The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Reporter's Diary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Reporter's Diary

On the one hand, citizens are concerned over the rising crime rate and policing problems. On the other even an evening out on the beach -- Chennai's cheapest form of family entertainment -- is getting to be one big headache. The drunken behaviour of some people is going unchecked. On Sunday, two persons who were clearly drunk created fear among beach-goers on the Marina, with their shouting and screaming. The two were seen pushing each other on the sands and into the water causing problems for others on the waterfront. Not only that, they charged into the crowds wildly, causing children and women to shrink back. There was no sign of any constables around, despite it being a holiday. There were only two constables at the entrance to the beach on Kamarajar Salai and one of them was issuing free vehicle parking tokens.

* * *

Last week's showers were quite welcome in Chennai. But they also posed problems for some sections, especially users of the MRTS. At Tiruvanmiyur railway station, work is on to lay tiles on the ground floor. Predictably, it has led to a lot of sand and dust spread all over the floor. Incidentally, during the rain, the lift was not operational, forcing everyone including senior citizens to climb the flights of stairs to reach the platform on the third floor. Commuters say the presence of dust and sand is making the stairs slippery, making them difficult to climb. At least the area near the staircases and the stairs too could be kept free of dirt.

* * *

Kulhars (earthen tea cups) have surfaced again in Central and Egmore railway stations.

The cups were put in use after the Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad, announced that tea would be served in kulhars in all railway stations as an eco-friendly measure.

Immediately all major stations in the State stocked kulhars to serve tea and coffee for passengers. But due to poor response from the public, these cups were withdrawn.

Now with the Railway Minister making a three-day visit to the State, the administration instructed station officials to stock enough earthen cups in their stations for serving coffee and tea.

According to official sources, though the railway restaurants had earthen cups, passengers were not enthusiastic about taking coffee or tea in mud cups. Now they have displayed notice boards prominently in all railway restaurants in stations stating that tea and coffee would be served in mud pots, if the passengers want it.

* * *

A pre-school teacher had a peculiar problem. Influenced by all the movies, a little boy in the teacher's class told a little girl that he loved her. Several boys soon followed suit.

The teacher was foxed at all the talk of love going round.

The pre-school teacher contacted a child development expert who gave her a solution.

Take the romantic connotation out of love, said the expert. "I love you too, your mother loves you, we all love each other," was the method used to deal with this kiddie love story.

* * *

The city police appear to have turned allergic to presspersons of late. Journalists who seek to receive any crime-related information from top-level police officials are finding their task difficult. Even officials authorised to speak to Press have turned tight-lipped. Requests for an appointment or information pertaining to any particular issue are either politely turned down or sidestepped. Repeated calls on their mobile phones too are never returned. The reporter of a local daily had a first hand experience of this change in attitude when he tried to quiz an official regarding the murder of a woman in the city. The reporter wanted to know on what basis the police zeroed in on the accused who had been arrested for the murder. Pat came the reply. "Who are you to ask? We will reveal such details in the court." What about accountability of the police to the tax-paying public, one wonders.

* * *

K.T. Sangameswaran,

P. Oppili, S.Vydhianathan, Dhanya Parthasarathy and Sangeeth Kurian)

(Contributions from K.T. Sangameswaran, P. Oppili, S.Vydhianathan, Dhanya Parthasarathy and Sangee

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