Token celebration

Here's another version of the lion capital that we saw atop the pillar at Ashok Nagar a few days ago. Another version not merely because of the change in colour (I think the Ashok Nagar one is by far better than these gilded lions), but also because that one is actually the complete Lion Capital of Sarnath; this, on the other hand is representative of the state emblem of the Republic of India. The inverted lotus, on which the lions are placed, is missing from this one, because that is not part of the State Emblem.

This column was placed at the junction of Radhakrishnan Salai and Kamarajar Salai, right on the Marina, in August 1997. It is possibly the only remaining symbol of time when India celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its independence. I remember those celebrations as being very low-key, rather muted. Maybe a 5000-year legacy considers 50 years as just the blink of an eye.

The definition of the State Emblem (as seen here) shows only a two dimensional image; of the four lions standing with their backs to each other on the Lion Capital, only three can seen in the 2-D image. This one too has only three lions - or so I believe. I've never bothered to go around it to check if that's really the case!

Unplugged concert

The early birds at Nageshwara Rao Park know better than to raise their voices on the first Sunday of the month. At 6.30 am on that day, a child gets on to the stage area, raised slightly above the ground and keeps the listeners engrossed with his or her performance. Most of the time, it is a solo vocalist, usually accompanied by a mridangam and a violin. There have been group performances also - in the 37 Sundays since this concept took off, more than 200 children have taken to the stage, many of them for their debut performances. That's the whole idea of the 'Kutcheri (Concert) in the Park', nurtured by Sundaram Finance since inception.

Rather, the idea itself belongs to Sundaram Finance. Keeping in mind that the early morning walkers at the park, the company decided not to use mikes or speakers; in a way, that encourages the children, always under 15, some as young as 6, to put their lungs into their performance. It is not a shoo-in, for the company auditions applicants for the stage; it is said that the senior executives of Sundaram Finance enjoy a few hours of good music every month as they select the next kutcheri peformer!

Teaching trade unionism

Considering that Madras was born of a desire for cheap 'cloathe', it should not be a surprise that the first ever trade union in India was the Madras Textile Labour Union, formed in 1918. Within a very short time, the trade union movement gained popularity and several unions were formed, both in Madras and in other Presidency towns. In 1923, Madras was the venue for the country's first ever May Day Rally, presided over by Comrade Singaravelar, one of the pioneers of the labour movement. There were some firebrand union leaders who came out of Madras, including a certain R.Venkataraman, who went on to become a Union Minister and later the President of India.

The ardour cooled off in the late 1970s, after a rather violent strike by the Simpson and Group Company in 1971. Militant labour went west and the recent history of militant Indian trade unionism is more about Datta Samant and Rajan Nair in Bombay and Pune. Madras became a more peaceable industrial zone, though there were several instances of localised violence. For the past couple of decades, though, there haven't been any really bad spells of industrial unrest.

Is it possible that this institute, set up by the State Bank of India Officers' Association to offer programs on 'Trade Union Effectiveness' has something to do with the more aware union activists in this part of the country?

Smile, you're on camera!

Chennai is also following the other 'Big Brother' cities by installing trafficams to monitor traffic violations at some choke points in the city. London is probably the grand-daddy of the big brothers, the whole city awash with cameras capturing a huge store of life in the early 21st century. Chennai has begun modestly last year, putting in place 14 cameras - and maybe a few dummy domes - at different points. The results have been good, with fines worth Rs.50,000 being collected every day through trafficam bookings, on an average.

That revenue stream has enthused the city police to go ahead with installing more such eyes on the roads this year. Last year's cameras were rather unobtrusive, sitting on existing poles and crossbars, wherever possible. Now, with the flush of success, they are being positioned rather visibly, like this one where GST Road meets Pazhavanthangal. A few drivers will be frightened into obeying the road-rules, but the majority couldn't care two hoots.

Maybe because they knew that last year, when the cameras were first installed, 3 of the 4 monitors in the central control room were on the blink!

Day ticket

A few weeks ago, there wasn't even one, and now there are two. First off the blocks was the Tamilnadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC), on Feb 20; five days later, the Villupuram division of the Tamilnadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) launched their version, though under the TTDC's banner. It must have been inspired by the Open Bus Tours, but they've thankfully stopped short of cutting off the tops of the buses - Chennai is never meant to be an Open Bus location!

TTDC's version is an hourly hop-on-hop-off sevice on the Chennai - Mamallapuram stretch. At Rs.150 for a day ticket, you can spend the whole day at various spots along the ECR. The TNSTC version, though, stays within the city and covers 16 places of interest within Chennai. Priced at Rs.250/- per day, it seems a good way to have a quick look around - even though the look is restricted largely to south Chennai. One hopes these hop-arounds will move to other parts of the city, too!

End of the walk

This was a rather sad way for a 'Turtle Walk' to end; seeing a dead one washed up on the shore. Unfortunately, it is a sight that is becoming far too common. The eastern seaboard of India has nesting grounds for many of the seven known species of the turtle. Listed as 'Vulnerable' on the IUCN's Red List, the Olive Ridley is the most common visitor to the beaches of Chennai. Knowing the popular attractions, the Olive Ridleys have been careful to avoid the Marina, preferring the lesser known and therefore lesser expensive stretchs of the beach.

Trudging through beach sand for around 7 hours, looking for the nests or even for a lighthouse in the neighbourhood is not an ideal way to spend Saturday evening. But having done that, it is something that I would n't have missed. We walked for about 7 hours, from 1230 pm to 0330 and many of the group were disappointed at not having seen the maginicant turtles come up from the sea to lay their eggs, as they have been programmed to do over several generations. It is said that the Olive Ridley comes back to the spot where she was born, to lay her eggs.

In recent years, the turtle populations are faced with several disadvantages: the worst is from mechanized trawlers, whose nets are srong enough to go through the soft flesh of a the turtle's flipper or its neck, even. This one shows all the signs of having been strangulated - extremely sad. The redeeming part of the walk was watching 3 hatchlings struggle to walk for element: life does find a way, many times!

One-glass building

There are several buildings in the city that appear to have been abandoned half-way into their construction. The hotel that was originally intended to be the Magunta Oberoi is a very visible example, right on Mount Road, but there are several others all over the city. One such is this 10-storey builidng which is also on Mount Road, but does not catch the eye so readily because it is next to the Gemini Flyover and sheltered from view on almost all sides.

Also not so readily apparent is the ownership of this building; one theory is that a former Prime Minister's son had taken up this project with funding from a Chennai based bank but had to pull out when the bank was caught in a scam in the mid '90s. Another theory credits the scam for work on the building being halted, but points to an entertainment group as the owner. A third theory is that some apartments in this building had already been sold to individual owners and the holdup is because of a dispute between some buyers and the seller. For evidence in support of the third theory, they point to that window on the 8th floor - the only one that is covered with a glass window pane.

No, it is not that this apartment is occupied. It is said that the owner has been able to generate some revenue by renting his apartment out for movie shoots - and it has been used for several - where the interiors are re-created for each movie. The glass window pane however seems to be a standard fixture!

Okay, I'm stretching it a bit.... it is 'Theme Day' today and the theme is 'glass'... my best 'glass' photo and story was posted long ago! To see how other City Daily Photobloggers around the world have interpreted the theme, click here.