Madras to Chennai

The book attempts to provide a complete perspective of the city, its people, its culture and its literature.

OF all the name changes of cities in India, none has generated so much heat as Madras-Chennai. The book Chennai Not Madras: Perspectives on the City examines the ideological underpinning of the discourse.

Starting from the renaming issue, writers in this volume try to understand the character of the city from many angles. In his introduction, the editor, A.R. Venkatachalapathy, provides the backdrop to the book and contextualises the other chapters. Being a bilingual scholar, he is able to harness Tamil source material and add a crucial dimension to the work. He laments the lack of depth in the conventional anglophile histories of Chennai. This is what the title of the book signifies and this is the point he elaborates in his introduction. He points out the association of the Tamil saint Vallalar, the Tamil Sufi scholar Kunnangudi Masthan, the radical Dalit journalist Ayothiadas and Periyar EVR with the city of Chennai. He also draws attention to forgotten movements that shaped the history of the city. The labour movement was early to start in Chennai. In a meticulously researched, lively chapter, Venkatachalapathy traces the struggle over the city of Madras and the role of Potti Sriramulu in the creation of the State of Andhra Pradesh.

Many who participated in the name debate were unaware that for the Tamil-reading, Tamil-speaking multitudes the city had always been Chennai. In the late 19th century, Vallalar sang of `Dharumamigu Chennai'. What the State government did in 1996 was merely to jettison the anglicised name.

Pushpa Arabindoo goes deeper into the issue and writes about renaming and the politics of identity. She records that much of the deeper and larger meanings that explain this act of name change will be lost to analysis if one were to assume that the renaming was merely "a means of decolonisation through vernacularisation". She also points out the `southern bias' in the development of Chennai and how North Madras is neglected.

Three important Tamil writers provide their perception of the city. Ashokamitran talks of the days when the howling of jackals could be heard in Damodaram Reddy Street in Mambalam and the Krishnampettai crematorium did not have a compound wall. He traces the growth of Thiayagaraya Nagar, in his characteristic style, peppered with humour. Sundara Ramasamy writes about his first visit to Chennai, its ubiquitous beggars, and the innumerable gardens of Chennai mentioned by Thiru. Vi. Ka.

Prabanjan talks about the manner in which he encountered the city and his brush with the celluloid world. These chapters effectively capture the spirit of Chennai.

The post-Independence politics of Chennai is examined by A. Srivathsan. He points out how this is reflected in its architecture. He begins from 1916 when the Justice Party was formed and traces the various dimensions of its ideology from then to the present day. He documents the historical and ideological context in which Valluvar Kottam was constructed.

Countering the criticism about this edifice, he says: "The use of South Indian traditional architecture in this context is considered revivalist and unsuited to the changing times. Interestingly [the critic... ] finds the use of tradition and traditional architecture appropriate as a form of resistance during the anti-colonial struggle." He also examines other buildings such as the Raja Annamalai Manram.

Indran's piece is an insightful one that traces the appearance of the Company School of Art in Madras and the new visual culture ushered in by the founding of the Madras School of Arts and Crafts in 1850. This also marked the point when the practice of art began to transcend the boundaries of caste. He points out the influence of painters such as William Turner on Madras artists as also the post-nationalist aesthetics practised by contemporary city artists such as Achuthan Kudallur and Muralidharan. This is one aspect of the city that is often ignored in contemporary writings. Even in the world of art criticism, the Madras School is often forgotten or discounted. Joseph James, the art critic, was never tired of highlighting this. This book includes many paintings from the exhibition on Chennai that artist A.V. Ilango had held in the Forum Art Gallery a few years ago.

The book is replete with photographs, but most of them are lifeless and static. The shots of buildings, such as the Rajaji memorial, are frontal without any sense of composition. For instance, the statue of Subramaniya Bharathi is lost in the canopy in the background. The bulk of the pictures has been shot in midday sunlight, creating harsh contrasts. It is a good opportunity lost. However, the four black-and-white photographs of old Madras by an anonymous photographer enliven the insightful article by Stephen Hughes on going to the cinema in the early 1930s. The newly emerging urban working class provided the patrons for the nascent art of cinema and this coincided with new forms of transportation such as trams and buses, which facilitated the movement of filmgoers within the city. Hughes examines this urban mobility in the context of movies emerging as a major entertainment.

Not much attention has been paid to the physical features of Chennai in this book. The two rivers, the estuary, the fabled sea front, the hills, the lakes and the scrub jungle of the National Park are all ignored. In the history and character of any city, geography plays a crucial role. The exotics such as gulmohar and pelteforum that dot the cityscape, along with indigenous trees such as the banyan, are expressions of colonial period. There is even an orchid native to this area. The only allusion to the natural history angle of the city is made by Prabanjan, when he makes incidental reference to the iniquitous rain-trees of Chennai. And of course the jackals of Mambalam.

Chennai Not Madras looks at aspects of the city hitherto ignored by scholars, such as the Tamil renaissance and the way it was reflected in the political events in the city, the emergence of the Dravidian movement, the manifestations of indigenous architecture, and the advent of cinema houses. What distinguishes this book is its attempt to provide a complete perspective of the city, its people, its culture and its literature. An exhaustive index has been thoughtfully provided, which enhances the book's utility.