Madras Musings

07/10/2025

Reflecting on a Composer’s Legacy This being the 250th year of birth of the composer Muthuswami Diksh*tar, I spend a lot of time pondering over, researching, and writing on his life. Not that there is any fresh ground on offer, but when read in the context of his era, there is a lot to look into. And what I find, I write for…...

This being the 250th year of birth of the composer Muthuswami Diksh*tar, I spend a lot of time pondering over, researching, and writing on his life.

03/10/2025

Coming back from Sri Lanka, the Man from Madras Musings felt that rather than harping on Singapore as the ideal, our citizens could learn a thing or two on civic discipline from the neighbouring country.

https://sriramv.com/2025/10/03/when-the-man-from-madras-musings-sojourns-in-serendib/

26/09/2025

Certification and Celebration Earlier in August, the Marina Beach received the Blue Flag certification, a recognition from a Danish foundation for environmental education. The Government, while thanking the agency, declared that this would boost tourism, promote fisheries-dependent livelihoods, and ensure sustainable coastal management. The idea, it appears, is to extend this effort to other beaches along the coast. All this sounds welcome....

Earlier in August, the Marina Beach received the Blue Flag certification, a recognition from a Danish foundation for environmental education.

24/09/2025

A Building with Many Stories The building stands on Avvai Shanmugam/VP Raman Salai/Lloyd Road (only in Chennai can we have three names for a single road), just bordering on Gopalapuram. The original, and from what I can make of it, handsome edifice, has since been marred by mindless extensions both horizontally and vertically. And in one corner is a painted and fast-fading sign that says Gopalapuram Co-Operative Housing Society Limited....

The building stands on Avvai Shanmugam/VP Raman Salai/Lloyd Road (only in Chennai can we have three names for a single road), just bordering on Gopalapuram.

10/09/2025

A Medical Heading for a Metro Story The Man from Madras Musings (MMM) is fully aware that this is not a magazine devoted to matters of medical interest, but he could not think of a more appropriate heading. The road surrounding MMM’s in-law’s residence (the parents of his good lady aka She Who Must Be Obeyed) is a battleground these days with Metrorail digging practically all around....

The Man from Madras Musings (MMM) is fully aware that this is not a magazine devoted to matters of medical interest, but he could not think of a more appropriate heading.

06/09/2025

Setting Out on the Search Like most others in the city, I had a very vague idea of the chronology of the names Madras and Chennai, and this year, during August, determined that I would get a clear grip on the sequence in which they were first mentioned. At the end of it, I must say I am older, and wiser....

Like most others in the city, I had a very vague idea of the chronology of the names Madras and Chennai, and this year, during August, determined that

27/08/2025

The Man from Madras Musings has had just about enough filling KYCs. He thinks of them as Kill Your Customer.

https://sriramv.com/2025/08/27/know-your-age-via-kyc/

22/08/2025

This is that month of the year when research and presentations on Madras reach fever pitch. Some, however, seem ever prepared with something new—or old, depending on how you look at it. Among them is Karthik Bhatt, who has sent me Chennai Kanchi, a poem on the city written in 1939 by Ra Krishnamurthy, Teacher at the Nagarathar High School, Devakottai....

This is that month of the year when research and presentations on Madras reach fever pitch. Some, however, seem ever prepared with something new—or old, depending on how you look at it.

18/08/2025

Silent Sentinels of the City They stand all over the city. A few still tick on. Some have vanished, leaving empty shells behind. Looked at one way, the public clocks and clock towers of Madras are sad reminders of the passage of time. But they also mark progress – from when time was approximate, to when it became accurate, and from when we needed public sentinels of time to when we now carry them in our hands or on our wrists....

They stand all over the city. A few still tick on. Some have vanished, leaving empty shells behind.

08/08/2025

Why did I protest over College Road being named after Jaishankar?

https://sriramv.com/2025/08/08/why-college-road-as-a-name-has-to-be-retained-in-chennai/

06/08/2025

Will Gingee'sUNESCO recognition spur TN Government to try the same for Fort St George?

https://sriramv.com/2025/08/06/with-gingee-getting-unesco-recognition-is-there-hope-for-fort-st-george/

04/08/2025

If you were young (well nearly so) in the 1990s and were keen to know about Chennai’s heritage, there were many resource persons around. Foremost was of course Mr. S. Muthiah and he had all the background knowledge. And then you had Tara Murali. To her, these structures, precincts, and natural features had all to be preserved. While Muthiah too felt the same way, he wrote about them and was philosophical—though saddened—when they were demolished....

If you were young (well nearly so) in the 1990s and were keen to know about Chennai’s heritage, there were many resource persons around.