A statue in waiting
In cataloguing the heritage of Kilpauk (MM, October 1st), those on the Kilpauk Walk missed the monument in Tailor’s Road called ‘Bashyam Naidu Poonga’, which was raised by the Corporation of Madras when Venkatasamy Naidu, the eldest son of Thimmappa Bashyam Naidu, was Mayor of Madras.
Recently, when I wrote to the Mayor of Chennai to permit installation of a statue of K. Venkatasamy Naidu in the Bashyam Naidu Poonga, the plea was rejected on the ground that there is a Supreme Court judgment barring installation of any statue. What is regrettable is that a political group has installed a tomb of a person by name Bashyam in the Park, but the Corporation is silent on this irregularity. Meanwhile, Venkatasamy Naidu Statue lies derelict in sculptor Mani Nagappa’s studio. Venkatasamy Naidu distinguished himself as a Councillor for 30 continuous years and also as a member of the Legislative Assembly and as Mayor of Madras. He was Minister of Religious Endowments and Registrations in Rajaji’s Cabinet.
K. Muralidhar
GB Praba Apartments
10/17, Bishopwallers Avenue East, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004
Footnote: The Madras Musings report of October 1st mentioned the name Santhanam Chetty. It should be Santhanam Ketty.
We did it’
Writing about the Schmidt memorial, your Special Correspondent mentioned that a private foundation was spearheading the study of the edifice. I would like to state that only two individuals (Dr. T.D. Babu and I) initiated this study. Till date we are monitoring the progress (or lack of it) on a daily basis.
We are very keen to observe the 82nd anniversary of the memorial on December 30, 2013.
Kamakshi Subramaniyan
kamakshi.subramaniyan@gmail.com
A caring ‘Boss’
S.S. Vasan, the gentle colossus in moviedom, never missed paying salaries regularly to his employees. Even the actors/actresses were paid monthly, like the office staff.
Vasan was one of the first to provide a shelter for the watchman at his bungalow to protect him from sun and rain. His house can even now be identified as the only one with a watchman’s shelter in Edward Elliot’s Road, the present Radhakrishnan Salai.
His daughter’s marriage was a great grand event; everyone had free entry to the marriage hall as well as to the dining hall.
V. Chinnaswamy
1, Jai Nagar 16th Street
Arumbakkam, Chennai 600106
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