A letter from Amsterdam
On Chennai’s elevated expressway
As a member of the Theosophical Society, I respectfully urge you and your government to reconsider the decision of constructing an Elevated Expressway from the Lighthouse on Marina beach to Kotivakkam on the East Coast Road. The planned route will go through the Adyar Beach and the proposed structure will include both four-lanes and six-lanes in different sections.
Although the easing of traffic congestion has been cited as a reason for this project, it will, if proceeded with, displace fourteen fishing communities, leaving nearly eight thousand people without a livelihood or a home. The impact on the environment will be very severe, with countless defenceless creatures that have the beach as their habitat facing extinction, including the Olive Ridley turtles that nest along the east coast of India and particularly along the length where the elevated expressway is to be built. This will totally destroy the habitat of this endangered species. The proposed expressway will also destroy the mangroves, a protected species, near the mouth of the Adyar Estuary.
I am employed by the municipality of Amsterdam, more particularly in the directorate of infrastructure, traffic and transport. The Amsterdam traffic directorate currently tries to curb the growing number of cars in the city, as cars are polluting. Having too many cars in an urbanised environment can lead to many deaths of civilians by fine polluting particles that settle in human lungs. This may lead to long court liability proceedings against the State of Tamil Nadu in a decennium from now. I would advise you respectfully to try and reduce car traffic in Chennai instead of supporting the increase of traffic.
The campus of the Theosophical Society is an important natural ecosystem in the south of Chennai wherein thousands of birds, crabs, and many other animals live in safety and without human interference. The proposed expressway, with its extremely intrusive construction process and widespread pollution generated by vehicles, will endanger the lives of many animals here, let alone trees and plants. But there is more: I understand that the Tirukkural is a cornerstone of Tamil culture. This is what I read in chapter 58, couplet 571:
Kannottam ennum kaliperun karikai
unmaiyan unduiv vulaku
The world exists because of the existence of the most beautiful virtue called kindliness.
I urge you and your government to explore sustainable, more economical and humanitarian alternatives to traffic congestion in this part of Chennai, and to preserve life and uphold its web of kindliness and well-being for the benefit of all creatures.
Peter J. Smit
Bloemstraat 138-B,1016 LH
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Part of history
Reader Rameshkumar’s out-burst against the plea of Madras Musings (August 1st) for retention of some of the old names in Madras is so vehemently anti-heritage that it is difficult to accept it. It is clear that he would like to efface the colonial past of our history, but I hope he realises that history will live with us for aeons because once it has happened, it has happened, and we have to live with it. All heritage work is a way and manner of remembering and preserving the better part of it.
N. Harinarayana
120, Big Street
Triplicane
Chennai 600 005
The mounted icon
The Munro statue is one of the most admired landmarks of Madras. However, it is commonly thought that Munro was just another English ‘dorai’ dealing with a “savage race”. Recent tributes have highlighted Munro’s deep empathy for his Indian subjects. In fact, he emerges as one of the founding fathers of the steel frame of administration, the ICS. Add to this, that he was the Blessed One to whose eyes alone the Hanuman garland around Tirumala Hill was visible, leaves one dumb-founded.
Against this backdrop the whispering campaign for the removal of the Munro statue is tantamount to the disgusting desecration of the Bahmani Buddha.
The Heritage Conservation Committee should petition the government on this to pre-empt the statue being spirited away one fine morning like the Kannagi statue.
C.G. Prasad
9, C.S. Mudali Street
Kondithope
Chennai 600 079
Why no borrowal?
Apropos Dr. A. Raman’s let-ter (MM, July 16th) on Tamil grammar rules, I have a couple of questions and comments to make:
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Can Dr. Raman tell us the basis on which the vallinam consonants acquire the soft sound in words like the following: naduvar, koodudal, medai, karthigai, pudiyadu, palagai, vaadagai, salugai, bambaram (the second ba)? These are all pure Tamil words and words not borrowed from any other language.
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If there are such rules, why are they never taught?
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Even if there are rules that explain such changes, the fact remains that today’s Tamil has numerous words borrowed from Sanskrit and other languages which cannot be written phonetically in Tamil script because of sounds like ksha in parikshai, bha as in Bharat, but Tamil purists do not seem to be inclined to adopt them.
One of the main strengths of English is its willingness to accept and assimilate words from other languages. You will be amazed at the number of words from Indian languages found in English dictionaries. Tamil will grow much faster and spread wider if only it is made more phonetic to meet today’s needs and is more open than at present to receive and absorb words from other languages.
Indukanth Ragade
25, Thirumalai Road, T.Nagar
Chennai 600 017
Sounding like jargon
Tamilisation is unfriendly to many Chennaiites as, sometimes, the translated words
are like jargon and we don’t understand what they mean.
Alai pesi supposedly meaning ‘mobile’ is fine, but ‘puffs’ are called soovari and ‘plastics’ are called neghiyikiaham (probably as plastic melts).
Jokingly, would ‘midnight masala’, a restaurant, be called Nalliravu kadhambam?
C.S. Baskar
17, Ramarao Road
Mylapore, Chennai 600 004
A cherished name
We should cherish Queen Mary’s College (MM, August 1st) as a precious inheritance. Queen Mary loved India immensely and considered its culture and religion superior to others. She had once said that when she died, people would find the name of India written on her heart. She even had passages on India read aloud to her the day before she passed away.
Let us salute the memory of this great lady.
P.K. Visvesvaran
1759, Vasanth Colony
18th Main Road, Chennai 40
Brilliant issue
I read the latest Madras Musings issue (August 16th) with its absolutely fascinating stories. Brilliant! The colour pull-outs on the Madras calendar and the pages displaying ‘T’ shirts were fabulous.
A. Raman
Charles Sturt University, Orange,
New South Wales, Australia
A good idea
While living in Ho Chi Minh City at present, I find Vietnam is now going around placing plaques on street corners displaying street names and the history behind the names. This is very interesting indeed and I wish we could do something similar in India, especially in Madras. But I suppose, with the constant change in names of the streets, with the political scenario changing every time, it would be a tough proposition!
Jayanthi Ramesh
jayramesh0410@gmail.com
Useful trees
I refer to reader D. Francis Theodore’s letter (MM, May 16th). While there is indeed a loss of valuable species like Garcinia and Nauclea in the Drive-in-Woodlands Park, seedlings of these trees can be obtained from either the Bangalore Botanical Gardens or the Kozha Government Farm, Kottayam.
There are some 14 species of Garcinia in India, the most important being Garcinia combogia and it is distributed in evergreen forests of the Western Ghats. The acidic fruits are called Kodampulli and are a very good substitute for tamarind. They are very popular in Kerala, as they go well with fish curry. More importantly, it contains hydroxycitric acid which has been found to suppress the fatty acid synthesis and induces weight loss; thus, it is a natural remedy helping weight reduction. It is now big business growing Garcinia under coconut trees. The fruit yields an extract which is exported all over the world. Garcinia extracts are also sold in all medical shops.
For more information: garciniacombogia.net may be referred to.
Garcinia mangostana is the tree giving Mangosteen fruits; the rind of this fruit is also an astringent, used in cases of chronic diarrhoea and dysentery. It would, however, be a job to grow it in the dry and hot climate of Chennai.
As regards Nauclea missionis, it is a small tree found on the western coast from Konkan to Kerala. The bark is used to control skin disease, rheumatism and constipation.
Having removed these valuable trees, the Curator of the Botanical Gardens needs to secure these as well as several varieties of trees from other botanical gardens and propagate them in Chennai.
K.V.S. Krishna
2A, Parkland Apartments
Kamalabhai Street
T’Nagar, Chennai 600 017
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