CITYSCAPES
Celebrate your city
R. KRITHIKA
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Our cities are our living heritage. As Madras Day draws near, see how you too can contribute to rediscovering your spaces of belonging…
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Photo: R. Ragu
Discovering new facets: A heritage walk helps you see the city differently.
If asked about the heritage of the city we live in, how many of us would look beyond the obvious? Chennai-ites would probably point immediately to Mahabalipuram and Mumbai-ites to the Gateway of India. The denizens of Delhi are rather spoilt for choi
ce, as are those of Kolkata. That’s only the four metros; what of the many other cities that dot our map?
And this is where having a day dedicated to the city helps. As the many people who have been part of the Madras Day celebrations in the last few years would affirm, these celebrations have turned the spotlight firmly on the city, it past and its present. First a day, then a week and a fortnight this year, the celebrations have been firmly of, for and by the people.
People-centric
That’s how it should be, say the people who are credited with having begun the Madras Day movement — historian S. Muthiah, Mylapore Times editor Vincent D’Souza and journalist Sashi Nair. They were later joined by journalist Sushila Ravindranath, writer-historian V. Sriram and website entrepreneur, Revathi R. “The idea,” says D’Souza, “is to motivate different people to do something in their own sphere of activity in their own backyard.” Agrees Muthiah, “We’re only a co-ordinating committee; just catalysts. It’s up to the people to organise different events and we’ll lend a hand if they need one.” Both are at pains to stress that there is no financial incentive and it’s purely voluntary. “What we need,” says Muthiah thoughtfully, “is for historical, cultural, environmental heritage to be pooled together to create a close bond with the city; to create a feeling that the ‘city is ours’. One of the spin-offs could be an increased civic awareness, which we really need.” Another spin-off that D’Souza points out is a rediscovery of the city. “People are beginning to see the city differently after discovering landmarks in their backyards, so to speak. And then they present the city differently to others and so the word spreads.”
And so you have heritage walks to various places in the city, a documentary film festival, contests like quizzes and designing T-shirts, heritage talks … “There should be more,” says D’Souza. “Films about the city, songs, literature… the city should trigger creativity.” This year, he’s talking to some rock bands in the city to write at least one original song about the city. As Muthiah also points out, “So far we’ve tended to focus on the historical, but somewhere the environmental and cultural heritage does come in. It makes it more holistic, creates more awareness of the city, which is totally lacking.”
Whether awareness about the city increases or not, the idea of Madras Day is certainly catching on. Come mid-July and you can hear a buzz: so what’s happening for Madras Day? But that’s not what you should be asking, say Muthiah and D’Souza. They’d rather hear: Here’s what I can do. “We want more people to come forward; more participation,” they say. “Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, art galleries … everyone can do something,” says Muthiah.
A range of activities
From last year, what has been heartening is the spread of the festivities. So far, the activities were centred in central and south Chennai but now the tide is moving into other parts. Author and historian V. Sriram refers to the talks in Royapuram’s Avvai Kalai Kazhagam. This year he’s thinking of a dubash (means translator or interpreter) walk in Georgetown. Another is the trail of the Justice Party in T. Nagar. What he’s really excited about is a staging of a poem from 1915 — Vazhi Nadai Chindu — about a young couple who walk down from Georgetown to Mylapore. “The poem relates the many landmarks on the way and this will really start the Madras Day celebrations,” he says. Though it’s for an invited audience this time, he hopes that the play will be taken to larger audiences later. This year’s new areas include Purasawalkam and Kilpauk.
An area they’re all working in is to motivate youngsters to participate — both school kids and college-goers. Here’s where heritage clubs in the city schools and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) play a big role. As Dr. S. Suresh, convenor of the Chennai chapter of INTACH says, “Generally youngsters are very interested and there are many heritage walks organised exclusively for schools through the year. This year, INTACH is organising a competition based on the theme ‘Coins of Madras Presidency’, dedicated to the memory of the late Raja Seetharaman. The city has been grouped into zones and a school in each zone will play host and invite 10 other schools. The actual competition has been left to the school: could be a quiz, art, debate …” While accepting that schools are, in general, active, Suresh feels that more schools need to be roped in. And the situation in colleges is rather dismal, he says. Like the others, he would like educational institutions to come forward to host activities around the time of Madras Day.
They’re also hoping that word of this spreads to other cities in the country. Sriram says, “We need to look at what’s happening in the smaller cities. The larger, more well known, monuments are looked after; what about the smaller ones? They’re just vanishing.” Muthiah and D’Souza agree that the concept can be taken outside the city but point to the need for a person or a body to take the idea to the people. “We’re not a community that responds immediately,” muses D’Souza. “We need someone to constantly motivate people.” Sriram agrees, pointing out that workshops on conducting heritage walks have paid off with three people volunteering to take groups around the city this year.
In Hyderabad, Anuradha Reddy, historian and president, Society for Preservation of Environment and Quality of Life (SPEQL), says, “We never really had a Hyderabad Day. Historically and politically nobody wanted to. The multi-cultural linguistic identity of Hyderabad has been lost.” Though heritage walks and projects on the city take place thanks to the Hyderabad chapter of INTACH, not much has happened after the 400-year celebration, say city historians. While there are sporadic events through the year, there is no one day that celebrates the city.
Suresh is rather elated by the fact Coimbatore had its “Kovai Vizha” earlier this year. “They couldn’t find a date for the founding of the city but they just clubbed it with New Year,” he laughs. They hope to make it an annual event. Madurai, he says, is planning something similar in December.
True celebrations
Photo: S.R. Raghunathan
CREATIVITY TO THE FORE: At a Rangoli contest. PHOTO: S.R. RAGHUNATHAN
In Kolkata, the issue of a founding day has been mired in controversy. In 1990, tercentenary celebrations marked 300 years of Job Charnock’s arrival at Sutanuti on August 24, 1690 but the date was challenged in the High Court and a panel of unanimously concluded that Job Charnock was certainly not the founder of the Indian city of Kolkata, though he certainly initiated the English settlement here. “The idea of a foundation day is a matter for the citizens to decide. While it shows that they are proud of their city’s heritage, I would much rather see a greater civic consciousness emerge; that would be a true celebration,” says Dr. Barun De, chairman of the West Bengal Heritage Commission.
On the other hand, Shivatosh Banerjee, the engineer responsible for the restoration of buildings for the West Bengal Heritage Commission, felt that an annual celebrating the heritage of the city would be important. “The focus should be to preserve the identity of the city as it has always been.”
The only other city that seems to have something similar is Mumbai with the Mumbai Festival, which began in 2005. Apart from art and cultural events, it drew on local flavours like galli cricket and dahi handi. From the beginning, the festival has been based on two concepts: One, the citizens would organise events anywhere under the aegis of the Mumbai Festival. The Festival Committee would monitor and ensure quality. Alan Tweedie, the chief operating officer, points to events in fishing colonies, in suburbs of Chembur, Sion, Wadala, Khar, Bandra and downtown Kalbadevi last year. “It depends on where people want to celebrate. They just have to get in touch with us,” he says.
The second concept was the public private partnership (PPP) model involving various institutions, corporate bodies and sponsors. The sixth Mumbai Festival is to be held from December 24, 2009 to January 10, 2010 keeping in mind the relatively leaner academic schedules during this time.
“As long as you have passion and a feeling for the city,” says D’Souza, “it’ll work. This is not profit-driven. It’s purely out of love for the city.” So what are you waiting for? Look around your area and see how you can be part of celebrating your city.
With inputs from Syeda Farida in Hyderabad, Rahi Gaikwad in Mumbai and Ananya Dutta in Kolkata.
Madras Day is considered to be August 22, 1639 when the land where Fort. St. George stands today was bought from the local Nayak rulers by the East India Company. Settlements grew around the fort and slowly as villages came up around these and the city was born.
Look forward to
It’s early days yet but here’s a peek at some of the events for this year’s Madras Day:
A host of heritage walks including trail of the Justice Party and trail of Swami Vivekananda
A film festival at Alliance Francaise
Chennai Marathon
A show of miniatures of Madras at Forum Art Gallery
An exhibition of old photos at the College of Fine Arts
For more, look up www.themadrasday.in
Chennai’s little known landmarks
Dr. Suresh on what he thinks are the sites of interest:
A prehistoric site near Poondi
Royapuram railway station has a track that dates back to 1856-57
A home in Santhome houses a wall, originally part of a Portuguese fort
Mylapore has what is probably the oldest house in Chennai
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