Imperial authority

I fully agree that we should treat and preserve our built heritage with more respect (MM, December 1st). Without prejudice to what I do, I may even agree to a large extent on whether the current architecture styles, materials and technology are Indian or appropriate. But why chafe when Ripon Building is called British?

Architecture was one of the most potent cultural tools for stamping imperial authority and wasn’t it the raison d’etre of much of our colonial architecture? Which is exactly what this building set out to do. Reading Ripon Building as anything else is difficult. To claim anything else would be akin to saying that the intent of Lutyen’s design of New Delhi was to celebrate the chatri as a design element or to showcase the Dholpur stone as a cladding material.

In 1913, Churchill was still serving in the British Government of the day, Gandhiji was experimenting with ‘satyagraha’ in South Africa, and Nehru had just come back to India after qualifying to practise law. Though Europe was simmering, few would have anticipated the World Wars or the horrific destruction that they resulted in. Delhi had just then become the colonial capital and probably not yet recovered from the hangover of the George V’s Delhi Durbar. The imperial sun was at its zenith and this was when Ripon Building was conceived and built.

Some day this too will yield to a newer building – hopefully more relevant to our aspirations. Until then we can debate our choices and try to figure out why so many still wear suits and ties, or why Manchester United is the most popular sports club in India?

L. Venkatesh
lvcrn@yahoo.com

Changing times

The blast from the past (which is now a popular expression) viz. V. Sriram’s ‘The Wooing of Isabella Druitt’ (MM, December 16th) was just what the doctor ordered for an unusually chilly Chennai evening. In the olden days, a man like Araboun pressing his troth to a vastly younger lady was called a ‘sugar daddy’ and it was never taken seriously. The affliction was called ‘Indian summer’.

Nowadays such afflictions by a senior citizen could land him in soup, as in a recent case which has become highly controversial. Times have changed.

C.G. Prasad
9, C.S. Mudali Street
Kondithope
Chennai 600 079.

Heritage awareness

Your articles on heritage have helped me so much in doing my project work on Indo-Saracenic architecture in Madras. I always used to feel that people, especially in our country, do not bother about heritage buildings and sites. I hope that your articles will create awareness and people will get to know the value of our past.

Kalpana
3/277, Ananda Nagar Santhoshpuram
Chennai 600 073

Another look at trees

I read with interest the article entitled ‘A further look at our trees’ (MM, January 1st). The biological names (see column 3 in the list below for correct names) have been badly spelt (see column 2 in the list).

Neem Azardicta indica Azadirachta indica

Coral tree Erithrina Erythrina variegata

Tamarind Tamarindus indica Tamarindus indicus

Mast tree Polielthia longifolia Polyalthia longifolia

Mahogany Swietinea mahagoni Swietenia mahagoni

Mango Mangefera indica Mangifera indica

Authors should be careful before submitting articles for publication.

Also, referring to Polyalthia longifolia as Asoka is unfortunate. The Asoka tree is Saraca indica (Leguminosaceae: Caesalpiniaceae). In Tamil, P. longifolia is known as nettilingam.

Further, I cannot agree with the author’s comment: “So this is not an eco-friendly tree for animals or humans”. Does the author suggest that only those plants that are useful to humans are eco-friendly? If that is the case, all those trees that have not been found to bear use should have been destroyed long ago. By their sheer biomass, these trees use carbon-dioxide, the gas which humans and animals release in large volumes, and provide the most important oxygen. Let’s not forget that.

In the same issue, the call for a Tree Act to be legislated urgently reminds me that during a recent visit to Loyola I was saddened that many new buildings have come up in the campus at the cost of many trees 50-70 years old.

Loyola was built on reclaimed land and the vegetation there is not a natural one, unlike that of the MCC Tambaram campus. I have been told that Fr Alfred Rapinat SJ had planted many trees (some native, and many introduced) in the campus. Many of these trees have now fallen victim to the builders. Must trees in Madras suffer such a fate?

A Friend of Trees
Chennai 600 017