Selling, the good old way
I recently visited Namberumal Chetty and Pandurangan Chetty, silversmiths, at their NSC Bose Road shop. Speaking to one Rajamani there and being in the shop was like stepping into a time capsule of the 1940s and 50s.
The rosewood display shelves had artifacts that were uglier than what they would have held in the past but of beautiful work. The old chairs, Ravi Varma prints and the iron safe and scales completed the picture. The floor level was much lower than the road and even the nameboard looked like it was quite old. The façade still had the old spring gates!
In keeping with the atmosphere was Rajamani and his “assistant”, a man much older and more feeble than him!
The shopping experience was very different. The two men were eager to please. They were also inclined to ramble; time clearly was a resource that was to be spent rather than saved in this shop! Somehow having Rajamani describing himself as a mischievous youngster romping around the shop and running about his house (not very far from the shop) was a little difficult to imagine. He talked nostalgically about craftsmanship and its deterioration these days.
It was all the more sad to come out and wind my way back as I saw not even a single establishment on the path we took to reach Evening Bazaar that had its original façade – I am not talking of a 19th Century one but even what was renovated in the 1950s. I have seen many antique doors and architectural fittings and have a reasonably vivid imagination, but could still not visualise the appearance of these roads in the 1920-50s.
With those refined vestiges, we have also sacrificed the old-world customer service in retailing at the cost of multistorey supermarkets that have everything except a friendly face that could make you special.
Pradeep Chakravarthy
pradeep_chakravarthy@infosys.com
'Bleeding Madras'
I was glad to note Dr. A. Raman’s reference to ‘Bleeding Madras’ (MM, November 16th). I was the first Textile Commissioner appointed by GOI in 1955 to promote the handloom industry. Prior to 1957, small quantities of “Bleeding Madras” cotton cloth were being imported by the USA, most of the importers being based in New York. In 1958 and 1959, I was in charge of the Handloom Export Organisation, a division of the State Trading Corporation of India, and I popularised this particular fabric and saw the demand by US importers increasing significantly – to a few million yards.
Seeing this sudden spurt in demand, a couple of US textile mills took to manufacturing similar cloth naming it “Madras Checks”, etc. and advertised their product.
On noting this unethical development, I decided to file a case before the Patent Authority of USA. One of my American friends introduced me to the well-known law firm White & Case in New York. Arthur Greenbaum argued our case. The pertinent point I made was that the words “Madras Checks” or “Bleeding Madras” applied only to the cotton checks with a particular weave construction and using dyes, particularly indigo, which were not colour fast and that the cloth was produced by handloom industry located within about 100 miles around the city of Madras. I also quoted the case of the word ‘Champaign’ which was associated only with the wine products in a particular area in Southern France.
We won our case and the US mills were forbidden to use the term “Madras Check” or “Bleeding Madras”. Thereafter, the demand for the cotton textile from Madras rose astronomically and, by 1962 or so, over 25 million yards were exported from Madras
P. Sabanayagam
I.A.S. (RETD.)
'Sumangala',
45, Chamiers Road,
Chennai 600028
United people
In the article on the late Mary Clubwala Jadhav (MM, November 16th) the author has omitted a very important contribution by Jadhav – and that was her attempt to unite the people of different states in Madras City by organising an ‘International Evening’ wherein representatives of communities in Madras from various States, like the Rajasthan Association, Gujarati Association and the Punjab Association, put up food stalls and brought about a fusion of different people of India under one banner, one umbrella. The Guild of Service and the Army, Navy and Air Force personnel chipped in to make it a memorable evening for all to remember. That was an event which went on for some years
Bharat Hiteshi
'Coffee House'
3/54, Gandhi Nagar
II Cross Street Palavakkam
Chennai 600 041
New 'untouchability'
I refer to the report ‘Chennai’s rains and drains’ (MM, December 16th). But, will the authorities act on it?
My family has been living in 28th Cross Street, Indira Nagar, Adyar, which is just south of the CPWD Quarters as you enter from the Lattice Bridge Road, Tiruvanmiyur, for more than 30 years now. Most of us living here are senior citizens. We were among those who suffered the worst in the recent rains. Most of us were marooned in our own homes. Any number of phone calls from us everyday during those torrential rains did not bring us any succour. We wished we had lived in the nearby slums (vote banks?) high above our street. They received much better attention than what was given us!
The major ‘culprit’, if one may put it that way, is the MRTS which blocked the flow of the flood water along this Buckingham Canal.
To add insult to injury, it is reported that the Corporation authorities “cannot reach ‘unapproachable’ areas like Mandaveli, Indira Nagar, Tiruvanmiyur MRTS stations, as they have been completely built over the canal”! What were the engineers in the Corporation of Chennai and the State Public Works Department doing when the Southern Railway was constructing these MRTS stations, making the areas ‘unapproachable’ to service even basic civic needs?
Had it happened like this in any other part of the world, the Courts would have granted the citizens of these areas compensations of a magnitude that would have emptied the coffers of the State. Here we are declared unabashedly as ‘unapproachable’, indeed a new brand of ‘untouchability’ practised by the State itself!
K. Vedamuthy
'Sri Krishna'
62, 28th Cross street
Indira Nagar,
Chennai 600 020
Losing faith
In your article on ‘Two more Corporations’ (MM, December 1st), your remark that the fundamental question that remains unanswered is the real benefit that would accrue to residents if their area became a Corporation and that there is no clear policy statement on how the quality of life would improve, warrants an official response.
When the Panchayat Raj system was adopted, it was made clear that the face of every village and urban area would undergo dramatic changes. But what is happening today in our towns and villages? There is improvement, but the setbacks are greater. The people are frustrated everywhere because, though crores of rupees are being spent by the Governments, the real benefit does not reach the people at all.
Shakesphere said that a rose is a rose by whatever name we call it. Whether Panchayat or Corporation, they all need to face the challenges of changing times and really institute changes to serve the people everywhere!
It is distressing to note that the people are slowly losing faith and trust in our democratically elected institutions!!...
V.R. Chandran
'Nambagam'
377, Konnur High Road
Ayanavaram,
Chennai 600 023
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