Sitting with my husband, enjoying coffee and the morning newspaper in the porch of my son and daughter-in-law's home in Adyar, the mornings give us time to go down memory lane. My life and Adyar have seen so many changes and I am proud to say that I was part of them. Changes are inevitable and good in many ways, as we keep up with the fast growing world, but old still continues to be gold. The years have gone by and we continue to live in Adyar, now as a retired, older couple, full of memories, memories and memories.

Living in Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, in the early 1950s was very different. We were one big happy family, where everyone knew everyone else in the colony. It was then that the Gandhi Nagar Club was formed by a few enthusiasts. The first programme, a Carnatic music concert by the Soolamangalam Sisters, was held in the open air, outside a small shed which was the Club House. This little shed stood in the same place where the majestic Gandhi Nagar Club now stands.

The Gandhi Nagar Ladies' Club was started a little later and my mother, Daisy Boaz, was made the Entertainment Secretary, as she was talented and gifted in presenting simple social plays in Tamil. For Christmas, she put on Nativity plays. A memorable grand finale of one such play was an Angel Dance around the crib and the baby Jesus in it. This role was performed by a small, sweet-looking boy in an Angel's costume.

The boy was P.N. Kumar, grandson of of the famous Tamil scholar P.N. Appuswamy, who lived on 2nd Main Road, where Grand Sweets now operates. Little Kumar's dance as an angel in white dress and wings was so mesmerising, giving us a heavenly feeling, that it continues to be fresh in my mind even to this day. Kumar was also the one who acted as the young Lord Muruga in Gemini's movie Avvaiyar. He is the one who asks K.B. Sundarambal, who acted as Avvaiyar, if she wants "Sutta palzhama, sudaatha palzhama?"

The Gandhi Nagar Ladies' Club, in one of its fundraising events, invited actor Chandra Babu to open the sale. Even though he was at the height of his fame then, he gladly agreed and his presence drew a big crowd. I was one of those who actively participated in that event, and it was exciting to see a movie star close and in person.

My father, Dr. G.D. Boaz, was the first correspondent of the Gandhi Nagar School, started by some of the residents of Gandhi Nagar. Interviews for the appointment of a Headmaster for the school took place in our house, and I remember a number of people calling in with big files in their hands. Later, the school was handed over to another management and it became the Raja Muthiah School.

More and more people moved to Gandhi Nagar as the houses got completed.

St. Patrick's School, which was already there and run by the Patrician Brothers, started a very small private section with only a few classes inside their campus, called St. Michael's School, with Miss Mitchell as the head. My son who still lives in Adyar was one of the very first students of that small school. It has now expanded into a big building on the other side of their compound and has grown to become St. Michael's Academy.

The very first big bakery to come to Adyar on the main road was McRennett's, later named Adyar Bakery. Most of the residents of Adyar were regulars at this bakery, where would always bump into someone whom we knew. It was such a popular place. The reason behind the friendliness of the bakery was Venu, who was in charge of it. He welcomed everyone with a smiling face and made sure all customers were taken care of in a special way. That was customer service! One of the most popular items of the bakery was 'Bun Butter Jam'. It was a simple bakery bun, sliced and spread with butter and jam. But it was a delicacy and extremely popular. There was no youngster in Adyar who was not fond of it. With Adyar growing, Venu's son started his own shop in Shastri Nagar and named it Venson after his father. Venson still continues to flourish in Shastri Nagar today.

There is an interesting story behind Hotel Runs, also on the main road. In the same place where it is now, many different shops opened but, for some reason or the other, none of them survived and they all eventually closed down. Finally, an enterprising person decided to open a hotel with a name that made sure it was going to run: Hotel Runs still continues to run!

When my father was getting our house built at No.5, First Crescent Park Road, Gandhi Nagar, facing the Adyar river, the maistry who was in charge of overseeing the construction was Ganapathy. I still vividly remember going with Father to see our house coming up and to see Ganapathy. He was a tall man who always wore a white veshti and shirt, and he would patiently listen to Father giving him a million instructions about the construction. Ganapathy was a hard and sincere worker. He later bought a property on Lattice Bridge Road, where he built a theatre named Ganapathy Ram. When the theatre opened, I excitedly took my children to see the place and showed them the achievement and results of a simple, hard working man.

In the early 1960s, C.N. Annadurai and a young Karunanidhi frequently visited actor K.R. Ramaswamy, who was a resident of Gandhi Nagar 4th Main Road. They were good friends and could be seen playing cards. My brother Rasi Boaz, whose friends were Ramaswamy's sons, vividly remembers seeing them when going to play at his friend's house in the evenings.

Movie scenes filmed in Gandhi Nagar always brought excitement to our life, especially down the road we lived in. All of us know that the superstar Rajinikanth's first picture was Apoorva Ragangal. His first shot in the film was taken at the last house of 1st Crescent Park Road, Gandhi Nagar, adjacent to St. Patrick's School. The scene in the movie was Rajinikanth standing at the gate of that house, wanting to see his wife Sri Vidhya. Little did we know then that this unknown actor would later become world famous in the cine field.