Seeing Jayakanthan

I recall somewhat vaguely having listened to a fiery speech from Jayakanthan (MM, May 16th) at Pulla (Reddy) Avenue near my house. If I remember right he was espousing Indian nationalism vis-à-vis Tamil nationalism. On the same issue, at the same venue, I remember hearing another person, Viduthalai Virumbi, at a different meeting.

On Jayakanthan, the writer, all I can claim is having felt disturbed on his demise as I did following that of another mustachioed writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. But regretfully I must admit. I haven’t read the books of either of them.

I was among the audience at a function at Vani Mahal at the start of the Tamil month of Chithirai in 2011 where Jayakanthan among others relaunched the Tamil magazine Kanaiyazhi. At that time, a physically frail K. Kasturi Rangan, the founder of the magazine, must have been happy when his daughter (my wife) handed him a copy at home. The very next month, Kasturi Rangan died and the cover of the June issue of Kanaiyazhi was dedicated to my father-in-law.

T.K. Srinivas Chari
99, Journalists Colony,
Thiruvanmiyur,
Chennai 600 041

Was there a goof-up?

Apropos the antics of TNEB (aka TANGEDCO) (MM, May 16th), I wonder what is happening at Greenway’s Road, one of the few boulevards in Chennai, tree-lined and well-maintained. Perhaps because it leads to a couple of important destinations, good sense prevents me from pin-pointing!

Nevertheless, we enjoy its bounty and morning walks to the Boat Club area through this stretch are a pleasant exercise.

All of a sudden, TANGEDCO gets into the act and overnight one half of this nice stretch is mercilessly disembowelled. After a week, the bete-noire of the pedestrian, the bobbins make their entry into the scenario and, happily, within a couple of anxious days of watching and waiting, the bobbins are unburdened of their endless coils of thick cables which found their way into the bowels of the trenches.

Even as we were about to sing the praises of TANGEDCO during our morning constitutionals about the alacrity with which the cables were rolled out and the trenches refilled with earth, we rubbed our eyes, comprehending why the trenches were re-excavated and the cables were about to be covered with proper casing!

Was there a goof-up on the job which resulted in the trenches being opened up all over again? After an agonising wait, the trenches have been filled with earth in a hazardous way.

This entire stretch of road remains unfinished and vehicles cannot ply on them. Pedestrians find it difficult to cross the road as a major portion is thus affected. Ours is not to protest but to endure in silence!

We will now have to wait patiently till the powers that be at TANGEDCO finally decide to bring this stretch back to its original shape.

V. Kalidas
vkalidas@gmail.com