Driving along Anna Salai as an old timer from Madras, you instinctively slow down. Not because of traffic. But because memory intervenes. Times when Anna Salai (once known as Mount Road) was punctuated with landmark destinations.
Just the last week I was in Madras and as often it does, memories came cascading down. This time it was at the junction of the Gemini Flyover.
For decades, two landmarks defined this stretch of the city on the busy Mount Road. On one side stood the dream factory — Gemini Studios. On the other stood a place that nourished the city’s social life — the legendary Woodlands Drive-In. One produced cinema — home of Kollywood and the pre-Bollywood era. The other produced conversation, community, and countless cups of filter coffee.
For generations of Madras residents, these twin institutions were more than landmarks. They were the emotional geography of the city.
The Birth of an urban icon (1962)
When Woodlands Drive-In opened in 1962, the idea itself was revolutionary.
A vast garden restaurant – where customers could drive in, park under towering rain trees and dine in the open air — was unheard of in India at that time. Spread across several acres along Mount Road, the restaurant combined the culinary traditions of Udupi vegetarian cuisine with a relaxed outdoor setting.
Cars rolled through gravel pathways. Families could dine either inside their vehicles or at tables scattered across the leafy grounds. Waiters in spotless uniforms moved briskly between the trees serving idlis, dosas, vadas and steaming tumblers of filter coffee.
Madras embraced it instantly.
Dining out in the 1960s was still a special outing. Woodlands transformed that outing into an experience of leisure.
Why Woodlands captured the soul of Madras
What explains the emotional hold Woodlands had over the city?
It was not opulence. It was not novelty alone.
It was because of accessibility and the atmosphere.
Woodlands belonged equally to everyone.
Students from nearby colleges could stretch a single coffee for hours. Middle-class families made it their regular weekend destination. Business leaders quietly conducted informal meetings beneath the trees.
No one rushed diners away like today in restaurants.
In a city known for its understated temperament, Woodlands became Madras’ open-air living room.
The Glitterati who walked its paths
Despite its democratic charm, Woodlands quietly attracted the powerful and the famous.
Film personalities frequently dropped in after shooting schedules at nearby Gemini Studios. Carnatic musicians ended their concert evenings there. Journalists and writers turned its tables into informal editorial rooms.
Yet the charm of Woodlands lay in how celebrity dissolved into ordinariness.
A famous actor might sit a few tables away from a group of college students. A senior bureaucrat might sip coffee beside a young journalist. A popular singer will greet you across the table with a welcome smile.
Under the rain trees, hierarchy softened.
The Experience was truly unique
What truly set Woodlands Drive-In apart was not only the food — though my memories of dosas, coffee and vanilla ice cream were legendary.
It was the ritual of the experience.
A typical evening began early on for me as a kid when my dad’s car turned off Mount Road into this shaded driveway. Instantly, the noise of the city seemed to fade and you were greeted by the tall rain trees.
Waiters appeared almost magically, balancing steel trays with water tumblers and menus.
And then there were the steward, each of them unforgettable characters.
Regular patrons fondly remembered stewards nicknamed “Vajpayee” and “Lalu” — playful monikers given by loyal customers because their personalities reminded diners of well-known political figures. The nicknames stuck, becoming part of the folklore of the restaurant.
Service was quick but never hurried.
Plates of ghee roast dosa, bowls of sambar, crisp vadas and chutneys arrived in steady succession. Conversations stretched leisurely while children wandered around the garden pathways.
Above everything towered the enormous rain trees, forming a natural canopy that kept the grounds cool even on warm Chennai evenings.
Dining here felt less like visiting a restaurant and more like participating in a city ritual.
When the Landmark fell silent
No institution, however beloved, escapes the pressures of urban change.
I had moved out of Chennai in 1984 only to return on my holidays during my active service days in the Army. Every time I came back to Madras – this landmark was always my pit stop with my family.
Later in the early 2000s, legal disputes surrounding the lease of the land on which Woodlands stood became increasingly complex. After decades of operation, the restaurant found itself entangled in litigation.
Finally, in 2008, the gates were declared closed. When my brother broke this news to me while I was posted in a far-off Punjab border, I felt a deep pang in my heart. For old residents of Madras like me, the closure felt deeply personal.
The garden falling quiet. Empty gravel driveways. Disappearance of the hum of conversations that once filled the evening air and probably the Madras connect itself.
Today, Mount Road has evolved into a modern Anna Salai. Yet something intangible has vanished.
Why the Nostalgia Endures
Why does Woodlands continue to occupy such a powerful place in the memory of the city?
Because it was woven into everyday life.
Many Madras residents would fondly recall their first restaurant outing there. Others remember post-exam celebrations, political debates, their Chepauk outings, family reunions, or quiet evenings over filter coffee.
Woodlands did something remarkable. It turned a restaurant into a civic memory.
For over four decades, it offered the city a space where people from every walk of life could gather without pretension.
Glorious Reflections
Cities inevitably reinvent themselves. Madras transformed into Chennai. Mount Road became Anna Salai. New glass buildings replaced older institutions. Yet memories have their own stubborn permanence.
Every old timer from Madras, like me who passes this stretch of road, still remembers the twin markers that once defined it — Gemini Studios and Woodlands Drive-In.
And perhaps that enduring nostalgia explains why the spirit of Woodlands has never completely faded from public memory. After years of absence, the iconic restaurant has now found new life in a revived avatar in Arumbakkam, a few years back in 2024, rekindling memories of that legendary drive-in experience.
The rain trees may be different now and so is Madras, rather Chennai.
But somewhere in Chennai today, a steaming tumbler of filter coffee still carries the unmistakable echo of old Madras.
And in that aroma lives the enduring legacy of Woodlands Drive-In.
by Mylapore Venkata Shashidhar, (Retd) Colonel
AI as an Enabler of Growth
At a recent summit on how Tamil Nadu could become a USD 1 trillion economy, the following views on AI were expressed:
Sudha Ramen, IFS, Member Secretary, State Planning Commission, Government of Tamil Nadu, described how rather than replacing jobs, AI is reshaping them, creating an urgent need for continuous upskilling and reskilling. Tamil Nadu is proactively positioning itself for this transition. She highlighted quantum computing and quantum technologies as future growth engines for the state. The State Planning Commission has already constituted a working group to formulate a quantum strategy, signalling that Tamil Nadu’s technology ambitions go well beyond short-term gains.
Ben John, Vice Presdent, Microsoft AI, USA, stressed that AI is not a substitute for human intelligence but an augmentation, pointing out the vast energy and resource gap between machine training and human cognition. He also highlighted that AI remains underutilised in critical sectors such as scientific research, drug discovery, agriculture and healthcare. In pharmaceuticals alone, AI has the potential to dramatically reduce development costs and timelines.
Subbu Palaniappan, Global Head of Growth, Amazon Prime, USA, added that the future belongs to domain experts who combine subject knowledge with AI fluency. Automation will shift humans into higher-value roles, even as repetitive tasks are increasingly handled by machines.
The panel also addressed the mismatch between traditional education systems and the needs of an AI-driven economy. This can be done by enhancing collaboration between industry and academia, formulating hands-on learning models and developing critical thinking and judgment among students. Speakers also highlighted AI’s growing role across sectors. From AI-enabled farming platforms in West Africa to drug discovery, chip design and next-generation computing, the consensus was that deep technology will be a key driver of competitiveness and exports in the coming decade.
Courtesy: Industrial Economist, February 2026.