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Big-hearted hotelier
Your story on K. Seetharama Rao, (MM, April 1st) reminded of an incident that happened in April, 1968. That was the year Central Valuation of Public Examination Answerscripts was introduced. I was a Chief Examiner in English I Paper and the center was the newly constructed office of the Commissioner for Government Examination. A separate Directorate came later. The canteen in the D.P.I.’s Complex could not provide meals for over 1000 teachers assembled for valuation. Many went without food and a rebellion was imminent. The officers of the Department did not know how to meet the problem. At 8 p.m, the teachers gathered to announce boycott of valuation.
S. Narasimha Iyengar, renowned Headmaster of M.Ct. Muthiah Chettiar High School, appealed to the teachers to give him just 12 hours to make alternate arrangements. He took me with him to knock at the doors of K. Seetharama Rao at 10 p.m. With folded hands he requested Rao to help them tackle the situation. Rao was deeply touched and said, “You are a guru. You should not beg but order. Everything will be done.”
The next day, in the open grounds, a makeshift kitchen was established and the verandahs were converted into dining halls. A variety of snacks, meals and drinks were made available. No person needed more than two minutes to get what he wanted. Masala Dosas of which Modern Cafe was famous were available hot and crisp from 8 a.m to 8 p.m. The lunch was excellent. When he learnt that the daily allowance paid to the teachers was just Rs 4/-, he instructed that the full lunch, morning coffee, evening coffee with some snacks-bonda, bajji or vadai-be charged only Rs 2/- much much below the rates in his hotel. Other items were also priced lower.
When we wanted to thank him at a function on the last day, he said it was he who should be thankful for he got business of over Rs 50000/- and he refused to go for the function. Seetharama Rao emerged as a Hotelier with a big Heart.
Those who came for valuation would not forget his hospitality and generosity. The managerial skill of Seetharama Rao was evident throughout. It was a unique experience that I have never forgotten.
S.S. Rajagopalan
30 Kamarajar Street
Chennai 600093
Evoking memories
Your picture and write up of the Modern Café (MM, April 1) evokes some old memories.
As children in the early 1950s, we were taught to swim in the Marina swimming pool. This was a sea water pool. Afterwards, we would be taken for a snack (or lunch, if we were lucky) to the adjoining Marina Canteen as it was called.
This was run for a time by one Pattabhirama Reddy and his beautiful wife Snehalatha, who were good friends of my parents. They subsequently were active in Ram Manohar Lohia’s Praja Socialist Party.
She was a highly talented lady and an accomplished flamenco dancer. During Indira Gandhi’s emergency she was imprisoned and this took its toll on her health.
They had a daughter and son – Nandana and Konarak.
Ramu Dorasami
Shanthinamara, Glasbolie
Ballintra, Co. Donegal. Ireland
How long?
This refers to the article Indo-Ceylon dream of the 20th Century (MM, March 1st) where Pamban island is described as 70 to 80 km long. I wonder if that is correct. The railway time table shows the distance from Pamban to Rameswaram as 11 km. Comparing the distances on the satellite image roughly, the length of the island can at the most be about 30 to 40 km, if at all.
K. Balakesari
3/1, Kesari Kuteeram
27, Westcott Road
Royapettah
Chennai 600 014
Marina Mayhem
It was disturbing to read that the authorities plan to convert the already beleaguered Marina into a Baywatch scenario (MM, March 16th) minuse the bikini-clad babes. Many contractors and their political patrons will doubtless be salivating at the prospect of the Government largesse this will throw up. In Chennai, people’s outcry usually ends up in the wilderness. But for a change, can it get the authorities to put a stop to the proposed malafide extravaganza and leave the Marina’s sands severely alone. Why berthing facilities for yachts when thousands of poor pregnant women do not have decent birthing facilities in our Government hospitals?
C.G. Prasad
9, C.S. Mudali Street
Kondithope, Chennai 600 079
An embodiment of total illegality
This refers to the report ‘Legalising the illegal – will Court ruling stop it? (MM, March 1st).
T’ Nagar is an area which is the embodiment of total illegality due to almost every commercial building violating safety norms as well as building and development control rules, while the CMDA and the Corporation turn a blind eye to the situation. The area which used to be a peaceful residential neighbourhood has been converted into a commercial hub with indiscriminate development arising out of an unholy nexus between government officials, law enforcement agencies and the commercial establishments. This has turned the entire residential neighbourhood into a concrete jungle making life miserable for the residents in the area.
The Association has been making attempts to collect information on the extent of the violations and has found that virtually none of the commercial buildings comply with building rules, fire safety regulations, etc.
With the rules given a go-by, the inevitable result has been a shortage of water and electricity, choked roads, and ecological and environmental imbalances causing serious hardship to every resident of the area.
With observance of fire service regulations in the breach and without adequate setbacks, God forbid if a fire accident takes place. If this is the situations with respect to Usman Road it is far worse in Ranganathan Street due to high pedestrian movement. If a fire accident happens on Ranganathan Street, the casualties would run into hundreds or thousands, as there is no way for an ambulance or a fire engine to get in or get out. And in the event of a fire accident during a festival season, the tragedy in terms of human lives lost would be phenomenal.
Information on the adequacy of fire safety norms was obtained by the Association under the Right to Information Act in July 2011 and a part of the response from the Director of Fire Safety is reproduced below:
“As per the safety audits conducted by this department in Ranganathan Street, 90 per cent of the buildings have violated the building norms, including fire safety. As these matters are subjudice and further because of lack of fire and life safety measures we are unable to issue fire license. Instead we decided to inspect all the buildings which are in violation of fire and life safety norms and to issue show cause notices, to implement the fire and life safety system. In the absence of stringent legal provisions, the traders/ builders are not spending few lakhs rupees for creating fire safe environment in T’ Nagar and in particular Ranganathan Street...
“To partially address some of the problems in most of the commercial buildings, we have taken various measures to prevent fire and minimise the response time in this congested commercial hub.
“Some of them are:
– New fire station was opened at T.Nagar on 4.12.2010 with one fire unit and 17 fire fighters.
– Show cause notices were issued (and), Fire Audit conducted regularly to create safety awareness among the shop owners.
– Trader Association/shop owners meetings were conducted on fire safety aspects...
“With no response to the show-cause notices, the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Department has no power to seal the buildings of those defying the rules. Only the Chennai Corporation and CMDA can take action to seal or demolish buildings in cases of violations...”
The other result of this indiscriminate development is the high pollution levels and the air pollution levels, which are much higher than the normal permitted levels.
As regards compliance with building rules,information obtained by the Association under the Right to Information Act shows ‘nil’ compliance and no approvals in the case of most of the multi-storey buildings.
In a nutshell, the entire business in the T’ Nagar shopping hub is being carried on by all the commercial establishments violating every norm. This has converted a residential area into a commercial jungle.
The Association has gone to the courts and obtained orders, but these are never complied with. Representations to the custodians of the law have not been taken note of.
T’ Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association
30, Rangan Street
T’ Nagar, Chennai 600 017
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