Transform old clothes, wedding saris into heirloom pieces

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment

TinaKatwalCF12jan2019

Wrapped in memories: Tina Katwal’s Memory Quilts transforms fabrics

Old baby clothes, wedding dresses or saris you bought for a particular event, all of these may have at least one thing in common: they are of no use anymore. Yet they are objects of such fond memories that one gets reluctant when it comes to disposing them.

Tina Katwal, founder of The Square Inch, has the perfect solution for you. Her new venture, The Memory Quilts, is all about preserving memories. Give her your baby clothes and she will transform them into a charming quilt, and even add a batting of cotton in between so you can snuggle with it.

Celebrating The Square Inch’s fifth anniversary, Tina talks about her early days as a quilt enthusiast. “For me it was a case of playing with scraps from clothes. When I was younger, I used to make my own clothes. Then I started playing around with scraps and turning them into a quilt,” says Tina. Eschewing the more traditional notions associated with the quilt, Tina has transformed it into a symbol of both beauty and utility, bringing out its latent artistic value.

“We have made quilts out of a child’s first year clothes; we have also made quilts for a child graduating out of school with his or her school uniform and sports’ T-shirts. These memory quilts are a great way to preserve and cherish memories and also document events in a person’s life,” says Tina, adding that customers even request her to make quilts in memory of others.

Memory Quilts also uses a range of different materials and fabrics. She has turned ponnadai (shawls) and even wedding saris into quilts.

“We can make them in any style as per the client’s request. They can be whimsical and fun, minimalist, subtle and elegant, or even bold and graphic. We can make it to go with the décor of the room or even the general mood of the house. We try to capture the personality of the person it is meant for,” she adds.

Talking of what inspires her, she says, “A bulk of tailor produce and worn out clothes go to waste as scraps. By making quilts, we are also reducing the amount of waste that goes to a landfill and encouraging sustainable practices all across the textile community.” The financial savings don’t hurt too, and Tina laughs about this ulterior objective.

“Not a single scrap of cloth is wasted here. Everything is upcycled or reused. That is our little contribution,” says Tina.

Till date, Tina has converted about 30 saris and hundreds of baby clothes into memorable quilts, giving people an opportunity to go to bed cocooned in fond memories.

For details, call 9551655776 or visit The Square Inch’s Facebook page

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Pracarsh Rastogi / January 10th, 2019

Eighth edition of Muthiah’s Madras Rediscovered launched

About Chennai(Madras) / TamilNadu, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All

MuthiahCF11jan2019

A city called home: S Muthiah’s Madras Rediscovered, recently launched in its eighth edition, is a leisurely read of Chennai, its people, places and history

City chronicler S Muthiah ferrets out a copy of Madras Discovered, first published in 1981. The book’s dust jacket has turned sepia — some of the stories in it are old, laced with nostalgia and fraying at the edges, while others have passed into the realm of memory. And yet, the tome, once priced at Rs.10 for 172 small pages that has now grown to 600 larger pages with a new title, continues to be considered a seminal work on this gracious southern city.

Raised and educated abroad, Muthiah chose Madras as his home in the late 1960s. One of his first assignments at his new job at TTK Maps was to write the text to accompany a street guide to the city. “The book was published by East West Books and most of the material was discovered in the course of a search that was part of a bigger project. Some of it, such as the ‘Tales of Old and New Madras’, were published in Aside magazine,” says Muthiah. “What fascinated me as I continued to read about the city was that, in a sense, Madras was the first city of Empire. It was here that Robert Clive, Warren Hastings, Wellington and Elihu Yale started their careers; here that the foundations for the school of Engineering and Survey was laid.”

Although the current edition travels back eons to dwell briefly on the city’s Megalithic and early Tamil history, its forte lies in showcasing the years when it was Britain’s colonial outpost.

As Britain moved from commerce to conquest, its scarlet stains spreading across the world map, marking the extent of its Empire, the book closely follows the story, holding its own amidst the glut of literature that has been written on the political, commercial, social and cultural equations that Britain and India have shared.

“The early editions were references to the initial years of the British in India, but in the eighth edition, we travelled back and looked at the city before the European period. This was a nod to the fact that parts of the city, in some way, existed before the establishment of Fort St George,” he says.

With the keen eye of an observer and without descending into the tidal shifts of coloniser and the colonised, Muthiah captures vignettes of Madras in his inimitable old-fashioned, witty prose.“There are two levels to the book — the history of buildings in Madras, and the stories connected with them,” he adds, flipping through the book that alternates between places and anecdotes. “If you are interested in the city, you’d read the first part but if you love the stories of the people who made the city then ‘Once Upon a City’ is for you.”

So, the reader is handheld through the building of the Fort overlooking the Bay’s sludgy waters topped with white foamy chevrons, while also reading on the scandalous romance of Hastings and Marian (a German baroness) that began here and culminated in marriage in Calcutta. The action then moves to the club and press institutions of Mount Road, the founding of The Hindu as a major opposition paper in imperial times and its contribution to the Indian Independence movement, the sport this city plays, its seat of Theosophy, mercantile giants such as Binny and Parry, its Indo-Saracenic architecture, its educational and cultural institutions and its changing face.

“Whatever has been filed on the city — whether it be by historians such as Sriram V or Chithra Madhavan or by others — is vetted and added to subsequent editions. It is a continuous process and work for the next edition has already begun,” says 88-year-old Muthiah.

The book, interspersed with rare black-and-white photographs and colour maps, ends with a chronological history of Madras and an extensive bibliography. It is a remarkable effort to understand the weft of a modern metropolis as much as it is a love song to a city we know so well.

(Madras Rediscovered, published by Westland is priced at ₹799)

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Deepa Alexander / January 10th, 2019

Danish man comes to Chennai in search of his roots

Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion

The orphanage closed down about 35 years ago, after which David and Martin were taken to Denmark by George, who used to run the home, in 1979.

(Above) David alias Shanthakumar. (R) with his mother | Express
(Above) David alias Shanthakumar. (R) with his mother | Express

Chennai :

Tracing his roots, a 40-year-old Danish man, David alias Shanthakumar has reached the city. He was given for adoption three decades ago. Born in 1978 to Dhanalakhsmi and Kaliamoorthy, David and his brother Martin alias Rajan were handed over to an orphanage in Pallavaram.

The orphanage closed down about 35 years ago, after which David and Martin were taken to Denmark by George, who used to run the home, in 1979.David was adopted immediately by a Danish couple, the next year Martin was also adopted by another Danish family. George then returned back to Chennai.David first came to Chennai in 2013. He wanted to begin the search for his roots from George. But he learnt that had died almost a decade ago. He had hit a roadblock.

“After continuous searching, David found out that his birth name was Santhakumar and that he had a brother whose birth name was Rajan, later rechristened as Martin. He found out that Martin also lived in Denmark,” said Anjali Pawar, a lawyer who is helping David find his parents.Thanks to social media, David found Martin on Facebook and connected with him. In 2014, David got in touch with Arun Dohle, the co-founder of  ‘Against Child Trafficking’, an NGO helping people reunite with their birth parents.
The NGO workers helped David check the Chennai Corporation’s birth registry, and David found his brother’s birth certificate.

The document had an address of a residence in Tondiarpet — perhaps where his parents lived at that point in time. Through subsequent investigations, David found out that his parents had shifted to Tiruvottriyur. Now, David has a photo of him with his mother and his brother Martin. His search will continue.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / January 10th, 2019

A Danish citizen searches for his roots

Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion
Looking for answers: Casper Anderson showing reporters a photo from his childhood. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Looking for answers: Casper Anderson showing reporters a photo from his childhood. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

43-year-old Casper Anderson was adopted from India when he was 4 years old

Casper Anderson, a 43-year-old Danish citizen is a long way from home. He has travelled from Aalborg city, in Denmark, to Linganoor in Coimbatore to trace his family roots.

Born to T. Ayyavu and Saraswati of Linganoor in 1975, Mr. Anderson was put in a children’s home when he was only 30 days old. In 1979, a Danish couple adopted him. “Ever since I came to know that I was adopted, I wanted to know about my biological parents. Before adoption, I was called Raja Kumar,” Mr. Anderson told reporters in Coimbatore on Saturday.

This is the second visit of Mr. Anderson, a graphic designer, to Coimbatore in his attempt to find his biological parents. He approached the media after his efforts did not yield results. He said he spent his early years at the Blue Mountain Children’s Home, Coimbatore, which was run by Mary Catherine and Prakash.

The reason stated in the adoption order was that Mr. Ayyavu could not take care of the child after he suffered a paralytic attack and his wife left him. Based on an order from the district court, a Danish couple, Keld and Birthe Anderson, had adopted the child. A Netherlands-based organisation named Against Child Trafficking (ACT) came forward to help Mr. Anderson.

Trip to Linganoor

In his second visit, Mr. Anderson visited Linganoor with the help of ACT’s executive director Arun Dohle, ACT’s consultant in India Anjali Pawar and members from the Tirupur-based Centre for Social Education and Development. They were told that a person named Ayyavu was living with his mother Mariammal near Karuparayan temple at Linganoor.

Elderly residents said that they had never seen Ayyavu after he sold his property and left the place around 1986.

Though the team attempted to collect documents related to the adoption, nothing could be traced.

“We are doubtful about Mr. Anderson’s ‘adoption’ as he was not an orphan and had his father and grandmother. It could have been a case of child trafficking. Child trafficking has happened on a large scale in the name of adoption in the past when the formalities involved were not considered very seriously by the authorities. The sad fact is that such trafficking is still happening,” said Ms. Pawar.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Wilson Thomas / Coimbatore – January 05th, 2019

Tamil Nadu gets 33rd district with Kallakurichi as headquarters

Records, All

The chief minister said an IAS officer would be appointed as Special Officer to carry out the administrative processes involved in creating the new district.

an IAS officer would be appointed as Special Officer to carry out the administrative processes.
an IAS officer would be appointed as Special Officer to carry out the administrative processes.

Tamil Nadu will soon get its 33rd district with Kallakurichi as its headquarters. The new district will be created by bifurcating Villupuram district, one of the large districts in the State.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced this in Assembly on Tuesday while replying to the discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address.

The chief minister said an IAS officer would be appointed as Special Officer to carry out the administrative processes involved in creating the new district.

Law Minister CV Shanmugam and some MLAs from Villupuram district thanked the CM for this announcement.

However, the move has met with some opposition from Villupuram. For instance, R Nithiyandhan, a lawyer from Thiruvennainallur in Ulundurpet Taluk of Villupuram said Thiruvennainallur is one among the most backward areas in the district.

“If this area is added to Kallakuruchi district, people here will face the same issues that had been raised by people of Kallakuruchi when they demanded a separate district headquartered in Kallakuruchi,” he said.

“Now, we are able to reach the district headquarters in less than half an hour. If this are comes under the new district, we will have to travel 70km over some two hours to reach the new headquarters at Kallakuruchi. There was no direct bus facility from Thiruvennainallur to Kallakuruchi town. So people have to waste a whole day if they wanted to visit any of the government offices in the district headquarters, including the collectorate,” he complained.

The demand of those who oppose the bifurcation of the district is that Thiruvennainallur remains within Villupuram district although Ulundurpet is likely to become part of Kallakuruchi district. All these issues were highlighted in 2014 when the demand for Kallakuruchi district was raised with the chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

Meanwhile, residents of Attur, which is part of Salem district, have renewed their demand for a separate district.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / January 08th, 2019

Anglo Indians converge in city for a reunion

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion
Having a ball: Participants dancing at the 11th World Anglo Indian Reunion 2019 in Chennai on Monday. | Photo Credit: R. Ravindran
Having a ball: Participants dancing at the 11th World Anglo Indian Reunion 2019 in Chennai on Monday. | Photo Credit: R. Ravindran

An opportunity to keep our culture and heritage alive, says vice-president of International Anglo Indian Federation

After nearly half a century, Norman Remedios of Canada has returned to India to celebrate his roots. He, along with other Anglo Indians from across the globe gathered in Chennai for a reunion on Monday.

It was a day of nostalgia at the 11th World Anglo Indian Reunion 2019 as people relived old memories and revelled in the the bond they shared despite being spread across the world.

Reflecting the jubilant mood at the event, Mr. Remedios said: “This is my first trip to Chennai. I am back in my home country after five decades. I came here to greet and share memories with the community that I lost touch with when I left for Canada from Kolkata.”

The St. George’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Poonamallee High Road, had over 600 people from the community recounting memories of their homeland.

Nostalgic trip

Withbert Payne from the U.S. has not missed a single reunion since it was started in 1989. He too, like many others, left India when he was a teenager. “I have read several books on the community. This is one way to trace my roots. I have taken my children to events in the past to introduce them to my culture,” he said.

Earlier, Governor Banwarilal Purohit recalled memories of his school days when he was tutored by Anglo Indian teachers. He elaborated on the contributions of the community in various fields, including railways, education and military services.

Harry MacLure, vice-president of International Anglo Indian Federation, said “We organise such events once in three years in various parts of the world. This year, we have people from places such as Canada, Australia and the Netherlands, as well as from across India. We strive to keep our culture and heritage alive through such events.”

The week-long reunion will also showcase the community’s glorious past to youngsters and discuss their future and career opportunities, according to Geoffrey Francis, president, Anglo Indian Association of South India. Participants will go on a city tour, visit a photo exhibition, take part in a literary event featuring books on the Anglo Indian community as part of the reunion.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – January 08th, 2019

Food business operators in Salem go green

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment
With the ban on one-time use plastics coming into effect on January 1, customers bring vessels to buy food in Salem on Monday. | Photo Credit: E. LakshmiNarayanan
With the ban on one-time use plastics coming into effect on January 1, customers bring vessels to buy food in Salem on Monday. | Photo Credit: E. LakshmiNarayanan

Avoid plastic carry bags, deliver food at the doorsteps of customers

Ban on plastic bags has forced many food business operators in the city to carry food items in stainless steel containers and deliver it at the doorsteps of customers.

Small shops selling variety rice, gravies and other food items are present in large numbers in the city, particularly in Guhai. Food items are packed in disposable carry bags and sold to customers.

However, after the plastic ban from January 1, Corporation Officials intensified raids against use of banned plastics. Catering service units could not find alternative or cost effective material for packing.

Though customers were asked to bring their own containers, only a few turned up.

Hence, in order to keep the business going, many caterers started delivering food at the doorsteps of customers.

Business hit

S. Malligeswaran, a caterer in Guhai, said that after the plastic ban he had lost 70% of his business as customers wanted food delivered in plastic bags. We have been educating the customers for over a month asking them to bring containers. Since many are labourers, the result was discouraging.

Now he uses a delivery van and reaches out to the customers.

His wife, M. Kalaiarasi, goes to the houses of customers to deliver food.

Between 11.30 a.m. and 3 p.m., she delivers food in localities near Tiruchi Road, and Dadagapatti Main Road. The couple said that to keep the business running it was bearing the additional cost of operating the van and was positive that people would co-operate in making the society plastic-free.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Salem – January 08th, 2019

This TN lad’s Pixalive APP freezes memory for a week

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

It’s not quite often that we chance upon a social media app made in India.

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Chennai  :

It’s not quite often that we chance upon a social media app made in India. Enter Pixalive — designed and founded by 28-year-old Rajasekar Sundaresan, from a village called Soolamalai in Krishnagiri district.After completing his degree in electronic engineering, Rajasekar worked as a network engineer at Wipro for four years in 2008.

Inspired by popular apps like Snapchat and Instagram, Rajasekar quit his job in 2012 and went on to pursue his dream of designing an app with similar features. The app was launched in the first week of August by Disha Gosh, vice captain of the Indian Junior National Volleyball Team.

So far, it has 70,000 downloads and the count is expected to reach a lakh soon. “When I checked out the features of Snapchat it piqued my interest and helped me to further develop an app of our own with better features. My father sold his property and lent me money to pursue this app. I completed it in a year. Currently, we have two offices — Bengaluru and Chennai.

A team of 12 developers works with me. Getting investors is the challenging part,” said Rajasekar.
Pixalive is colourful app with stylish icons and funky fonts. It is said to have all the features that millennials look for today. Apart from basic features like sharing posts, photos, videos, texts and voice notes, the app boasts customised features like the ‘nearby’ option which restricts a user from sharing data on a specific geographical range and to a private or public group.

It also permits the user to access hashtags and news trending in a particular radius chosen by him or her. The data posted will be automatically erased from the application after seven days, thereby giving it a human touch to cherish moments till they’re available. “The app is designed for regional and international users. Language is not a barrier here,” he added. Pixalive is available on Android and iOS.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Vaishali Vijaykumar / Express News Service / January 08th, 2019

Hotel Saravana Bhavan to attempt Guinness record for longest dosa

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All, World Opinion

This concept, envisioned by celebrity chef Vinodh Kumar, will be implemented by 50 chefs from Saravana Bhavan at IIT Madras.

Masala dosa (File picture)
Masala dosa (File picture)

Chennai :

Hotel Saravana Bhavan will attempt to break the Guinness World Record by making a 100 ft-long dosa on Friday. This concept, envisioned by celebrity chef Vinodh Kumar, will be implemented by 50 chefs from Saravana Bhavan at IIT Madras.Speaking at a press conference in the city on Monday, chef Vinodh Kumar said that around 20 kg of batter will be used to make the dosa. “We have gone to great lengths to plan this endeavour, and we will be successful,” he said.

Currently, Hotel Dasapalla in Hyderabad holds the record for making the longest dosa measuring 54-feet-8.69-inches. “We could have decided to make a 60-feet dosa to claim the record, but we are going all in by making a 100-feet-dosa,” he said.

The 105-feet dosa pan for the event is being made in coordination with Saravana Bhavan’s engineering team, and it is learned that the pan will be maintained at a temperature of 180-200 degrees celsius to ensure the dosa batter doesn’t set immediately.

“The temperature will be maintained, so all the batter can be transferred to the pan and then the chefs will work in tandem to roll up the dosa,” said Vinodh Kumar, replying to a question from a journalist at the press conference.

Actor Nakul’s wife Shruti Nakul, who also spoke at the press conference, welcomed the initiative and expressed confidence that it would be successful. Saravana Bhavan’s general manager Damodaran was also present at the event.

The current record holder

Currently, Hotel Dasapalla in Hyderabad holds the record for making the longest dosa measuring 54-feet-8.69-inches.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / January 08th, 2019

The girl with green wonders

Amazing Feats, Education, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature

Prasiddhi Singh is unlike other five-year-olds.

Prasiddhi Singh is a class 1 student of Mahindra World School
Prasiddhi Singh is a class 1 student of Mahindra
World School

Chennai :

Prasiddhi Singh is unlike other five-year-olds. She has successfully raised Rs 41, 254 on Ketto, a crowdfunding platform for her mission to ‘save flora, fauna and the planet we live in’. The class 1 student from Mahindra World School is an inspiration to people of all ages. Talking to us about how environment-based issues piqued her interest at such a young age, Stuti Singh, Prasiddhi’s mother says, “My husband and I have always been inclined towards fitness, and we introduced Prasiddhi to jogging when she was two years old.

As a family, We participated in a Ridley Run event — for ‘Save the turtles campaign’ in 2015. She was the youngest participant in that event.” Since then, Prasiddhi has been actively taking part in several events, including tree plantation drives, beach cleaning, that promote environmental awareness. “Eventually, she started understanding the impact of pollution and wanted to do her bit to save the planet. We understood her interest in such activities and decided to give her the needed exposure,” shares Stuti.

The cause-driven child has also spent a considerable amount of time being mentored by Hafiz from CommuniTree. “Recently, Mahindra World City, where we live, conducted a ‘one lakh tree plantation drive’ and Prasiddhi used to ask her father almost every day to take her to the field to plant. That’s when we connected with Hafiz. She spent a lot of time with him understanding the way plants grow, how fences save plants from external damages, and why planting is instrumental in keeping the environment thriving,” she says.

After being part of the tree plantation drive, Prasiddhi discussed the possibility of planting another one lakh saplings in the area, with Hafiz, Praveen (her father) and Stuti. “She was determined and had her goal set. But, the scale of the project was quite overwhelming and that’s when Hafiz suggested that we plan it in multiple phases. We started exploring different crowdfunding options and chose Ketto. This is the first phase of a bigger project,” she explains.

Prasiddhi plans to harvest a micro fruit farm to feed the depleting bird population in the city and spread the message on the importance of trees. The idea for such a farm popped when Prasiddhi came across her father’s childhood anecdotes — about climbing trees, eating and enjoying fruits with his friends. “These tales resulted in fruit tree plantations, but her willingness to share it with other kids, especially the underprivileged, made us take this project to government schools to ensure that every child can enjoy the fruit forests,” says Stuti.

Prasiddhi wants to create her own ‘Kids Army’ — where she will plant trees in all the schools and create students club to maintain the trees. “I will monitor those fruit forests regularly,” she says. Prasiddhi’s observation about the depleting bird population comes from quite a startling incident. Narrating the incident, she says, “Sometime back, during a drive with my parents, a few butterflies dotted the windscreen.

I asked my parents, ‘Why do these butterflies come in our way?’ for which they answered, ‘We are coming in the way of birds and butterflies as we have cut a lot of forests and trees. They have lost their habitats.’ I was shocked. Since then, I have been keeping water for birds in my gallery. I want to take baby steps to make a difference.” Prasiddhi’s day starts in the wee hours, with a morning jog along with her father, followed by a gardening session and mantra chanting. She heads to school by 7.30 am, followed by playschool till 7 pm.

“She completes her school work there so that she can spend some quality time with us once she is back. At home, we play indoor/outdoor games and talk about the entire day’s activities. We have dinner together, read some bedtime stories and sleep by 9.30 pm. Our daughter inspires us and we are proud of her,” says Stuti.

Kids army
Prasiddhi Singh plans to harvest a micro fruit farm to feed the depleting bird population in the city and spread the message on the importance of trees. She wants to create her own ‘Kids Army’ — where she will plant trees in all the schools and create students club to maintain the trees. “I will monitor those fruit forests on a regular basis,” says Prasiddhi. She recently initiated the fruit tree planting in a children’s home in Puducherry. “This month, we will also plant in one of the government schools in Kancheepuram,” says Stuti Singh.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Roshne Balasubramanian / Express News Service / January 03rd, 2019