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

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 25, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Reporter's Diary

Chinese Ganeshas

Vinayaka Chathurthi may be an Indian festival. But, now there is a Chinese connection to the popular festival. T.C. Venkat Subramanian, chairman and managing director of the Export-Import Bank of India, told a seminar in Chennai on Monday that "China has nothing to do with Ganesh Chathurthi. But, they (the Chinese) are selling idols of Lord Vinayaka in Maharashtra." This showed the enterprise of the Chinese.

Mohan Dharia, chairman of the Confederation of NGOs of Rural India, said grass-roots enterprises in India should look for similar opportunities in other countries.

The litter on ECR

Traffic police are stepping up vigil to end reckless and drunken driving on East Coast Road. But there is another problem witnessed every Monday morning. There are so many plastic bags and garbage strewn on this road.

Revellers on this entertainment corridor dispose of wrappers of eatables and leftovers, as also liquor bottles on the road. It remains to be seen when the local bodies along the corridor get their act together to declare ECR a plastic-free zone. They should place waste bins so that the road that leads to Mahabalipuram town is not littered.

Miraculous escape

A woman going to office on a moped had a miraculous escape when a youth tried to snatch her gold chain last week on Madipakkam Main Road. The youth, riding a vehicle with blaring horns, tried to snatch her chain by removing the `dupatta' worn around her neck. Stunned, she shouted and fell down from the vehicle as the `dupatta' got entangled in the back wheel. She suffered severe bruises on the neck. The youth fled the scene. The woman did not realise that it was an attempt to snatch her necklace until her relatives narrated similar incidents on Madipakkam Main Road. What was shocking was that the incident took place around 9 a.m. on the busy Madipakkam Main Road near the Ram Nagar Police Checkpost.

Harassment on bus

Monday was the eighth death anniversary of of Sarika Shah, a college student, who met her end in an accident caused by harassment by young men near her college at Egmore. The incident led to enactment of a new law against harassment of women.

But these laws do little to stop young men from colleges, who travel on MTC route No. 47 A, creating trouble for others, especially women in Kilpauk and Anna Nagar. Perhaps more visible policing on the roads along this bus route can stop the trend, regular commuters say.

An interesting question

School students here rarely get a chance to get professional counselling.

In this context, students of Sushil Hari School at Kelambakkam can be called a trifle lucky as they got to interact with psychiatrist Dr. Rudran last week.

They sought answers on how to overcome their fears and anxieties.

One interesting question was: does the media today influence students and disturb their concentration. Dr. Rudran's answer: Media has been influencing people even since his days in school.

Contributions by T. Ramakrishnan, T.S. Shankar and R. Srikanth.

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