WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

MUSINGSVol. XXV No. 6 July 1-15, 2015

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INSIDE

• Short ‘N’ Snappy

• The French influence

• The star quest

•Madras, my Madras

• Two recall steam

(Continued on page 8)

The Assembly and Secretariat.

Water pandhals orspace markers?

Changed rules willthreaten beaches

(Continued on page 2)

� The most frequently photographed feature of Fort St George isthe Assembly building. It dominates the Fort’s frontage and is strik-ingly beautiful. It is, sadly, completely out of bounds for the casualvisitor, housing as it does the offices of the Chief Minister, theState Cabinet, the Legislative Assembly and the ministries. Com-pared to the rest of the Fort, this edifice is of relatively recent prov-enance, having been constructed in its present shape in1910 andsubsequently added to. But its core is very old, almost as old as FortSt George.

Among the first structures to be built in 1640 by Andrew Coganwas what he termed the “Tower in the midst of the Fort”. This wasfinished before he left Madras in 1643. It housed the civil estab-lishment of the Fort, while the military disposed itself below thecurtain walls. According to Dr. Fryer, who left an account of theFort in 1673, this central tower, a domed edifice rather like aMughal tomb, was the Governor’s House. Later accounts speak ofit as a flat-roofed building and H. D. Love in his Vestiges of OldMadras dismisses the domed depiction as “untrustworthy”.

It appears to have been multi-functional, for it “contained of-fices, reception rooms, a dining hall, a chapel and accommodationfor the Writers.” An earlier write-up, dated January 6, 1664, refersto this building as the ‘Mansion Howse’ and has it as the residenceof the Agent (later designated Governor) and the second, thirdand fourth members of his Council. It also housed a “very beautifullChappell for Divine Service, and Convenient Lodgings for theMinister, as alsoe a faire dineing-roome and Celler.”

Dr. Fryer does not mention it, but Hiram Bingham, in his biog-raphy of Elihu Yale, notes that even a year earlier to Fryer’s de-scription, the building was in need of repair. All sources agree thatby 1677 the walls of this building were tottering. Several Gover-nors had added to the structure over the years. The additions hadbeen made without any thought of the foundations and by 1688Fort House had three floors with the Governor’s ConsultationRoom on the top, all ready to collapse at short notice.

Action was finally taken in 1693 by Governor NathanielHigginson who, like Yale, was born in the colonial America. Hewas also the first Mayor of Madras. The building was emptied andall its effects transferred to Jearsey House on Charles Street withinthe Fort. Demolition was completed by April 1694 when orders

(By A Special Correspondent)

Know your Fort

better

� By

A Special

Correspondent

You can safely trust our po-litical outfits to be innova-

tive when it comes to circum-venting the law. With the ad-ministration being forced by theHigh Court to come downheavily on the erection of ban-ners and cutouts, the partiesneeded some other method ofcornering public spaces. The re-cent summer has seen a spate ofpolitically sponsored water-dis-pensing facilities, all of themhogging the few remaining pub-lic footpaths and street corners.This is a new menace under thegarb of social service that oughtto be nipped in the bud before itbecomes a bigger issue.

Come to think of it, the re-cent summer was hardly a se-vere one. Moreover, with thepresent dispensation sellingpackaged water at heavilysubsidised rates, where is theneed for these water-dispensingfacilities? And yet they havecome up all over the city. They

are all thatch structures which,incidentally, are not allowed bylaw, after the Kumbakonamschool fire a few years ago. Allof them carry the images of theirfavoured leaders and havebunting strung across the streetthereby menacing two-wheelerriders as well. Songs praising the

leader are played over a publicaddress system every afternoon.There is yet another commonfeature among all of them – notone really dispenses any water.The only sign of such an activ-ity is an empty water dispenserwith not an attendant in sight.And yet, each one of them isdeclared open with much fan-fare, an important party func-

tionary doing the honours.Since when did temporarystructures merit such promi-nence?

The goal, it is clear, is some-thing other than the serving ofwater to the thirsty. That be-comes evident now when sum-mer is on the wane and yetthere is no sign of these pavi-lions being removed. Thesehave in effect become perma-nent structures that are pro-tected by the political hoods ofthe locality with the administra-tion either indifferent or simplyhelpless to do away with them.

Past history will tell us thatthis is exactly the way we ruinedour city by erecting large adver-tisement hoardings. Many wereclassified as temporary, came upon street corners and footpathsand most had political patron-age. When they began growingout of control in terms of

The Central Governmenthas pulled the plug on the

only protection that our city’scoast had – norms governingbuilding in areas that qualify asCoastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)II. According to the existingrules, all construction within500 metres of the sea was disal-lowed. Now, thanks to intenselobbying by the real estate in-dustry and continued represen-tations by the State Govern-ment, this has been relaxed,with a few conditions attached.The builders are jubilant, but asto what it portends for the cityis a matter of concern.

The new regulations appli-cable to Tamil Nadu, AndhraPradesh, Karnataka, Odisha,West Bengal, Maharashtra andGujarat remove all restrictionson CRZ II areas. Mumbai cityand Goa had already lobbiedhard for the change and hadsucceeded in getting the regu-lations affecting them removedin 2011. That gave a fillip to allother coastal states to fight forthe same rights. They will nowbe subject to the same regula-tions as the rest of the city towhich they belong. There willbe no limits on heights of thestructures and these can also

have basement and stilt-basedcar parking facilities. The Gov-ernment has, however, stipu-lated that the floor space index(FSI) for these constructionswill be based on the rules pre-vailing in 1991 – this, it is ar-gued, will be sufficient to pro-tect the areas from rampantover-construction. In addition,all buildings coming up on CRZII areas will have to compulso-rily recycle wastewater.

You only need to lookaround you to speculate onwhat will happen to these areasin a few years. In a city where

(Continued on page 2)

2 MADRAS MUSINGS July 1-15, 2015

Did you yoga on Inter-national Yoga Day,

Chief? You will be happy toknow that The Man from Ma-dras Musings did not, for heyogas on all other days likenobody’s business and so de-cided to give it a miss on thatday of days. Not so several oth-ers whom MMM knows. Andthey all did it in front of cam-eras. Some were of the still va-riety while others moved andby that MMM refers to the in-ability of most people to re-main stationary while twistingtheir untrained bodies intoknots.

The camera apparently wasan integral part of the yoga. Ofcourse, given the prevalentobesity, MMM is rather gladthat those who yoga’d for theday, did so in suitable attire,for the ancients, who were

buildings? Would they bendover backwards to protect di-lapidated but historic struc-tures? Or would they continueas they are – tying themselvesup into bureaucratic knots?The invitation revealed thatnone of the above was beingcontemplated. It was an exhi-bition of yoga as seen in sculp-tures and temple art. MMM didnot visit it. He preferred to lieon his back and let his mindwander. That, in MMM’s view,is the yoga of yogas.

The next day, even asMMM unrolled his yoga mat,he noticed that most of the ar-dent practitioners of the previ-ous day had rolled up theirmats forever. Several were call-ing up their doctors forunknotting themselves fromthe postures they had tried theprevious day. Others com-

SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY

rather fitter, did it in the al-most altogether. Not so for ourbudding Sumo practitioners.Many garments were seen tobe lifting up in postures oftheir own, resulting in menand women having theirembonpoints exposed.

Now, where was MMM be-fore he went midriff gazing?Ah yes, he was talking aboutthe camera. Yes, that wasdeemed necessary becausewithout that, how could allthose in distant Chennai curryfavour with the big boss upnorth? They had themselvesrecorded and the images andmovies were duly uploaded onYouTube in the hope that thegreat leader would in an idlemoment want to see these an-tics. A self-declared sage fromdown South came to our cityto conduct mass breathing ses-sions in an open-air venue forbenefit of an invited audience.His doppelganger rival, whohas a a double double prefixprefix and usually hangs out inIT city flew to Edelweiss coun-try to yoga there. A politicalhopeful who answers to a fairlyjunior army rank put up on theInternet his version of what hespoke of as ‘yoha’ which raiseda number of hahas. In short,much energy was generated,everyone went around chant-ing Om and spoke of worldpeace. And they all did it oncamera.

What intrigued MMM wasan invitation from the Ar-chaeological Survey of India toobserve Yoga Day. Beforeopening the missive, MMMwondered as to how the De-partment proposed to yoga.Would the officials wrap them-selves around the endangered

plained of backache. InMMM’s considered view, theday after International YogaDay ought to be declaredInternational Aches and PainsDay.

Madras Week (again)

‘Tis that time of the year again – what The Man

from Madras Musings terms asDaft Suggestions Fortnight”.This usually comes about im-mediately after the Chief holdsfreth the first of at twopress conferences announcingMadras Week. A whole host of“why don’t you” emails imme-diately crop up, every man andwoman wanting the Chief andimmediate coterie to take up allkinds of impossible tasks. Mindyou, they are all good sugges-tions but pretty nigh impossibleto fulfil and the persons whocome up with them invariablyhave no clue as to how to goabout any of them anyway.

In this connection, MMMwould like to quote verbatimfrom two of the emails received:

“It’s great to hear about theChennai Week. In this mo-ment, We not only think aboutChennai memories,We shouldalso try and restore its valuesand ambience. In this greatmoment we will try to makeour city much greener by plant-ing more trees. As Chennai isthe less polluted among allmetro cities we can make itleast polluted. As I do notknow you might have plannedalready about this. I requestyou to organise an event forplanting trees as a part of theevent. Kindly invite actors likeVivek who had planted 25lakhs trees all over Tamil Nadu

can attract more people to in-volve more in this event.

“Many people like me aremore interested to involve ac-tively for a social and environ-mental cause which willdirectly benefit people andcitys look.. Kindly Consider. Ifeel happy to share my feel toyou, and you can make it lastlong.”

MMM had visions of theChief himself and sundryhangers-on (the lady whowrites the occasional humourcolumn in particular) goingaround arm-in-arm with thefilm actors. At strategic spots,the group would unlink handsand then get down to work –MMM digging, the Chiefplacing the sapling, sundryhangers-on clapping and theactor smiling and bowing asthough he had done all the

hard work. And so on fromsapling to sapling till the 25lakh trees, or whatever thechosen number was, was com-pleted. Come to think of it,why just 25 lakh, why not 376lakh?

The other missive reads:“No other city in India has

heritage and celebration likethis. But do you know thatChennai city is the city withleast green cover in India.What are you celebratingabout? More street side shopsoccupied platform than anyother metro in India. Lessnumber of parks and less num-ber of water bodies.

“Even Maylapore tank issurrounded by illigal platformshops. Traffic is getting worstday by day due to CMDA andCopn poor foresight and plan-ning. Plan sanction is a piece ofpaper with no scantity. Nomalls, store, restatement needto follow rules. I don’t knowwhat you are celebrating about.If you are concerned, plantmore trees and remove garbageon that day, rather than havinga lame photo exhibition andchat forums. Sorry to havebeen blunt, as native of the cityI feel we have to do much morethan talking.”

It takes all kinds to make upthe city, does it not? The pointabout Madras Week is that it iseveryone’s festival. If these let-ter writers and others of theirilk feel something has to be cel-ebrated or changed, it is up tothem to do it. There is nothingto be achieved by sendingemails to Madras Musings com-manding the team to do thingsor whining about matters thatdon’t change.

– MMM

Are they spacemarkers?

CHANGED RULESPOSE A THREAT

(Continued from page 1)

(Continued from page 1)

number and size, and after therewere several accidents leadingto fatalities, civic activists hadto fight the menace, which tookseveral years, culminating in aSupreme Court judgement thatbanned them all. We have hada few hoarding-free years, but acasual glance around the airportarea will show you that they arecoming back in ones and twos,slowly but steadily. The will toimplement the law is alwaysweak in our city.

The same screenplay will beenacted in the case of these ille-gal water-dispensing facilities.Each evening, it is common-place to see several anti-socialelements congregating in thesethatch shelters. From here to aspurt in organised crime is but a

step. When confronted aboutthis, some political leaders haveargued that putting up waterdispensers is an age-old Tamilcustom. They cite the exampleof a prominent temple festivalin Mylapore where such facili-ties come up each year on theday of the event. But what isforgotten is that they are alsoremoved immediately thereaf-ter, which is not the case withthese politically motivatedstalls.

The administration is, in themeanwhile, watching it allwithout any action being con-templated. They are obviouslywaiting for someone to file apublic interest petition which,after following the usual tortu-ous routes, will finally result ina judgement that will necessi-tate taking steps.

FSI is consistently violated, andwhere the enforcement agen-cies prefer to look the otherway, what is the guarantee thatviolations will not take place?What will prevent an area likeMRC Nagar becoming anotherT Nagar? Nothing really. Vio-lations are sadly the norm inChennai’s construction indus-try – a few extra feet of land perbuilding may not amount tomuch individually, but collec-tively it can have very detri-mental effect on the quality oflife. But who is to realise that,especially when there are croresof rupees at stake?

We have in the recent pastcarried a story about how mostof the gated communities andapartment complexes that havecome up in the outskirts of thecity lack water treatmentplants, exploit groundwater andrelease untreated sewage intothe public drains and waterbodies. It is a well-known factthat the Buckingham Canal, nomatter what be its conditionwithin the city, was a pristinestream just outside of it untilthese housing communitiescame up along its side. That the

water body could have shrunkwithin a few years of theseconstructions indicates whathavoc these builders can playwhen they indulge in violationsof all sorts.

Lastly, the tsunami of 2004appears to have receded fromcollective memory. The havocit played on the coastal areasand the subsequent crash indemand for property along thebeach needs to be recalled. Howhas a decade changed all that?Or are we imagining that such adisaster will never occur again?Ten years ago, we hardly hadany coastal constructions andso the loss of life was low. Whatwill be the outcome if highwaves strike densely populatedareas? And if such a tsunami isunlikely, why is the Govern-ment using that bogey forevicting the fisherfolk who arethe original settlers in coastalareas? Is it to make way for thebuilders?

In the meanwhile, hurry upand go and take a look at thebeach. Chances are that it maynot last long and, before youknow it, exclusive villas andhighrise for the rich, and shantytowns for the poor that supportthe services to the former willsoon close it all off.

On oga Day

MADRAS MUSINGS ON THE WEBTo reach out to as many readers as possible who share our keeninterest in Madras that is Chennai, and in response to requests frommany well-wishers – especially from outside Chennai and abroadwho receive their postal copies very late – for an online edition.Madras Musings is now on the web at www. madrasmusings.com

– THE EDITOR

July 1-15, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

Citizens’ green landmarksFurther to Dr. A. Raman’s review of Living

Landmarks of Chennai (MM, June 1st) Iwish to offer two observations.

� The Banyan tree at Theosophicalthe Society

On his second tour of Australia, H.S. Olcott,founder-President of the Theosophical Society(TS), travelled via the Dutch East Indies, stay-ing at the Hotel des Indies in Batavia(Djakarlanow). There, he saw a “monster ban-yan tree”, one of the largest he had ever seen.This impression that he gave in his Old DiaryLeaves made me verify if he had ever seen theBanyan tree in Adyar.

The founders of the TS acquired 28 acrescalled Huddleston Garden and moved in on De-cember 19, 1882.When Annie Besant tookcharge as President soon after H.S. Olcottpassed away in 1907, she acquired several adja-cent properties to increase the holding of theTS to 263 acres and named them as BlavatskyGardens, Olcott Gardens, Besant Gardens,Besant Grove, Alsace Grove and Damodar Gar-dens. The great Banyan tree was discovered onlyafter some time, i.e. after Blavatsky Gardens wasbought, as it was hidden in the deep jungle. Ob-viously neither Olcott nor Blavatsky was awareof the great banyan tree that became a part ofthe TS one day in the future.

Anne Besant gave her lectures titled ‘In thetwilight’ in 1909. It is said that 3000 peoplecongregated beneath the Banyan tree. It washere that she was honoured by Baden Powellwho awarded her the ‘Silver Wolf’, the highestScout honour. She even performed the weddingof the Principal of the Besant TheosophicalCollege beneath the Banyan tree.

Annie Besant died in September 1933 andshortly afterwards G.S. Arundale started theBesant Memorial School at Besant Gardens andDamodar Gardens. The prayer hall itself wasbuilt below a cluster of mango trees, withCudappa slabs laid for students to sit on, cross-legged, and the teachers had cement-slabbed

seating facing the students. Half the classes wereheld below the mango trees of Damodar Gar-dens.

The Diamond Jubilee Convention of the TSwas conducted in 1935 by Arundale at the Ban-yan tree! Similarly, the inauguration of theMaria Montessori training course also tookplace beneath the beautiful tree on a calm De-cember morning in 1940. Rukmini Devi wentone step further by planting a Banyan saplingobtained from the TS tree in the 1950s atKalakshetra and this is now a huge tree, with aprayer hall beneath it.

� The Bo treeI was sorry to learn that the Bo tree (Peepal,

Tamil: Arasu, Ficus religiosa) has been missedout in Living Landmarks of Chennai. It hasaesthetic value. Here is a write-up I did sometime back to promote its leaf – greeting cardswere made out of its leaf.

Emperor Ashoka took a cutting of the SacredBo tree under which Lord Buddha had attainedenlightenment. He planted the sapling in agolden vessel and sent it through his daughterSanghamitra to Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka,where it still remains. Worship at this Bo treehas continued unbroken for 2300 years. In fact,this is the earliest historically documented treeand revered by over half the world’s population.

The tree is also sacred to the Hindus andSikhs. It is looked upon as an incarnation ofVishnu. The tree is also associated with the trin-ity – Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara. It is con-sidered a dwelling place for these three Gods.

The tree is associated with most Shivatemples in South India.

An aqueous extract of the bark shows anti-bacterial activity. The tree has high medicinalvalue.

The decorated Peepal leaf featured here isconsidered a good luck charm. It is often usedas a greeting ‘card’.

K.V.S. Krishnakvskrishna@gmail.com

The Sullivan trail2015 marks three decades of my following the trail of John

Sullivan, the founder of modern Nilgiris.

In June 1985, I set out on the trail after placing a bunch offlowers on the grave of Mrs. Sullivan and his daughter who areburied in St.Stephen’s Church, Ooty. It was followed by a seriesof articles in various dailies and journals.

In 1991, we started a campaign to convert the ruins ofSullivan’s first house in Kannerimukku village, Kotagiri, as amemorial. I petitioned the state and the district administrationseveral times. Exhibitions were oraganised in Chennai and Ootyto build support.

In 2002, as part of the International Year of the Mountains,I led a group of trekkers on the same path that Sullivan took toreach the Nilgiris in 1819. The ‘Discovery of Ooty March’ tookthree days. That same year, Sullivan’s Kannerimukku house wasrebuilt as a heritage building.

In 2004 to mark the 150th death anniversary of Sullivan, wehad a public procession and a meeting in Ooty followed by aphoto exhibition at the British Council, Chennai.

In 2006 we took over the maintenance of the Kannerimukkubungalow and moved the Nilgiri Documentation Centre andthe Nilgiri History Museum into it.

In June 2009, after a search lasting over a decade and aidedby the internet, I located the grave of Sullivan at St. LaurenceChurch, Upton-cum-Chalvey in the UK and went there in Julyto pay our respects on behalf of the people of Nilgiris.

The Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC) and the NilgiriHistory Museum (NHM) have functioned as a fitting tribute toJohn Sullivan from 2006 to 2015 educating visitors from all overIndia and abroad.

In March this year, we handed over the Sullivan Memorialto the district administration to continue its journey in anew avatar, but the NDC and the NHM continue in other pre-mises.

Dharmalingam VenugopalNilgiri Documentation Centre

Kotagiri

Some ideas for Madras Week

� by

Vincent D’Souza

Why am I interested inmusicians who meet on a

terrace in T’Nagar to jam on aweekend and musicians whohead to Bay Leaf to listen tosome retro and classic rockmusic?

I am not looking for talent.I am trying to see how musi-

cians can put their heads to-gether to write songs on ourcity. And then put their handsto the instruments.

Koothu artistes are doing alot of this sort. More so, afterTamil film makers turned tothem for inspiration, ideas andcuration as more and more filmsbase their stories in Kasimeduand Royapuram.

It is that time of the yearwhen a group of us start work-ing on the annual Madras Weekcelebrations – held to celebratethe founding of this city of ours.

August 22 is Madras Dayand our focus is on the August16 to 23 period when we en-courage everybody to host anevent that celebrates Madrasthat is Chennai.

This is perhaps the largest ofits kind of events that is volun-tary, informal and starts fromthe grassroots. That it hasremained so is gratifying.

We are keen to seekout busybodies and communityheads who are not yet in theMadras Week spirit and areeager to kick off their ownevents.

Srividya who works with cityNGOs is enthusiastic aboutplanning a mela at a collegecampus which will star the city’searliest charities – showcasetheir history, the work they doand put on sale anything thatpeople may want to buy or sup-port.

Quizmaster Sumanth Ra-man hopes to curate a ‘BestApp for the City’ contest and iskeen to get one big time ITcompany which will not onlyoffer a few great cash prizes butalso spend on some promos toget all our smart geeks to workfor this contest.

The neighbourhood socialhistories as an idea which hastaken some root in Anna Nagarmay well sprout in Pudupet.People who used to live in the

four streets that make the westzone of this neighbourhood ofEgmore and still carry fondmemories of street cricket,Saint Anthony’s festival,Christmas parties and tiledhouses are eager to put old pic-tures, stories and records to-gether.

So the call is going out to allof you who can curate an eventthat is about your area, yourcommunity, your line of activ-ity – an event that banks on thepast and looks at the future. Anevent that makes Madras whatit is.

I am scheduled to meet aschool HM and some fisherfolkleaders in Royapuram. Tobroach ideas, seek support, cre-ate venue partners...

Meanwhile, we are on FB(Madras Day), and at www.themadrasday.in. Mail us atthemadrasday@gmail.com

* * *

One Madras Week eventcurated was a tour of thechurches in San Thomè. Itwasn’t easy – one of the nunsgave us a mouthful when I led

(Continued on page 4)

Water and sewerage

My article on the introduct-ion of sewerage in Madras

(MM, April 1st) contained abrief reference to FlorenceNightingale. Readers may becurious to know what role sheplayed.

Although she never visitedIndia, she had a good idea of thesituation through friends whohad been to India. WhileCalcutta and Mumbai had gotsewerage in the late 1860s, Ma-dras did not. She was thereforekeen that Madras too should getit.

When Ellis, the Chief Sani-tary Commissioner of Madras,was on a visit to London, shetook him round and familiarisedhim with its drainage system. In1864, she got a Capt. Tullochsent to Madras to prepare a sew-erage plan for the city. The ob-jections of Ellis to Tulloch’splan have been detailed in thearticle. Unfortunately, Ellis diedin 1877. But (according toSriram V.), Florence Nightin-gale lobbied hard with letters to

successive Governors of Madrasand even to the British PrimeMinister. It was only in 1881that the then Viceroy, LordRipon, finally responded to herpleas and ordered that work onsewerage in Madras shouldstart. Thus, the work was com-pleted only two decades later!

It was mentioned in the ar-ticle that Capt. Tulloch had theforesight that sewage shouldnot be put into the city’s water-ways. Nightingale had the fore-sight to say that rainwater andsewage should never be mixed.Sadly, both are still happening.Many citizens have in recenttimes realised the value of har-vesting rainwater to providethem greater water securityand, hopefully, the coming dayswill see widespread practice ofharvesting not only of terracerainwater but also that fallingon the open spaces around theirbuildings which will give themeven more water security andreduced dependence on pipedwater.

Indukanth S. Ragadeisragade@yahoo.com

4 MADRAS MUSINGS July 1-15, 2015 July 1-15, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

The Frenchinfluence

From Madras to Kodai

to look at the stars

Subramania Bharati is one of

the great nationalist poets,

social reformers, writers and

revolutionaries of modern

India. His works were mostly

in Tamil, his mother tongue.

Besides Tamil, he has also

produced some wonderful po-

ems and prose in English.

Bharati was recognised as a

Mahakavi, i.e. Great Poet,

only several years after his

death.

In this article I adopt a step-

by-step chronological ap-

proach to unravel the special

features in his life that

enabled Bharati to emerge as

a Mahakavi.

– J.B.P. More

Subramaniam Subbiah Iyerwas born on December 11,

1882 in Ettayapuram, TinnevellyDistrict. He studied at theEnglish School in Tinnevelly.Recognising Subbiah’s poetictalent, the vidwans of Ettaya-puram conferred upon him thetitle ‘Bharati’ in 1893. The namestuck and he came to be knownas Subramania Bharati.

After his marriage and hisfather’s death, Bharati was sentto Banares for his high schoolstudies. Banares shaped him as anationalist. He also read a lot ofWestern literature there. Of allthe Western poets, Shelley cap-tivated him the most. He did notjust admire Shelley’s poeticalgenius, but also his ideas andfascination for the French Revo-lution and its slogan of ‘Liberté,Equalité and Fraternité’.

Not going on for higher stud-ies, Bharati returned to Ettaya-puram in 1902. In 1904, he pub-lished his first Tamil poemThanimai Irakkam in the Tamiljournal Vivekabhanu in Madurai,edited by Pulavar KandasamyKavirayar. Later that year hejoined the Swadesamitran in Ma-dras as a sub-editor. In the news-paper he was at a vantage pointto reflect upon the various hap-penings in the country and theworld. He repeatedly expressedhis love for his mother countrythrough poems and essays, whichattracted a wide cross-section ofthe Tamil-reading public.Vangamai Vazhiyavay was his firstnationalist poem. In 1907-08, 16of his poems were published un-der the title, Swadesa Gitangal.

Due to differences of opinionwith G. Subramania Iyer, Bharatiquit Swadesamitran in 1906 andjoined a journal called India, thatwas just starting, as its unde-clared editor. Bharati now hadfree rein to become a radical na-tionalist writer and poet. But

hearing that he might be arrestedBharati fled to FrenchPondicherry in September 1908.

In Pondicherry Bharatifamilarised himself with Frenchculture and civilisation. Helearnt the French language. Heread the works produced byFrench revolutionary thinkersand writers, poets and philoso-phers like Voltaire, Victor Hugo,Diderot, Jean Jacques Rousseau,Montesquieu and Proudhon. Hethen restarted India in

Pondicherry, with Liberté,Equalité, Fraternité as the mottothat appeared in its masthead.He became fascinated withFrance and its values whichshaped his thought and writingsin Pondicherry. He consideredthe French nation as the motherof freedom and representativedemocracy.

After Bharati came to Pondi-cherry, in continuation of Swa-desa Gitangal, a second compila-tion titled Janma Bhoomi waspublished in 1909. It contained17 poems. The very next year athird volume of 15 songs, titledMatha Vasagam, saw the light.These songs were essentially au-tobiographical and patriotic innature. In the same year Bha-rati’s philosophical story titledGnanaratham (Chariot of Know-ledge) was published.

Bharati had to wind up hisjournalistic pursuits in 1911 forvarious reasons. It was at thisstage that Bharati opened a newpage in his life. Instead of takingentirely to religion and spiritual-ity, like Aurobindo, his attentionturned more towards social re-form and literature.

In a short story titled ‘AarilOru Pangu’ (One-sixth), writtenin Pondicherry in 1910, Bharaticharged the Hindus with ill-treating the depressed castes,who formed one-sixth of the to-tal Hindu population, and rel-

egating them to downtroddenconditions for a long time. Hestated that what the Hindus haddone to the Pallars and theParayars was being done to them(the Hindus/Indians) by the Brit-ish.

In 1912, another of Bharati’smasterpieces, Panchali Sabatham,saw the light. Its first part waspublished in 1912, while the sec-ond part was released afterBharati’s death. Bharati modifieda part of the Hindu epic Maha-bharata for this work. It demon-strated the slave-like conditionof India and compared theshameful undressing of Draupadito the despoiling of BharathaMata or Mother India of his dayby the British. He accused India’spoliticians and religious leadersof quarrelling and fighting withone another, instead of trying tosave Mother India from theclutches of the Whites.

Though the prime objectiveof Panchali Sabatham was to seekthe liberation of Mother India, ithad other objectives too. One ofthem was the development of theTamils and the Tamil language.This becomes quite apparentthrough his Preface. He says in itthat those who write in ordinaryTamil, with a simple style, whichthe people can appreciate, willgive new life to the Tamil lan-guage. He, however, admittedthat the task was immense and

that his talents were limited andso he wrote in order that othersmight follow his guidance. Healso affirmed that it wasParashakti herself who had in-spired him to work for rejuvenat-ing the Tamil race. He wanted toimplement Tamil everywhereand in everything. He criticisedthe South Indian political lead-ers of his time, who shunnedspeaking in Tamil. He declaredthat only foolish people believedthat Tamil would die and allIndian languages would bereplaced by English. He was infavour of Tamil as the mediumof instruction in schools andcolleges. He once wrote, “If theeffulgence of Tamil does notspread in the whole world,change my name.”

Yet, he was fluent in Englishand Sanskrit. Even before 1910,he had translated from Sanskritparts of the Vedas and Upani-shads and the Yoga Sutras ofPatanjali into Tamil. All thisshows that Bharati was ex-tremely well versed in Sanskrittoo. He never stood for the puri-fication of Tamil as attempted byMaraimalai Adigal; he was forthe enrichment of Tamil throughSanskrit.

* This article is based on J.R.P. More’s

book Puducheri Valartha Bharathiar, pub-

lished by Leon Prouchandy Memorial

Sangam, Pondicherry, in 2011.

(To be concluded)

� It has been about 115 years

since the establishment of

Kodaikanal Observatory as an

extension of the original

Madras Observatory, which

has evolved into the present

Indian Institute of Astrophy-

sics in Bangalore. It is also the

first mountain observatory in

India. Charles Michie Smith

was the man who selected the

site, established the observa-

tory and directed it for the

first 12 years. He was also the

man who recruited John

Evershed, discoverer of the fa-

mous Evershed effect, and es-

tablished Kodaikanal Observa-

tory as a major centre for so-

lar physics. Michie Smith, the

person, and the establishment

of Kodaikanal Observatory are

looked at here in the context

of the early studies in physi-

cal astronomy (observational

astrophysics) in India.

The Madras Christian College senate in 1880. G. Patterson is sitting on theleft, William Miller (Principal) in the centre and Charles Cooper on the right.Standing (from left to right) are A. Alexander, G.M. Rae and Michie Smith.

� by

N. Kameswara Rao, A. Vagiswari and

Christina Birdie

The man who selected thesite, established and equip-

ped the Kodaikanal Observatoryin 1899 in the face of major diffi-culties was Charles MichieSmith, a Professor of Physics atMadras Christian College, whoslowly got lured into astronomyand became the Government as-tronomer at Madras Observatoryfirst and then the founder-Direc-tor of Kodaikanal Observatorylater. (Even after retirementfrom the Observatory he contin-ued to live in Kodaikanal wherehe died and was buried there.)

The foundation for what hedid was laid in a letter dated May15, 1882 addressed to the ChiefSecretary of the Government ofFort St. George by NormanPogson, the Government As-tronomer, who states, “I have thehonour to supplement one veryimportant suggestion ... upon thedesirability of establishing abranch observatory, equippedwith a large modern equatorialtelescope at a hill station inSouth India.

“I strongly urge that a largenew telescope should be orderedwith as little delay as possible, tobe placed at a hill-station, as farabove sea level as convenient;but whether the Nilgiris or thePalani Hills would be best suitedfor the purpose, I am not yet pre-pared to advise...”

Pogson’s proposal was en-dorsed by the Governor in March1883. “His Excellency believes...it would be in the interests of sci-ence to equip such an observa-tory as is indicated. No officercould probably be found betterqualified to start a new stationthan Mr Pogson.” The Astrono-mer Royal, W.H.M. Christie,meanwhile, advised, “That theestablishment of a branch obser-vatory on the Pulney Hills in theMadurai district, seven thousandfeet above sea level, would be thebest for spectroscopic re-searches...’

The Governor requestedMichie Smith, “a gentleman ofconsiderable scientific attain-ments”, who was a Professor ofPhysics at Madras Christian Col-lege, also trained in practical as-tronomy and well acquaintedwith Pogson and the Madras Ob-servatory, to undertake the sitesurvey in Palani hills for a propersite for the observatory.

* * *

Charles Michie Smith wasborn in Aberdeenshire, Scot-land, to a minister of the FreeChurch and his wife. Charlie toall, he had to follow two brilliantelder brothers and inherited thelegacy of being compared, unfor-

got a B Sc degree in engineering.After working in the Carib-

bean laying submarine cables, hegot an appointment from theFree Church Foreign MissionsCommittee, Scotland, as a Pro-fessor of Mathematics and Phys-ics at Madras Christian College(MCC).

Smith arrived in India in early1877 at the age of 22 to take upthe job at MCC. “Life in Indiaappeared to suit him eminently.He threw himself vigorously intohis work both at College andUniversity. He started the Chris-tian College Magazine and con-tributed articles on a variety ofscience subjects ranging from de-velopment of practical electric-ity, meteors, volcanic eruptions,zodiacal light and even the de-velopments at Madras Observa-tory. He took much interest inphysical training of youth in thePresidency. He became the jointsecretary to the Madras PhysicalTraining and Field Games Asso-ciation which tried to encourageathletics in schools and colleges.He was secretary to the MadrasLiterary Society for a number ofyears. He was a member andPresident for several years of theFriends-in-Need Society. Hetook up responsibilities as a Fel-low and, later, member of theSyndicate of Madras Universityfor several years. He was from thestart popular with the students.

All this was done while hecontinued his own researches onmeteorology and astronomy. Heparticipated in the activities ofthe Madras Observatory and wasa great help to his friend NormanPogson. He regularly communi-cated his researches to the Pro-ceedings of the Royal Society ofEdinburgh.

Because of his researches inmeteorology and astronomy, theGovernor considered MichieSmith “a gentleman of consider-able scientific attainments” andinvited him to conduct site sur-vey in Palani hills for the branchobservatory.

Smith conducted his site sur-veys for a hill observatory in twoinstalments covering the periodMay to July 1883 in the Palanihills and January 1885 in Dodda-betta and its surroundings (theNilgiris). His conclusions werethat the site in Kodaikanal, onthe western side, at a height of7700 feet above sea level, withuninterrupted view of the hori-zons, was eminently suitable fora hill observatory.

The Governor urged verystrongly the advisability ofestablishing a branch observa-tory in these hills, “where a largeportion of clear nights may be

tunately, with them, particularlyby his father. The middle nameMichie in Charlie’s name comesfrom his paternal grandmother.Charlie was the most practical ofall the children and had a specialinterest in both woodwork andastronomy. His sister writes thateven as a boy he had a workshopin a secluded corner of the gar-den equipped with a large workbench and a huge assortment oftools on which he had spent allhis pocket money, of course,thoroughly disapproved by his fa-ther. His other interest was pho-tography. He was taught at homeby his father till he went to Uni-versity. He suffered from hisfather’s ire through being a poorclassical scholar, though brilliantat Maths, which “…at times dis-tinctly strained the relationshipbetween father and son so thathe was pleased to leave home forKing’s College in Aberdeen” in1870. After graduating, with anMA at Aberdeen, Charlie wentto Edinburgh to continue hisscientific studies and ultimately

Charles Michie Smith.

confidently reckoned on duringthe year and where, owing to theabsence of dust and haze, theconditions are most favourable.”

Meanwhile, Pogson becameill in June 1891 and was diag-nosed as suffering from virulentcancer in the liver. His commit-ment to astronomy was such thathe immediately tried to put hisaffairs in order and even wrote aletter to the Government abouthis possible successor. The letterstated, “The individual who ismost intimately acquainted withthe details and (steps) of my(past) labours in the Madras Ob-servatory is Professor C. MichieSmith, B Sc. He is a Fellow of theRoyal Astronomical Society and

of the Royal Society ofEdinburgh and has for severalyears past been entrusted by theRoyal Society of London with alarge and valuable spectroscopefor researches on the Zodiacallight. I may add that he has un-dergone a course of training inPractical Astronomy under Dr.Copeland, Astronomer Royal ofScotland. I would therefore ur-gently advise and solicit as mydying wish that the said Profes-sor C. Michie Smith might be ap-pointed my successor as I amconvinced that this alone willensure my unfinished workswould be completed as closely aspossible as if I had lived to finishthem myself....”

Pogson died on June 23, 1891,and the Madras Government ap-pointed to the vacancy thus cre-ated “Mr C. Michie Smith, B.Sc.,F.R.A.S., F.R.S. EDIN. asofficiatory Government As-tronomer. By August 5, 1892Michie Smith completed furtherinvestigations of the two pro-spective sites for the hill obser-vatory and submitted a report forthe third time regarding theirrelative merits. The report wasconsidered by both the SolarPhysics Committee and the In-dian Observatories Committee.

The Indian ObservatoriesCommittee, chaired by LordKelvin, resolved in October 1892that the “Committee highly ap-proves of the proposal to estab-lish an Imperial Observatory forIndia on a site to be chosen in thehighlands of Southern India” andalso that “the Committee, frompersonal knowledge of Mr.Smith’s ability and attainments,are of opinion that he would be avery suitable Superintendent ofthe proposed Solar Physics Sec-tion of the Imperial Indian Ob-servatory.” The Madras Govern-ment agreed to hand over the ob-servatory to the Government ofIndia and expressed a strongfavourable opinion about Michie

Smith, stating that “he was by hisspecial scientific attainments andknowledge of the conditions ofscientific work of India, pecu-liarly fitted for the appointmentof Director of the Solar PhysicsObservatory.”

Finally, the Secretary of Statefor India in a letter dated August31, 1893 to the Governor-General of India stated that afterreceiving endorsements from theIndian Observatories Committeethrough the Astronomer Royal’sletter and the Solar PhysicsCommittee through the letterfrom its secretary, on the pro-posal of establishing on a smallscale a new observatory atKodaikanal in the Palani hills(under the Direction of MichieSmith), “I sanction your propos-als, which involve an initial out-lay of Rs 25,000 and yearly in-crease of Rs 1689.” The controlof the Madras Observatory andthe funds connected with it weretransferred to the Governmentof India from April 1, 1894, plac-ing the organisation and man-agement of the new Solar Phys-ics Observatory under the Me-teorological Reporter of the Gov-ernment of India. – (Courtesy:Current Science)

(To be concluded)

Some ideas about Madras Week(Continued from page 3)

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the group into this 16th Century,Portuguese-built church.

Walks and tours are a greatway to explore neighbourhoods.And I am happy that manyyoung, enterprising peopleare curating tours during week-ends.

One group is of passionatephotographers, another loves tocycle and a third is made up offoodies while there is one onTamil heritage.

Recently, the Chennai FoodWalks group explored eatingjoints in Mylapore. They touch-ed Rayars and Kalathi togorge on steaming idli-vada anddrink ice-cold rosemilk, but itscurator, Sridhar Venkataraman,tells me a few new eateries, ‘hot’for food, have been included inthe group’s Walk list.

This group has done Sowcar-pet and Purasai, Triplicane andMambalam. And there could bemore to come – Anna Nagar and

Subramania Bharati.

Bharati’s house in Pondicherry.

Perambur, Tambaram and Mir-sahibpet.

But this can happen only ifresidents of the area share infor-mation, help do a recce or be theleader of the pack.

Walks can be educative andfun.

Can someone curate a shop-ping tour of Pondy Bazzar? Forbindis and saree falls, glassbangles and soft toys. Or, withthe D’Monte Colony film ticklingpeople, a Haunted Spaces tour?(Courtesy: Mylapore Times)

6 MADRAS MUSINGS July 1-15, 2015

TWO PAGES OFmy nativeMadras

This is my own,

“I was born in Madras

and have lived in this

most congenial of me-

tropolises – this unhur-

ried, cultured, mature,

no-frills, surprisingly

green, and progressive

city by the sea – for all

but three years of my

life. I would not, of my

free will, live anywhere

else in India or the

world.”– N. Ram

in the Foreword toA Madras Miscellany

by S. Muthiah

� by

Sheela Sree Kumar

I share the sentiments of N.Ram. I too would not, of my

free will, live anywhere else inthe world. Madras was my homefor the first 25 years of my life.Marriage, my career, children,their education and their futurehave all made me a wanderer onforeign sands. But within mebeats a Madrasi heart which is atpeace only when I am back inthe enveloping embrace of thecity at regular, frequent inter-vals. In one of my recent visits toMadras, I picked up A MadrasMiscellany by S. Muthiah andleafing through the pages I amexperiencing an overpoweringrush of nostalgia for all thosedays, months and years spent inthe lap of this great city.

I have had a successful careeras an architect in Bahrain andam currently an academic,teaching Management in a uni-versity in Sydney. But if some-one were to ask me what hasbeen the most satisfying achieve-ment in my life, I would defi-nitely pick the sporadic journal-istic endeavours which I haveengaged in over the years in Ma-dras, ‘The Gulf’ and Sydney. Allof this has been inspired by aspur of the moment’s decision toenrol in a Diploma in Journalismcourse at the Bharatiya VidyaBhavan, Madras, many, manyyears ago... and the tutelage ofS. Muthiah and VPV Rajan,then the editor of The Mail.

What do I miss most living ina foreign country? I havebrushed the question away withstock answers – the food, ofcourse; having servants to do thehousework; my family, myfriends. These answers are nolonger valid – every type ofIndian grocery is available in

Sydney and in fact a largervariety as we get merchandisefrom many cities in India; almostevery suburb boasts of an Indianrestaurant; I get cleaners tocome in on a regular basis; fam-ily and friends are frequent visi-tors, and technology has eradi-cated distances. So what in real-ity do I miss about Madras?

Is it the city or the past? Theline seems blurred as I notedown the images that float infront of my eyes...

One of my earliest memoriesis of me as a very young childwetting my hands in the waterthat flowed from the tap. I wouldthen tap a small amount ofGopal palpodi (tooth powder)into the cupped palm of my lefthand. Dipping my right forefin-ger into the powder, I would pro-ceed to clean my teeth examin-ing my pink teeth in the mirrorhanging on the wall mottled byblack spots where the coatinghad been eaten up... as I writethis, the tantalising taste ofGopal palpodi fills my being and Itell myself that when I am in Ma-dras next I should investigatethe history of the company – didthey adapt and move into thetoothpaste world or were theymade extinct by the toothpastecompanies?

Movies were (and still are)my passion. Living in Mylapore,my earliest memories are of ourfavourite haunts (more out ofconvenience than choice),‘Kamadhenu’ in Luz and ‘Kapali’in Mandaivalli. I believe both donot exist any more, taken overby real estate developers. Theticket price which seemed a bigamount those days was a mereRs. 2.50. It would get us the bestseats in the house. But even thebest seats could not keep out thestrong stench of urine whichwould hang inside the hall. A

very innovative elder sister cameup with a strategy – she wouldbuy a whole bunch of mallippoo(jasmine flower strands) whichshe would distribute to all of us.We would all hold the flowersunder our noses while watchingSivaji emote and MGR vanquishthe baddies. Subsequently, withthe Safires and Shanthis andAnands on Mount Road, ourventures expanded into betterquality cinema experiences lead-ing all the way to Kamal Haasan,Rajinikanth and K. Balachanderdays. Watching Sound of Music,My Fair Lady, Lawrence of Arabiaand Gone with the wind in thesestate-of-the-art cinemas was anout of the world experience. Ican vividly recall the entire cin-ema filled with the scent of flow-ers as Omar Sharif threw the gar-land towards Peter O’Toole withthe words ‘Flowers for the vic-tor’!

Eating out was a weekly ex-travagance with my father untilhe died when I was twelve yearsold. We would walk to Luz fromour house in Mylapore to do ourvegetable and other shopping,and this had become a ritual,walk into the restaurant ‘ShantiVihar’ on Kutchery Road wherehe would buy me an ice creamand watch me eat it with relish.It had never occurred to me toquestion why he did not eat any-thing himself – I treated it as mybirthright, but looking back, thepatriarch of a large family hadobviously been economising andI am filled with shame that I hadbeen so inconsiderate.

Reminiscing about the pastand about life in Madras will notbe complete without referring toour shopping trips to Nalli Silksand Children’s Corner in Luz,Colombo Stores on KutcheryRoad and the hours of matchingblouses to sarees at Rani Cut-piece Centre. Over the years weremained loyal to Luz shoppingcentre but the city had changedso much that we were compelledto do most of our shopping inT.Nagar. But our family still fol-lows a tradition – the first sareefor any wedding in the family hasto be bought from Nalli Silks inLuz! The owner would rever-ently place the saree we pur-chased in front of the deity in theshop and hand it over to us aftera small prayer.

Living in the proximity ofKapaleeswarar temple erased theShiva-Vishnu divide for ourfamily as we went there often topray in spite of having Krishna-swamy as our surname and Balajias our family deity. From our

open terrace, where we oftenslept on humid nights, we werewoken up in the wee hours dur-ing the month of Margazhi to thestrains of the songs belting outof the loudspeaker. Covering ourears with the pillows and softlycursing the loud music we wouldtry to go back to sleep and even-tually did as we got used to theearly morning intrusion into ourslumber. I would give anythingin the world now to own and livein a home in Mylapore with anopen terrace from which I cancatch a glimpse of the templegopuram and hear the Margazhimatham songs as the night slowlyrecedes and the sun’s rays wakeup the city.

We later moved into an oldrented house on Edward Elliot’sRoad (subsequently called Dr.Radhakrishnan Salai) where welived for many years and thosewere among the best years in mylife. I am proud to say that I hadneighbours who have subse-quently become very famous –Parasaran, Senior, and Mohan

Parasaran (he was a small boythen), the father and son duowho both became Advocate-Generals. Mrs. Parasaran (orSaroja mami as we called her)reflected the life of the smallcommunity we lived in (madepossible by the fact that ourstreet ended in a dead end witha wall separating us from JudgeJambulinga Mudaliar Street).Her house was the first one toget a television and I rememberhow all of us would flock to herplace to watch the weekly epi-sode on Ramayana. Saroja mamiand her daughter Rangam wouldspread mats on the floor for allof us and, best of all serveprasadam during the interval!She was such a generous womanwith an incredible sense ofhumour – her best joke was herclaim that her husband won allthe court cases because the op-position could not understandwhat he was saying as he spokeso fast! She left the world a fewyears ago but her smile display-ing her ‘vetthalai’ stained teethis still fresh in my memory.

Other neighbours who arenow well known are UshaRamanathan who has carved aniche for herself as a HumanRights activist and lawyer basedin Delhi, and her sister SharadaRamanathan who has made aforay into the world of films withher debut directorial ventureSringaram and now her docu-mentary on Indian classicaldance Natyanubhav. Another fa-mous neighbour was the dancerChandralekha though at the

time we were not aware of herfame or prowess. Sadly I have toadmit that the closed middle-class thinking of those days ledto a feeling of uneasinessamongst the rest of us as we didnot comprehend the bourgeoislifestyle she led with manypeople moving in and out of herhouse. She was very much a re-cluse and did not have much todo with the others living on thesame street.

My middle-class background,and living in a fairly conservativefamily, resulted in two challeng-ing experiences in my life in Ma-dras. The first, when I was still inschool (Rosary Matriculation) Ihad participated in an inter-school science competition. Iwon the second prize and myclassmate won the third prize.Her father escorted us to theAwards ceremony which was ata posh venue – not very sure, butmay have been the GymkhanaClub. There I met a German girlwho was the recipient of the firstprize and she was the first for-eigner I had met in my life (if Idiscount the Italian MotherTeresa Xavier whom I had seenonly in her nun’s garments atschool). I was all excited andscared and I can still relive theexperience when delicious look-ing food was served on the platein front of me and I struggledwith my fork and knife. When Icame back home late at nightand had everyone giggle whenmy mother would heat up foodfor me. The second episode oc-curred when I was invited to at-tend a Lion’s Club meeting to re-ceive my award as the best IVyear student from the School ofArchitecture – though more ma-ture and worldly, the trepidationwas still there to be amongst allthose successful businessmenand I think of the experienceevery time I attend a Lion’s Clubmeeting of which I am a membernow.

Times and outlook havechanged. Forks and knives arenot alien any more. Unlike N.Ram, I cannot claim the privi-lege of having lived in Madras allmy life. But I have those precious25 years. No one can take thoseyears away from me. Randomthoughts pour in, evoking im-ages, scents, voices, faces andemotions from the past – a pastwhich definitely holds some ofthe best years of my life.

Breathes there the man with soulso dead

Who never to himself hath said,This is my own, my native land!Whose heart hath ne’er within him

burned,As home his footsteps he hath

turnedFrom wandering on a foreign

strand!

– Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

READABILITY PLEASE

Dear Readers,As letters from readersincrease, we are receivingmore and more handwritten letters, many ofthem in a hand so small andillegible or large and scraw-led as to be unreadable.Often this leads to ourdiscarding a letter, parti-cularly if some part of it isunreadable. If you wish us toconsider your letter forpublication, please type itwith enough space betweenlines or write it using amedium hand, clearlydotting the ‘i-s’ and crossingthe ‘t-s’.

Many readers also try to fillevery square centimetre of apostcard space, makingreading or editing impos-sible. Please help us to con-sider your letters morefavourably by making themmore legible for us.

– THE EDITOR

July 1-15, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

NOSTALGIA

Two not out of

steam● Steam engines havealways caught the imagi-nation of the young andold alike. These locomoti-ves were so awe-inspiringthat their sheer presencemade the drivers stars intheir own right. The en-gine driver was revered ashe was the interface be-tween the passengers andthe organisation. Old tim-ers along the Tiruchirap-palli-Villupuram stretchstill vividly remember twosuch drivers, Gerard Van-haltren (72) and RudolphJeremiah (73), superstarsof Southern Railway’sTiruchi division for almost35 years.

Tall and lanky Gerard Van-haltren, a descendant of

Dutch immigrants who came toIndia in the 18th Century andmade Nagapattinam in TamilNadu their home, joined theRailways as part of his family tra-dition. His grandfather, Aliek,was the driver of a Mail train inTiruchi division, while fatherAlfred was a master technicianat Tiruchi’s Golden Rock Work-shop. “That was the tradition. Ifyou were born in a Railwaycolony, you joined the Railwaysas a fish takes to water. It was anunwritten rule,” reminiscesVanhaltren, now leading a re-tired life at Crawford Colony inTiruchi.

Once he completed school-ing, Vanhaltren appeared for theRailway Service CommissionExamination. “I was appointedas apprentice Fireman in Sep-tember 1963 when I was nine-teen. The training was reallytough. You needed to be physi-cally and mentally fit to undergothe gruelling schedules. But theyhelped me develop my will-power,” narrates Vanhaltren.

He was promoted as shuntingdriver in 1968, underwent ad-vanced training in diesel locoo-motives and successfully com-pleted the tough LM-16 (LocoMechanism) programme. “Onlya hardy man could become asteam locomotive driver. Theselocos were open on all sides andyou were exposed to the ele-ments of nature; the scorchingsun of the summer or the heavydownpours of the monsoon. Youhad to monitor all kinds of pa-rameters while operating thesteam locos – the water level inthe boiler, the quantity of coalwhich had to be shoveled intothe firebox, the speed of thetrain, signals and, of course, the

(By Kumar Chellappan)

gradients. It was thrilling be-cause you had to think on yourfeet all the time and find solu-tions midway. You had to be anall-purpose man,” recalls Van-haltren, his skin still tanned bythe heated furnance. “I can feelthe coal dust in my mouth. Andmy lungs still have some sootycarbon content”, he adds.

Steam loco drivers turn roughand tough because of the natureof the job and the temperatureinside the engine. “There was noroom for bantering and solilo-quies while on duty. When wenegotiated curves and gradients,our minds had to be at theirsharpest and work in sync with

the engine. An eye on the waterlevel, another eye on the quan-tity of coal and both eyes on thesignal towers... That’s how steamloco drivers worked,” he relates.

Vanhaltren did not have asingle accident in his 38-year ca-reer. “But there were occsionalfailures due to other factors.Once I was hauling a 1,000tonne train on the Villupuram-Tiruchi route, known for itssteep gradients. It was raining allthe way from Villupuram. Wehave to maintain a particularlevel of water in the boiler. Anyincrease or decrease in the levelswould melt the lead plugs whichprovide the heat to boil the wa-ter. We crossed Virudachalam at10 in the night. The rainfall in-creased as we moved forward.The entire coal stock in the ten-der box got soaked. Once therequired quantity of coal couldnot be fed to the fire box, thepressure started dropping. Thisresulted in the lowering of waterlevel, fall in pressure and steam.The lead plug melted and thetrain came to a halt at the top of

the gradient. Meanwhile, theRockfort Express for Chennaileft Tiruchi at 10 p.m. and wason its way. The route was yet tobe doubled. There was no way tocommunicate with the guard orwith the nearest station,” re-counts Vanhaltren.

All of a sudden the trainstarted moving back because ofloss in pressure. Since there wasno pressure, the brakes too couldnot be applied. But the traincame to a halt as the momentumslowed and Vanhaltren took tohis legs and made it to the near-est railway station. “Luckily forus, the station master of one ofthe halts which we were sup-posed to cross after Virudacha-lam noticed the delay in our ar-

rival and alerted all the neareststations. The Rockfort Expresswas blocked at one of these.Normalcy could be restored onlyafter the arrival of a relief enginefrom Virudachalam,” he says.

Petharaj, a former stationmaster, who was an ardent fanof Vanhaltren, remembers theincident with mixed feelings. “Itwas Ger’s (as Vanhaltren iscalled by friends) presence ofmind which saved the day. hisdevotion and dedication couldbe seen by the speed with whichhe made to the nearest stationin the rain as there were no mod-ern communication facilities.”

The station master also re-members how daily commuterswould ask him who was the en-gine driver for the day. “Themoment I mentioned Vanhal-tren, they would nod their headsin appreciation ‘Today we will beon time,’ they used to say.”

Amalraj, a retired electricianof the Southern Railway, who isan avid buff of steam locomo-tives, explains the reason behindthe expertise of Vanhaltren. “He

had magic fingers. The smooth-ness with which he brought theengine to life and gently took itforward was something to be ex-perienced. There was no jerk orjolt and the ride was a smoothaffair. Whether it was steam lo-cos or diesel engines, Vanhaltrenmade a big differnece,” certifiesAmalraj. And the man himselfsays of his art, “I treated the en-gine like a human, tender andsoft.”

* * *Life has not changed much

for Rudolph Jeremiah who badefarewell to Indian Railways in2000 after working for 28 yearsas a steam loco driver beforeswitching to diesel engines.What is unique about Jeremiahis the kind of passengers who hadboarded trains hauled by him.Jeremiah was in command of thePrime Minister’s Special Trainwhich took Jawaharlal Nehrufrom Villupuram to Neyveli forthe commissioning of its thermalpower plant in 1963.

Jeremiah, who joined theRailways as an apprentice fire-man in 1962, followed the foot-steps of his father Frederick whowas a special engine driver withthe Railways.

An engine driver’s job wasdemanding, says Jeremigh. “Af-ter 12 hours of hard work in asteam loco, all that you want is abath and sleep. You wake up allrefreshed and energised for an-other grilling schedule,” he adds.Like Vanhaltren, Jeremiah tooalmost had a soul connect withhis engine. “The moment I en-tered my cabin, I would go into atrance. Nothing else crept intomy mind. I became a part of theengine as much as the enginebecame a part of me,” he relates.

Balasubramanian, his col-league and a shunting driver inTiruchi, describes Jeremiah as atroubleshooter par excellence.“He used to attend to even ma-jor faults and repair works in theengine all by himself. I remem-ber an incident which happened

at Mayiladuthurai. We wereabout to leave for Tiruchi whenthe Piston Gland Packing(PGP), which prevents thesteam from escaping from theboiler, collapsed. ThoughJeremiah approached the main-tenance staff for help, they askedhim to wait as they were attend-ing to another job. So he tink-ered with some instruments andgot a new PGP ready in minutes.

“The train left the station ontime and reached Tiruchi as perschedule. Had we waited for themaintenance staff to attend tothe fault, we would have beendelayed by at least three hours,”recalls Balasubramanian.

Jeremiah, who has a passionfor all kinds of electrical andmechanical instruments andgadgets, says he was honoured bythe authorities the next day inTiruchi. But the senior engineertold him, “We know yourpassion for punctuality anddiscipline and at times you mayhave to make some compro-mises.”

Like Vanhaltren, Jeremiahtoo was very much in demand.“When passengers saw me, theywould raise the thumb of theright hand as a sign of acknow-ledgment. Trains hauled by menever lost a single minute duringrunning hours,” remembers Jere-miah.

He regrets that the Railwayshas completely phased out steamengines from service. “I canunderstand they are not eco-friendly. But the steam locos arethe one and only link we havewith the earlier days of thepioneers. We could have main-tained them in museums andhave short runs for visitors as apiece of living heritage,” hesuggests.

These days, he and Vanhal-tren keep memories alive bywalking to the TiruchirappalliRailway Junction museum tolook at the exhibits and re-livetheir past. (Courtesy: Anglos inthe Wind)

Gerard Vanhaltren ...

... and Rudolph Jeremiah, both remembering the past.

8 MADRAS MUSINGS July 1-15, 2015

were given for the construction of a new Fort House“being 110 foot in length and 55 foot in breadth, to bebuilt on the East side of the Fort att 18 foot distancefrom the Godown Wall and att equall distance fromthe North and South Walls.”

The new building was ready by September 1695 and,to quote Love, “there exists satisfactory evidence thatthe middle portion” of the present Secretariat Buildingdates from this construction of 1694. By the 1750s, thisbuilding was referred to as the Great House. Its inter-nal arrangements had remained unchanged for over sixdecades – the bombproof ground floor had offices, thefirst floor had the common dining facility referred to asthe General Table, and the top floor had the Consulta-tion Room and Governor’s Quarters. In 1752, a stormcaused serious damage to the building but it remainedstructurally sound, unlike its predecessor. Testimonyto its strength was further evident when, during theFrench siege of the 1750s, Fort House was an importantpart of the successful defence. Officers and troops oc-cupied the lowest floor and the roof was protected bylaying bales of woollen cloth on it. A couple of shellsdid land on the terrace but no damage was sustained.

In the 1780s, with Governors of Madras by thenhappy to live outside the Fort, the building was appro-priated for several other purposes. A minute in 1782ordered the vacating of all the rooms in the buildingand decreed that the “Assistants in the two SecretariesOffices” would henceforth use these. This marks thebeginning of the Secretariat in this building. In Aprilthe same year, extensive alterations were planned, un-der the supervision of Philip Stowey, Civil Architect. Itbegan, as it invariably does in most heritage structureseven today, with some repairs to the Council Cham-ber. That led to further discoveries of weakness and

the budget was revised first to 6,600 and later to 13,916star pagodas. The work went on for six months and atthe end of it, several features that we now recognise inthe building were in place.

Chief among these is the verandah on the easternside and a corresponding one on the west. The latteralso had two short wings projecting to the west and twonew flights of stairs, also on the western side. The twowings were further extended in 1825 when they pro-jected north and south, bringing the Secretariat build-ing to its present dimensions. By then, the structurewas being referred to as Government Office. The build-ing appears to have remained as it was for the next 90years or so, apart from regular maintenance and repair.It must have been electrified early in the 20th Centuryfor, Mrs. Penny in her book writes that “long after darkthe lights in the Secretariat testify to the diligence ofthe hard-worked Under Secretaries.”

In 1910, a new round of construction began. Ma-dras had had a Legislative Council since 1862 and thishad steadily expanded to include public representationof some sort by the early 1900s. A new Council Cham-ber was required as were offices for Secretarial use. TheSecretariat acquired a second floor. A more importantchange was to the front – for since then it incorporated32 black Charnockite or Pallavaram Gneiss columnsinto its façade.

These pillars, as we saw in the account relating tothe Sea Gate, once formed an ornamental colonnadefrom the sea to the Fort. The space between haddoubled up as a market place and a processional route.In 1746 the French made away with the pillars andthese were returned to Madras in 1762. They were thenerected in front of Fort House and the spaces in be-tween were walled in to make a hall for official enter-tainments. The construction of Goldingham’s splendidBanqueting Hall in 1802 at the instructions of Lord

Clive rendered the old building superfluous and it be-came a godown. In 1910, the then Governor, SirArthur Lawley, recommended that the building be dis-mantled and the best pillars out of the lot be incorpo-rated into the new frontage of the Secretariat. Accord-ing to Rao Sahib C.S. Srinivasachari’s History of the Cityof Madras (1939), a plaque to this effect has been letinto the wall of the Legislative Council (now Assem-bly) Chamber.

The building at present has a dual, or even triple,function. To the east is the magnificent Assemblychamber and to its rear are the secretarial areas. Thetop floor houses the offices of the ministers of the TamilNadu Government. It must be remembered that Ma-dras/Tamil Nadu had a bicameral legislature from 1936to the 1980s. The lower house or the Assembly becamemore powerful over a period of time and, after peregri-nating to various places, eventually came to occupy thechamber of the upper house, or the Council, which bythe 1960s was relegated to “a room by the side of theAssembly.” In the 1980s, the Council was done awaywith and its chamber remains locked up. What is alsoforgotten is that the classic rear façade of the entirebuilding is completely hidden from public view by,secretariat block that was built to the same dimensionsbehind it. If you enter this art-deco/modernist buildingand manage to walk deep into it, you can catch aglimpse of the original rear façade of the Secretariatbuilding. It has survived intact.

What is also surprising is the sheer survival power ofthe Fort House that Higginson built. It has overcomewar, vagaries of weather and a recent attempt at shift-ing the Secretariat and Assembly to Mount Road andcarries on nevertheless. It has within it around 325years of history and that is a record to be proud of.

– Sriram V.

KNOW YOUR FORT BETTERThe rear of the Secretariat as it used to be (left) and the 1950s building (right) that hides it today.

(Continued from page 1)

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