� This landmark institution began life in May 1844 as the GovernmentMaternity Hospital. Its first home was near the Egmore railway station,facing the Cooum River. This was thanks to public subscription. The Gov-ernment met the cost of the staff and the dieting of the patients. The placewas run under the supervision of a committee of six medical officers whogave their services free of cost.

In 1847, the Madras Medical College instituted a professorship in Mid-wifery and the Government appointed the incumbent, Dr. James Shaw, asthe Superintendent of the Hospital. Two new wings were added to the oldbuilding in 1852 but by the 1870s it was time to move.

Laid out in the shape of a female pelvis, the new structure came up onPantheon Road, under the guidance of Major General G.G. Gifford, who iscommemorated with a block in his name on the campus. The new hospitalwas completed in 1881 in Egmore and by 1900 had expanded to five blockswith a total of 140 beds. The hospital was to be headed by several notedmedical practitioners among whom was Lt. Col. A.M. Branfoot who inMarch 1886 successfully saw the imprisoned ex-Queen of Burma –Supayalat – through a difficult delivery.

The Maternity Hospital, or MH as it came to be known, was the only

WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

MUSINGSVol. XXIV No. 20 February 1-15, 2015

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INSIDE

• Short ‘N’ Snappy

• Remembering alma maters

• Ekamra Nivas seminars

• Mylapore festival buzz

• Cholamandal’s latest

How do we cash

in on tourism?

Madras Landmarks

– 50 years ago

Awards for urban mobility – but what’s the reality?

As a nation we never had itbetter as far as our tourism

industry is concerned. Foreigntourist arrivals are at an all timehigh, clocking a figure of 6.97million in 2013, the latest yearfor which statistics are avail-able. That corresponds to for-eign exchange earnings of $18.4billion. It is estimated that theIndian travel and tourism sec-tor will be the second largestemployer globally, involvingeither directly or indirectly 4.04million people by 2019. Theentire industry is currentlyvalued at $23 billion and isgrowing at 4 per cent annually.How does Chennai fare in allthis and is it capable of goingalong with the flow?

The city has been in thenews for the correct reasons in2014. It was the only Indianmetro to feature in The NewYork Times global list of mostdesirable destinations to visit in2014. Closer home, a survey haslisted it as the best city to live inon the basis of various counts.And the tourism figures for (Continued on page 2)

2014 are impressive – over 3.9million foreigners came intoTamil Nadu, the majoritymaking their entry via Chennai.The State still remains the topattraction for overseas tourists.Encouraged by this, the StateTourism Department hasclaimed that it will soon beunveiling a package to get moretourists to the city and theState.

on hearsay and secondarysources, gaining experience asthey go along, not all of whichis good. Secondly, the tours theTourism Corporation offers areled by guides who provide littleinformation and less by way ofanswers. There was a half-hearted attempt a few years agoto set up a hop on, hop off tourof Chennai but that it wasplanned to fail was quite evi-dent to everyone except theDepartment of Tourism.

Chennai, like Ahmadabadand Delhi, has a number ofprecincts that have the poten-tial to become heritage destina-tions – the Chepauk Palace, theMylapore tank area, Triplicane,Tiruvottriyur and Fort StGeorge are some of them. Allthat requires to be done aresteps to regulate traffic, provideuniform signage and explana-tory plaques, regular cleaningand sanitation and the provi-sion of public toilets. Noneof these steps requires huge

A month ago, there was asmall news item that may

have escaped the attention ofmany. Our city’s Corporationreceived an award at UrbanMobility India, a conferenceconducted by the Union Minis-try of Urban Development. Theaward, we learn, was for thecivic body’s continued efforts tomake our roads a comfortableplace for pedestrians and non-motorised transport users. Thatmay come as a surprise to many.What is even more surprising isthat the Corporation claims tohave put this policy intopractice on 26 importantthoroughfares and is planningto take it up in 29 more.

And so what has reallyhappened to these roads? Withthe help of city-based organi-sations that have for long been

fighting for better utilisation ofavailable space, the Corpora-tion has provided continuousand accessible pavements, relo-cated obstructions such as elec-trical boxes and garbage bins,created safe cycle paths andstreamlined traffic. The newpavements have been designedaccording to Indian Road Con-gress standards and are aimed toprovide “continuous and un-hindered walking” and “reduceconflicts between pedestriansand vehicles.” There are photo-graphs to back these claims aswell. But a recent visit to someof these places indicates thatmatters are still in a nascentstage and the Corporation’sclaim of progress may be prema-ture. In short, its intentions aregood, but there is very little toback this by way of action.

The Chennai Corporation isa pioneering civic body in thatit adopted a Non MotorisedTransport (NMT) policy. Thiswas in 2012 when it was de-cided that solutions to the roadwoes of the city would no longercome from flyovers but by sen-sitively redesigning the cityspace and enhancing pedestrian

� by A Staff Reporter

(Continued on page 2)

� by A Special

Correspondent

At the ground level, how-ever, those in the know feel thatChennai still remains a meregateway, with tourists who landhere immediately moving on toother destinations in SouthIndia. Poor packaging of what ison offer appears to be the chiefissue. For instance, there are notourist advisory centres strate-gically located, and the one ortwo there are, are manned bypoorly trained personnel. Thosewho come plan their tour based

non-motorised transport users,has since lost out on this edge,thanks to a completely mis-placed emphasis on catering tothe comforts of the owners ofpassenger cars. This despite thefact that cars occupy less thanten per cent of the availableroad space in the city! The Cor-poration is largely to be blamedfor this. Beginning with 1996, ithas worked overtime in reduc-ing pavement space, putting uphuge flyovers that have com-pletely altered street topogra-phy and not monitoring the il-legal takeover of what littlespace that is left by vendors,political parties and privateowners. Now it would appearthat all that is set to change.

But can it become a reality?A simple survey would revealthat the Corporation may have

the best intentions, but if it is toimplement them successfully, itneeds to change the mindset ofjust about every other stake-holder, including its officials.Pavements have been lost tomakeshift car parking thanks tocommercial establishments andresidential complexes that havecome up without any parkingspaces planned in them. Who isto blame for this? The CMDAand the Corporation which,after all, are in charge of licens-ing such construction andmonitoring them! Most newbuildings are now on highplinths requiring steep slopes forvehicles to enter and exit andthe ramps have to perforceextend on to the roads. Why dothe buildings have to be

infrastructure. The NMT policymandates that 60 per cent of acity’s transport budget ought tobe directed towards walkingand cycling initiatives. Thepolicy also aims at zero pedes-trian and cyclist death by 2018.

It must be mentioned in thiscontext that Chennai, whichonce had a high proportion of

(Continued on page 2)

2 MADRAS MUSINGS February 1-15, 2015

As The Man from MadrasMusings ages (and rather

gracefully, as he likes tothink), he has difficulties withflashing headlights. A fewyears ago he would have takenthem in his stride but not soany more. A blinding beam,followed by complete darknessand then a blinding beamagain, stuns MMM. He thenprefers to halt his vehicle whenthis happens and resumes onlywhen he has regained his bear-ings.

All this has, however, hadMMM do some research onwhat the headlights actuallyhope to convey when they areflashed at an oncoming ve-hicle. MMM learns that in theUnited Kingdom, rather char-acteristically, flashing of head-lights means nothing morethan conveying the informa-tion that there is a vehiclesomewhere out there. MMM isno wordsmith, but there issomething in the way this in-formation is worded that givesyou the impression that dim-ming and brightening the lightsin that country is the worst ofform. The US equivalent isquite typically encased in le-galese and claims that flashingof the lights is permitted bysome amendment or the other

4. Out of the way, youtitch! These are the largevehicles which are in the oppo-site lane, heading towards you.They need you to make way forthem so that they can proceedunimpeded. And in case youdon’t move, they can cause youand your vehicle grievousinjury.

5. The compulsive flasher –This one has it and so will flashit. By that MMM means thatthere is no earthly reason forthese vehicles to keep flicker-ing their headlights but theywill do it just because they havethe facility to do so.

All these are just indicativetypes. If you can identify somepeople whom you recognised inthe above archetypes, or if youcan add some more to this list,the credit and responsibility areall yours.

At the Book Fair

Yet another Chennai BookFair has come and gone.

The Man from Madras Musingsnever misses it and this year toomade it there and returnedhome laden with books, muchto the consternation of his goodlady, also known as She WhoMust Be Obeyed. The Fair was,as it ought to be, filled with

people, books and earnest dis-cussions. There are some whohave complained to MMMabout the crowds and give it asthe main reason why they don’tgo to the Fair. It is MMM’sstandard response that a Fair ismeant to have crowds and soyou cannot expect anythingelse but that at this event aswell. To MMM it is gratifyingthat an event centring on booksdraws such vast numbers in anera when Cassandras are pre-dicting the end of the printedbook as we know of it.

Having said that, MMMwould like to draw the atten-tion of the organisers to a fewareas that need to improve.Having the Fair at the YMCANandanam is a great idea but,surely, some thought can bespared on levelling the exhibi-tion space before laying out thestalls? The land is whatgeographers call as one of highrelief, the topography being fullof hills anddales. Theo r g a n i s e r shad simplylaid out metalsheets on this,placed mat-ting on thatand erectedthe stalls.There wasconsequentlyno way thatyou couldknow what

What say the headlights?lurked under the mat even asyou took your next step.

Standing at one particularstall, MMM suddenly foundthe ground giving way underhis left foot, which began to godeep into the bowels of theearth. MMM had visions of be-ing rescued using excavatingmachinery but some kindsouls helped and after a coupleof heave hos, MMM was backon flat land.

Walking over raisedmounds was not much of anissue beyond mild attacks ofvertigo here and there, butwalking over hollows was adifferent matter altogether.The sheet beneath bowedunder your weight and, as youlifted your foot, reboundedback on your heel withrenewed force, making it feellike some third degree torturetreatment meted out to worstof the opporents.

That men of books werenot stern men of accounts wasmade amply evident at theFair. The counters were man-ned by staff who took ages toadd the simplest of totals andoftentimes made serious goofsin adding up. Those who hadcredit card payment facilitiesscarcely knew how to operatethe machines. Most stalls

SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY

of that country’s constitutionwhich document, as you maybe aware, the Americans arerather inordinately proud of.This states that the flashing ofheadlights has varying mes-sages to convey based on theState of that country youhappen to be in.

Coming to our country and,in particular, our beloved city,the records are silent. And soit is left to prophet MMM tointerpret our codes. And herethey are:

1. Get out of the way, I amgoing ahead – this is the varietythat flashes its headlights intoyour rear-view mirror. You,therefore, get it up close andright between the eyebrows.Having thus incapacitated you,your predator overtakes youand rushes ahead.

2. I got money, I got money!This variety uses those mam-moth cars whose names rhymewith the word gaudy. Thelights apparently are neverswitched off, or cannot be, andso they are forever glaring atyou.

3. On Government duty –You can never miss them.They will keep flashing andalso continuously hooting atyou till you are blinded anddeafened and come to a halt.They then charge ahead, car-rying their precious personagefrom one meeting to another.The speed is only on the road.Very little actually happens inthe meetings.

wrote out the bills manuallythereby slowing down the pur-chase process. And, finally, al-most every one of the stallsexpected you to come to theFair with huge bags of loosechange.

Tailpiece

The Pinjrapole is rather afavourite of the Chief’s

and he writes about it ever sooften. The Man from MadrasMusings was, therefore, de-lighted to receive an invitationfrom it for “the inaugurationof 14 cows”.

Signboards too can alwaysbe counted upon to delightMMM. Given that ‘c’ and ‘e’are silent in any case, TheMan from Madras Musings isnot surprised that someonedecided to economise onthem.

– MMM

TO CASH IN ONTOURISM...

(Continued from page 1)

investment for them to be putinto place but, if in place, theycan generate considerable re-turns. Yet, no steps are beingtaken to harness the potentialin any of these locations.

Chennai also uniquely hasseveral cultural seasons – theMusic Season in December, thePongal festivities of variouskinds in January (dance, litera-ture, the Mylapore festival andfolk arts), the temple festivals inMarch/April, May/June, Au-gust/September and Decemberand the Madras Week celebra-tions in August. Each one canbecome a tourist draw if adver-tised and packaged well. Heretoo, attendance by foreigners at

present is more by chance thanby design.

What is really needed is atourism master plan that oughtto be drawn up for a five-yearperiod. Steps need to beoutlined in terms of actionsproposed within the overallplan and implemented, keepingtourist potential in mind. It isimperative that the local stake-holders, in terms of shops andestablishments, residents andservice providers are roped in sothat they can see the benefits aswell. If all this is done, we seeno reason why tourists will notthrong Chennai and, more im-portantly, stay here, withoutmerely flitting in and out of thefirst city of Modern India.

Madras Landmarks(Continued from page 1)

one of its kind in this part of India for several decades. It was in that capacitythat it hosted the first All-India Obstetrics and Gynaecological Congress in1936. The venue was the Museum Theatre and inaugurating it was Dr. IdaScudder of CMC Vellore, with Dr. Sir A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar inthe chair. He was also the first Indian to be the Superintendent of the MH,occupying the post between 1939 and 1942. It was to be 1984, however,before a woman came to head the institution, the first one beingDr. Lokasundari Selvaraj.

A children’s ward came up in the hospital in 1949 with 28 beds. In1963, the Government sanctioned a separate hospital for children and thiscame up in the Arni House compound. When completed, this became theGovernment Children’s Hospital, with 250 beds.

The hospital became a teaching centre with postgraduate and diplomacourses in 1930 under the Madras Medical College. In 1952, it became oneof three postgraduate institutes of Madras city, and that marked the begin-ning of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the MH. Dr. R.K.K.Thampan was the first Director.

The hospital is today a recognised centre of excellence and deliversaround 22,000 babies annually.

OUR ADDRESSES

For matters regarding subscriptions, donations, non-receipt ofreceipts etc.: CHENNAI HERITAGE, 5, Bhattad Tower, 30, WestcottRoad, Royapettah, Chennai 14.Madras Musings now has its own email ID. Letters to the editorcan be sent via email to editor@madras musings.com. Those whowish to intimate change of address can also do so provided thesubscription number is quoted.For non-receipt of copies, change of address, and all other circulationmatters: Madras Musings, C/o Lokavani Southern Printers Pvt. Ltd.,122, Greames Road, Chennai 600 006. On editorial matters: TheEditor, Madras Musings, No. 5, Bhattad Tower, 30, Westcott Road,Royapettah, Chennai 600 014.No personal visits or telephone calls, please. Letters received will besent from these addresses every couple of days to the personsconcerned and you will get an answer from them to your queries rea-sonably quickly. Strange as it may seem, if you adopt the ‘snail mail’approach, we will be able to help you faster and disappoint appoint youless.

– THE EDITOR

constructed on high surfaces?Because the road surfaces keeprising in our city! And why dothey rise? Because the Corpo-ration does not adhere to roadlaying norms. These are justtwo small examples of how theCorporation’s own NMT policy

may come a cropper thanks toits own practices.

And so, those who giveawards for the civic body’s goodintentions may have jumpedthe gun somewhat. If only all ofour Corporation’s well-meantresolutions made it to action,we would be a virtual heaven onearth.

URBAN MOBILITY AWARDS(Continued from page 1)

February 1-15, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

A Doordarshan laughI took these pictures on the evening of January 25th. I really

didn’t think DD could make such huge mistakes. Seeing themthe following thoughts struck me:

� Pres. has new panacea for country’s woes; physiotherapy.

� Pres. provides the healing touch!

� Modi: Rejuvenate India; Mukherjee: Rejuvenate Indians!

Of course, if this goes viral, there will be many more interest-ing captions. But are we, as Indians, able to laugh at ourselves?

Bryan Oliver Peppinpeppin.bryan@gmail.com

Of toilets & waste

Reader K.V.S. Krishna’sletter (MM, January 16th)

triggered some memories andreflections.

I recall a discussion during aschool Geography lesson abouta region somewhere in Asiawhere the peasants would mixthe ‘night soil’ and the soil inthe fields with their fingers,knowing its value as manure.It drew mixed reactions and, ofcourse, a lot of sniggers fromthe well-to-do category ofstudents. The invention oftoilets and septic tanks wasevidently superfluous for thosefarmers.

In History lessons we alsolearnt of Moheniodaro andother early settlements whichwere considered ‘advanced’because the excavations re-vealed fairly elaborate drainagesystems. Such an impression

may be worth reviewing! Ourperceptions of dirt and hygieneare perhaps quite artificial orsocially conditioned, ratherthan based on science or logic.

Many of us may be familiarwith dwellings where the wallsand floors were paved usingcow-dung paste, with a freshcoat being applied every year. Ihave lived in one such, and itwasn’t a mud hut! Today’s edu-cated lot may consider it unhy-gienic – may be just becausethere are commercial interestsaggressively promoting ourglamorous, sanitised and waste-ful lifestyles. There could be al-ternative views about whetheranimal or human excretions are‘dirty’.

The first nail in the environ-ment’s coffin might very wellhave been the development ofdrainage and sewage systems inthe urbanisation drive of river

valley civilisations. It has actu-ally encouraged us to ‘throwaway’ things and create wastewithout suffering any immedi-ate consequences, hence withno concern for where it all goes,except for a few do-gooders to-day whose voice may never beheard. Organisations likeGreenpeace get hounded bygovernments and corporationsfor speaking out against toxicwastes.

I am not qualified to offerany practical solutions to themess in which our so-calledcivilisation finds itself. ReaderKVSK’s proposals may workonly if there is adequate moti-vation, incentive and certaintyfor those who could implementsuch schemes. In any case theyapply only to a fast-dwindlingrural environment, and wouldrequire both a top-down andbottom-up approach to gainacceptability before evenstarting.

The situation in towns andcities is a growing nightmare. Ithardly makes sense to enforceuse of toilets where water andsewage connections are absentor inadequate.

Thomas Tharuxteesquare@yahoo.co.uk

R.K. Laxman as I knew him

The legendary cartoonist R.K. Laxman isno more. My mind races back to August

1978 when I had the privilege of spendingthree memorable days with him in Madras.

I was the Secretary of the Tamil NaduChapter of the Public Relations Society of In-dia (PRSI) and helped organise a lecture-cum-demonstration by Laxman at theConnemara Hotel. In his typical tongue-in-cheek style, Laxman gave a talk and demon-strated on a drawing board how he visualisedpoliticians.

In his mind, every politician wassymbolised by an object which Laxman drewfirst and then converted it into a cartoon, add-ing a few strokes from his creative pen. Todraw the cartoon of Morarji Desai, he firstdrew a flower pot and within a few secondstransformed it into a cartoon of Morarjibhai.A water jug became Indira Gandhi. It wasamazing, yet looked so simple.

During this visit he also participated inother meetings and media interviews, all ofwhich I had co-ordinated. He also came homeone evening for dinner. During the informalget-together I found him very conscious of hiscelebrity status. He was also as sarcastic andhumorous in person as he was in his cartoons.He also talked about the difference betweenbeing funny and humorous. He asserted thathis cartoons were not funny but tried to behumorous.

At the airport, where I had gone to seehim off, he asked me to look at him andframed my figure within his four fingers. I waspuzzled and wondered why he did that. Aweek later, I had the answer in the form of abirthday gift I received by registered post –just two days before my 36th birthday. It was acaricature of me with amazing resemblanceto his ever popular common man. Though Iwas not as plumpy then, R.K. Laxman visual-ised what I would be like in the future. Thecartoon showed me dressed in my favouritestriped safari suit. It also captured the small

line on my forehead, a reminder of an acci-dent I had when I was six years old. Truly agenius with a fantastic memory and powersof observation.

It was a priceless gift from an all-timegreat cartoonist The cartoon not only occu-pies pride of place in my drawing room butalso adorns the cover of my autobiography,Courage My Companion, described as an“uncommon autobiography of a commonman”.

Laxman’s common man?

R.V. Rajanrvrajan42@gmail.com

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MADRAS MUSINGSON THE WEB

To reach out to as many readers as possible who shareour keen interest in Madras that is Chennai, and inresponse to requests from many well-wishers –especially from outside Chennai and abroad whoreceive their postal copies very late – for an onlineedition. Madras Musings is now on the web at www.madrasmusings.com

THE EDITOR

‘The gangof five’

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

Remembering their century-old alma maters

� by Shantha Ramaswami &

Vijaya Subramaniam

From left to right: Vijaya Subramanian, Shanta Sundari Brahmam, Shanta Ramaswamy, Rajathi Sarat andKamala Kasturi

Capper House where QMC started.

Tea with Anna at Presidency... and other memories

The War – and‘Quit India’

It is a matter of immense prideto us octogenarians that our

alma mater, Queen Mary’s Col-lege (QMC) is a centurion thisyear and that we are alive to be apart of the celebrations.

So what’s there to gloat overa college’s century? One that’sgoing to seed, that has unkemptgrounds overgrown with weeds,dirty corridors and forlorn-looking buildings presenting apoor picture of itself.

But to the two of us, it oncemeant a window to the world,freedom from the four walls ofhome, if you remember the ethosof those times, 65 years ago. Ournation had first shaken itself freeof British rule and talk ofwomen’s emancipation was inthe air.

Queen Mary’s College wasborn on July 14, 1914 (inciden-tally, Bastille Day, and the yearof commencement of the GreatWar), thanks to the indefati-gable attempts of Dorothy De laHey, the founder and first Prin-

cipal. It is India’s third oldestwomen’s college. The Collegefulfilled the need for higher edu-cation of the women of not onlyMadras Presidency, but manydistinguished families fromNorth India also sent theirdaughters to study at QMC. Itwas not only cosmopolitan, secu-lar, but also elitist, perhaps, atthe time, but the abiding memo-ries of the College are the spiritof freedom we enjoyed and theprofound sense of decency anddiscipline that was instilled in us.

What did you achieve withyour degrees, people ask. Theyknow not the virtue of doingnothing! Yet some of our con-temporaries made more than amark. Sharada Pai, based in NewDelhi, is an educational consult-ant in Delhi Public School.Ananda Lakshmi and KalyanLakshmi, the duo of VidyaMandir, and Meena Muthiah ofChettinad Vidyashram in Chen-nai. Dr. Matangi Ramakrishnan,the surgeon, was known then forher long black plait. P.S. Sakun-tala Raman was selected to theIAS and rose to become theAdditional Director General ofDoordarshan. And Usha Nathstarted the Queen Marian Clubin New Delhi, a club active for50 years now.

People ask us about the facili-ties in the College in the 1940sand 50s. With the seashore just

500 metres away, there was noneed for ceiling fans. Frankly, Idon’t remember if we had any.There was just one toilet for thefive to six hundred girls. Notmuch different from now! Tapswithout water was the norm eventhen. We shunned the toilet.Water for washing and drinkingwas from just one tap, with thegirls jostling around to get it.There was no culture of everyonecarrying a water bottle.

A lunch box was a commonsight; it could not be avoided.But we did not carry too manybooks. Yes, looking back, howcarefree student life was then,leisurely and weightless.

We were the first women inour families to get degrees, butmore than that what we stillcherish are the great friendshipsthat last to this day. The two ofus met on the first day in collegeand have been inseparable eversince. We caught up with Kama-la Kasturi straight from thewedding hall with flowers in her

hair and a shining mangal sutra.We became best friends fromthen and still are. We had greatoutings in her car for our harm-less yet ‘daring’ pursuits like see-ing a film occasionally or a visitto Jaffar’s for a Peach Melba or toModern Café for masal dosai(then the equivalent of thepresent-day pizza).

Shanta Sundari, a dancer andthe unchallenged beauty ofQMC of our time, now lives inthe U.S. but still keeps in touchwith us. Rajathi (alias Raja-lakshmi) Sarat completed ourgroup, which was referred toby many as the ‘Gang of Five’.Sarat, who penned a limerick inour praise, called us the fivefingers of a hand. Rajathi’spassing away last year has left usfour-fingered.

We had a mentor in our class-mate A.V.Padma, seven yearsour senior in age, who joinedQMC after marriage and moth-erhood. Nearing ninety now, shelives on the outskirts of Chennai,in the premises of a school namedafter her, in the land donated byher to the Punjabi Association torun an orphanage and school forthe poor. Cookery queens mayrecall her as the translator of thehighly popular Samaithupparbooks into English as Cook andSee!

Dr. Nallamuthu Ramamoor-thy was our Principal, a stickler

for discipline and decorum. Afterher there was Vijaya Koman, agraceful personality who leftsoon to make way for a Ms.Lakshmi.

As for the lecturers, wewonder whether there are suchdedicated teachers nowadays toguide the students. Ahalya Bai,who taught Shakespeare, actu-ally acted out the scenes. Historylecturer Kalyani Kutti Amma ina traditional Malayalam mundu,Achayya looking elegant in aCoorgi saree, Krishna who in-sisted on the students readingaloud the English text in class,and Vinaya Bai (who had justone lung) are all etched in ourmemories. Ms. Thomas of theEnglish Department looked somajestic that you avoided collid-ing with her. For Sanskrit stu-dents, it was the simple DevakiMenon who, blushing, skippedmany pages of Kumara Sambha-

vam, making us curious as to thecontents of those pages. How-ever, students were assured thatno questions would be asked inthe exam from the skippedportions! Our Librarian (we for-got the name) never failed toamuse us, always dressed inConjeevaram silks with zariborders, as if coming straightfrom a wedding! Dr. Irawathy(later Principal) of the Geogra-phy Department and Rajamaniof the Tamil section had roomswhich were next to our B.A.classrooms, giving us no chancefor any sort of revelry – a silencezone.

In the first or second year ofour Intermediate, a college car-nival was proposed on the linesof the annual YMCA carnivals.Though initially she disliked theidea, Dr. Ramamoorthy lateryielded to the pleas of studentsand staff alike to have some

week-end fun. Memory beingsomewhat hazy about an eventwhich took place six decadesback, I only recollect the feteending in chaos due to some mis-chief-mongers and boys fromneighbouring colleges. Needlessto say, the red-faced Principalcancelled the event and chas-tised everyone, forbidding us totalk or mention it ever, a vowkept until now!

A more recent incident thatwas the talk of the town was aspirited defence organised by theold students’ association to fendoff the State Government’sefforts to take over QMC landfor a new TN Secretariat. Later,dilapidated Capper House, whereit all started, was replaced with anew building. But a pond thatfronted the old building is nolonger there, nor are the fish ithosted which kept a watchful eyeon the girls!

Gone are those Halcyon Days, Back in 1945, I came to join Presidency College. What impressed

me most at first sight was the grandeur of the impossing structure andthe lovely garden. A sense of awe struck me. Those days, the stu-dents of Presidency College were called ‘Princes of Presidency’. Tojoin such a great institution was a matter of pride for me.

I joined as a student of Chemistry. Prof. M.E. Duraisamy of theChemistry Department was a strict disciplinarian. In contra-distinc-tion, the then Asst. Prof. B. Ramachandra Pai, was soft-spoken andendeared himself to everyone. The English Professor MilgnatiusAbsalom, known for his sartorial discipline, was invariably clad inwhite suit with a red kerchief protruding from his pocket He was animpressive figure whose lectures were inspiring. When he taughtShakespeare, he was almost acting on stage, personifying each char-acter.

* * *The famous Marina Ground is where we played entertaining

cricket. It encouranged an excellent sporting spirit. It so happenedthat in one match the batsman, a star player, hit the ball straighttowards me at mid-on at great speed. The ball hit my stomach, but Igrasped it. Lo! The star batsman was out. The excruciating pain inmy stomach did not bother me at the time, but for three days, I suf-fered hell. Hot water formentation was the only remedy in those days.

* * *

We spent happy days in Victoria Hostel. What lovely food wehad. The mysorepak would melt on your tongue. I gratefully remem-ber Nagaraj Rao, the Head Cook (Vegetarian A-Section). He wasthe prime speaker at almost all Hostel Day functions. His perfectEnglish was a surprise to all VIPs. Students from other colleges came

One day in the 1940s, I was standing in front of the entrancealong with my friends, admiring the green lawn. There was a sign-board reading “No thoroughfare”. Near that signboard stood a beau-tiful lass, whose name I did not know. My friends cajoled me to writea poem including the greenery, signboard and the lass. I wrote:

“On the gateway of my heart, I wrote “No thoroughfare”.But love came piercing through, Saying I enter each and everywhere”.The poem was shown to my good friend S. Ramasamy. He said,

“Merely writing this, you are not going to achieve anything. Whydon’t you go and hand over the piece of paper to the young lady?”Summoning all my courage, I handed over the piece of paper to herwith trepidation and fled. The young lady mistook it for a ‘love letter’.She went and handed it over to Principal Dr. Abdul Haq. Naturally,I was summoned by the Principal. Trembling in my shoes, I gave himmy name. I thought something disastrous would happen. But to mysurprise Dr. Haq, a good-hearted person, told me, “Mr. Mohan, youare capable of good poems as evidenced by this paper, but why do yougive this to a person who can hardly appreciate your poetic talent. Iadvise you to write about the glistening of the waves of the Bay ofBengal on a full moon day or the beautiful sun-set. That will make uslove nature more. You may go now.” What a relief!

* * *

� by Justice S. Mohan

to Victoria Hostel to enjoy lunches and dinners at the nominal priceof eight annas a plate.

What fine friends we had! A galaxy of names simmers in the sauceof my memory. In later life, all of them happened to adorn very highposts. The late B. Mithreyan from Thanjavur was my closest friend.He became a Deputy Auditor General, Government of India. I alwaysenjoyed his witticisms. T.V. Rajeswar, the former Governor of WestBengal and Sikkim, was a ‘prima donna’. No wonder he becameGovernor. Sathia Dev was a close friend of mine. He became a Judgeof the High Court. Likewise, Sivasubramaniam, an embodiment ofpatience.

* * * (Continued on page 8)

At 93, memories keep flooding back of Queen Mary’s

College (QMC) as it celebratesits centenary. The years I re-member are from 1937 to 1942,momentous years with WorldWar II raging and the freedomstruggle and Quit India move-ment gathering strength.

Queen Mary’s College forwomen had as its neighbourPresidency College for men andwomen. The only other women’scollege at the time was Women’sChristian College (WCC). Stu-dents who graduated fromQueen Mary’s and who wished to

pursue postgraduate or honoursstudies could stay in QueenMary’s Hostel. There was a col-lege bus which would take themin the morning and bring themback in the evening. The buswould also take us to variousmatches, like basketball, tennis,etc, we used to play againstWCC and bring us back. Wewould sing all the way and backthe refrain “Queen Mariansnever die, never die, they onlyfade away.”

* * *As you entered the gates of

QMC the first building was

Capper House where the Collegestarted. The three main buildingson the right were Pentland, Jey-pore and Stone. The ground floorof Capper House had classrooms,which had galleries where thestudents sat while the professor,sitting in a chair with a table infront of her on a small platform,delivered her lecture. There wasa well-equipped library, a centralhall with a stage on which playswere performed and where weheld debates. We also had somesmall prayer rooms for differentdenominations. These weremaintained by the students.

There was a Music Associa-tion which had an orchestra with25 veenas. Music was one of thesubjects you could take for yourB.A. The ground floor centralarea had cane tables and chairswhere students could receivevisitors with prior permissiongiven by their parents. The Prin-cipal had her quarters in the cen-tral portion on the first floor ofPentland. On either side therewere double rooms for students,two to a room. Grace Soans andE.K. Padma shared a room fac-ing the sea. Sathyabhama Reddyand I had the one behind.

It was the first time all of uswere staying in a hostel. I couldhave been a day student, as myparents were staying in Madras,but my father insisted that I stayin the hostel to become indepen-dent and enjoy life. Lookingback, they were the mostwonderful years! To the left ofCapper House there was group ofsingle-storey buildings, exceptfor one which had a first floor.The members of the staff stayedin these buildings. In the samecomplex was a small swimmingpool. I am told it is no longer inuse and is a rubbish dump!

The canteen had four sec-tions. The European section,where spoons, forks and kniveswere used, was on the first floorof Capper House. The vegetariansection was on the ground floorand food was served on bananaleaves there. The non-vegetarianand Brahmin sections were in aseparate building.

* * *During the years we were

there, Miss Myers was the Prin-cipal. When the Japanese joinedthe War, the College, which wasfully painted white and a beauti-ful sight, could be seen from far,especially from planes flyinghigh. So orders came from Gov-ernment to paint it gray so that itwould not be easily visible! Thewindowpanes were covered withgray paper! The military had fewanti-aircraft guns. So all alongthe Marina beach, coconut palmtrunks, cut to a particular sizeand painted black, were placedslanting in the hope that planesflying above would take them foranti-aircraft guns and keep away!Blackout was observed. Ditcheswere dug behind the college.One person on each floor wasarmed with a torch. She was theair raid warden. To prepare foran emergency we had mock airraids. Miss Myers used to sounda siren at an unearthly hour andthe student warden with thetorch would lead us down thestairs to jump into the ditchesand wait till the all clear wassounded by Miss Myers. We thenwent back to our rooms.

Miss Myers decided to hold aWar Fund Fete to collect money

for the soldiers. The entire areain front of the college and alsothe lawn in front was made useof to house all types of stalls –lucky dip, throwing the arrow,selling clothes, eatables, coffeeand cold drinks. Miss Myers en-couraged us to set up whateverstall we liked, provided it mademoney!

In front of Capper House therewas a pond with a fountain in thecentre. Grace and I got permis-sion to use the pond. Our stallwas called “Ringing the duck”.

We bought four ducks fromMoore Market and put them inthe pond. We got some bamboorings. Grace held the rings aloft,while I ran around shouting,“Four annas, three tries, doublethe money or the Duck.” I usedto be known as “gun throat”! Toour delight we lost only twoducks and collected a lot ofmoney. Miss Myers was veryhappy.

* * *With Japan joining the War

the situation was getting worse.We students had to learn FirstAid and Home Nursing. Dr.Laksmi Swaminathan used tocome and take classes for us. Shewas so beautiful that instead ofconcentrating on how to tie abandage we were lost in wonder

(Continued on page 8)

� by

Anna Varki

gazing at her! Soon she left forSingapore and then joinedSubhas Bose’s Indian NationalArmy. From then onwards shewas known as Captain Lakshmi.

At the same time the strugglefor freedom was being relent-lessly pursued by Gandhiji andthe Congress party. Gandhijilaunched his ‘Quit India’ move-ment. Miss Myers with the coop-eration of a few students made ahuge “V” sign with seashells onthe front lawn.

Some of us got together withiron pricks and hammers whenlights were out, dug up the “V”sign and scattered it. Next morn-ing, when Miss Myers saw whathad happened, she was furious.She did make an effort to put ittogether again, but it didn’twork. She never discovered the‘patriots’. Some of us who were“Quit India” enthusiasts cutclasses and were seen on thestreets in front of the EgmoreChief Presidency Magistrate’scourt shouting “Inquilab Zinda-bad”. A few got arrested, mycousin Maya among them. Theywere all taken to the ‘Peniten-tiary’, where they were keptbefore being sent to various jails!This building was on the Marinaand we went and visited our

6 MADRAS MUSINGS February 1-15, 2015

Seminars at

Ekamra Nivas

KRISHNASWAMI ALLADI describes thestory of the birth of MATSCIENCE, theInstitute of Mathematical Sciences, theefforts of his father, Professor AlladiRamakrishnan, and the role of his Theoreti-cal Physics Seminar in the creation of thisInstitute in Madras on January 3, 1962.

(Continued fromlast fortnight)

In June 1958, a few of the newstudents in the MSc course

started attending Father’s semi-nars at home. By July, Fatherwas regularly giving seminars athome. All this was in additionto his lectures for the MSccourse at Madras Universitywhere he was Reader in Phys-ics. Many new students at-tended these seminars at hishome, but the University tookno cognisance of Father’sefforts. At that time, MadrasUniversity, led by Vice-Chan-cellor, Sir A. LakshmanaswamiMudaliar, decided to open anextension centre in Madurai,and asked Father to shift toMadurai to start the PhysicsDepartment there. Severaldecades later, this extensioncentre became the MaduraiUniversity.

Father was very upset atbeing asked to shift to Madurai,but agreed to do so. In his diaryhe recorded his reactions to thisassignment in Madurai: “Whatreally pained me was that theUniversity took no cognisanceof the valuable experience Igained at Princeton, where Ihad heard over 150 seminars byworld-famous physicists, and Iwanted to initiate work in highenergy physics in a universitywhich had among its alumniRaman, Ramanujan, and Chan-drasekhar. The only reward formy enthusiasm was the modestcompliment of banishing me asa professor to an extensioncentre. I found no alternativebut to accept the professorship,since otherwise someone elsewould be appointed and wouldlater wangle a transfer toMadras above my head.”

Ramakrishnan moved toMadurai and settled there with-out his family, but visitedMadras frequently to be withthem, and also to supervise hisstudents who were in the MScclass. He wrote in his diary:“The University extension cen-tre in Madurai was a mere

name. It had neither buildingsnor a library. It had neitherbody nor soul. The ill-furnishedand crowded rooms at the col-leges where I was asked to teachhad a depressing effect since Ihad just returned after spendinga year at the Institute forAdvanced Study...”

An interesting opportunityarose unexpectedly. Rama-krishnan was invited to serve ona National Committee forHindi terms in the physicalsciences. Even though he didnot know Hindi, he acceptedthe assignment because hecould stop in Madras en routeto Delhi for the frequent com-mittee meetings. He adds in hisdiary: “I knew that money wasavailable in India for suchcommittees even though fundswere denied for symposia andlectures! This would give me

greater freedom of movementand the possibility of contactwith higher authorities in Delhiwhose attention I could draw tomy vision and efforts inMadras.” He also found it con-venient that Madras Universityallowed him to conduct theMSc course in theoretical phys-ics in Madras (it was for the firstbatch) during specific periods ofthe academic year 1958-59.

It was while in Madurai thatProf. Ramakrishnan wrote toSir C.V. Raman offering toorganise a session on stochasticprocesses at the Indian Acad-emy of Sciences meeting inBaroda in December 1958. SirRaman agreed to the request,but suggested that the lecturesshould be of wide appeal andemphasise the relationship be-tween theory and experiment.Father was able to take severalof his research students to theBaroda meeting and have them

give lectures on their work. Itwas a great experience for themto speak in the dominating pres-ence of Sir Raman in the frontrow!

* * *In 1959 Father was holding

his regular MSc Physics classesin a room in Senate House andconducting his informal but ad-vanced seminars at home. Sincethese seminars had become aregular feature supplementingthe MSc course, he decided toformalise the practice in March1959 and called the programmethe ‘Theoretical Physics Semi-nar’. V. Devanathan, one of hismost dedicated MSc students,was made the Secretary of theSeminar. It was decided to in-vite eminent scientists visitingor travelling through India tospeak at the Seminar.

The first visitors after the

formal launch of the Theoreti-cal Physics Seminar were Pro-fessor Ziro Koba, whom fatherhad met during his visit toYukawa Hall in 1956, and Dr.Kotani. Professor and Mrs.Kotani stayed at Ekamra Nivasand therefore had leisurely dis-cussions with Father and hisstudents. In addition to expos-ing his students to lectures byforeign visitors at the Seminar,Prof. Ramakrishnan also tookhis students regularly to partici-pate and lecture in conferencesand summer schools which wereheld in various parts of India.After a Summer School onTheoretical Physics held inMussoorie in June 1959, towhich he took four students, hewrote, “The moving spirit of thesummer school was SatyenBose, the doyen of theoreticalphysics in India, and very sym-pathetic to the aspirations ofthe young scientific commu-nity. He was more interested instimulating creative thoughtthan in expository talks at theconference... In my speech Iexhorted that the Mussooriespirit should pervade Indianscience in due course.”

In August, Father receivedan invitation from the Univer-sity Grants Commission to serveon an Expert Committee to rec-ommend proposals for theadvancement of mathematicalsciences in India. It was indeedironic to be appointed to thisCommittee when his efforts toinitiate advanced physics in

Madras were ignored by theUniversity!

* * *

A turning point in Prof.Ramakrishnan’s life was his un-expected meeting with C.Subramaniam in October 1959and the Minister’s visit to theEkamra Nivas shortly thereafterto meet the students of theSeminar. Recalling the meetingProf. Ramakrishnan wrote,“During the Dasara season of1959, I received an invitation toan international gathering ofAfrican and Asian students atWoodlands Hotel with C.Subramaniam as their ChiefGuest. He was then the Minis-ter for Education and Financein the Madras Government. Iknew of him and had met himin New Delhi during the mo-mentous days of the Constitu-ent Assembly when he was ablackhaired young Congress-man who came to have discus-sions with my father (Sir AlladiKrishnaswamy Iyengar). But Idid not know him personally. Idid not feel enthusiastic aboutgoing to the meeting since I feltthat he may not have a real in-terest in higher education orcreative science. So, that even-ing I decided to go and relax atthe Marina beach with my wifeLalitha. As the car was about totake a turn towards the beach,she suggested that we shouldrespond to the invitation andattend the meeting for at leasthalf an hour, to which I con-sented most unwillingly.

“At the meeting, one of thetopics that came up for discus-sion was about racial prejudiceand how these students shouldtackle this in India... When Iwas asked to give my views, Istressed that racial prejudice orprejudice in any form is besttackled by demonstration ofgood performance. Such snob-bery exists even in the realm ofscience and in many profes-sions. When my father startedhis legal profession (in Madras),he was warned that it would bedifficult to succeed unless onehad tasted the waters of theCauvery. But within sevenyears, with hard work and dedi-cation, he became the unri-valled leader of the Madras Barand had several juniors whohailed from the banks of thatfamous river! Similarly, inmodern physics, while it wasgenerally agreed that Europewas the seat of science and cul-ture, with the efforts of Oppen-heimer and the new generationof scientists, the centre of grav-

ity shifted to the United States.“This speech of mine im-

pressed Subramaniam so muchthat he asked me to meet himat his official residence, CooumHouse. I wasted no time andemphasised to him the need forproviding suitable opportunitiesto the band of theoretical physi-cists working with me. I invitedhim to dinner at my house towhich he readily responded. Itwas at that dinner he suddenlyasked me to explain what Imeant by suitable opportunitiesfor creative science. I told himplainly that it was somethinglike the Institute for AdvancedStudy in Princeton.” The Min-ister asked for a note on howthe new institute could be laun-ched. During the years 1960and ’61, several world-famousscientists spoke at the Theoreti-cal Physics Seminar and Minis-ter C. Subramaniam came toEkamra Nivas on many occa-sions to meet the visiting scien-tists and have discussions withthem over dinner.

* * *The years 1960 and 1961

were packed with the lectures ofmany world-famous physicistsand mathematicians at theSeminar. The year started withthe visits of physicist AbdusSalam of Imperial College,London, and Niels Bohr, bothof which had a profound influ-ence on the creation of MAT-SCIENCE and on Father’s ca-reer.

Professor Salam spent a fewdays in Ekamra Nivas and at histwo-hour lecture there he wasthrilled to find such an eagerand enthusiastic audience.Following dinner he relaxedwith the students on the lawnsof Ekamra Nivas. Father pre-sented Salam with a portrait ofLord Krishna which he gra-ciously accepted. In return, Fa-ther expressed his thanks by at-tending Namas with Prof. Salamat a mosque in Madras!

Salam’s visit was immedi-ately followed by that of NobelLaureate Niels Bohr who was inIndia in January 1960 as theguest of Prime Minister Nehru.Professor Bohr acceptedFather’s invitation to visitEkamra Nivas and meet the stu-dents of the Seminar. He wasstaying at Government House,but agreed to have dinner atEkamra Nivas and spend a lei-surely evening with the stu-dents. Father later wrote in hisdiary: “It was flattering thatProfessor Bohr and his wife

(Continued on page 8)

Ekamra Nivas.

C. Subramaniam at Ekamra Nivas with Prof. Ramakrishnan.

February 1-15, 2015 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

A festival with alife of its own

A street festival has a life ofits own. The annual

Sundaram Finance MylaporeFestival’s 2015 edition (January8th to 11th) had more of theseelements than ever before.

The back-to-back perfor-mances of a medley of folkdances by a team of studentsfrom Queen Mary’s College,and the kattai-koothu recitalsby the Arulmigu SrimandaveliAmman Nadaga Mandram,Cheyyar Taluk, Thiruvanna-malai, lent that unique colour.

The festival, the only one ofits kind in the city, always hostsevents in the streets and lanesthat run off from the Sri KapaliTemple zone precincts inMylapore. Each street is themed– craft, food, home products,kolam, live performances. Theidea behind this curation is totreat the zone as a religion-cultural-heritage space and setthe festival in it.

Besides the street perfor-mances, the weekend kolamcontests this year turned out tobe Kolam Displays – the 90kolams designed by the partici-pants were protected, the flood-lights switched on them and theeast end of North Mada Streetturned into something of a liveart installation.

By doing this, visitors whocame in later in the eveningcould enjoy the kolam-s. Thishas enthused the Festival Cura-tor to consider hosting a lateevening kolam contest in the

same area and build a food andperformance zone here.

This year, the five HeritageWalks/Tours got a hugeresponse. The leaders wereCycling Yogis, Sriram V.,Chithra Madhavan, SridharVenkataraman and T. Sun-dari.

If Sriram led his group of 60people to what were oncevillages in this area, Sridharshowed foodies the snack jointsthat thrive here, while architectSundari focussed on local archi-tecture as the group walked

around the temple zone, andChithra Madhavan put thespotlight on four ancienttemples on the other side ofKutchery Road.

As always, the Food Streetwas packed on all four eveningsof the fest. This year, the stallpromoters were asked not tocook snacks on the spot – buttheir mouth-watering dishessold out by 10 p.m.

This year, a small OrganicFood Bazaar was createdon Pitchu Pillai Street. Itallowed people to sample the

stuff and interact with the stall-holders.

The Fest also launched apublic petition – asking the CityTraffic Police to consider mak-ing the three Mada Streets ‘oneway’ and to create a ‘walk only’zone for certain hours on theweekend. (You can sign thisonline petition if you supportthis issue at http://bit.ly/Mylapore-Mada-Streets-Peti-tion.)

The Mylapore Festival hasbeen the trigger for a few localcommunity initiatives. Onesuch is the ‘mike-less’ concert inthe park, a series that was firstlaunched by this Festival.

Hopefully, the call forchanges in the Mada Streets’traffic system, aimed at improv-ing the condition of thisheritage zone gets a positive nodfrom the Police and theChennai Corporation.

(Courtesy: Mylapore Times)

Clockwise from above: A street full of kolam-s; Krishnan Thoothu, a play by Arulmigu Srimandaveli Amman Nadaga Mandram; and folk dances by students from Queen Mary’s College... a part ofthe buzz at the Mylapore Festival.

(By A Special Correspondent)

Cholamandal, started in 1965, is an Artists’ Village situated onan eight-acre plot of land 8 km south of Adyar on Muttukadu

Road by the sea. Thirty painters and sculptors of talent haveacquired land for themselves in order to be able to work incomparative peace. Cholamandal stands for the rehabilitation ofthe creative artist as an equal participant in society, self-employedand independent. Here the artist paints or sculpts through themajor part of the day and applies himself to a congenial art-craftduring leisure hours to supplement, if necessary, his income fromthe sale of paintings and sculptures. Cholamandal is perhaps thefirst of its kind anywhere in the world. It is administered by anannually elected council of members. In the last few years,cholamandal has been adding facilities to its campus.

On February 1, 2009, the Cholamandal Centre for Contempo-rary Art was inaugurated. It consists of the K.C.S. Paniker Museumof the Madras Movement, two commercial airconditioned galleries,Labernum and Indigo, and an open-air international sculpture parksurrounding the complex.

It has two guest houses of 400 sq.ft. each available on rent and agarden restaurant amidst which is located “Shiraz”, a 30-seaterairconditioned café with Persian and Mediterranean cuisine.

The latest addition at Cholamandal Artists’ Village is theCholamandal Cultural Centre (in picture) inaugurated on January7, 2015. It is a state-of-the-art international Artists’ Residency anda space for cultural exchange programmes.

Cholamandal’s

latest addition

8 MADRAS MUSINGS February 1-15, 2015

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(Continued from page 5)

The War –and ‘Quit India’

friends who had been arrested.We could view them through asmall window which had ironbars covered with a net.

Miss Myers was finding it dif-ficult to control the studentswho cut classes. She just signedthe register and left. All shecould do was to issue an ultima-tum that gates would be lockedby 6 p.m. The next step was toclose the College except forthose appearing for the final ex-ams. We who were appearingfor our public exams had a prob-lem with having no lights tostudy. Lights were switched offby 9 p.m. Only the passagelights and bathroom lights werekept on, covered with gray pa-per. It was a problem for thoseof us appearing for the exam tostudy. So what we did was to getflasks full of coffee from thecanteen before it closed, takeour books and armed with flasksof coffee settled down to studyin the passages, something wewere not supposed to do.

Around midnight or later wewould suddenly hear loud foot-steps stomping! We gatheredour books and fled to ourrooms! We knew it was our be-nevolent principal makingenough noise to give us time toescape. Being caught meant theend of our studies.

* * *

I finished my Master’s atPresidency in English languageand Literature. It was duringthe time when ProfessorAiyappen Pillai was the Head ofthe Department. There wouldbe pin-drop silence when he en-tered the class in his flowingblack gown. After our time, theQueen Mary’s College hostelwas meant only for those study-ing in Queen Mary’s Collegeand not for those who wished tostudy in Presidency. They wereno longer allowed to stay thereas authorities felt it disturbedthe discipline and functioningof the college. A separate hostelwas established for those goingto Presidency College.

TEA WITH ANNA AT PRESIDENCY(Continued from page 5)

One more incident. I was the Vice-President of the TamilAssociation. Ananthanayaki, later a Congress MLA, was theSecretary. The President, Teeka Ram, was an ardent DravidaKazhagam man. He had invited, without our knowledge and evenwithout the permission of Viswanatha Iyer, Head of the Depart-ment of Tamil, the DK leader Annadurai. On the morning of thefunction, the invitation was shown to Prof. Viswanatha Iyer. Hewas reduced to shivers. He called me and asked, “Mohan, what isthis? This is a Government college. How can he invite a DK leaderlike Annadurai? If he makes a speech criticising Government, therewill not only be embarrassment and several problems may arise,but I will be in the soup.”

During tea, prior to the meeting, I whispered to Anna about thefear of the Tamil Professor. Being a thorough gentleman, Annasaid, “I am aware this is a Government college and the position ofthe Tamil Professor. I will not cause the slightest embarrassment toanyone, have no fear.” I felt assured. Later, I asked what his topicwould be. He said “Fear”. Anna’s speech lasted an hour and fifteenminutes. It was like torrential rain during summer. The speech wasabout the fear that pre-historic men had for thunder and lightning.They thought they were due to curses. The early men propitiated aform of God to appease God’s anger. No wonder the speech held usspellbound. (Courtesy: TCC Digest)

Till February 28: Bodhisatva, ZenBuddhist drawings, by Bodhi-selvam. Also exhibition of oilpaintings on temples of TamilNadu by K. Ravee. His workfeatures temple images andsculptures. (at Dakshina-Chitra).

February 6-28: Unheard Melo-dies, an exhibition of photo-graphs by Mala Mukerjee (atApparao Infinity, Nungam-bakkam).

February 12: Contemporarydance, The Past by ConstanzaMacras. Constanza is one ofthe most renowned choreogra-phers of Germany. She inte-grates dancers, actors & musi-cians, combines text, live mu-sic, dance & video. Passes:Goethe Institut (Venkata-subba Rao Hall, 7.00 p.m.).

February 14-15: DAM Fest – aunique festival of creativity incollaboration with NIFT,Chennai (at DakshinaChitra).

February 14: Theatre for Chil-dren, Ha zwei oohh! H2O byHelios Theatre, Hamm. Passes:Goethe Institut (at Spaces,Besant Nagar, 12.00 p.m. &4.30 p.m.).

February 15: Jazz concert by Ma-dras Special – New Genera-tion. Percussionist RameshShotham and his rhythm tourde force Madras Special paytribute to Mariano, afamous American jazz altosaxophonist. In the 1970s he tosettled in Cologne/Germany,where he died in 2009. He wasknown for his use of thenadaswaram (at GoetheInstitut 7.30 p.m.).

Seminars atEkamra Nivas(Continued from page 6)

stayed on until midnight inspite of repeated remindersfrom the official aide to get backto Government House. Mrs.Bohr, a gracious woman of greatcharm and elegance, kept awatchful eye to prevent herhusband from putting his burn-ing pipe into his coat pocket!We could not believe that sucha great physicist, engrossed inhis own thoughts who, alongwith Einstein, set in motion theatomic age, could evince inter-est in a group of stripling physi-cists in a far off country. He didso in a generous measure at apress interview at the airportwhich was reported in TheHindu as follows:

Asked about the place math-ematics should occupy in the pur-suit of theoretical physics, the pro-fessor said that in Bombay and inMadras efforts were being madefor the promotion of knowledge ofphysics which demanded newmathematical methods and thetraining of young people to be ablefruitfully to contribute to suchwork. Wonderful work was being

done in the field of theoreticalphysics by Professor AlladiRamakrishnan of the MadrasUniversity.

“He seems to have men-tioned this to the Prime Minis-ter when he met him beforeleaving India.”

Prof. Ramakrishnan, notlong afterwards, received acommunication from the PrimeMinister’s Office asking forfurther information about hisefforts in Madras. It was to takenearly two years before thisinterest from the Prime

Minister’s Office would leadto the creation of MAT-SCIENCE.

With the endorsement givenby Professor Bohr, Father wroteto the Vice-Chancellor that itwould be impossible for him tocontinue the assignment inMadurai. He had received aninvitation to visit the Universityof Berne, Switzerland, for twomonths. In the same letter, herequested the Vice-Chancellorfor two months’ leave to visitEurope. The University sanc-tioned the leave and reluctantlyagreed to relieve him of the as-signment in Madurai, statingthat he should return to Madrasafter the Swiss assignment andserve as “Professor withoutportfolio”.

(To be continued)