Madras Musings

16/07/2025

The State Government has announced that it plans to embark on a major road-widening project along Kamarajar Salai. This will involve taking land from some of the public institutions on the left, as you face north, and along the promenade by the beach. The reason for this is to make the road wider for motorists, namely expanding it into an eight-lane carriageway....

The State Government has announced that it plans to embark on a major road-widening project along Kamarajar Salai.

10/07/2025

Legendary director and actor Guru Dutt, had he lived wisely and well, would have completed a hundred years.And I could not let pass this opportunity to connect my favourite filmmaker with my favourite city. Much of what I write in this article is sourced from Nasreen Munni Kabir’s Guru Dutt: A Life in Cinema (OUP, 1996)....

Legendary director and actor Guru Dutt, had he lived wisely and well, would have completed a hundred years.

07/07/2025

Arun Vasu, whom I have known from the time I was a cherub in kindergarten, his older brother Arvind and I being classmates, called the other day to say that a two-day event was being planned at the Music Academy, to mark 20 years of the demise of his father TT Vasu. That brought to my face a smile and to my mind vivid memories of Vasu himself....

A two-day event was held to mark twenty years of the passing of TT Vasu, one of the most colourful personalities this city knew.

30/06/2025

As it always happens when I visit London, I go walkabout as Mr Muthiah would say, getting happily lost and finding some gem or the other. This visit has been no different. One rather warm afternoon I set off to Leadenhall Street just to see the site where the East India Company HQ once stood. That building was demolished a long while ago, in the 19th century to be precise, and the history-loving English have been careful enough not to have a commemorative plaque....

As it always happens when I visit London, I go walkabout as Mr Muthiah would say, getting happily lost and finding some gem or the other. This visit has been no different.

27/06/2025

There is certainly no dearth of civic works in this, our city. It will not be wrong to say that the whole metropolis is perpetually in a state of being dug up. If construction sites are not enough to wreck entire neighbourhoods, we have the Chennai Metro project which is a large and necessary one, demanding much patience from the people....

There is certainly no dearth of civic works in this, our city. It will not be wrong to say that the whole metropolis is perpetually in a state of being dug up.

23/06/2025

Cinema theatres and Parsis both are dwindling in numbers. This thought struck me while researching the golden age of single-screen theatres in the city. To my surprise, I realised that a significant number of these theatres were run by Parsis. I’ve managed to count seven so far and I’m sure readers will come back with more....

Cinema theatres and Parsis both are dwindling in numbers. This thought struck me while researching the golden age of single-screen theatres in the city.

21/06/2025

The street sign says it all – Yahali 3rd Street. There are three of them, all connecting Anna Salai with GN Chetty Road, at Teynampet, very close to Semmozhi Poonga. Only Yahali is not the correct name. Google Maps has compounded matters further. You need to search under Yaya Hali Street if you need to find it. The correct name is Yahya Ali Streets – 1, 2 and 3, and they take their names from Justice Yahya Ali of the High Court of Madras....

The street sign says it all – Yahali 3rd Street. There are three of them, all connecting Anna Salai with GN Chetty Road, at Teynampet, very close to Semmozhi Poonga.

12/06/2025

A Billboard-Free Bliss—Soon to End? For those of us who rejoiced for long at the complete absence of large outdoor hoardings (billboards in American parlance) in Chennai, those days of happiness may be very limited. As per a recent news item, the Greater Chennai Corporation has invited those interested in putting them up to apply via an online system connected to its website....

For those of us who rejoiced for long at the complete absence of large outdoor hoardings (billboards in American parlance) in Chennai, those days of happiness may be very limited.

09/06/2025

Sometimes, in the enthusiasm to propagate a message, grammar becomes a casualty

https://sriramv.com/2025/06/09/present-continuous/

04/06/2025

Art Deco designed offices for insurance seemed to have inspired the residences of those involved in the business.

https://sriramv.com/2025/06/04/art-deco-again-and-its-insurance-connect/

29/05/2025

The wait is over – we’re back with another exciting Heritage Walk! Date: Sunday, June 1stTime: 4:00 PM to 6:00 PMConcludes with High Tea Built in 1913 and named after Lord Ripon, the Ripon Building serves as the seat of India’s oldest municipal corporation, established in 1688. A magnificent example of Neo-Classical architecture, the building has borne witness to key chapters of Chennai’s history — from colonial times and Gandhi’s visit, to Independence, civic protests, and ongoing heritage restoration efforts....

The wait is over – we’re back with another exciting Heritage Walk! Date: Sunday, June 1stTime: 4:00 PM to 6:00 PMConcludes with High Tea Built in 1913 and named after Lord Ripon, the Ripon Building serves as the seat of India’s oldest municipal corporation, established in 1688. A magnificent e...

28/05/2025

The Councillors of the Greater Chennai Corporation are at it again. Last week, they have placed a request to the Chief Minister that their long-pending demand to rename principal roads after well-known personalities be agreed to....

The Councillors of the Greater Chennai Corporation are at it again. Last week, they have placed a request to the Chief Minister that their long-pending demand to rename principal roads