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(Continued on page 3)

� There’s a certain serenity to this scene as priests offer prayers on the beach during the recent once-in-a-lifetime eclipse.(Photograph: Shantanu Krishnan.) (Also see page 2).

Expansion alone won’t reduce congestion

(Continued on page 2)

(by A Special Correspondent)

Why noCentrallargessefor City?

(by The Editor)

Vol. XXVII No. 21 February 16-28, 2018

WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

INSIDE

Short ‘N’ Snappy A mid-air scare� �Annapurna Cafeteria� Pulicat Lagoon� Commuters’ nostalgia�

opment scheme encompassing160 km in Bengaluru, whilstChennai got nothing?Karnataka is shortly to face anAssembly election. The otherbeneficiary has been Mumbai,which has got Rs 10,000 crore.As compared to this, ChennaiMetro got nothing. Is it ourfault that despite the bestopportunities, our politiciansprevented mid-term electionsto the Assembly?

Chennai Metro has beenpleading for a couple of yearsnow that it be permitted to be-gin work on a second phase inits expansion. However, the de-tailed project report (DPR)when submitted to the UnionMinistry for Housing and UrbanAffairs was returned with thecomment that the documentdid not give any justification forthe poor patronage of the Metrodespite it being operational over50 per cent of the proposed45 km network in Phase 1. Atpresent 30,000 people use theMetro each day. The DPR forPhase 1 had apparently esti-mated that the full network of45 km would carry around 7.7lakh passengers a day. The Min-istry has therefore said that thepresent 28 km ought to be ca-tering to 4.5 lakh passengers atthe minimum. With the presentpatronage being less than

A former Union Finance Minister has dubbed the recently pre-sented central budget as nothing but a vote-gathering

exercise. While he may be influenced by political compulsions, thisappears to be a logical inference. How else can we justify awhopping Rs 17,000 crore for a suburban and metro railway devel-

Congestion and its consequences

� The World Health Organisation recommends 10 micro-

grams of Particulate Matter 2.5 (indicator of pollution) in

ambient air. However, in Chennai, it is between 40 and 60

micrograms as against the Respirable Suspended Particu-

late Matter (RSPM) in air that is safe up to 60 micrograms

per cubic metre. Some parts of Chennai have about 120

micrograms. The main reason for high air pollution is the

exhaust from the ever-increasing number of vehicles on the

city roads causing congestion, fuel wastage and high

emission.

� Chennai’s vehicle population has been accelerating

steadily from 6 lakh in 1992, to 13 lakh in 2001 and 36 lakh

in 2012. Chennai has the second largest vehicle population

in the country. Daily, about 1,500 new vehicles hit the roads,

with two-wheelers constituting more than 75 percent of

them. It is predicted that Chennai will soon have twice as

many vehicles as Mumbai. Still, car penetration within cities

in the country is only about 20 per 1000 compared to 90 in

China, indicating a frightening possibility for further growth

unless steps are taken to cope with or discourage such

progression.

� In terms of vehicle density, that is, number of vehicles per

km of road, Chennai tops the list with 2093 against Delhi’s

245. Delhi’s low density is because of its road length.

Compared to 1800 km in Chennai, Delhi has around 30,000

km of road length. Owing to high traffic density, average

bus speed in our city in 2014 was 18 kilometres per hour.

Over the next five years, it is expected to come down to

12 km per hour.

The Government of TamilNadu has acknowledged its

concern over the congestion inMadras and the consequencesof it by, recently, increasing theChennai Metropolitan Areafrom 1,189 sq. km. to 8,878 sq.km. On the face of it, dispersalof settlements over a wider ex-panse is a welcome step. How-ever, unless it is swiftly followedup by time-bound investmentsfor connectivity, affordable mo-bility and decentralisation ofpublic services, there would beno impact on pollution levels.The last redefinition of the areain 1974 has still left outlyinghabitats in the extended area asisolated unserviced “islands”,congestion in the City remain-ing untouched. The contrast ofpopulation density of 7,448 per-sons/sq. km. in outlying areasand 26,903 persons/sq. km. inthe down town area shows thatpeople have not moved out. So,repeating the same mantra ofextending the area is not by it-self going to yield results. Pro-fessor A. Srivathsan of CEPTUniversity (Centre for Environ-mental Planning and Technol-ogy), Ahmadabad, has identi-fied this deficiency and pointed

out that the previouslyextended area should first be in-tegrated before demarcating alarger area.

Apart from giving priority tothe previously extended area toprovide connectivity, affordablemobility and localised publicservices, realising the full poten-tial to rationalise and disciplinetraffic in the City, shouldreceive urgent attention. Inolder cities, there is a limit up towhich widening or building ofmore roads is feasible as a mea-sure to reduce vehicle density.Therefore, innovative usage ofavailable space should be fullyexploited.

To moderate congestion,several cities are experimentingwith new methods. The chaoticcompetition to occupy centralroad space among 2-, 3- and4-wheelers, and slow-movinghand carts, is there for us to seeevery day. Separating 2- and 3-wheelers from 4-wheeled motorvehicles by assigning themexclusive divided lanes is wortha try. Bays for bus stops couldprevent these large obstructionstaking positions right in themiddle of the road as authorised

2 MADRAS MUSINGS February 16-28, 2018

Expansion aloneinsufficient

(Continued from page 1)

SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY

Expiating for an eclipseAnd so the moon went into

eclipse recently. Andwhat a drama people made outof it. The Man from MadrasMusings is no atheist (in fact,he is more of a theist than any-thing else) but he did find thegoings-on stretching the verylimits of credulity.

Mind you, this is not thefirst lunar eclipse that MMMis witnessing. When he wasyoung, MMM has seen peopleoffering prayers at templesduring eclipses as the time wasconsidered particularly holyand it was all done with a cer-tain grace. Not so any longer.Loudspeakers were pressedinto service, temples offereddarshan at special rates, and

of the planets. One questionposed was as to why only thesun and the moon haveeclipses. The answer was thatthese were the only two thathad light of their own. Andthen, while MMM was still di-gesting this pre-Galilean theoryon the skies, the camera cut toa village outside Trichy whereapparently each time there isan eclipse, an iron pestle standserect and remains so until thesun/moon is ejected by Rahu,or maybe Ketu, or may be both.It is a wonder that manufactur-ers of performance-enhancingdrugs have not yet adopted thisplace. The anchor-person in-terviewed several of the villag-ers about this and they allvouched for such a happening.

MMM was busy scoffing whensomeone sent him a longishtract on WhatsApp, which ex-plained in so-called scientificterms why this happened.

The question is, are eclipsescapable of such havoc only inIndia or is it the same in othercountries of the world? Did theQueen of England’s grand-daughter-in-law for instance,who with amazing regularitygets into the ‘family way’ asthey call it here, lock herself in?

Now, Chief, let us sit backand await those letters that willcome in asking us if MMMwould have dared criticise mi-nority community practices.To that MMM has only oneanswer – he is not from a mi-nority community and so doesnot know enough about themto criticise them. Time the ma-jority learnt to laugh at itselfanyway.

VI’P’

Every once in a while, VIPsturn up in this, our

Chennai, from other parts ofthe country and the world. Ifthey have some spare time, TheMan from Madras Musings isasked to meet up with themand throw some light on ourcity’s history and heritage, bothof which, as we all know cando with all the illuminationthey can get, given the way wekeep them under wraps. Andso it was recently. MMM metup with one such VIP for a tourof a particular building. MMM,VIP and entourage were fol-lowing a pre-determined route,when VIP made a detour. Thefollowers decided to follow,whereupon VIP indicated thathe was en route to the restroomaka toilet. That made MMMremember an anecdote oncerelated to him by a top police-woman of our city.

many of the faithful took theopportunity to avail of half-a-day’s leave from office. Nomatter that the moon wentinto eclipse only after the sunhad set. These people wantedtime off to prepare themselvesfor the holy period. It was onthe tip of MMM’s tongue toask some of them if they weregoing to battle Rahu so that hedid not swallow the moon, buthe, MMM, opted to keepquiet. These are orange timesand you never know whensome fringe element sees red.

Many of the photographingvariety went to the beach andother open spaces to take pic-tures of this celestial event.But these numbers werematched by several others whopreferred to stay indoors in or-der to protect themselves fromthe harmful effects of theeclipse. MMM who had al-ways assumed that this was atradition among pregnant In-dian women was surprisedthat a number of men decidedto lock themselves in as well.This fear psychosis was wellfed by numerous godmengoing on and on in the mediaabout how millions ofmicrobes fall dead on us at thistime and if such a disaster hap-pened to them what about ushumans? There was one guru,whose facial hair begins wherehis tresses stop, who spoke atlength on this.

But all of this was nothingcompared to the popular TVchannel that is named afterthe other celestial body thatgoes into eclipse once in sev-eral years. Though at one timeprofessing rational ideals, thismedia house has long come torealise where the money is –namely pandering to blind be-liefs. So they had an interviewwith an astrologer who heldforth at length on the powers

This was when the samelady was a junior in the serviceand was heading the policeforce in a small town in ourState. It was not a place towhich many VIPs came exceptwhen there were electionsafoot. And so it happened thatone of the most charismatic ofleaders arrived in the townwhile on the campaign trail.The itinerary involved him ad-dressing a mammoth meetingand then leading a procession,also mammoth, through thetown. The meeting went offwell and then it was time forthe procession to begin.

Policewoman-in-chargekept track of the progress froma control room and for quite a

while everything went as perschedule. All of a sudden, at aparticular junction, the leaderwent off on a tangent, followedby the entire procession. Topcop was furious and anxious aswell and began asking on thewalkie-talkie (this being thepre-cellphone era) as to whatwas going on. The policemanat the other end, who had tillthen kept up a steady streamof communication, suddenlybecame highly reticent. Hehummed and hawed. This pro-voked top cop even more andshe had to firmly ask the manas to what was going on.

It was then that he cameout with the whole story.Leader had done rather wellfor himself with the soda wa-ter they had supplied at themeeting and this had had itseffect. He had begun askingfor a toilet early on in the pro-cession and his requests hadbecome more and more press-ing as time went along. Leftwith no option, the policemenon duty had decided to takehim on a side route to a hotelbut there was no way thiscould be communicated to thecrowd. And so they had allfollowed him!

However, even as the coprelated this to the lady at theother end, many of the hang-ers-on picked up the story andpassed it on to the rest of thesurging crowd. The leader’scall of nature became publicinformation. As if on cue, sev-eral of the faithful promptlyrelieved themselves on thecompound wall of the hoteland other places nearby.

MMM and his VIP had amore humdrum walkabout incomparison.

–MMM

MADRAS MUSINGS

ON THE WEBTo reach out to as many readers as possible who share

our keen interest in Madras that is Chennai, and in re-

sponse to requests from many well-wishers – espe-

cially from outside Chennai and abroad who receive

their postal copies very late – for an online edition.

Madras Musings is now on the web at www.

madrasmusings.com

– THE EDITOR

bus stops. A narrow, protectedlane on the margin could beearmarked for cyclists backedup by a bicycle sharing system.A good beginning was made in2014 for a bicycle sharing sys-tem. It must be pursued,encouraged and systematised.

Converting regular two-wayroads into one-ways is a short-term measure to achieve trafficdecongestion and is effective upto a level of traffic volumebeyond which only a flyover orequivalent device is needed. Itmust be said, however, that theone-way means of encouragingunidirectional flow is moreefficiently applied in Chennaicompared to Bengaluru.

A bus carrying 60 or so pas-sengers has prior right to roadspace over cars occupyingnearly the same space but car-rying often only one or two pas-sengers. The innovation of theBus Rapid Transit (BRT) sys-tem, encouraged even by theWorld Bank, for large cities ofdeveloping countries, performstwo functions – it disciplinesthe bus to move within thededicated space and recognisesits priority for taking lesser roadspace per passenger. The BRTlooks and behaves like a sub-way, offering high capacityrapid transit without competingwith other vehicles. We do notknow why this method has notbeen tried on some of the City’swide roads.

Chennai city’s bus networkis among the best in the coun-try for its comprehensive cover-age but, in the process, itpenetrates the interior, wherecongested and narrow roadscause traffic snarls that spreadin a ripple effect toneighbouring areas. Cannot thesecondary and tertiary routes bereserved for private-operatedmini-buses or share-auto typesthat are more manoeuvrable?These could operate in allottedzones and can be painted in dif-ferent colours so that they couldbe spotted if they operate in anunauthorised area.

Discouraging car ownership,use of cars on busy roads anduse of roads at peak hours –through congestion pricing as inSingapore – is not such a far-fetched idea as it was a few yearsago, thanks to easily availabletechnology. Many cities havetraffic signals that are automati-cally calibrated to a standardassessment of traffic demand indifferent parts of the day oreven on a real-time basis from acentral command. In the ab-sence of such adjustments, we,as rule-abiding citizens, areoften caught in a mini moral di-lemma – going at 5 am in themorning to airport to wait for 90seconds at a junction for a non-existent traffic or defy it in theabsence of any risk. InSingapore, through these vari-ous methods, car ownership hascome down to 0.18 per capitaand use of public transport hasgone up to 48 per cent.

Most of our sidewalks areunusable, because they are haz-ardous or filthy or taken up forunauthorised uses. If only thesidewalks were safe, attractivelysurfaced, and kept free ofencroachments, they would beused by pedestrians and therecould be freer flow of vehiculartraffic.

Examples of rationalisationhave been cited only to showthere are possibilities at mini-mal cost. Systems becomeuseless unless backed by strictenforcement of traffic rules.Equally important is responsiblecitizenship. The better incomeclasses should not consider itinfra dig to be seen using publictransport. More people adopt-ing mass public transport wouldreduce traffic density, increasespeed of mobility and reducepollution. For this, public trans-port should be clean, efficient,timely and affordable. Inad-equacy or inefficiency of publictransport forces people to resortto individualised unsharedmobility.

Above all, visible demonstra-tion of the government’s con-cern and swiftness of actionwould put citizens’ minds at rest.

February 16-28, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

by

V. RAMNARAYAN

At the Jewish Cemetery in Madras

Your article (MM, February 1st) came out when we were visiting our cemetery on Lloyd’s Road anddiscussing the Jewish presence in Chennai with two BBC journalists, who are doing research on

the Jewish presence in Chennai.My photograph shows the last Jews of Madras (myself and members of the Gershon family, Kerala

Jews who look after the Cemetery) with one of the BBC journalists.The cemetery is now being well-kept.

Davvid Levidavvidlevi@gmail.com

WHY NO LARGESSEFOR CITY?

(Continued from page 1)

10 per cent of what was esti-mated, the Ministry is question-ing the viability of the entireservice.

What follows is even moredamning. The Ministry has saidthat the DPR for Phase 2 is to-tally silent on alternative modesof transport, such as bus andlight rail; it makes no mentionof last mile connectivity; and,above all, there is no thoughtgiven to public private partner-ships. In short, the DPR isprecisely what a group ofbureaucrats seated in an ivorytower must have come up with.It is only with sorrow that we atMadras Musings would like topoint out that these are pre-cisely the lacunae that we havebeen highlighting all along in

the first phase as well.It is all very well to enthusi-

astically burrow under theground, crack up heritage build-ings above, swallow parks andopen spaces and then reportprogress on the distance cov-ered in terms of laying tracks.But public patronage is an alto-gether different exercise. Nothought had been given to itwhen the Mass Rapid TransportSystem (MRTS) was planned,and we are more or less on thesame track when it comes to theMetro. Which is a pity, giventhat the idea is essentially agood one.

As of now therefore, ourMetro is caught in a bind. Lackof funds means its proposedPhase 2 and its planned linkingup with the MRTS are not go-ing to happen any time soon.

Those two are vital for theviability of the service overall.Without them, we are India’scostliest Metro and perhaps thenation’s least used one as well.If matters are left this way, wewill end up having two isolatedand poorly used transport sys-tems – the MRTS and theMetro, both built at enormouscost in terms of money anddamage to environment.

Our political establishmentappears to be blissfully unawareof all this. Not a reaction hasbeen expressed to the virtualcutting off of all central support.May be our MPs need to take aleaf from the books of theircolleagues from Andhra whoare busy protesting outside Par-liament about poor budgetarysupport to their State. Or theycould engineer an election.

Amendments ignored

After the 73th and 74thAmendments to the Con-

stitution, it is mandatory thatelections to the local bodiesfrom Panchayats to Corpora-tion (MM, February 1st, 2018)are held without fail. TamilNadu is the only State thatviolates the Constitutionalobligation. It is a right of citi-zens to have his or her electedrepresentative in these bodies.It is tragic that people are leastconcerned about this sorry stateof affairs. Even after the HighCourt has given directions tothe State Election Commissionto hold the elections, the Com-mission seems to have no inten-tion to act on the direction.

The schedules attached tothe above-mentioned amend-ments have assigned specifictasks to the local bodies. It istragic that Tamil Nadu underboth the Dravidian parties haschosen not to empower thelocal bodies. People are kept farfrom agencies that are to servethem.

S.S. Rajagopalan30, Kamarajar Street

Chennai 600 093

Corporation deterioration

Where is our Corporation(MM February 1st,

2018) is indeed a timely

reminder to all concerned of thevoid in the third tier of the ad-ministration plaguing ChennaiCity. The local body is theessential grassroot organisationthat should ensure the basicneeds of the citizens in theirday-to-day life. It is unfortunatethat the civic body that wasresponsible for the clean envi-ronment remains dormantdespite the prevailing loudnoise of Swachch Bharath.

The schools, health centres,libraries and parks managed bythe Corporation were of im-mense benefit. to the localresidents. There was even effec-tive midwife assistance. Thecorporation also providedentertainment through bandsplaying in the parks.

The politicisation of thelocal bodies is perhaps the rea-son for the deterioration of thestandards of local bodies. Thelandmark Ripon Buildingshould remain a white houseinstead of being tarnished withpolitical colours. The Corpora-tion should be a typical resi-dents’ welfare associationrather than an institutionperforming under a politicalmandate with all the distrac-tions and disruptions resultantto political rivalry.

R.Janakiraman14/16 Gopalapuram Third Sreet

Chennai 600 086

The long wait

Apropos City’s open spacesneeding better use (MM,

Jan 16th), the over eight-acreThiru Vi Ka Park in ShenoyNagar is in danger of being swal-

lowed up by construction afterconstruction.

After it was unceremoni-ously closed in 2011 for theChennai Metro to construct itsunderground rail, its stationand other entry and exit build-ings, there is a new threat — theplans of the CMRL to build a21,000 sq. ft., two-tiered under-ground facility for passengeramenities and parking of ve-hicles. The authorities promisethat after two years the ages-oldpark would be restored.

The restoration is overdue,as the initial agreement was torestore the Park after the Metrowas operational, which hap-pened in May 2017.

T.K. Srinivas Charisrinivaschar@gmail.com

PO nostalgia 1

The mobile post office article(MM, February 1st, 2018)

reminded me that when welived in Edward Elliot’s Road(near City Centre, Dr. Radha-krishnan Salai), we had the op-portunity to go either to Marinaor Luz, both equidistant,depending on the readiness ofthe article and the time tocommute.

The unit was well lit and no-body would fail to notice the

silvery grill windows. Therewould be a scramble who postsfirst and stands first in thequeue for buying postal articles.

I would always pray to go toMarina to catch the mobile unitalong with my father for the ad-ditional attraction of eatingsnacks at Murudi’s cafe mobilevan, and hear the All IndiaRadio from the high mastspeakers.

Those days will never return.

Arumugam P.K.pkarumugham@live.com

* * *

PO nostalgia 2

The article on mobile postoffices (MM, February 1st,

2018) made me wonder howmany young school going chil-dren today have noticed the redpost boxes in their localities andhave used them.

The mobile PO No 1 used tostop in the Marina at the Cor-ner of Pycroft’s Road and BeachRoad on the Beach Road plat-form by the side of the com-pound wall of Presidency Col-lege.

Gp Capt JR ArunachalamVSM (Retd)

62, Jal Vayu ViharMadambakkam

Chennai 600 126

4 MADRAS MUSINGS February 16-28, 2018

Form IV

Madras Musings (Fortnightly)

1. Place of Publication : Chennai (Madras)

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Nationality : Indian

Address : M/s. Lokavani Southern Printers Pvt. Ltd.

No. 122, Greames Road, Chennai 600 006

4. Publisher’s Name : Mr. S. Muthiah for Chennai Heritage

Nationality : Indian

Address : No. 2-F, 1st Cross Street,

Vijayaraghava Road,

T.Nagar, Chennai 600 017

5. Editor’s Name : Mr. S. Muthiah

Nationality : Indian

Address : No. 2-F, 1st Cross Street,

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T.Nagar, Chennai 600 017

Name and address of : Chennai Willingdon Corporate Foundation

shareholders holding (Section 8 Company under the provisions

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capital (share capital of Registered Office:

Chennai Heritage, 9 Cathedral Road, Chennai 600 086

Owner of the Publication)

I hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my

knowledge and belief.

Sd. S. MUTHIAH

(Publisher)

The cafeteriathat offeredalternative

grains

The Tamil Nadu Tourism’s headquarters, now sited where the AnnapurnaCafeteria was.

LOST LANDMARKS OF CHENNAI

– SRIRAM V

Today if someone in the citywas asked to name popular

restaurant chains, he or shewould list Saravana Bhavan,Adyar Ananda Bhavan,Vasantha Bhavan and San-geetha. But forty years ago therewas just one – the AnnapurnaCafeterias. Unlike the oneslisted earlier, this was not acommercial venture. In the truetradition of the socialistic yearsimmediately after Indepen-dence, these were cafeterias runon a not-for-profit basis, withthe sole aim being the sale oftasty, nutritious dishesmade out of non-rationedfoodgrains.

This was not a venture solelyrestricted to Madras or TamilNadu. In fact, the idea camefrom Delhi, to be precise fromLilavati Munshi, wife of K.M.Munshi, top-ranking lawyer,founder of Bharatiya VidyaBhavan and, in the early 1950s,Union Minister for Food andAgriculture. Those were yearsof acute food shortages with thestaple grains of rice and wheatbeing rationed. The Ministerfrequently lamented over the

manner in which Indians ob-sessed over their staple food andwere averse to trying othergrains available in relativeabundance. Mrs. Munshi there-fore came up with a plan tosensitise Indians about theexistence of alternatives – mil-lets in particular, thereby savingon rice and wheat and, in turn,conserving foreign exchangebeing spent on imports. This ledto the birth of the All IndiaWomen’s Central Food Coun-

the bill of fare was reasonablypriced.

The success of the Delhi out-let led to the Council becomingmore ambitious and a chain ofrestaurants, with multiple out-lets in several cities wasplanned. In Madras, the mostdynamic member of the Coun-cil was Mary Clubwala-Jadhavand on her initiative, severalAnnapurna Cafeterias came uphere as well. The then Gover-nor of Madras, Sri Prakasa, wasan ardent admirer of Mrs.Clubwala and he suggestedopening one outlet at the Gov-ernment Estate in Mount Road.Located next to the TriplicanePolice Station on WallajahRoad, it was where the TamilNadu Tourism DevelopmentCorporation building nowstands. This was opened in 1954by Kamini Devi, daughter-in-law of Sri Prakasa and hisofficial hostess.

Annapurna outlets weresubsequently set up in the High

Court premises, the Port Trustand Presidency College. Therefollowed three more, at the In-come Tax Office, WanaparthiPalace, Nungambakkam HighRoad; the Institute of MentalHealth, Kilpauk; and ExpressEstates, Mount Road. Manningthese outlets were members ofthe Guild of Service. This body,set up in 1927 by Mrs. IreneWaller, wife of the then Bishopof Madras, had from 1940 on-wards come under the leader-ship of Mrs Clubwala-Jadhavand had done pioneering workin social service in the whole ofMadras Presidency. Severalwomen of eminence in Madraswere its members and theycame forward to assist at theAnnapurna cafeterias. TheMount Road facility was man-aged by the redoubtable RodaKapadia, the first Indianwoman to get a flying licence.Others who played a key roleincluded Shakuntala Subra-maniam, wife of C. Subra-maniam, Gnanasundarambal,wife of M. Bhaktavatsalam,Sunithi Srinivasa Rao, Mrs.K.S. Sanjeevi, Dr. HannahMabel Sharma, Director, PublicHealth, Government of Ma-dras, Dr. Jayalakshmi Rao, Di-rector of Social Welfare, Ma-dras, and Mrs. R.A. Gopala-swami, wife of the RegistrarGeneral of India and the Chair-man of the Programme Com-mittee of the Family PlanningBoard.

Madras being a State whererice was the principal foodgrain, the Annapurnas here alsobegan popularising wheat. Thismet with some resistance but

had an impact in the long run.It did however allow plenty ofopportunity for jokes in the ver-nacular press, the best one be-ing an Ananda Vikatan cartoonwhere the husband holds up achapatti and asks his wife ifwheat is used for making glue aswell. Many Government officesbegan asking for an Annapurnain their premises. MrsClubwala-Jadhav planned mo-bile counters and self-help fa-cilities. Encouraged by theMadras experience, the chainwas introduced in Maduraiwhere it did well. Courtallamhad an Annapurna during theSeason when tourists flocked toits waterfall. Rajaji, as ChiefMinister of Madras, did his bit –all Government parties werecatered to by Annapurna kitch-ens only. A booklet brought outin 1957 when Mrs Clubwala-Jadhav became Sheriff ofMadras declared that herfavourite food items were rasamand sundal, from the Anna-purna cafeteria.

In the 1950s, Lady Hartog,wife of Sir Philip, the ViceChancellor of Dacca Univer-sity, toured India and was par-ticularly impressed by theAnnapurna chain. She wrotethus:

“The All India Women’s Food

Council formed in 1951 has done

excellent work in popularising

non-cereals, and in opening res-

taurants, under the name of

Annapurna, at which these foods,

appetisingly prepared, are sold at

a very low price. The Food Coun-

cil seems, in fact, to have intro-

duced a new type of cafe into In-

dia, where well-cooked light

meals, cleanly and attractively

served, are obtainable at a very

moderate cost, I saw Annapurna

cafeterias in Madras, in

Hyderabad and in Delhi; they

were crowded and evidently very

popular, I went into the kitchens

also and from start to finish there

is a high standard of cleanliness.

In Madras the daily average atten-

dance in the first year was more

then 5,000, which shows how

much the service is appreciated.

The enterprise and enthusiasm of

the organisers is typical of the

new India.

(from her book – New IndiaPattern, 1955)

The Annapurna chain suf-fered from one serious flaw – itsfinances were never strong andthe Government did not give itany aid. The only concessionwas that the premises fromwhere it functioned were givenfree of cost. But the 1950s and1960s were times when taxationbegan to go through the roofand this hit the chains hard.The flagship outlet in Delhiclosed within a couple of yearsof its inauguration. In Madras,the Express Estate and theIncome Tax Office outlets werethe first to close. The Councilalso ran an Annapurna atAvadi during the Congress Ses-sion there in 1955. Water ranscarce and commercial arrange-ments had to be made and thewhole exercise ended in a loss.The Food Council foundexpansion impossible in theabsence of ready finance. Themobile counter idea of MrsClubwala-Jadhav was madeover to the Guild of Service andbecame its hugely successfulNutrition On Wheels program-me.

By the 1960s, labour troublebegan raising its head. Thekitchen and cleaning staffbegan going on strikes. Withthe women in charge beinginexperienced in handling suchmatters, especially when itinvolved litigation, the closureof the chain became a certainty.By 1968, they had all becomemere memories. But even then,the model was found useful.That year, when the Manda-pam Camp became Govern-ment run and was used forhousing repatriates from SriLanka, an Annapurna cafeteriawas set up there. Today, thesole survivor is an Annapurnain Port Blair.

cil with Mrs. Munshi as VicePresident and Rasbansi Devi,wife of the President of India,Babu Rajendra Prasad, as Presi-dent. The Council set up thefirst Annapurna Cafeteria inDelhi. It was manned chiefly byladies on the Council, all ofthem from the higher echelonsof society and so overheadswere kept low, thereby ensuring

February 16-28, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

Pulicat Lagoonin harm’s wayAlong the east coast of India, five massive wetlands – starting

from Point Calimere (Kodiakkarai) and Pulicat in TamilNadu, the Krishna-Godavari basin in Andhra, Chilika in Odishaand Sundarbans in West Bengal – provide the necessary moisturefor monsoon winds to precipitate. While it may be difficult to com-prehend the intricacies of how monsoons work, one thing is clear –these wetlands need to remain wet for rain clouds to emerge anddevelop. And Pulicat is an integral part of this system.

Straddling the borders of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, thePulicat Lake is essentially a brackish water lagoon, rich in floraland faunal diversity. Spread over 450 sq.km., the lagoon is fed bythree rivers – the Arani, the Swarnamukhi and the Kalangi. ThePulicat Lake’s biodiversity has been celebrated by zoologists and

ecologists alike with researchersrecording 168 species of fish andaround 12 species of prawns inthe lagoon’s brackish waters.The Lake is also a designatedbird sanctuary, to which flamin-gos, pelicans and painted storksflock during the winter months.

The Pulicat Lake’s Tamilname, Pazhaverkadu, literallytranslates to “The forest of therooted fruit,” signifying thepresence of mangroves. Whilebrackish mangrove forests werespotted along the Lake’smudflats until the 18th Cen-tury, only sporadic patches re-main today. One of the moreproductive ecosystems on theeast coast, the lagoon faces seri-ous threats, from rampant pol-lution to indiscriminate recla-mation along its fringes.

Threatened lagoon

While the Ennore thermalpower plant and Kamarajar portlie on the southern extensionsof the lagoon on the TamilNadu side, the Krishnapatnamport and the proposed Durga-rajapatnam port lie perilouslyclose to the lagoon in AndhraPradesh. The Indian Space Re-search Organisation’s (ISRO)Sriharikota High AltitudeRange is located in one of thebarrier islands between PulicatLake and the Bay of Bengal.

Wetlands are enveloped bythe Ministry of Environment,Forests and Climate Change(MoEFCC)-mandated “eco-sensitive zones” (ESZ) designedto act as absorbers of shocks in-duced by infrastructure devel-opment around ecologically-sensitive, protected areas.While the ESZ of the PulicatLake was originally set at 10 kmby the Andhra Pradesh ForestDepartment, it has since beenreduced to 2 km. Conservation-ists argue that the reduction inthe buffer zone is completelyuncalled for and an open invi-tation to ecological disaster inthe area.

The entire Pulicat system,along with the BuckinghamCanal and the Ennore Creek, apart of the lagoon, has been des-ignated as ecologically-sensitiveareas and is placed under theCRZ-1 category of coastal landclassification under the

MoEFCC’s Coastal RegulationZone notification. Setting up ofnew industries and expansion ofexisting ones are not allowed inthis zone. Regardless, theKamarajar port has drawn upexpansion plans, nearly triplingits cargo handling capacity from30 million tonnes to 100 milliontonnes. The thermal powerplants and the port in Ennoredraw water from Ennore Creekfor regular operation and main-tenance. The thermal plantsalso brazenly discard hot waterinto the Creek, harming the fish

unique system of estuarine re-source management where thelagoon is divided into grids andfishermen are granted access tofish in a grid on a rotational ba-sis. Only male members of thetraditional Pattinaver fishingcommunity from four tradi-tional fishing hamlets in thearea are allocated fishinggrounds under the padu system.

grounds and diminishing catchare making them nervous.

The depth varies across thelagoon but there has been a no-ticeable reduction in the aver-age depth of the system – from1.5 metres in the early 20thCentury to less than a metre inmany parts. The Arani and theKalangi Rivers also bring in aconsiderable amount of

fert i l i serresidue asr u n - o f ffrom thefields up-s t r e a m ,pollutingthe lagoonfurther. Itis no sur-prise thatresourcestend todisappearwith thewater.

“ D e -c rea s ingdepth inm a n yparts, es-p e c i a l l ynear the

mouth, has severely affected thewater exchange between thesea and the lagoon. With thelake shallow in most places, fishand prawn are becoming hardto find, not to mention, the dif-ficulty of boatmen manoeuvringtheir craft. The lagoon is soshallow that kattumaram-s(catamarans) graze the bottomin many parts,” Suman states.

When the catch drops, sodoes income. The portion nearthe lagoon’s mouth is the mostprized spot, as prawns movefrom and towards the sea atregular intervals which makes itthe maximum profit grid. Apartfrom the mouth, which is therichest in terms of resources,boats casting their nets in otherparts return home half full.Fishermen around the lagoonearn somewhere around Rs.1,000 – Rs. 1,500 a day for thoseusing fiber boats while men with

kattumaram-s earn as low asRs. 300 to Rs. 500.

Where have all the fishgone?

The integrity of the lagoongets compromised if there is anexcess of either fresh or sea-water; the delicate ecosystemthrives on the perfect balance ofbrackishness where the lifeforms flourish.

Retired Professor of GeologyR. Jagadiswara Rao blames it onthe sandy sediments broughtdown by the rivers upstream.“Due to the vigorous movementof northerly longshore currentscarrying heavy sandy sedimentload discharged by rivers, longsandy shoals are deposited un-der water with sandy pits abovethe water closing the mouths ofrivers and lagoons along thecoast of the Bay of Bengal.Evaporation of stagnant lakewaters makes them hypersalinewith salinity becoming almostthree times that of seawater.This is the single largest factorresponsible for the substantialreduction in the lagoon’saquatic population,” he notes.

Rahul Muralidharan blamespart of the disruption on themassive dredging carried out bythe Port authorities. “Dredgingdisrupts water current move-ment and increases sedimenta-tion. As for portions aroundEnnore creek, the ash and hotwater released from the thermalpower plants massively depletethe oxygen in the estuary, re-sulting in the decline in fishcatch. Sand mining upstream isalso a huge cause for concern.”

One of the most plausibleexplanations for the relativedryness in the northern portionsof the lagoon in AndhraPradesh is the shifting course ofthe Swarnamukhi River. Ear-lier, the Swarnamukhi, whichrises near the Chandragiri hillsin Andhra Pradesh, emptiedinto the Pulicat Lake, and fromthere into the Bay of Bengal.The river’s course has since

Pulicat Lake, once a fisherman’s paradise.

and affecting the local liveli-hoods. Xavier Benedict, whohas been working to restore thenatural and built heritage ofPulicat through the AARDEFoundation, estimates that over46,000 acres of the lagoon hasbeen swallowed by develop-ment over the past few decades.

Another worrying develop-ment is the large number ofaquaculture farms dotting theperiphery of the lagoon. Thefarms release untreated waste-water right into the lagoon aswell as the Buckingham Canal,altering the turbidity and com-position of the water. “Aquac-ulture farms use antibiotics toproduce shrimp which are indis-criminately released into the es-tuary,” points out marine biolo-gist Rahul Muralidharan.

Pulicat Lake is among thefew places in South India wherethe padu system of fishing is stillpractised. The padu system is a

Though the practice is highlycaste-specific, the padu systemis an outstanding example ofregulating the use of, and man-aging, the coastal commons;these regulations ensure thatmembers have equitable accessto fishing grounds while nurtur-ing a sense of collective socialresponsibility.

Suman, a fisherman fromPazhaverkadu’s LighthouseKuppam is a concerned man.Though members of his villagedon’t participate in the padu,the deterioration of the lagoonclose by is hard to miss. Increas-ing bald spots across the lakehave made many fishermen inPulicat uneasy, especially in the30-odd fishing hamlets partiallyor entirely dependent on the la-goon for their daily bread. De-spite motor boats making it pos-sible for fishermen to access agreater area compared to be-fore, dwindling breeding

Thermal power stations harming the Pulicat Lake.

(Continued on page 7)

6 MADRAS MUSINGS February 16-28, 2018

Metro’s ancestor

remembered

Commuters’ nostalgia...

� byN.S. Parthasarathy

Wodehouseon theSuburban

The Chennai Metro takesmy memory back to the

early mass transit system in Ma-dras that is Chennai. Fromtramway to metro, for masstransit, Chennai has come along way. Madras Tramways,which ceased to operate in1953, had a character of its ownin many ways. The main lineran from Parry’s Corner to Luzjunction, passing through theCentral station area. The east-west line shuttled between Cen-tral and Roxy at Purasawalkam.Connecting shuttles also oper-ated on the Parry’ Corner–Royapuram and Luz-SanThomé sections.

A ride from Sripuram offRoyapettah High Road toParry’s took nearly an hour andcost 2 annas, i.e., the equivalentof today’s 16 paise. On Sundaysyou could buy a go-as-you-please ticket for 4 annas whichis a quarter of today’s Rupee.

Polished wooden seats withback-rests were arranged in twolong rows on either side facingeach other. In rush hours, itcould take in standing passen-gers in the central space bet-ween the two bench rows. Inpeak hours, passengers over-flowed into the driver’s spacesin the front and back and some-times even to the footboard.

Even at a speed of ten milesan hour, the long vehicleswayed gently from side to side.The more athletic of passengersfound it convenient to hop onor hop off the tram at spots oftheir convenience, ignoring pic-torial warnings of the risks ofsuch practices. The metallic“clanging” sound of the oncom-ing tram was enough to alertoffice-goers to time their leav-ing home to board the tram. Ifyou had an ear for the subtletiesof different “notes” in the“clanging”, it was a game toguess which particular tram wasapproaching! The trams couldbe distinguished by the long-

bannered advertisements theycarried at the top on either side.The approaching tram could beone that commended Ovaltinefor Good Health or Zandu’sOriental Balm for All YourPains or Woodward’s GripeWater for Babies or Lodhra La-dies’ Tonic. Guessing themright, my younger brother, whohad this cognitive skill, beat meto it most of the time in thisgame. Incidentally, onlyWoodward’s of these once-cel-ebrated brand seems to havesurvived the ravages of time.

The tramway offered muchcollateral social value besidesmere transport. The leisurelytravel afforded many an oppor-tunity for fellowship and to talkof cabbages and kings; somegroups formed lasting friend-ships kept reinforced by thesynchronised travel everymorning or evening to or fromwork. The social bug also bit thedriver. He struck up friendshipswith regulars among passengersso much so that he knew thedrop-off or pick-up points of hisfavourite customers. The tramwould slow down suggestively atplaces that had no scheduledstops to take on or drop off hisfriends.

In New Zealand, recently, Isaw an interesting public rela-tions sign in the buses that said:This Bus Kneels for You. It did,when the driver pressed a but-ton, seeing me trying to getdown with some difficulty, toextend a concealed foot boardclose to the ground level. Thedriver slowing down the tramfor regulars carried a similar per-sonal touch. Students had a fine

time hop-skip-jumping on tothe footboard and hopping offwithout paying the fare. Quitea few had free rides before theconductor reached them to is-sue their tickets. No wonderMadras Tramways had to even-tually close down because ofmounting losses.

We lived near the tram shedat the junction of today’s ThiruVi Ka Road and RadhakrishnanSalai. The return of trams to theshed after ten at night was anoisy affair as the shed supervi-sors had to shout instructions todrivers directing incomingtrams to different parkingtracks. The service started atsunrise and the early noise andbustle in the shed was ourmorning wake up call. It wasalso time to watch our milkmanat the gate for the pre-sunrisemilking in our presence – thetiming was deliberate perhaps!A swish of the milk can was fol-lowed by the main act of milk-ing. The swish was meant toshow that there was no water init to enlarge the volume of thegenuine stuff from the kindlyanimal. Only many years later,after I watched similar tricksperformed by barmen in Banga-lore pubs with filled beer mugs,did I understand why the milkwas watery despite the swish.

The sounds and smells of thetramway became a part of theambience and were not intrusivesuch that we missed them verymuch when the service stoppedin 1953. In San Francisco whenthe iconic cable car was with-drawn, a citizens’ committee ini-tiated a movement for its resto-ration. There was no such move-ment for Madras Tramways’ res-toration. It stopped one finemorning, unsung, unhonouredand unnoticed.

In the sedate 1960s when Metrorail and Monorail were pipedreams, I used to travel to my work place in Egmore by electric

train from Guindy. They were quick, convenient and almostpunctual. More importantly, they sped with uniform accelera-tion and almost jolt-free, so I could read the unputdownablePenguin paperbacks without any ocular strain and consequen-tial damage. Before long, I switched to the first class coaches.They offered seats with green-coloured cushions unlike thespartan second class (or ‘cattle class’ to borrow Sashi Tharoor’sslanderous usage) with wooden seats, that failed to givefundamental (pun accidental) comfort to the riders.

The season tickets the Railways offered were quite cheapand, so, immensely popular. You could buy a monthly or quar-terly ‘season’ with no caps on the number of trips up and down.Only condition was the passenger should carry it and make itavailable for checking by the flying squad. Most of the first classpassengers were commuters of the officer cadre, who rode free— a treasured and sacrosanct perk, as the quarterly first classseason tickets were quite costly. The first time, when I paid forit through my nose, the clerk at the Guindy booking counterrose from his seat and gave me the season ticket, ostensibly withdue respect to the person who splurged so much for comfort ina short travel.

When I entered the holy of holies on day number one, anuppity occupant, shot up from his seat and pointed out in agruff voice, ‘Mister, this is first class.’ Perhaps he mistook mefor a college student who went for such kicks. As the train wasstopping due to signal clearance, I felt he would throw me outthe way barrister Gandhi was in South Africa, travelling fromDurban to Pretoria. My icy ‘So what?’ rejoinder cut him off. Heshot a look at my shiny Penguin, Wodehouse paperback, intowhich I had kept a finger as page mark. His face displayed amaelstrom of emotions. However, he softened and apologeti-cally nodded. Perhaps he felt rightly a Wodehouse fan wouldalways have class (a first class, in this case) and would be bonafide! Little did he know that some of Plum’s lordships divedunder the seats when they smelt a ticket examiner!

Most of the passengers, were in the habit of taking a three-course-brunch of hot, spicy, homely Madras Meals with a sopo-rific thamboolam chaser, would comfortably nestle into the pil-lowy arms of Morpheus with muffled or sonorous postprandialsnores that would replicate the growl of a Royal Bengal tiger inSundarbans, on its pre-lunch prowl. However, their meticu-lously programmed system would alert them pronto, before theirdetraining station approached.

One unsavoury habit of some of the ticket checking staff,who had a green coloured cuff above the elbow, was to insist ona passenger producing a season ticket for verification. Deplor-ably, such a checking was waived if the passenger was railwaystaff. The officer in deep sleep would mumble the sacred word‘pass’ and the TTE would perforce pass to the next. But suchcourtesy was not extended to a passenger like me who had paidgood money for a first class commutation. One grumpy expres-sion would meticulously scrutinise it like Sherlock Holmes ex-amining a screed with a magnifying glass. This was demeaning.

An interesting sidelight highlighting the ingenuity of a trick-ster bent upon aiding and abetting free riders came eventuallyto the knowledge of Railways. The modus operandi was his ‘in-surance’ that allowed him to travel for free. All that you had todo was to meet the ‘insurer’ and pay a monthly premium of Rs.2or so. Understandably, no receipt was issued. As an endowment,the ‘insured’ could travel any number of times betweenTambaram and Beach stations, without purchasing a ticket, butshould keep an amount of Rs.10 handy as ‘contingency fund’.In the unlikely event of getting caught, he was told to pay themaximum on-the-spot fine of Rs.10. (otherwise, face an impris-onment for a day). The ‘insurer’ would make good the amounton the production of the railway receipt and the process wouldbe repeated. Eventually, this fraud was found out. An officerwho narrated this story, added with pride. ‘Railways that takeyou on a pleasant ride, should not be taken for such a fraudu-lent ride! Right?’

J.S. Raghavanwriterjsr@gmail.com

February 16-28, 2018 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

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Mid-air scare

� by V. Pattabhi Ramanwith inputs from S. Viswanathan

A day notto be

forgotten

Prakash Venkatraman, asenior corporate executive

with software major Oracle,alighted from his cab at the SanFrancisco International Air-port, went past immigration andawaited the departure call.Flight SQ31, set to take off at11.30 am for Singapore hadPrakash and 349 other passen-gers. It was scheduled to fly 16hours to cover the distance of13,580 kilometres. It would bethe most horrible flight of hislife.

Soon, this director of soft-ware development, OracleIndia, plunked on his seat in theaircraft and dozed off. The pre-vious week had been hectic.The 43-year old techie, withglobal responsibilities, lookedjaded. Thirty minutes into hissleep he realised the flighthadn’t taken off. Soon the pilotcame on the public-address sys-tem announcing the delay andpromising to make good the lossduring the long, non-stop jour-ney.

How do you kill time on along journey in mid-air? Mayberead a book or catch up on sleepor take nourishment. Once theflight settled mid-air, the air-hostesses started serving food.That is when the trouble began.Hold on; we aren’t narratingArthur Hailey’s story, Flightinto Danger. Prakash started tofeel an eerie discomfort in the

lower abdomen. He made it tothe washroom a few times, butthings didn’t improve. The painwas getting aggravated at a pacefaster than the speed of the air-craft.

“I requested some painkillersfrom in-flight staff, but they po-litely refused, saying they can’tdispense any without a prescrip-tion.” Of course, how were theyto understand the pain? Afterall, they hadn’t experienced it.Anyone who has had appendi-

citis would know! Anyone withkidney stones would know!After some time, Prakash couldno longer bear the agony andstarted moving up and downthe aircraft. He was almost closeto screaming. The flight atten-dants tried to calm him but invain. Finally, they gave him twoparacetamol tablets. A co-pas-senger offered the by-now

wailing Prakash a sachet of Enosaying it must be a gastric prob-lem. Even in pain, he remem-bered the words in the adver-tisement, “Get fast relief fromacidity with ENO. It gets towork in six seconds. Excitingflavours!”

In the meantime, Dr.Gabriel Plourde, a kindly fellowpassenger and a physician, be-gan to help Prakash and sat byhis side throughout the episode.At one point, Prakash chose tolie on the bare floor and keptrolling near the aircraft door,writhing in pain. It was then theairlines staff realised the gravityof the matter. They held anemergency meeting to discusswhether to fly back to SFO(about 4.5 hours of flying) or

continue. Remember, therewere another 11 hours to reachSingapore.

After consulting doctors onthe ground via Singapore Air-lines’ TeleService, Dr Plourdeadministered a painkiller injec-tion. It didn’t work. Prakashwas fast getting dehydrated andwas losing consciousness.Amidst all this, Prakash, grand-son of the Vedic pandit E. K.Natesa Sastrigal and a devoutHindu kept chanting theGayathri mantra and Jaya JayaShankara Hara Hara Shankara,he recalls.

Finally, eight hours into theflight, Prakash heard Dr.Plourde say, “The plane will bedetouring to Tokyo.” For once,Prakash smiled, “I had lost con-fidence in reaching Singapore.”All the while the staff contin-ued to be highly supportive.The deviation of two hours wasa considerable problem to otherpassengers with connectingflights from Singapore. The Air-lines adroitly worked out theemergency plan and deputed aJapanese-speaking flight atten-dant – this proved vital as hos-pital staff were not conversantin English.

Perhaps for the first time inits history, Singapore Airlinesmade an emergency landing insuch dire circumstances andwith speed! As later eventswould suggest, it saved apassenger’s life. Thoughtfully,the flight landed at the Hanedaairport close to the MakitaGeneral Hospital. Had it landedat Narita International Airport,it would have taken around 100minutes to transfer Prakash to ahospital. Every minute was pre-cious at this critical hour. Atthe Tokyo airport, everythingwas ready: emergency visa,

stretcher and an ambulance! Inten minutes flat, with no deten-tion and scrutiny at the immi-gration, Prakash was rushed outand transferred in quick time toMakita General hospital.

Another piece of divinegrace: it was a Sunday and inmost Japanese hospitals,specialist surgeons don’t work.Luckily Dr Hideki Shibata, agastroenterologist, was at theHospital. He took no time todiagnose the condition: a perfo-ration in the small intenstine.Called gastrointestinal perfora-tion (GP), it is a medicalemergency and, if unattendedimmediately, would befatal. Emergency surgery was amust.

The Hospital reached out toGeetha, Prakash’s wife inBengaluru, and got her consentfor the surgery. Some 60 inchesof the perforated portion werecut out and the remainderstitched, all in quick time. Thethoroughness and expertise ofthe Japanese system were in fullblossom, recalls Prakash.

Help poured in for Geethafrom various sides, both morallyand physically. Singapore Air-

lines worked out an arrange-ment to get a visa for her, andOracle HR got into the act onthe same day, a holiday, for herto fly to Tokyo. How wonder-fully the HR teams of Oracle atBengaluru, Tokyo and US actedin unison to ensure seamlessrapid action!

During the four weeks thathe stayed in the Japanese hospi-tal, Prakash learned about thehumanity, sincerity, and dedi-cation of the people who livedin the land of the rising sun.

But the one man Prakashwill forever remember is theAmerican doctor, GabrielPlourde. He pushed the air-lineto make the emergency landing.Dr. Hideki Shibata later con-firmed Prakash wouldn’t havebeen saved had he come acouple of hours later. Prakashhad heard the dialogue severaltimes in the movies, but thistime it was for real.

Perhaps for the first time, hecame to realise that the profes-sion of medicine comes closestto being the profession of God –(Courtesy: Industrial Econo-mist).

shifted; it now joins the oceandirectly, leaving the northernpart of Pulicat Lake dry. Onlywhen the Arani and the KalangiRivers get flooded do the floodwaters reach the northern partof Pulicat Lake for want of anexit near the lagoon’s mouth.

Preserving Pulicat

To keep the lagoon’s ecosys-tem from cracking, care shouldbe taken not to pressurise itover and beyond its acceptablethreshold. Rivers should be al-lowed to flow freely, without themenace of sandmining chokingthem at every turn. ProfessorRao insists that the CoastalAquaculture Authority mustlay down strict guidelines to en-sure that aquaculture farmsrelease wastewater into thelagoon only after proper treat-ment to save the lagoon’s natu-ral ecology from further degra-dation. Reclamation and infra-structure expansion – bothpublic and private – should be

strictly disallowed to preservewhatever is left of the lagoon.

To ensure this, Benedict hasmooted the creation of a strongPulicat Conservation andDevelopment Authority alongthe lines of Odisha’s ChilikaDevelopment Authority. Des-pite the officials at the Nelloreand Tiruvallur Collectorateshaving been addressed repeat-edly in the past, the proposalcontinues to remain a mere ideawith no concrete action takentill date.

Benedict believes that thehealth of Chennai city’s waterresources is inextricably linkedto the Pulicat’s wellness. Thebrackish water body’s well beingis critical in keeping seawaterintrusion at bay and sustainingunderground aquifer systems.“The people of Chennai need towake up to the reality and takenote of what’s happening inPulicat, if not for the lagoon orits fishermen, at least for theirown future water needs.”

– Seetha Gopalakrishnan

PULICAT LAGOON(Continued from page 5)

At Makita General Hospital, Geetha and Prakash with the good samaritans.

8 MADRAS MUSINGS February 16-28, 2018

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An adaptable

all-rounderMedium pace all-rounder

Vijay Shankar – Captainof the Tamil Nadu limited oversteam – who was included in theIndia squad in the Test seriesagainst Sri Lanka last Decem-ber, was bought by Delhi Dare-devils in the recently concludedIPL auction for Rs. 3.2 crore.

A middle-order batsman,originally known for his pa-tience, Vijay Shankar has blos-somed into an aggressive bats-

man who can shift gears at will,as the situation demands. Hemade his Ranji Trophy debut atthe age of 21 against Vidarbhain Nagpur, and scored 63 notout and took two wickets. Hehas been a key member of theTamil Nadu team for some fouryears now. In 2015, he scored577 runs at an average of 57.7including 111, 82, 91, and 103in the Ranji Trophy knockoutround of matches.

Selected then for India Aagainst Australia, he made anunbeaten half century on hisdebut. He also impressedagainst South Africa A. He wasmostly in the reserves atChennai Super Kings in theIPL, getting just a solitary gamein three seasons. He was thenbought by Sunrisers Hyderabadin the 2016 IPL auction.

Vijay Shankar acknowledgesthe mentorship he received

from his coaches ChakradharRao and S Balaji who haveplayed a constant role in shap-ing his career. State bowlingcoach L Balaji and chief coachWV Raman were both verygood influences, as has beenHrishikesh Kanitkar, thepresent chief coach of the team.

The young all-rounder isknown for his commitment andwork ethic at every level ofcricket. It is his exceptionalconsistency that has helped himstay in contention for higherhonours all along, even thoughhe has had numerous injuryproblems. To his credit, he hasfought his injuries to attainpeak physical fitness.

His rehabilitation stints atthe National Cricket Academymade him mentally and physi-cally stronger.

Vijay Shankar who has fivehundreds and ten fifties in firstclass cricket counts the guid-ance he has received fromRahul Dravid, the India ‘A’coach, as a particularly positiveinfluence on his cricket. WhileDravid has words of praise forhis cricket, the experience withIndia ‘A’ and the inspiration hehas gained under Dravid’s winghelped Vijay grow into a com-petitive, reliable all-rounder. Inthis, his brilliant fielding hasbeen a major factor.

Batting at different positionsfor India ‘A’ has made Vijay amore adaptable player, some-one captains like to have in theeleven. In one-day matches, heusually bats in the middle order,and, therefore, lacks opportuni-ties to play substantial innings.He more than makes up for thisin the Ranji Trophy.

While his success in the IPLauction and being picked byDelhi Daredevils must helpVijay Shankar’s morale no end,he may find it very difficult tobreak into the Indian Test orone-day playing eleven, giventhe all-round strength of theteam. Over the years, the 27-year-old has shown sufficientmental attributes to suggestthat when the opportunitycomes, he will not be foundwanting.

– V. Ramnarayan

I used to be a professional cricketer for some 25 years. When Ireturned from a long exile to my home town, Madras, in 1981,

I started net practice at the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’sBS Nets open to all league players. Every afternoon, players fromsome dozen first division teams assembled there and shared sixor so nets. Anyone could bat in any of the nets, based on thediktat of Muthu, the groundsman who was also in charge of thenets. He would call out the names of the batsmen, but thebowlers generally picked up a ball and chose where to bowl.

A compulsive ‘net practitioner’ from boyhood, I alwaysgrabbed a ball and bowled non-stop in one of the nets until badlight stopped play. In this, my grey hair helped me no end, be-cause no youngster would dare to ask me to hand over the ballto him. In this rank-pulling exercise, I followed a couple of solidrole models in my seniors V.V. Kumar and S. Venkataraghavan.

But wait, this was 1981, and it is true that young bowlers didnot walk up to us and demand the ball, but for entirely differentreasons. Most of them opted to bowl only when they chose to,and stopped whenever they liked. This was a new trend, at leastin my experience. As I said before, the practice wickets at BSNets were not divided on a team basis. Any batsman could beassigned any net. For example, a batsman from Alwarpet CC (inNet A) could be followed by one from IOB, and a State Bankbatsman in Net B by one from India Pistons, so on and so forth.If I chose to bowl in Net A, I could end up bowling to as manybatsmen as there were teams, if I stuck around for three hours(my usual quota).

The intriguing new development was that IOB bowlers wereinterested in bowling only to IOB batsmen and SPIC bowlers

only to SPIC batsmen (these are random team names I havepicked). As a result, a batsman who came to the net just vacatedby an IOB player, could encounter an exodus of bowlers, and beleft facing imaginary bowlers. Muthu would then have to shoutdesperately for bowlers for that particular net.

As a consequence of this trend, bowlers constantly deniedthemselves the opportunity not only to improve their accuracyand variations, but also the chance to bowl to different types ofbatsmen, and they were less match ready when the time came.

Why am I once again bringing cricket into a music blog? Theparallels in the Carnatic music concert scene are obvious to me.Though, contrary to market gossip, I find young musiciansattending concerts, the problem is that they seem to be afflictedwith the BS Nets syndrome. They pick and choose their con-certs — those of their friends or their gurus/mentors. Like thebowlers at BS Nets, they are expressing their solidarity with theirhandpicked peers and their gurus. This does not necessarilymean that they pay focused attention to listening to the musicon offer, busy as they may be with their cellphones or with theircasual conversations with their mates in the audience, for theyusually travel in groups.

To go back to the 1980s, this practice among the bowlers ofthe day led to a steep fall in bowling standards in Chennai. Itwas only after first division teams started investing in their ownindividual net practice facilities and match grounds that a bowl-ing revival began to emerge.

I will not proceed to extend the cricket analogy any furtherto apply it to Carnatic music. I think what I am driving at isquite clear. (Courtesy: Sruti). V. R

Herd mentality

Vijay Shankar.