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VOL. XXIV NO. 5, June 16-30, 2014
The Chandhoks of Chennai – 1
From Upper India to Madras
by R.V. Rajan

Lala Indersain and Sushila.

Most of the Punjabis and Sindhis who have settled in Madras came to the city as refugees, post-Partition. The Chandhoks of Chennai were different. Lalaji, an uncle of Indu Chandhok, the present patriarch of the family, came to Madras in 1931 to open a branch of Upper India Trading Co. which was started in 1920 in Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan) where the family has its origin. Upper India was dealing with automobile spare parts at the time.

Indu’s father Indersain Chandhok was sent to Madras in 1934 to look after the branch which was then in Bharat Building on Mount Road. As nobody came to relieve him, Indersain was forced to make Madras his home. He was to leave an indelible impression on the Punjabis settled in Madras and also contributed extensively to the educational and social sectors of the city.

Upper India's Golden Jubilee in Madras in 1970.

From 1920 till World War II, Upper India dealt mainly with imported car parts from Japan and Germany. These were marketed in India under the brand name ‘Auto Friend’ and were available till the 1950s. The Company later marketed indigenously produced car parts under the brand name ‘Carex’. Upper India became a training ground for many future dealers of automobile spare parts in what is now Tamil Nadu.

With business doing well, Indersain decided to do something to help the local Punjabi community bond better. Along with Nazeer Hussein, a leather merchant, and Lt.Col.Gurdial Singh Gill, IG of the Prisons, he started the Punjab Association in 1938. Another well-known Punjabi of the time, Prem Dhawan, Manager of Uberoi Sports, soon joined them in their efforts. The Madras Punjabis used to meet every Sunday morning at Indersain‘s sprawling bungalow to play games like badminton and enjoy a leisurely lunch. Sushila, Indersain’s wife, was not only a charming hostess but a social activist too. During the War, when there was shortage of food items, particularly rice, she taught the locals how to use wheat in place of rice in a series of radio talks. She was also actively involved in the committee formed to help War veterans with medical and other requirements. The Punjabi refugees from Pakistan who, about 5,000 in numbers, came to the city after Partition through the warm relationship between Lt. Col. Gill and Chief Minister C. Rajagopalachari who had, not so long before, been the former’s prisoner, were also given help to settle in Madras and Coimbatore.

Meanwhile, Indersain also involved himself in a couple of community projects which were to later become landmark institutions in Chennai. He was one of the Founder Trustees of the Cancer Institute, Adyar, founded by the legendary Dr. Muthulakshmi, along with her son Dr. Krishnamoorthy, Nanalal Bhat (of Corks India) and T.S. Santhanam (of TVS).

His next effort was to start a school on behalf of the Punjab Association together with D.C. Malhotra, another prominent Punjabi settled in Madras. The school, Adarsh Vidyalaya, with Hindi as its medium of education, was to become very popular among the North Indians settled in Madras. Located on a spacious property on Peter’s Road (where the school still flourishes) it had Visharda Hoon, another Punjabi, as its founding Principal; she went on to become a prominent educationist in India.

Indersain was an ardent Arya Samajee and would organise satsangs on weekends at the school premises for devotees of Arya Samaj. When the Sikh members of the Punjab Association objected to religion being brought into the school, Indersain, along with friends Jaidev and Satyadev, quit the Adarsh Vidyalaya committee to start the Tamil Nadu Education Society. Under the auspices of TES, the Dayanand Anglo Vedic (popularly known as DAV) School was started. The team persuaded T.S. Santhanam of the TVS group, with whom Indersain was close, to donate some land on Lloyd’s Road, where the School still stands. Balakrishna Joshi was the School’s first Principal.

Around this time, Indersain became associated with a project to encourage camping in Madras. When Wallace Forgie, a Canadian YMCA camper, wanted to start a camping facility near Madras, it was Indersain along with W.R.G. Ratnam, F.B. Pithavadian and Pitchandi, who together helped, the Canadian establish Camp Tonakela on a 15-acre site in Avadi bought for Rs. 15,000. They developed facilities for swimming and conducted residential programmes with the objective of providing camping experiences to children to help build character.

Indersain was associated with Tonakela till he died in 1984. After him, his son Indu took over the Presidentship of the Camp. Currently, the camp enables over 1000 schoolchildren from different schools to enjoy and learn from camping experiences every month.

Indersain‘s biggest strength was his ability to silently network with the who’s who of Madras. This ability enabled him to raise funds easily for any of the projects he was involved in.

An ardent sports enthusiast, Indersain was a cricket and badminton buff. He was also fond of travelling by car on holidays with his family. His business dealings as a marketer of automobile car parts also led him to take an interest in motor sports which was just beginning to put down roots in India.

He would never have imagined that one day his second son, Indu Chandhok, his grandson Vicky, and great-grandson Karan would put Madras on the international map of motor sports with their initiatives and achievements!

(To be continued)

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State's sad, sad tech colleges
Madras Landmarks - 50 years ago
Guindy National Park under threat
Decentralise waste management
Carnatic music and the Americans
Remembering Kalki
A member of the I.A.S.
Car loan for the asking
From Upper India to Madras

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