomas Parry
Thomas Parry, in Madras from 1788, nine years before Binny, has a better recorded life, judging by his will, curiously also dated 1823. He too died in 1824. He left ₹110,000 in investments to Mary Pearce, whom he’d married in 1794. She went back for good to England in 1807 with their two children, both dying young there. Unfettered in India, Parry seemed to have enjoyed a home at every place he had business in on the way from Madras to Cuddalore, judging by his will. His legacies started with amounts to young George Parry Gibson (who travelled with him) and Emma Louisa Gibson, both left in the care of a Mrs Dowden. Compounding the mystery, he also left something for two Army captains called Gibson and Dowden!
A little clearer is his relationship with Mary Ann Carr, an Anglo Indian, by whom he had Thomas William Parry and Edward Moorat Parry in the early 1820s. Both probably died young, for only Mary Ann is remembered in the will. But then so are Elizabeth Chinnery, Charlotte Myers, Mrs Weehedie of Tranquebar and the son of Babkismah Candy. Parry certainly enjoyed the good life, even as he built a business empire that still flourishes.
To Parry and Binny India owes its industrial beginnings. While Binny’s is no longer a name in business circles, Parry’s is a respected one, the name remembered in a major junction and the firm’s headquarters building, instead of giving way to new highrise, remaining a landmark in Madras. But where the Parry’s name is endangered is in San Thomé. His home, Leith Castle, near his industrial unit, the first in the country, a tannery and a leather goods ‘factory,’ is a threatened heritage precinct.
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What’s happened to the prize?
Nobel Prize time reminded 90-year-old Ramachandran (Chandru) Arni of Hyderabad that long before CV Raman and S Chandrasekhar won Nobel Prizes for Physics, they’d won the Jagirdar of Arni’s Gold Medal for Physics/Chemistry at Presidency College, Madras. Why isn’t the College awarding the medal nowadays, he wonders. I look forward to hearing from Presidency, but meanwhile my correspondent’s surname struck a chord.
Arni Palace today
I first heard of the Jagirdar of Arni when writing a book on the West End Hotel, Bangalore, that, mysteriously, never got published. The West End was the second home of the then Jagirdar, Srinivasa Rao Sahib, the father of my correspondent who lists him as the 12th and last Jagirdar of the 211 sq miles zamin near Vellore. I’d written that the Jagirdar had stayed there occupying a three-room suite for over 36 years and that he was a regular at the Crazy Horse Bar at boisterous post-race parties. His son tells me horses and gambling were very much part of his life, but his “magnificent obsession” was cars. He bought his first car in 1923, when 19, and by 1948, when the Jagir was abolished by Government, had bought 182 cars! He kept the cars in immaculate condition, drove them himself and never lost on a sale of any of them.
Arni House Front view
The Arni Jagir dates to 1640, when this Maharashtrian Brahmin family received it from Shahjee (the father of Shivaji) for services rendered in the Carnatic. It was the 10th Jagirdar, also Srinivasa Rao Sahib – a name the eldest generally took – who created the endowment for the prize at Presidency in 1877.
A footnote Chandru Arni adds is that his mother was the great great grand-daughter of Purniah, Dewan to Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan and the Mysore Royal Family. An old Presidencian himself, he says he is the country’s first games developer and the first, in 1953, to a win an official meet in a self-built sports car.
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> News> Cities> Chennai / Madras Miscellany – by S. Muthiah / October 30th, 2017
Film throws light on unknown facets of Vipulananda Adigalar’s life
Tracing the unknown aspects of a prominent personality in the world of Tamil literature is quite a challenging task and Mu. Elangovan, a faculty in the Kanchi Mamunivar Centre for Post Graduate Studies, Puducherry, has travelled across the sea to do exactly that.
After a year of research, documentation and interviews, Mr. Elangovan has brought out a 50-minute documentary to depict the life of Vipulananda Adigalar, who wrote the famous Yazh Nool (a book of stringed musical instruments), a principal research treatise on Isai Tamil.
“I wanted to know more about his life. While I began collecting his books, manuscripts, photographs and letters, many unknown facts about him attracted my attention. I felt that a documentary film would be the proper medium to bring these facts before the public. SivamVeluppillai, who works in a private firm in Canada and Kasupathi Nataraja, an elderly person in Sri Lanka helped me complete this work,” said Mr.Elangovan.
Taught in T.N.
The famed Tamil scholar and educationist, who was born in Karaitivu near Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, in 1892, edited several magazines, translated works and played an instrumental role in establishing several academic institutions in Sri Lanka. On the invitation of Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar, the founder of the Annamalai University, Vipulananda Adigalar even served there from 1931 to 1933 as Tamil Professor.
While teaching in Annamalai University, he translated Vivekanandar’s Gnana deepam, Karma Yogam, Raja yogam, Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutram. He was a pioneer in teaching and propagating Bharathiar’s Poems in the academic circle during the British rule. “He was the first scholar to recognise and appreciate Bharathiar’s poetic genius. He protested the visit of the English Governor to Annamalai University by hoisting black flag at his residence,” he added.
Vipulananda had his early education at his native place Karaitivu, Kalmunai, Batticaloa, and later he studied Technical Education at Colombo, got his B.Sc Degree by passing the Cambridge University Examinations, and also ‘Pandithar’ title of the Madurai Tamil Sangam at the age of 24; served as a teacher at Colombo, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna, received Mahatma Gandhi when he visited Jaffna and also hosted Maraimalai Adigal at Jaffna.
Mr. Elangovan travelled to Sri Lanka and Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Chidambaram, Kumbakonam, Chennai, Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Mayavathi (the Himalayan foot) for making the documentary.
“This documentary will remind the future generations about the excellence of Vipulananda Adigalar. It has interviews of those who have been his co-workers, friends and relatives, and addition to his writings, photographs. This film will be released first in Sri Lanka.”
In Sri Lanka, he visited Colombo Tamil Sangam, Sri Lanka Ramakrishna Mutt Branches, Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies at Eastern University as well as his relatives and many other places including Karaithivu, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna, Mandur, Thetratthivu, Colombo, Rosalla, Kandy, where evidences of his life and works are available.
The documentary also depicts Vipulananda’s association with Ramakrishna Math and his visit to Chennai where he had his ascetic training from 1922 to 1924. His Brahmachariya name was Prabodha Saithanyer and got his spiritual initiation from Swamy Sivananda in 1924 and later he was called Vipulananda Adigalar. Vipulanandar established and superintended various schools in Sri Lanka from 1925 to 1931. He founded Sivananda Vidyalayam in memory of his Guru who initiated him in the spiritual order and thereby paved way for several thousand poor pupils to receive education.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Puducherry / by S. Senthalir / Puducherry – October 30th, 2017
Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Madras Section has won the R10 Large Section Award, among several member countries, for its contribution to the student community and professions and in advancing technology for humanity.
IEEE Madras Section comes under the Region 10 (R10), which consists of countries from the Southeast Asia including Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.
The award, which the IEEE Madras Section has won, was initiated by IEEE R10 for the R10 Section. The award is given for multifaceted achievements like conducting a variety of events benefiting students and professionals and made significant contribution to the basic goal of ‘advancing technology for humanity’.
IEEE, which dates back to 1884, has four lakh members in 160 countries. It has been divided into 10 regions globally. The professional body has award winning publications and technical societies, provides career resources and recognition, facilitates professional networking and offers volunteering opportunities in humanitarian projects.
IEEE Madras Section has more than 8500 members from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The Madras Section has been organising many activities for professionals and students from engineering colleges and students aspiring for engineering and science courses.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Chennai News / by U. Tejonmayam / TNN / October 26th, 2017
File photo shows the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge. | Photo Credit: AP
The setting up of a Chair for Tamil will immensely contribute to Indology and also research on Tamil literature and culture, says Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
In a fillip to a proposal to set up a Chair for Tamil studies at the prestigious Harvard University, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced a sum of ₹10 crore towards the plan mooted by two United States-based Tamil enthusiasts.
The setting up of such a Chair would immensely contribute to Indology and also research on Tamil literature and culture, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said in a statement.
Cardiologist Dr. Vijay Janakiraman and oncologist Dr. S.T. Sambandam had floated the idea and had personally contributed funds towards it.
Following their request, then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had in her party’s election manifesto in 2016 announced that her government would take steps for setting up a Tamil Chair in Harvard University.
Efforts are also on to mobilise funds from interested parties through the social media for setting up the Chair.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by Dennis S. Jesudasan / Chennai – October 27th, 2017
City-based lawyer Ashok Daniel on what it takes to be the first Indian to complete the Tor des Geants, one of the most gruelling trail races in the world
The Alps stands defiantly outside of time as we know it. Stretching across the spine of Europe, this sky-soaring mountain range has dared warriors Hannibal, Napoleon and Hitler to set foot on its flanks. Its gentler slopes have invited the Romantics, naturalists and alpinists to roam beautiful paths and celebrate a heritage of cheese and watch-making. But to conquer its massifs such as Mont Blanc and Matterhorn, you need to be a giant, one whose strides can summit its peaks with as much ease as its valleys, when running one of the world’s toughest mountain races, the Tor des Geants. Chennai-based lawyer, 26-year-old Ashok Daniel recently became the first Indian to run across Italy’s Aosta Valley, named after the imperial Augustus, to successfully complete the race.
Daniel, who was schooled and educated in Chennai and Nottingham, is now senior counsel with a law firm that specialises in Intellectual Property rights. An ultra-runner for five years now, he grew up an overweight kid who shammed at the gym and tried many ways to lose weight till he discovered running. When he walks in for the interview, Daniel is as fit and tight as a coiled spring, his obese past well behind him.
“I lost eight kilograms over a week,” laughs Daniel. “The race spans a distance of nearly 330 kilometres and an altitude of 28,000 metres across 25 passes. You need to finish in 150 hours with intermediate cut-offs at checkpoints which means you average 50-60 kilometres and heights of 4,000-5,000 metres a day. You are lucky if you can run on level ground for at least 10 kilometres. That happened only around the 275th kilometre; by then my legs felt nothing.”
Every year, the Tor des Geants is run in September, beginning and ending in Courmayeur, an Italian town that is home to Europe’s highest botanical garden. Running through the day and night at such altitudes puts runners at risk of hypothermia, disorientation and the possibility of gently expiring within view of the Matterhorn. Trail running also means changing your stride every now and then, bounding past obstacles and scrambling through scree and obtuse rock faces.
“On Day 4 and 5, the nights were down to 10 degrees Centigrades, the streams were frozen and my lips were bleeding. Trail races are not just about putting one foot in front of another; one moment you are on the valley floor, the next you are close to the sky. Tor des Geants has a trail only up to tree cover; its alpine zone is completely rocky and verglassed and there are ropes and ladders to help you. But, it can be frustrating at night even with crampons and hiking poles. You can’t switch off and when you see someone being rescued by helicopter you stop hallucinating and drag your mind back to the present,” says Daniel, who slept for one to two hours a day. “That’s what you train for, else you don’t finish. There are days you don’t want to get out because it’s so cold. But, the views are spectacular and you can see the seasons change from summer to fall to early winter.”
For this race that saw 880 people begin and only 53 % finish, Daniel has been preparing over the past year. In 2016, he was the youngest Indian to complete the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) that covers three countries and 10 alpine summits. Earlier, he had done the North Face Lavaredo Ultra Trail that runs through the Italian Dolomites. And, in June, he ran the Old Dominion in the Shenandoah Mountains, US. After the Tor des Geants, Daniel went on to complete the Malnad Ultra and another at Reunion Islands.
The runner, who turned vegetarian two years ago, and acclimatised in Manali, Spiti and Chamonix before he set off, says ultra running is both about kit preparation and an understanding of your own capabilities. “Training in Chennai’s humidity helps build endurance. However, when you scramble past suspended hunks of ice it calls for both physical and psychological strength. Tor des Geants is very professionally organised. At 650 Euros, everything from mountain rescue to cubicles and food is taken care of,” says Daniel, hoping ultra racing will grow in India that has the world’s highest mountains.
Daniel is now training to run the Petite Trotte a Leon. A team race within the framework of the UTMB, this one has no trails and calls for finding your route with GPS trackers and maps. When it’s time to leave, he says he’d like another go at the Tor des Geants. But why, I ask incredulously. “The race ends in the heart of the town to the peal of bells. People are giving out beer and ice cream and yelling your name. You run through old Roman roads, historic towns and spectacular scenery. When they see the name of the country on your bib, it gets you many cheers. And, when you finish the race wearing the gilet, the Tricolour around you and hit that high note of positivity, you know you are home.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Deepa Alexander / October 25th, 2017
James Ajoo, a man who grew up in Chennai, realised that his grandfather was a pawn in one of the greatest heists of the 19th century – the Great Tea Robbery.
Canton, Kwangtung province, China. Photograph by John Thomson, 1867. Image: Wellcome Image
When James Ajoo, a Chennai-based English professor, was growing up, he often wondered why his surname was so different from that of his classmates. It was not a typical South Indian name – for that matter, it didn’t even sound Indian. When he asked his paternal grandmother, her answer was so unexpected that it set him off on a quest to trace his roots.
His grandmother told him that his ancestor was one of the six Chinese tea manufacturers that Robert Fortune smuggled into India to help the English manufacture tea, harvested from their newly planted tea estates. Some of these estates are in what is now The Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. His grandfather was a primary player, albeit a pawn, in one of the greatest heists of the 19th century – the Great Tea Robbery pulled off by Robert Fortune, a botanist and plant hunter who stole tea from Imperial China.
In modern day terms, there are three serious violations: Geographical Indications (GIs), bio-piracy and the theft of a process.
James Ajoo
James questioned other older members of his family, but none of them knew anything more. The information he had gathered was inadequate. Several years later, when James went to the US to study, he found the time and resources to further research his ancestor, the mysterious John Ajoo.
European interest in China
Since the Ajoo family story in India is tied up with that of Robert Fortune and the nascent tea industry in India, let’s start with the Scottish botanist. What made him a hero in the times he lived in and a villain thereafter? Robert Fortune was best known for stealing tea plants from China, the only country where tea was grown at that time. Tea growing and manufacture in China was a closely guarded secret.
Trade with China was much sought after by the European trading powers of that time, primarily the English, Americans and the Dutch. Trade with China grew and flourished right through the 18th century, when the English East India Company traded woolens and Indian cottons for Chinese tea, silk and porcelain.
However, with the widespread popularity of tea in England, tea soon became the single largest export item out of China, while the imports declined. The Chinese made things more difficult by insisting that tea has to be paid for in silver. Soon, there was a shortage of silver and the English were forced to look for other commodities to offset the balance of trade.
L0056403 China: women tea plantation workers by John Thomson Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Fukien province, China: women tea plantation workers. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871. 1871 By: J. ThomsonPublished: – Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This is when they introduced opium grown in India to China, which proved to be a profitable business.
The tea robber
After the Treaty of Nanking in 1848, Fortune was sent by the Royal Horticultural Society to collect exotic plants from China, tea primarily. The latter was to be replanted in parts of India which was considered to be congenial to tea and thus break China’s monopoly of global trade.
“The task required a plant hunter, a gardener, a thief, a spy,” writes Sarah Rose, in her award-winning book ‘For All the Tea in China’, which charts Fortune’s great British Tea Robbery. Though some of the saplings perished, the tea seeds brought back by Fortune were instrumental in starting the tea industry in India and breaking Chinese monopoly on tea.
Rober Fortune. Source: Wiki Commons
In 1849, Fortune disguised as a wealthy Chinese trader travelled to the remote tea growing areas in China and witnessed both green and black tea being processed. He realized that manufacturing tea was a complex and intricate process and experienced tea manufacturers would be required. So, he recruited a team of experienced tea farmers and manufacturers from Hawgchow, present day Huizhou in the Anhui province of China, with help of Chinese contractors called Wang tih Poon and Hoo. Fortune and this small band of Chinese set sail for India from Shanghai.
John Ajoo enters India
James Ajoo, now in his 30s, is of the opinion that his ancestor took the name John when he arrived in India, because he had been secretly converted to Christianity by the Jesuits who had been active in China since 1582. The name Ajoo, he says, could be the phonetic pronunciation of a Chinese surname.
James started his research by digging deep into the available material on the internet. After months of searching, he finally got lucky when he found a log entry made on February 15, 1851 which mentions that the Chinese tea manufacturers are to be paid from that date and the order was to be executed by the Chinese contractor Wang tih Poon.
Ajoo was clutching at straws but persisted in his search; he combed through endless maritime lists and passenger arrivals lists and then finally, struck gold when he found an old notice of passenger arrivals into Calcutta port on November 27, 1851, when the streamer Lady Mary Wood docked in Calcutta with six Chinese on board. (Most records show that there were eight Chinese – six tea manufacturers and two pewterers, whose sole job was preparing lead casings to the tea chests).
When Ajoo came to Nilgiris
James Ajoo followed the progress of the Chinese tea manufacturers who were sent to work in the tea gardens of the North-West Province. It was hard work, (for James Ajoo) for there was but a scant mention here or there. In May 1862, the Chinese left government service and entered private employment for higher wages.
The next year, a report on the tea plantations in East Indies made to the House of Commons mentioned that Dr HFC Cleghorn, Conservator of Forests of the Madras Presidency, had asked the government for Chinese tea manufacturers to help tea growers in the Neilgherries (as Nilgiris was spelt those days). This report also states that there were no Chinese tea manufacturers available for the Nilgiris planters, and instead “native” tea manufacturers were offered.
However, may be because of continued pressure from the Nilgiris planters, two Chinese tea manufacturers were sent to the hills in 1864, one of them being John Ajoo. It is interesting to note that these two were not the only Chinese in the Nilgiris at the time.
Did Chinese PoWs teach Indians how to manufacture tea?
Between 1856 and 1860, the British brought in Chinese Prisoners of War (PoWs) captured during the second Anglo Chinese war, also known as the Opium Wars, which involved British trade in opium to China and China’s sovereignty. Chinese prisoners were also brought to the Nilgiris from the Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca, Dinding and Penang. They were initially sent to the Nilgiris because of the overcrowding in the Madras jails, but later, when it was discovered the Chinese were good workmen, they were put to work in the newly opened tea and cinchona plantations.
An 1850 depiction of the tea cultivation process in Assam. By Joseph Lionel Williams after Thomas Brown, via Wiki Commons
Many senior Nilgiri planters have poofed the idea that the Chinese PoWs taught the pioneer planters how to plant and manufacture tea, mainly because the PoWs were mostly seafaring men with no experience in tea farming or manufacture. Sir Percival Griffiths, a British civil servant and tea historian is one who dismissed claims that Chinese PoWs instructed planters how to plant and manufacture tea. But records indicate that at this time, Miss Cockburn, (pronounced Coburn) daughter of the Collector of Salem and pioneer tea and coffee planter, had one Chinese man help on the tea estate near Kotagiri, while Thaishola Estate, where many PoWs were housed, has anecdotal evidence that the Chinese planted tea and has a Jail Thottam (garden) even today.
Chinaman’s field
James Ajoo at this point, reiterates that his ancestor, John Ajoo, a free man, worked with some planters in the Nilgiris for a short while and was then lured away to work with a tea planter called AW Turner, who founded the North Travancore Land Planting Agricultural Society in Munnar.
S Muthiah, the Chennai based historian, in his book “A Planting Century” which records the history of South India’s plantations has made a mention of John Ajoo, a Chinaman who planted 13 acres of tea in Munnar, and this plot of land was known popularly as the Chinaman’s Field.
Somewhere along the line, John Ajoo married a local woman, though there is no mention of that. (It would be pertinent to note that most of the Chinese PoWs who settled down in Nattuvattom, a small hamlet in the Nilgiris where the Government cinchona factory was located, married local women and lived the rest of their lives tending cattle and growing garden vegetables.)
The Chinaman’s son
\John Ajoo’s son John Antony, referred to as the Chinaman’s son, was born in June 1869 and would become the owner of a small estate called Vialkadavu near Talliar Estate in which the Turner family had an interest.
Now John Antony was quite a colorful character and had worked in a provision store owned by an Englishman in Munnar town. He taught himself English, joined the Anglican Church and endeared himself to the English planters in the area. He was a skilled tracker and shikari and in the course of time, became a favourite with the planters for the hunting jaunts; which lead him to be acquainted with the Sri Kerala Varma Valiya Koilthampuranan, who was married to Her Highness Bharani Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi, the adopted niece of the Maharajah of Travancore.
A plac of John Antony
Anecdotal evidence within the family is that, the marriage of John Antony to Mariamma was brought about by none other than the Koilthampuranan himself. Mariamma, it is said, was a child widow of a member of royal family. Nothing more is known of the mysterious Mariamma (that may not even be her real name) as there is no documentary evidence to the marriage or her background.
John Antony died when he was 82 after establishing himself as a planter and with a large acreage under him. He was also a founder member of the Travancore Cardamom Planters Association in Madurai district. Subsequently, the Ajoos moved away from the plantations and turned to the Church with many of them becoming pastors.
James Ajoo has never visited the land of his ancestor but hopes to do so one day. But now he has a story to tell too, of John Ajoo’s long journey from the tea growing farms of his youth in China, to the High Ranges in the south of India. One wonders, did John Ajoo ever think of going back home? We will never know.
source: http://www.thenewsminute.com / The News Minute / Home> History / by Nina Varghese / Sunday – October 22nd, 2017
lying high Aswin has set his eyes on representing India in the Commonwealth and Asian Games next year
In conversation with JK Aswin, a third-generation cyclist who is winning laurels for the country
Practising a sport requires commitment and dedication but excelling at it needs grit and determination. Coimbatore-based JK Aswin, a gold medallist from the Track Asia Cup 2017 and a third-generation cyclist, talks about his journey in spinning the wheels. Excerpts:
What inspired you to take up cycling?
Coming from a family of cyclists, there was no lack of inspiration and motivation. My grand-dad, late Jayaraman was a member of the national road cycling team from 1958 to 1962. My dad Krishnamoorthy was also a member ofthe national squad from 1984 to 1987. I was a late bloomer, started riding a bike when I was seven years old. I had always been fascinated by my grandad’s and dad’s medals and certificates. once on the bicycle, the joy of riding inspired me to aim for my own collection of medals.
Can you talk a little about your formative years?
In the first couple of years, I spent a lot of time riding with my dad along Kovaipudur and through the villages around Coimbatore. This helped build my riding technique and connect with the bike. My first taste of racing was at the age of 10 in the Tamil Nadu State Cycling Meet in 2009. I finished fourth in the under-13 category. After that, the fun rides were gradually substituted with more intense training. Three to four hours of riding became a norm during weekdays and weekends were booked for hill training sessions in The Nilgiris.
Why did you go in for track racing?
The different disciplines in cycling require specific skills. A 100 km race requires endurance and efficient usage of energy reserves, whereas a track sprint requires muscular power, ability to understand the competitor’s weakness and technique to ace. I was hooked on speed and quick short sprints so I picked the latter. Another key reason was that training indoors was safer than on open roads. We in India are still warming up to cycling as a sport and road users are not used to a bicyclist riding at over 40 kmph.
How did the transition from state to national level happen?
It started in 2014 when I was selected to train in the national camp hosted by the Cycling Federation of India and Sports Authority of India. The training was scientific and focussed. The regular rides were measured and post-training effects analysed. Speed and duration became secondary parameters and training with heart rate and power was introduced. In time, I got to understand that recovering after a training session was key to performance rather than slogging day in and day out on the bike. The technique was to push the body and mind to higher levels of performance through High Intensity Interval Sessions (HIIT), give the muscles just enough time to recover, gain strength and slot in another HIIT session focussing on another performance parameter.
What about the training camp in Germany?
The big jump came when the Indian squad at the CFI camp enrolled for a three-month training programme in Germany between June and August 17. We were trained by the German national coach in the Cottbus Velodrome. The formula was to train, race, recover and repeat. The team was not allowed to use mobile phones for three months and the training was intense. We also got an opportunity to compete with teams from other European nations and the take-away was immense. Competing with these Olympic standard teams became part of the training schedule and we were able to finetune our understanding of aerodynamics, riding posture and race strategies.
What is next?
The interim goals is to represent India in the 2018 Commonwealth Games to be held in Queensland, Australia. I also have my eye on the Asian Games in August 2018 at Indonesia. Good results in these two will win India a berth in the 2020 Summer Olympics at Tokyo. This would be a big one for us as a nation, as the Indian cycling team would have won a slot to compete in the Olympics after 56 years. The last time India was represented was in 1964 at the Tokyo Olympics.
Achievements
National medallist in Track Championship 2012, 2013 and 2015
Won the National Award for Exceptional Achievement in 2010. The award was presented by then President of India Pranab Mukherjee
Track Asia Cup. Gold in team sprint (men junior) and bronze in sprint (Men junior) at the Track Asia Cup in 2017
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Fitness / by Deepak Samuel / October 20th, 2017
Fairfield Marriott has inaugurated its hotel in Coimbatore. | Photo Credit: HANDOUT_E_MAIL
Marriott International has opened its 128-room hotel, Fairfield by Marriott, in Coimbatore.
According to J.P. Menon, hotel manager, the property on 47,000 sq.ft. plot near Coimbatore International Airport, has 100 basic rooms (Superior Queen) and 26 Superior Twin rooms.
It also has an all-day restaurant (Kovai Kitchen), a gymnasium for guests, and three meeting rooms of different seating capacities. A spa will come up soon.
The property has been developed by Samhi Hotels and is managed by Marriott. Targeting business travellers to the region, the hotel wants to provide hassle-free travel to the guests. “We want to target 60 % occupancy in the first year,” he said.
Mr. Menon said that five Fairfield hotels have been opened across the country in the last one month, including the Coimbatore property, taking the total number of Fairfield hotels to nine.
In a press release, Neeraj Govil, area vice-president – South Asia, Marriott International, said that as Marriott expanded its brand portfolio across tier-two cities, it saw opportunity for Fairfield to become “a favourite with regular travellers.”
According to Ashish Jakhanwala, founder and CEO of Samhi Hotels, the business community was growing in the country and was looking at facilities that offered options, comfort, and value when they travelled.
Samhi and Marriott had come together to launch the Coimbatore property to cater to this demand.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Special Correspondent / Coimbatore – October 16th, 2017
India Yamaha Motor (IYM) Pvt Ltd on Friday achieved a milestone by rolling out the one-millionth two-wheeler to be produced at its Chennai, Tamil Nadu factory in two-and-a-half years of operations. The millionth two-wheeler to be produced at the Yamaha premises is a unit of the Yamaha Fascino. India Yamaha Motor has reached this figure on the back of good sales of its two-wheelers including the Ray Z, Ray ZR and Alpha scooters, and the Saluto and Saluto RX motorcycles. Yamaha had begun operations at the Chennai facility in March 2015 with an initial production capacity of 4.5 lakh units per year, ramping it up to 6 lakh units this year. India Yamaha Motor now aims to produce 9 lakh units per annum by 2019 at the Chennai factory and 7 lakh units at its facility in Surajpur, Chattisgarh, taking total production to 1.6 million units in two years. Yamaha recently launched the Fazer 25 faired version or its FZ25 250cc motorcycle. To boost sales, Yamaha has also been launching scooter boutiques in select cities of the country.
IYM deputy MD Riuji Kawashima said that the company would continue to enhance the production facilities in India to better serve the Indian market. Yamaha has so far invested Rs 1,300 crore in the Chennai Factory and plans to invest more than Rs 200 crore by 2018. Out of one million products manufactured from the Chennai Factory, 8.5 lakh units have been manufactured for the domestic market and remaining 1.5 lacs units for the export market including African market as well as ASEAN and Latin American markets. Yamaha Fascino is the most produced model with 3.7 lakh units. The production percentage ratio of the scooter & motorcycle production at the factory is 7:3 right now. The models with highest export numbers were the FZ series, Ray ZR, and Fascino.
source: http://www.overdrive.in / OverDrive / Home> News / Team OD / September 22nd, 2017
The Consulate General of Japan awarded the Foreign Minister’s Commendations to Narayanan Kumar, president of the Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IJCCI), on Tuesday.
Seiji Baba, Consul General of Japan, who presented the certificates of commendation, said Mr. Kumar has contributed significantly to the development of Japan-India relations, especially in business cooperation, as well as the dissemination of knowledge, culture and information about Japan.
“He has done this through a number of programmes of the IJCCI, including publishing Gateway Newsletter and establishing the Centre for Japanese Studies. He visited Japan as the head of an IJCCI delegation and met Kiyoshi Odawara, the Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs,” he added.
Mr. Baba also noted the contributions made by IJCCI to promote business relations between the two countries.
Mr. Kumar said,“I really hope business cooperation between the two countries will reach great heights,” he added.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – August 30th, 2017
