WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI

MUSINGSVol. XXIII No. 7 July 16-31, 2013

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INSIDE

• Short ‘N’ Snappy

•Cancer care institute

•Air terminal facilities

• Testimonials that speak

•Versatile cricketer

(Continued on page 4)

Publication: 15th & 28th of every month

CMYKCMYK

Yet anotherCooum clean-up!

� by

The Editor

T. Nagar multi-levelparking lot revived, again!

� by A Staff Reporter

(Continued on page 7)

The State Government hasyet again resurrected theidea of having a multi-levelparking lot adjacent to PanagalPark. This is perhaps the fourthor fifth time that this plan isbeing mooted. Each time it hasbeen hailed as a solution for thecongestion that continues toplague the surroundings andeach time it has failed on justone count – no contractor hasever bid for the tender eachtime it has been floated. Will itbe any different now?

The Corporation of Chennaihas repeatedly toyed with theidea of multi-level parking fa-cilities at several locations inthe city – namely Wallace Gar-dens (Nungambakkam), Broad-way, Flower Bazaar and PanagalPark. Of these, barring the firstone, none has moved beyondthe proposal stage. The sole ex-ception, which is nearingcompletion, probably owes itssuccess to the persistent push ofa nearby private hospital thatdesperately needs this facility todecongest the surroundings.

The others have had achequered history even on pa-

per. The Broadway lot, pro-posed to be constructed at thepresent bus terminus (which inturn is on the erstwhile MadrasUnited Club ground), was an-nounced four times only tohave had no bids for the tender.It has even now not been givenup; it has been merely put onhold thanks to the Metrorailproject taking over quite a bitof space meant for the facility.

The Flower Bazaar parking lot,which was meant for two-wheelers, has also remained onpaper for want of takers. Giventhis background, what is theguarantee of success for the T.Nagar plan?

On paper at least, the idealooks good. The Rs. 25 crorefacility will be on BhashyamRoad, adjacent to Panagal Park,on land that is already beingused for parking vehicles. It willbe on 1600 sq m of land, withspace for 500 cars and 900 two-wheelers. The consultingagency had initially suggested

that the entire facility be under-ground, below Panagal Park,with exits on GN Chetty,Doraiswamy and Venkata-narayana Roads. But the Cor-poration has shied away fromthis, citing implementationdifficulties. While this may be atough solution to implement, itprobably was the best, for itwould have allowed for smoothflow of surface traffic. The ideahas already been successfullyexecuted in New Delhi’s PalikaBazaar, in the heart ofConnaught Circus.

The present modified plan,which calls for an over-the-ground facility, has received theState Government’s approval.The Corporation hopes to callfor bids and select an approvedcontractor in six months. Theplan will take 18 to 24 monthsto implement. All this isprovided a contractor expressesinterest. Reluctance to partici-pate in such bids mainly stemsfrom doubts about commercialviability, possible delays inexecution and the likely

It is just a couple of monthssince we reported on adetailed exercise that wasplanned to clean the city’s riverof sorrow. Even then we hadapologised for expressing asense of déjà vu, and now we arenot certain as to what is to besaid. But plans are afoot oncemore, for yet another attempt,this time with Spanish techni-cal help. It makes you wonderas to what happened to theearlier plan and/or whether thisnew exercise is part of the samescheme.

The new team has done adetailed study and presented itsfindings at a public discussionorganised by the Chennai RiverRestoration Trust a couple ofweeks ago. It ran along theexpected lines that anyone

“It’s wise to look before you leap, especially at this time of water scarcity!”

familiar with the river restora-tion knows – steps needed tokeep water flowing during off-season, prevention of untreatedsewage from being let into theriver, ensuring solid wastes arenot directly disposed off into it,and resettlement of slums thatexist along the river.

Those who attended theconsultation trashed the studyas elitist as it focussed princi-pally on beautification, whichincluded building of cycle tracksand parks, along with upmarkethousing on space that is nowoccupied by shanties. Somewere of the view that the studydid not take into account theproblems of the slum dwellers.It also skirted around the issueof wastes being let into the riverby Government agencies.Among those who were presentwere representatives from theslums who feared that in the

name of resettlement theywould be displaced to far awaycolonies, completely removedfrom the places where they earntheir livelihood. The study isexpected to be tabled before theGovernment in a couple ofmonths after which work is ex-pected to begin.

It cannot be forgotten thatno project has thus farsucceeded in cleaning the river.The first attempt was in the1970s, when boating wasplanned on the Cooum. Someof the piers and jetties built forthis can still be seen along theriver. This was abandonedwhen there was a change ofgovernment. Since then therehave been several programmesand schemes, all of which havecome to nought despite crores

of rupees having been spent onso-called improvements whichsomehow never appeared tohave had the desired result. Inaddition to these schemes,there have been several smallergrants for periodic desilting ofthe waterways. These havebeen for shorter stretches andtheir effect, on completion, hasbeen negligible. Almost Rs. 2crore is spent each year on theseexercises.

In 2001, a Rs. 1200 croreCity River ConservationProject was sanctioned by theCentral Government. Rs. 750crore out of that was spent onbuilding sewage treatmentplants for the CMWSSB. At theend of it, raw effluents werefound to be still pouring into theriver. It was admitted later thatthe scheme had failed to takeinto account the needs of city’sexploding population. Pre-

sently, around 30% of the city’sraw sewage gets into the Cooumriver. Cynics aver that this is thereason for the river having anywater at all. But when you con-sider that around 100 millionlitres of sewage makes its wayinto the river in a year, the en-vironmental impact is stagger-ing. Some 340 drains connect

2 MADRAS MUSINGS July 16-31, 2013

The Man from MadrasMusings can hear you allgroan “Oh, no, not anotherEgmore story.” But let MMMassure you that once you haveread it your knotted and com-bined locks will part and standon end like quills on a fretfulporpentine, as the Bard said.That by the way is somethingthat will never happen toMMM, for what with workingfor the Chief on a permanentbasis, he (meaning MMM andnot the Chief) is challenged inthe matter of hair.

But to get back to Egmore.The other day MMM had to goto the station, this time not asa passenger but to meet some-one who was arriving. The per-son to be met needed assis-tance in walking and that madeMMM’s alabaster brow fur-rowed. There are overbridgesto negotiate and the platforms

wheelchair would be sent assoon as the previous hirer hadreturned it. And how longwould that take, asked MMM.The voice had no answer. Aftersome hesitation it replied thatthe entire station had onesolitary wheelchair and it wasanybody’s guess as to when itwould be returned to the book-ing office. There were, addedthe voice most helpfully, tentrains arriving in that one hourand so the wheelchair was ingreat demand. It could nothave been more sought afterhad it been a minister’s chair.

By that time the platformwas pretty much deserted,barring MMM, the elderlypassenger and a pile of luggage.The phone rang. It was thevoice again. A wave of hopesurged in MMM. Could thewheelchair have been re-turned, after all? But that was

not the case. The wheelchairwould take quite a while, saidthe Voice of God, but MMMcould avail of the next bestthing. The voice said that it hadorganised for a porter to bring aluggage trolley in which thepassenger could be moved. Ithad, said the voice, the addedadvantage that the bags couldalso be loaded on to it. Andthen having added smartly thatMMM could settle directlywith the porter, the voice wentoff, no doubt to spend the restof the day folding bed sheets.

In the distance MMM couldsee a porter wheeling a baggagetrolley. He was weaving his wayuncertainly towards MMMhaving, no doubt, spent a con-siderable portion of hisanteprandial earnings on anaperitif or two. His vocabularywas rich judging by the way headdressed a stray dog that hap-pened to cross his path. MMMlooked at the elderly relative,who just had a resigned air.There is little further to be said,other than the fact that thejourney was by trolley, pushedby a cursing porter.

Chennai’s traffic laws

We Chennaiites are differ-ent. The rest of theworld may go by the nurseryrhyme that went ‘Stop says thered light, go says the green.Change says the amber lighttwinkling in-between’. There isalso something else aboutqueens obeying it and all thatwhich The Man from MadrasMusings has forgotten. Not thatany of it is relevant in Chennaiwhere it is ‘Run says the redlight, go says the green. Keepgoing says the amber light twin-kling in between’, and twin-kling is just about right given

Exasperation at Egmorethe number of traffic lightsthat are on the blink. There isone near where MMM liveswhich for over four monthshas literally been blinking.The ailment began with thevarious lights blinking rapidlyall the time. Then they beganto flicker at the edges. Some-one then attended to them af-ter which they ceased blinkingtogether but blinked in propersequence.

A few days later, it was no-ticed by those who look at traf-fic lights at all (and yes, thatfoolish fraternity, thoughdwindling, does have somemembers) that the lights hadreduced in diameter thoughthat did not in any way inter-fere with the blinking. Now,all of the three have becomemere dots. You need to havethe eyes of an eagle to be ableto spot whether the lights have

Path of

industrialisation

(Continued on page 3)

SHORT ’N’ SNAPPY

are long, uneven and oftendirty.

And so it was a pensiveMMM who crossed the statelyportals of Egmore station. Hedid not pause to admire thestained glass (once multi-coloured but now stained apermanent betelnut red) orthe corbels or the staircase, allof which, had MMM beendifferently situated, he wouldhave spent time on. He was,after all, there with a purpose.MMM went straight to the of-fice where, he was told, heneeded to book a wheelchair.It was one of those places thatcould have passed for amorgue, for it appeared at firstsight to be filled with windingsheets. The wheelchair book-ing office, it transpired, alsodoubled as the laundry collec-tion area. The staff wasfriendly enough and MMMwas assured that all he neededto do was to give a call on thewheelchair-in-charge’s cellphone as soon as MMM’sfriend had alighted from histrain. The wheelchair, MMMwas given to understand,would be there in a jiffy.

And so off went MMM tothe assigned platform. A loadhad been lifted from his head.He could not help contrastingit with his younger days whenelderly relatives had to sufferthe indignity of being trans-ported in baggage trolleys,pushed by cursing porters.The train arrived. The personwhom MMM had come tomeet duly alighted and stag-gered off to a nearby bench.MMM made his call. Thevoice at the other end said thatthe wheelchair would soon beon its way. A stage wait oc-curred. MMM made a secondcall. He was informed that the

turned red, amber or green.Not that it matters to those onthe road anyway.

Most of these road-hoggingmonsters, it appears to MMM,are those who think that thehorn is the only component ina car that needs to work. Andperhaps that is the only onethat they know how to operateanyway. They use it to cleartheir route of other vehicles,pedestrians and stray animals.Above all, they somehowbelieve that the louder theyhoot at a traffic light, thefaster it is likely to changefrom red to green, assumingthat these people are thevariety that stops at trafficlights.

Onward, ever onward

There is yet anothervariety of road-users, asThe Man from MadrasMusings notices, that neverreally stops its vehicle. Theymerely slow down and all thewhile they keep looking forany gaps that they can per-ceive in the ranks in front ofthem. Having identified it,they proceed to nose their waythere, often using their hornsto good effect (that does re-mind you of what buffaloesand bison do, does it not?).Having reached the front ofthe waiting vehicles, they be-gin inching forward, keeping awary eye for any vehicles com-ing at right angles, for the sig-nal is green for them. By re-lentlessly keeping at it, theyreach the other side, long be-fore the signal actually turnsgreen. Makes you green withenvy especially when you areleft waiting.

– MMM

After a couple of years’ stint in teaching, I began my career injournalism in 1962. Through these 50 years, I have witnessedphenomenal changes in the growth of corporate entities. Therehas been innovative and special support by the governments at theCentre and the State level to promote enterprises and encourageentrepreneurship. Development institutions at the State level, likethe Madras Industrial Investment Corporation (today, Tamil NaduIndustrial Investment Corporation), and Industrial FinanceCorporation of India (IFCI), Industrial Development Bank of India(IDBI) and the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation ofIndia (ICICI) at the national level provided liberal term loans andequity support.

Days were also different with political leaders passionate aboutdevelopment and known for their integrity. Leaders like Rajaji,Kamaraj, C. Subramaniam and R. Venkataraman (RV) wereimbibed with these qualities in a rich measure. RV, who handledimportant portfolios of industry, labour, power and transport, aidedby stalwarts in administration like T.A. Verghese, could create anew generation of entrepreneurs, persuading them to set up indus-trial units. Initially the focus was on the traditional sectors liketextiles, sugar and engineering. Soon, effectively utilising thelicensing and permit regime, these sectors expanded to a range ofnew industries like aluminium, cement, chemicals, fertilisers,papers, viscose yarn, watches and even shipping.

I recall RV persuading M.A. Muthiah Chettiar to set up acement plant in Karur offering the licence and support from Statefinancial institutions. This was also enormously helped by theUnion government, also administered by the Congress. Visionar-ies like T.T. Krishnamachari and civil servants like S. Ranganathan

Business notes by

S. VISWANATHANEditor, Industrial Economist

extended the necessary support and advice. Tamil Nadu wasquickly and effectively set on the path of industrialisation.

* * *The experience of TVS is an interesting case. Prior to 1962,

TVS was largely known for its efficient bus service in Madurai andadjoning districts, for its parcel service through Southern Road-ways and for retreading and rubber parts through Sundaram In-dustries, as also for dealerships in vehicles and components, andfor insurance and financing of vehicles.

T.S. Srinivasan, the fourth son of founder T.V. SundaramIyengar, acquired a large tract of land in Padi in the western part ofMadras. From 1962, at quick intervals Wheels India, SundaramClayton, Brakes India and Lucas TVS were inaugurated. Thesewere set up in collaboration with renowned British companies.

S.N. Ramasami (SNR), Advertising Manager of the group, wasa Gandhian and freedom fighter, and had deep insights into thetransport industry. Clad in khadi (a four cubit dhoti and kurta),SNR provided me with a flood of information and introductions.

I referred to the ease of setting up a company. Total investmentinvolved in setting up Wheels India Ltd., for instance, was aroundRs. 2 crore. Of this, Rs. 1.50 crore was accessed from the financialinstitutions. The promoters – the foreign and Indian counterparts– pitched in around Rs. 25 lakh each. There was no hassle andprocedural issues like publicising a prospectus, incurring hugeexpenditure on promoting it to the public, getting numerous clear-ances, etc.

A similar process was involved in setting up any unit, be itrelated to textiles, sugar or other products. In several cases, if theCentral FIs’ funding was not sufficient, State corporations andbanks pitched in.

Of course, those were different times from the present, withlimited disclosures and information made available to the public.Most industrial units were closely held by the promoter families.Excepting the inauguration of a plant or such other importantlandmark event, there was little occasion to access information.Very few companies had public relations officers. Since the size ofthe media was small, for most press conferences addressed bybusiness leaders, the number of reporters was just a handful.

I cite an instance. Tube Investments of India Ltd. was thenactive in the production of steel tubes, bicycles, bicycle compo-nents and metal sections. The company had appointed MarkandDesai, who earlier lived in London, as its PRO. Desai liked to move

July 16-31, 2013 MADRAS MUSINGS 3

Unintelligible names

Further to my note (MM,June 16th) on the Duke ofWellington, I wish to commendthe excellent sense of intuitionof your special correspondent,in the light of some fresh infor-mation I have stumbled upon.His intuitive guess that theDuke’s Indian military experi-ence might have wrested hisWaterloo honours is certainlynot mistaken.

According to a modern dayhistorian, John Keay (2000),the Duke always regarded hisMaratha encounter a stiffercontest than his victory atWaterloo where he lost 15,000of his men while the French lost40,000. The Battle at Assaye(Ahmednagar) which thefuture Duke fought against theScindia is said to be the fiercestcampaign that Arthur Welles-ley, ever waged. Wellesley,commanding his Madras troops

Much has been said and written about thenew domestic terminal at the airport (un-fortunately mostly negative) with the latest tojoin the chorus being MM (June 16th). Most ofthe comments pertain to the functioning of theterminal as such – glass panes breaking, poormaintenance, stinking toilets, steep ramp notsuitable for baggage, etc.

A key issue that has been overlooked iswhether this is how a terminal should be. Afterspending two thousand crores, one would expecta terminal with all features and facilities that arerequired for comfortable arrival and departureby air passengers and also the people who cometo receive and send them off. Sadly that is notthe case.

The concept of an Arrival Hall does not seemto exist in India. Consequently we see peopleincluding drivers standing and waiting behindthe railing just outside the arrival area to meetincoming passengers. Chairs have not beenprovided. Consequently some people simply siton the raised edge that protects the plants. (Ban-galore Airport has several steel chairs outsidethe terminal.) One needs to go no further thanColombo (just an hour’s flight away) to get anidea of an Arrival Hall. Colombo Airport has ahuge, gargantuan Arrival Hall which is probably200 feet X 150 feet X 150 feet. Yes, that’s right,the height of the hall is the same as the width.There are only a few hundred chairs.

Does the new terminal have a telephone(STD) facility? If yes, it is certainly hidden fromview. You will not believe the number of peoplewho require a phone upon arrival (mobile ranout of charge, etc.). Delhi, Calcutta andHyderabad have a phone facility. Once, in Delhithere was a queue of ten people waiting in lineto use the public phone.

Emerge from the Hyderabad airport and youwill be greeted by eateries, shops, etc. Go downone level and you will encounter the ubiquitousMcDonald’s. Come out of the Madras airportand what greets you? Nothing! Yes, that’s right!Nothing other than the drivers holding placardswith the name of the passenger. How long dothese poor fellows usually have to wait, I won-der. Cannot something be done for them? Atleast provide a TV fixed high on the wall. Thereis supposed to be a Snack Bar in the arrival areabut I am yet to find it. If it does exist it is hiddenfrom view; the signage is certainly poor. It canbe argued that the Hyderabad and Bangalore air-ports being greenfield constructions, facilitiessuch as restaurants, shops, etc. were included inthe design and executed. However, with a littleimagination and planning, these much-needed

facilities could have been incorporated into thenew terminal, topography notwithstanding. Thebest joke is that any new facility is described asworld-class!

The new terminal does not have art work un-like the new Delhi air terminal. Art in the formof paintings, sculptures, etc. enhances thebeauty of the terminal. One gets a feeling thatthe new terminal is drab, dull and lifeless. Itdoes look modern, though, and also attractivewhen viewed from a distance.

What can be more quintessential than thetraditional South Indian filter coffee? Imaginebeing greeted by the sound of ‘sooda kaapi’ uponarrival. Imagine a mobile counter (or fixed, itreally does not matter) moving around the fourbaggage carousels dispensing hot coffee. Whata hit it will be! Needless to say the coffee mustbe of the highest quality. Reputed restaurantssuch as the one named after the six-headed God(to plagiarize MMM) should be considered. Ifat all there is a debate on this issue, it will likelybe the number of cups that can be sold daily –500, 1,000, 1,500 and so on. It requires a lot ofimagination and out-of-the-box thinking to cre-ate something novel, new and innovative whichat the same time is beneficial. Traditional gov-ernmental thinking will not suffice (which thenew terminal is perhaps the result of). (This let-ter focusess on the arrival portion of the newterminal since I have not yet used the newdeparture portion.)

No article on airports and airlines (in news-papers) is complete without a quote from thepresident of the Air Passengers’ Association. In-terestingly it is the same person who gets quotedagain and again making one wonder whether heis the life-time president. What has this associa-tion done for air passengers? The answer is per-haps a closely-guarded secret. Does this asso-ciation participate in meetings concerning airtravel? Are the office bearers on the variouscommittees constituted by the government?Does this organisation influence the planning/decision-making process? Did it provide any in-puts into the design of the new domestic termi-nal? Does this association have a website? Sadlyone does not get a sense that this associationserves the needs or protects the interests of airpassengers. When the government allowed air-lines to unbundle services thereby enablingthem to charge for seats, etc., this associationshould have been in the forefront to opposesuch measures.

B. Gautham

137, Wallajah Road, Chennai 600 002

Air terminals

consisting of 5,000 Infantry and2,000 Cavalry (which included1,300 Europeans), vanquishedthe Marathas consisting of42,000 soldiers at the Battle ofAssaye. The insignia of AssayeElephant that was awarded,later replaced the Royal Crownin the Madras RegimentalCrest. After the departure ofEnglish troops (garrisoned heresince 1853), the Madras Regi-ment came to be cantoned atWellington from February1947.

The proposal to name thisMilitary establishment after theDuke of Wellington (d.1852)was first made by the then Com-mander-in-Chief, Sir RichardArmstrong. This was becausethe Duke had always advocatedestablishing a health resort inthese hills for the English bat-talions in India. But this pro-posal was vetoed by the thenGovernor Sir Henry Pottingerwho held that “the name wouldbe unintelligible to the natives”.A future Governor Sir CharlesTrevelyan, however, okayed itin 1860. A bridge connectingthe cantonment to Ooty roadwas originally known as Water-loo Bridge, which subsequentlycame to be called Black Bridgeafter iron girders replaced theoriginal wooden construction.Now a broadened bridge hasbeen re-christened as Manek-shaw Bridge. These new nameshad to be provided because thelocal name for the ford acrossthe watercourse on the roadhappened to be “unintelligible”to the Europeans and their suc-cessors!

Rev. Philip K. MulleyAnaihatti Road, Kotagiri 643 217

PATH OF INDUSTRIALISATIONaround in his three-piece suit,sporting a pipe which he used tolight for special effects!

In my publication, Mobile, Ipresented the productionfigures of TI Cycles and Stan-dard Motor Products of India.Desai called me and asked forthe source of my information. Iassured him that I did not getthe information from the com-pany’s top brass, but from areport of the Department ofIndustry of the State Govern-ment. The report furnished theinformation in a very simpleformat.

The next year, Desaipromptly got in touch with mearound June to know the pro-duction figures for the previousyear! Clearly those were days

(Continued from page 2) not known for disclosures ofsuch information. With limitedcompetition, companies pro-vided minimum information.Of course, for the media thesehave to be only positive!

* * *During the Janata Party

Government (1977-79),George Fernandes, as Ministerof Industry, decreed that theforeign equity holding in com-panies should be limited to 40per cent of the total capital. Af-ter some initial resistance, for-eign companies, with the excep-tion of IBM and Coca Cola, fellin line.V. Krishnamurthy, IndustriesSecretary, who had headedBHEL earlier, introduced to thepublic sector the culture ofgreater information sharing.

Fernandes insisted that largecompanies mobilising capitalshould offer a portion to thepublic. Of course, the size of theoffer was small, of just a fewlakhs of rupees and could easilyhave been provided by the pro-moters.

In the South, Amalgam-ations Ltd., whose shares are al-most fully owned by the pro-moter family, came out with apublic issue for a small portionof equity for AmalgamationsRepco Ltd. Of course, it wasquickly oversubscribed.

Likewise, when the TVSgroup promoted SundaramAbex Ltd. (now SundaramBrake Linings Ltd), it was for asmall issue. Chairman T.S.Srinivasan announced the offerat the Taj Coromandel to a

small group of media persons. Isought information on the newtechnology that would comefrom yet another new collabo-ration (there were already twoother large manufacturers ofbrake linings – HindustanFerrodo and Bramec Suri).S. Narayanan, heading MadrasAuto Service and a grandson ofT.V. Sundaram Iyengar, pulledme back. I heard some murmurslater that that was why theyshouldn’t go public!

Of course, the capital soughtto be raised was too small for thegroup and could easily havebeen provided by the promotercompanies.

Things changed after 1991when the economy was libera-lised, The protection offeredthrough permits, licences and

quotas was withdrawn. The Se-curities and Exchange Boardof India (SEBI) was set up as theregulator. In quick time, SEBIformulated guidelines for corpo-rate behaviour. Companieswere directed to be more trans-parent and to disclose informa-tion over wider arena.

Today, several Indian corpo-rates adopt the GenerallyAccepted Accounting Prin-ciples (GAAP) and Inter-national Financial ReportingStandards (IFRS). The public isthus provided much vasterrange of information than ear-lier. Surely, it is a Hanumanjump from the time the PRO ofa company looked for produc-tion figures from a news maga-zine. – (Courtesy: IndustrialEconomist)

READABILITY PLEASE

Dear Readers,

As letters from readers increase, we arereceiving more and more hand writtenletters, many of them in a hand so smalland illegible or large and scrawled as tobe unreadable. Often this leads to ourdiscarding a letter, particularly if somepart of it is unreadable.If you wish us to consider your letter forpublication, please type it with enoughspace between lines or write it using amedium hand, clearly dotting the ‘i-s’ andcrossing the ‘t-s’.Many readers also try to fill every squarecentimetre of a postcard space, makingreading or editing impossible. Please helpus to consider your letters morefavourably by making them more legiblefor us.

– THE EDITOR

4 MADRAS MUSINGS July 16-31, 2013 July 16-31, 2013 MADRAS MUSINGS 5

Always first with thelatest equipment

(Concluded)

The Cancer Institute has beenthe first to buy the latestequipment related to diagnosisand treatment of cancer becauseof its ability to take quickdecisions and the help fromsupportive corporate and indi-vidual donors who are willing tohelp, whatever may be the cost.The Institute was the first tointroduce the super voltage erain Asia with the installation ofthe Cobalt Therapy unit `in1956, to instal an indigenouslybuilt Caesium Tele Cure The-rapy unit in 1962, to have indig-enously designed Therapy Simu-lator in 1968, and also to intro-duce Hyperbaric OxygenTherapy in 1978. At present, it isthe only place where the facilityis available. In the same year, italso introduced the first bloodcompound unit, using the bloodcell separator in the supportivetreatment of high dose chemo-

therapy and Hyperbaric OxygenTherapy.

It also installed the first Intra-operative Radio Therapy(IORT) and Brachy Therapy(CITRON) between 1995 and1998, and the Clinac 2300 (a),the first conformational therapyunit in 1999, and the Rapid ArcAccelerator in 2009.

The state-of-the-art Accel-erator for Radio Therapy, costingRs.12 crore – with a grant of Rs.6crore from Government of India– was also inaugurated by theChief Minister as part of the Dia-mond Jubilee celebrations.

* * *The hospital has also been

very fortunate to have TataConsultancy Services (TCS), atop IT company in the country,providing it a state-of-the-artHospital Management System‘MED Mantra’, and maintainingit totally free. Operational since

2010, MED Mantra has helpedthe Institute automate all admin-istrative, clinical and nursing,patient admission and transferand all imaging functions. Allthe information about a patientis securely stored and is acces-sible to an authorised doctor atthe click of a mouse. This infor-mation system, unique to the In-stitute, enhances the quality ofcare for all patients besides pro-viding easy access to data for re-search.

I had the opportunity to seethe system in operation when mywife was admitted for treatmentat the Institute. Whether it wasthe specialist medical oncologistor the duty doctor, he or she gotcomplete details of the diagnosisand progress of the treatment atthe click of a button, which en-sured that every doctor attend-ing on my wife was fully aware ofher case.

* * *

Speaking of the philosophy ofthe hospital, Dr. Shantha said,“The Institute believes in offer-ing the same kind of care to bothpaying and non-paying patients.Patient care is foremost. Returns

are secondary. If the Institutecan save a patient with its exper-tise, it will do so. It will neverturn him back because he can-not afford the treatment. Afford-able and equitable treatment forall is the mantra at the CancerInstitute.”

When I asked her, “After Dr.Shantha, who?”,she smiled andsaid, “The current Director ofthe Institute, Dr. T. G. Sagar,who himself has been with theInstitute for over 40 years, andhis team of dedicated doctors, Iam sure, will carry on the visionof the founder in the years tocome.”

As regards the ability of theInstitute to continue to providefree service to the poor people,she was happy to report thatapart from major donors fromacross the world, who continueto help the Institute, in recenttimes both the State and CentralGovernments have come for-ward to provide financial grantsto the Institute.

The Institute has also beenable to get all the cancer relateddrugs at very special rates fromthe manufacturers without taxesand VATs. This helps the In-stitute to offer drugs free or athighly subsidised rates to pa-tients.

* * *“The cancer institute will be

celebrating its Diamond Jubileenext year (2014). At the sametime, I will be also completing myassociation with the hospital for60 years, ” said Dr. Shantha witha sense of pride and fulfilment inher eyes. The year-long celebra-tions include conducting Medi-cal Education Seminars and Ma-jor Medical Meetings through-out Tamil Nadu.

I came back from the inter-view with the confidence thatthe Institute will continue tomake new strides in Cancer care,with the team of dedicateddoctors and support staff itrightly and truly boasts of.

(Concluded)

Feedback welcome onrvrajan42@gmail.com

A gold chain from the Prince of Wales

letters he received and

which his family have care-

fully retained – to provide a flavour of the times and show something of the

interaction between the British and the Indians. These extracts have been

copied from a printed compilation the family had done.

Cooum clean-up!(Continued from page 1)

from CMWSSB manholesdirectly into the river.

The Union Government hadin 2009 sanctioned Rs. 360 crorefor the cleaning-up of Chennai’swaterways. This was based on anestimation submitted by thecity’s Corporation for whichfunds have been allotted out ofthe Jawaharlal Nehru NationalUrban Renewal Mission(JNNURM). The estimate wasbased on a study by consultants

who recommended desilting ofNorth Chennai’s waterways inparticular, constructing micro-and macro-drains, and buildingconcrete walls. The sanction washailed as a major victory for theState by the powers that be.What of that scheme now andwhat is its fate?

Leaving that aside, thepresent scheme, like most of itspredecessors, chooses to avoidthe question of the slums alongthe river. What can such asolution that ignores groundrealities achieve?

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� On the occasion of theDiamond Jubilee of the CancerInstitute, Adyar, R.V. RAJAN nar-rates in a three-part feature hispersonal experience with thehospital and the story of the hos-pital itself. This issue featuresthe final part.

OUR ADDRESSESFor matters regarding subscriptions, donations, non-receipt of receipts etc.: CHENNAIHERITAGE, 5, Bhattad Tower, 30, Westcott Road, Royapettah, Chennai 14.

Madras Musings now has its own email ID. Letters to the editor can be sent via emailto editor@madrasmusings.com. Those who wish to intimate change of address canalso do so provided the subscription number is quoted. For non-receipt of copies,change of address, and all other circulation matters: Madras Musings, C/o LokavaniSouthern Printers Pvt. Ltd., 122, Greames Road, Chennai 600 006. On editorialmatters: The Editor, Madras Musings, No. 5, Bhattad Tower, 30, Westcott Road,Royapettah, Chennai 600 014.

– The Editor

LETTER

(Continued from last fortnight)

� This is the final part of a

three-part story on T.Ramachendra Row, the firstIndian to be appointedAssistant Commissioner ofPolice, Madras City, thehighest post achieved by anIndian till that time. It isnarrated rather differently– through testimonials and

6 MADRAS MUSINGS July 16-31, 2013

(Current Affairs questions are

from the period June 16th to

30th. Questions 11 to 20 pertain

to Chennai and Tamil Nadu.)

1. Which eminent business grouplaunched Indicash, the country’sfirst-ever network of white labelATMs, on June 27th?

2. Who won the man-of-the-match award in the final as wellas the Golden Ball in the ICCChampions Trophy won by India?

3. According to a survey con-ducted by UNCTAD, India wasthe third most attractive destina-tion for investment in the world.Name the top two.

4. Who has again become PrimeMinister of Australia after a gapof three years?

5. Which Indian properties havebeen added to UNESCO’s WorldHeritage Sites list this year underthe Cultural category?

6. What type of creature is‘Ammu’, the mascot for the 35thNational Games to be held laterin the year in Kerala?

7. With an objective to help sim-plify the web for Indian users,which online giant recentlylaunched a campaign called ‘StartSearching India’?

8. Which eminent Indian originsculptor has been honoured witha knighthood by Queen ElizabethII in her birthday honours list, forservices to Visual Arts?

9. The lawmakers of which cen-tral American nation havegranted rights to an Asian com-pany to build a $40-billion ship-ping canal to rival the PanamaCanal?

10. What was Operation Rahatthat made news recently?

* * *

11. Name the Tamilian who hasbeen appointed the next ChiefJustice of India.

12. Name the three MPs from theState who were re-elected to theRajya Sabha recently.

13. Name the trophy given to thesecond division champion in theTNCA league.

14. Vaduvoor K. DuraiswamyIyengar’s work Bhaskara VilasPuraanam was an adaptation ofwhich famous Sherlock Holmesstory?

15. Expand the initials in thename of the popular yesteryearactor T.R. Mahalingam.

16. The city’s corporation beforemoving into Ripon Buildings washoused on which street?

17. Which respected medical in-stitution in Chennai gets its namefrom a Portuguese queen from the13-14th Centuries?

18. Where in the State is thepost-independence avatar of theArmy Staff College that was firstestablished in Deolali in 1905?

19. Between which two placeswas the first railway line in theSouth laid with the first sod cutin 1853?

20. What now stands where the‘Pleasant’, the Rane Group’shotel, once stood?

(Answers on page 8)

Down memory laneSitting with my husband,enjoying coffee and themorning newspaper in theporch of my son and daughter-in-law’s home in Adyar, themornings give us time to godown memory lane. My life andAdyar have seen so manychanges and I am proud to saythat I was part of them.Changes are inevitable andgood in many ways, as we keepup with the fast growing world,but old still continues to begold. The years have gone byand we continue to live inAdyar, now as a retired, oldercouple, full of memories, memo-ries and memories.

Living in Gandhi Nagar,Adyar, in the early 1950s wasvery different. We were one bighappy family, where everyoneknew everyone else in thecolony. It was then that theGandhi Nagar Club was formed

by a few enthusiasts. The firstprogramme, a Carnatic musicconcert by the SoolamangalamSisters, was held in the open air,outside a small shed which wasthe Club House. This little shedstood in the same place wherethe majestic Gandhi NagarClub now stands.

The Gandhi Nagar Ladies’Club was started a little laterand my mother, Daisy Boaz, wasmade the Entertainment Secre-tary, as she was talented andgifted in presenting simple so-cial plays in Tamil. For Christ-mas, she put on Nativity plays.A memorable grand finale ofone such play was an AngelDance around the crib and thebaby Jesus in it. This role wasperformed by a small, sweet-looking boy in an Angel’s cos-tume.

The boy was P.N. Kumar,grandson of of the famous

Tamil scholar P.N. Appu-swamy, who lived on 2nd MainRoad, where Grand Sweets nowoperates. Little Kumar’s danceas an angel in white dress andwings was so mesmerising, giv-ing us a heavenly feeling, that itcontinues to be fresh in mymind even to this day. Kumarwas also the one who acted asthe young Lord Muruga inGemini’s movie Avvaiyar. He isthe one who asks K.B.Sundarambal, who acted asAvvaiyar, if she wants “Suttapalzhama, sudaatha palzhama?”

The Gandhi Nagar Ladies’Club, in one of its fundraisingevents, invited actor ChandraBabu to open the sale. Eventhough he was at the height ofhis fame then, he gladly agreedand his presence drew a bigcrowd. I was one of those whoactively participated in thatevent, and it was exciting to seea movie star close and in per-son.

My father, Dr. G.D. Boaz,was the first correspondent ofthe Gandhi Nagar School,started by some of the residentsof Gandhi Nagar. Interviews forthe appointment of a Headmas-ter for the school took place inour house, and I remember anumber of people calling in with

One of the most popular itemsof the bakery was ‘Bun ButterJam’. It was a simple bakerybun, sliced and spread with but-ter and jam. But it was a deli-cacy and extremely popular.There was no youngster inAdyar who was not fond of it.With Adyar growing, Venu’sson started his own shop inShastri Nagar and named itVenson after his father. Vensonstill continues to flourish inShastri Nagar today.

There is an interesting storybehind Hotel Runs, also on themain road. In the same placewhere it is now, many differentshops opened but, for some rea-son or the other, none of themsurvived and they all eventuallyclosed down. Finally, an enter-prising person decided to opena hotel with a name that madesure it was going to run: HotelRuns still continues to run!

When my father was gettingour house built at No.5, FirstCrescent Park Road, GandhiNagar, facing the Adyar river,the maistry who was in chargeof overseeing the constructionwas Ganapathy. I still vividly re-member going with Father tosee our house coming up and tosee Ganapathy. He was a tallman who always wore a whiteveshti and shirt, and he wouldpatiently listen to Father givinghim a million instructions aboutthe construction. Ganapathywas a hard and sincere worker.He later bought a property onLattice Bridge Road, where hebuilt a theatre named Gana-pathy Ram. When the theatreopened, I excitedly took mychildren to see the place andshowed them the achievementand results of a simple, hardworking man.

In the early 1960s, C.N.Annadurai and a youngKarunanidhi frequently visitedactor K.R. Ramaswamy, whowas a resident of Gandhi Nagar4th Main Road. They weregood friends and could be seenplaying cards. My brother RasiBoaz, whose friends were Rama-swamy’s sons, vividly remem-bers seeing them when going toplay at his friend’s house in theevenings.

Movie scenes filmed inGandhi Nagar always broughtexcitement to our life, espe-cially down the road we lived in.All of us know that the super-star Rajinikanth’s first picturewas Apoorva Ragangal. His firstshot in the film was taken at thelast house of 1st Crescent ParkRoad, Gandhi Nagar, adjacentto St. Patrick’s School. Thescene in the movie wasRajinikanth standing at thegate of that house, wanting tosee his wife Sri Vidhya. Littledid we know then that this un-known actor would later be-come world famous in the cinefield.

The founder ofSouth Madras

In the middle of 1940s, when Rao Bahadur J.C. Ryan wasRegistrar of Co-operative Societies, South Madras was a God-forsaken village. There were only the Raj Bhavan and the Col-lege of Engineering surrounded by bullock-cart roads.

On holidays, Ryan and his three sons used to hide behindthe trees and bushes on the Adyar river-bed early in the morn-ing to shoot rabbit and other animals that had strayed out of RajBhavan. It was on one such occasion that it occurred to himthat a co-operative housing colony could be built on the vastacreage of neglected land on the riverside. He purchased theland from the Most Rev. Louis Mathias, the then Archbishop ofMadras, for Rs.14.5 lakh, and it was there that Gandhi Nagarand Kasthurba Nagar came up.

Four types of houses were built by the co-operative society inGandhi Nagar and given to its members on a 20-year instalmentbasis while Kasthurba Nagar was sold as plots with all infra-structure provided as a site and service project.

Out of the ‘Common Good Fund’ set aside by the Societyand money advanced by the State Co-operative Bank, the boardof management then purchased about 100 acres on the new EastCoast Road near Mahabalipuram and sold them as one or two-ground plots to the public.

Thanks to the foresight of J.C. Ryan, South Madras has beenand is spreading and you can say it is the best area in the city.

In April 1947, Ryan had registered the Katpadi Co-operativeTownship Society Ltd and acquired 411.30 acres and allotted1240 plots to the public. Katpadi is now a flourishing town.

Thereafter he built houses and also sold 50,000 plots in thethen Madras Presidency. Thousands of people live in houses inthese plots today. The Vedachella Nagar in Chengalpattu,Crawford Colony and Thillai Nagar in Trichy came up due tohis initiative.

He also helped build the Nirmala Co-operative Housing So-ciety (Colony) in Bangalore, the Yemmiganoor Weavers’ Co-operative Housing Colony now in Andhra Pradesh and intro-duced the concept of co-operative housing colonies in manyThird World countries where he served as adviser to the Inter-national Labour Organisation (ILO) and Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO) of the United Nations.

Inspired by the work of J.C. Ryan, his son Felix Ryan pro-moted a co-operative housing colony for about a hundred fami-lies in the Ullagaram Village behind St. Thomas’ Mount railwaystation for use by his staff when he was a Director in the Minis-try of Industry, Government of India, stationed at Guindy. Thecolony, which is called SISI Colony, is now a landmark in SouthMadras.

– Bernard Ryan

� by

Bharati Paul

big files in their hands. Later,the school was handed over toanother management and it be-came the Raja Muthiah School.

More and more peoplemoved to Gandhi Nagar as thehouses got completed.

St. Patrick’s School, whichwas already there and run bythe Patrician Brothers, started avery small private section withonly a few classes inside theircampus, called St. Michael’sSchool, with Miss Mitchell asthe head. My son who still livesin Adyar was one of the veryfirst students of that smallschool. It has now expandedinto a big building on the otherside of their compound and hasgrown to become St. Michael’sAcademy .

The very first big bakery tocome to Adyar on the mainroad was McRennett’s, laternamed Adyar Bakery. Most ofthe residents of Adyar wereregulars at this bakery, wherewould always bump into some-one whom we knew. It was sucha popular place. The reason be-hind the friendliness of the bak-ery was Venu, who was incharge of it. He welcomed ev-eryone with a smiling face andmade sure all customers weretaken care of in a special way.That was customer service!

July 16-31, 2013 MADRAS MUSINGS 7

difficulties in dealing with mul-tiple government agencies. Andso, we may very well remain atthis stage even after a full year,with the number of vehicles onthe road likely to have -increased substantially by then.

The problem calls for someout of the box thinking. TheCorporation, while undoubt-edly good in its intention, iscoming up with solutions in iso-lation, none of which will havea significant impact towardsdecongestion. After all, whatdifference is a facility for park-

ing 1400 vehicles of differenttypes going to make at T Nagar?What is required is thatagencies such as CUMTA(Chennai United MetropolitanTransport Authority), theMetrorail, the MRTS and theCorporation, together withprivate transport authorities,come up with a unified plan forfreeing of our roads. This canmean significant increases inparking fees, decongestionsurcharges and other deterrentsagainst using of privatetransport. This has to be donein tandem with development ofmultimodal public transportfacilities at hotspots such as TNagar. Only then will we havea long-term sustainable andimpactful solution.

Parking lot revived, again!(Continued from page 1)

Draw up your plans forMadras Week

Madras Week, whichstarted off as Madras Daynine years ago to celebrate thefounding of the city on August22, 1639, has become MadrasFortnight, if not Madras Month.For the small band of volunteerswho began this concept andnow help coordinate theprogrammes, the response fromcorporates and public citizens ofthe city has given enormous sat-isfaction.

This year, the hotels of thecity will, as usual, be enthusias-tic participants. Some are ven-ues for talks while others arehosting art and photographicexhibitions besides organisingfood festivals with Madras cui-sine as their theme. Art galler-ies have also taken to this eventin a big way.

The Chennai Chapter of theIndian National Trust for Artand Cultural Heritage(INTACH) is also planning sev-eral competitive programmesfor schools, such as quizzes, elo-cution contests and debateswith Madras as the focus.Mylapore Times too isorganising a wide range ofevents for Madras Week. Theseinclude walks, quiz contests andother programmes. As has beenthe practice in past years,Chennai Heritage, publishers ofMadras Musings, will be hostingtalks at various locations onsubjects related to the city.Plenty of heritage walks are alsobeing organised this year. Ro-tary Clubs are also having sev-eral programmes. Further de-tails will soon be available at thesite www.themadrasday.in

Participation is purely a vol-untary effort by those wantingto organise programmes duringthe Week. The role of the infor-mal group of co-coordinators isonly to encourage such partici-pation, try to organise publicityfor the events, offer advice and,where possible, arrange venues.For any assistance or informa-tion please contacteditor@madrasmusings. com.

* * *

Nizhal celebrates Madras Week this August with tree walks in English and Tamil. The walks willlast for about an hour. Rediscover the verdant parks and magnificent trees in your neighborhood withfriends and family! The Azhinji at Kotturpuram Tree Park, the Thaandri at Semmozhi Poonga, thePutranjiva at Panagal Park and many more such gems!

Date Venue Timings/Language

August 16th (Friday) Kotturpuram Tree Park 5.00 pm (Tamil)August 17th (Saturday) Nageswara Rao Park, Luz Church Road 4.30 pm (English)August 18th (Sunday) Anna Nagar Tower Park 4.30 pm (English)August 23rd (Friday) Panagal Park, T Nagar 5.00 pm (English)August 24th (Saturday) Semmozhi Poonga, Cathedral Road 4.30 pm (English)August 25th (Sunday) Nanmangalam Forest Park 8.00 pm (English)August 25th (Sunday) Sivan Park, K.K.Nagar 4.30 pm (English)

As a part of Madras Week celebrations, a “Special Musical Tree Walk” will be held in Kalakshetraon Sunday, 18th August, at 8 am. The walk will be led by the Nizhal team (Latha Nathan and Dr.Babu), and Carnatic musician Dr. Sowmya along with her disciples.

Meeting and assembly point will be the Kalakshetra Road entrance to the campus.Registration for all the WalksBy phone, please call: Usha at 97910 29568 between 10 am and 6 pm. Online through

www.facebook.com/Nizhal.shade

* * *

Sunday August 18th, – The South India Heritage Programme, Tag Centre, Chennai.9.30 a.m. Y.G. Mahendran and A.R. Srinivasan will do a dialogue-presentation

on Tamil theatre – history and landmarks. (Note: privategathering. Only for members).

Tuesday August 6th – Rotary Clubs of Madras South, Madras North, Madras West,Madras East: Ms Nina John on Women of Chennai: Where are theynow? Where are they going? 6.30 p.m. Hotel Savera. (Note: only forRotarians).

Tuesday August 27th – Rotary Club of Madras South: K. Hariharan, film-maker anddirector of the L.V. Prasad Academy on Chennai, Chennaiites andCinema. 6.30 p.m. Hotel Savera (Note: only for Rotarians).

* * *As has been the practice for a few years now, as part of the Madras Week celebrations, the Madras

Naturalists’ Society (MNS) will organise a Nature Walk for the public at Pallikaranai Marsh onSunday, 25th August. The details are as under:

Group size: 30Reporting time: 6.15 a.m.Reporting place: Forest Dept. Office on Velachery-Thoraipakkam Road(When coming from Velachery, take the service road along the 2nd Flyover on the Velachery-

Tambaram Road and turn left at the junction under the Flyover onto the Velachery-ThoraipakkamRoad, travel around 300 metres. and take the U-turn after the Toll Plaza sign and the Office is on theleft immediately after the turn. When coming from OMR, the Office is 200 metres after the TollPlaza).

* * *

Sunday, 11th August 7.30-8 a.m. Walk. Waves of conversion! Tiruvanmiyur in 7-8th Century: Alandmark on the Vadagu Peruvazhi (as the ECR was known in Chola times), Tiruvanmiyur.Marundeeswarar Temple is a great place in Madras to understand the work of the Shaivaite saints in

reconverting Tamilians in theChola times to Hinduism fromJainism and Buddhism. The 30-minute walk will explore thesadly modernised temple andhelp understand how religionand politics mingled for mutualbenefit in the 6-9th Centuries.Using the hymns on the temple,we will recreate howTiruvanmiyur looked in thosetimes and how the conversiontechniques the saints used canteach the modern managementexpert a thing or two aboutachieving lasting changes in in-stitutions.

Date: Sunday, 11th August7.30-8 a.m. Meeting spot will beannounced to those whose reg-istration is accepted.� The walk is free and will not

focus on the religious aspectof the temple – there will beno time in the walk to offerworship, please plan for thatseparately

� Please dress appropriately fora house of worship. No shortsplease!

� Participants above 40 cannotregister unless they bringwith them a school (class 8and above) or college stu-dent. This is the best way wecan get younger folks inter-ested and they will getenough information that willhelp them in their careers.The student doesn’t neces-sarily have to be someoneyou even remotely know; soplease don’t ask for excep-tions!

� No more than 30 partici-pants. Registrations toPradeepandanusha@gmail.comon or before August 1st, 12noon.

� No transport/food arrange-ments for the walk.

For any assistance or information regarding ‘MadrasWeek’ programmes please contact:

editor@madrasmusings.comthemadrasday@gmail.com

PRISM PR, Satyan Bhatt (9840085411).Website www.themadrasday.in

To list your programme on this site, e-mail: themadrasday@-gmail.com

* * *For INTACH competitions

Padma Swaminathan: padmaathreya@yahoo.comMalvika Harishlakshman: malavika.harishlakshman@ gmail.com

* * *For showings of INTACH DVD

youngintachchennai@gmail.com andintachchennai@gmail.com, Telephone : 24991696

* * *For Walks

Sushila Nataraj: sushi_1952@yahoo.co.in

* * *For Talks

S.R.Madhu: editor1941@gmail.com

Madras Week contacts

MADRAS MUSINGS ON THE WEBTo reach out to as many readers as possible who share ourkeen interest in Madras that is Chennai, and in response torequests from many well-wishers – especially from outsideChennai and abroad who receive their postal copies very late– for an online edition. Madras Musings is now on the web atwww. madrasmusings.com

THE EDITOR

8 MADRAS MUSINGS July 16-31, 2013

Published by S. Muthiah for ‘Chennai Heritage’, 260-A, TTK Road, Chennai 600 018 and printed by T J George at Lokavani-Hallmark Press Pvt. Ltd., 122, Greams Road, Chennai 600 006. Edited by S. MUTHIAH.

Madras Musings is supported as a public service by the following organisations

Published by S. Muthiah for ‘Chennai Heritage’, No. 5, Bhattad Tower, 30, Westcott Road, Royapettah, Chennai 600 014, printed by Anu Varghese at Lokavani Southern Printers Pvt. Ltd., 122, Greams Road, Chennai 600 006, and edited by S. Muthiah.

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Since 1856,patently leaders

— A WELLWISHER

� The seventh in a series of profiles by V. RAMNARAYAN of cricketers who may have made an all-time Madras* squad.

He must be cricket’s mostversatile all rounder –within the game – not an allrounder beyond it like C.B Fry,the Rev. David Sheppard orMike Brearley, cricketers whorose to great positions in otherwalks of life. For, few playershave achieved excellence asTest cricketers as well as inter-national umpires, besidesserving the game in administra-tive and other capacities, asS. Venkataraghavan has done.

Venkataraghavan’s creden-tials as an off-spinner wereimmaculate. He came into theIndian side when he was astudent of the Guindy Engi-neering College, barely twomonths short of his 20th birth-day. Making his debut at theCorporation Stadium, Madras,in February 1965 against NewZealand, he bowled impres-sively, finishing with figures of48-23-90-2, clean bowlingDowling and Sinclair in the pro-cess. That he stood out in a spinattack that also includedDurrani, Borde, and Nadkarniwas testimony to his impact inthat drawn game.

Venkat, as most cricketersknow him, then bowled in asharp, fastish style and was al-most impossible to score off, asmany of us who played againsthim in local cricket knew. Hewas a tall, good-looking, slightlybuilt young man, with long,strong fingers that enabled himto give the ball a sharp tweak atterrific pace. He was accuracypersonified and bowled awicked leg cutter that caughtbatsmen – and often the slipfielders – by surprise. He was su-perbly fit and quite tireless,which explained his accuracyover long spells. He was a bril-liant close-in fielder and a verycompetent batsman, quite fear-less against fast bowling, as he

showed against the express paceof Wes Hall and Charlie Griffithbarely a couple of years after hisTest debut.

Venkat’s most successfulTest match came in his veryfirst series, when he played alarge role in India’s win in theDelhi Test. His 12 wickets inthe match – 8 in the first and 4in the second – cost him merely152 runs in an astonishing totalof 112.3 overs.

In the series against GarrySobers’ West Indies in 1966-67,Venkat bowled well enough todraw high praise from Sobers,and played defiant innings intwo rearguard actions inBombay, but lost his place toPrasanna, making a comebackat Chepauk.

His best performances forIndia came under Ajit Wade-kar’s captaincy in 1971, whenhe played a crucial role inIndia’s twin triumphs in theWest Indies and England. Healso captained India with skillduring the 1975 tour of En-gland, though the disastrousWorld Cup campaign, forwhich the captaincy couldhardly be blamed, resulted in hisexit as captain.

I played with or against(mostly against) Venkat fromthe time I was about 10 and he12. We had some enjoyableexchanges, highly competitiveand intensely fought, at thecollege as well as State levels.We both played for the sameschool, P. S. High School ofMylapore, Madras, but in col-lege cricket, we were regularly

pitted against each other. Heled the formidable GuindyEngineering College againstPresidency, my college, whichhad a number of talentedplayers. He was already a Testcricketer, and some of thesenior batsmen in my side gotout to him even before they leftthe safety of the pavilion, socomplete was his psychologicaldomination on them. Our firstvictory over Engineering wasachieved only after Venkat’sgraduation.

My enduring memory ofVenkat is one of seriousnesswith which he approached netpractice, bowling non-stop forthree hours every day, followingthat with an extended session offielding practice. Taking a hun-dred slip catches a day wasabove par for the course forhim.

Throughout his career,Venkat never left the groundciting injury. Two occasionsstand out in my memory. Thefirst was during a Duleep

Trophy match against CentralZone at Bangalore in 1975. Oneevening during the match,Venkat met with a minor roadaccident, falling off a scooter.(Can you imagine a currentTest cricketer on two wheels?)On the morrow, he carried onas if nothing had happened,bowling a long, match-winningspell with little or no indicationthat he was in any discomfort.But back in the pavilion he hadgreat difficulty taking off histrousers to change, because hehad been badly bruised fromwaist to foot on one side.

No tribute to the disciplinar-ian Venkat can be completewithout mention of the terrorhe struck in the hearts ofcolleagues and rivals alike. Iremember him describing theSouth Zone fielding in thatsame Bangalore match as“diabolic” and my wonderinghow many of my teammatesunderstood the word. And sureenough, I found one of themscurrying off to the KSCA officeand asking the clerk there if hecould borrow a dictionary.

Another time, playing forMadras Cricket Club in theChennai league, he was thenon-striker, with S. Vasudevanin the midst of a brilliant spellof left-arm spin, claiming sixwickets on a placid track. Vasubowled one ball down the legside during that spell, possiblythe only bad ball he bowled thatday, and to his utter shock thenon striker literally barked:“How many times have I toldyou to bowl the faster one on

the stumps!” Venkat was thenthe captain of the State teamand Vasu was one of his mainbowlers.

The years Venkat led TamilNadu in the Ranji Trophy weresome of the best in its history –merit alone mattered in hisscheme of things, and despitehis stern exterior, his playersknew that he was a fair manwho led by example. With V.V.Kumar, he struck a deadly part-nership that ran circles aroundmost opposition batsmen. Hisrecord against southern greatslike Jaisimha, Pataudi, Pateland Vishwanath was outstand-ing.

After his playing years,Venkat continued to be aggres-sive and relentlessly focussed onhis job as an umpire. He hasnever sought to win popularitycontests and revels in calling aspade a bloody shovel. He is in-deed a professional, for whompride of performance in all hedoes has been an article of faith.

Answers to Quiz

* Madras Province/State/Tamil Nadu.

The Mr. Versatile of

Indian cricket

1. The Tatas; 2. RavindraJadeja; 3. China and USA respec-tively; 4. Kevin Rudd; 5. Six hillforts of Rajasthan; 6. Hornbill; 7.Google; 8. Anish Kapoor; 9. Nica-ragua; 10. The IAF’s massive opera-tion to rescue stranded pilgrims inUttarakhand and HimachalPradesh.

* * *11. P. Sathasivam; 12.

Kanimozhi (DMK), D. Raja (CPI)and V. Maithreyan (AIADMK);13. C.P. Johnstone Shield; 14. ‘TheHound of the Baskervilles’; 15.Thenkarai Ramakrishna; 16.Errabalu Chetty Street; 17. St.Isabel’s Hospital; 18. Wellington. Itis now called Defence Services StaffCollege; 19. Vyasarpadi toWallajah Road; 20. The Trident.

S. Venkataragahavan