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Reviving heritage
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A gracious home that has resisted the pressure of modernisation and a roadside park that has sprung out of a garbage dump were recently awarded citations by INTACH. Subha J Rao visits them
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Photos: K. Ananthan
Preserved for posterity N. Udaychander’s home, the family, and the park maintained by Kirtilal Kalidas
On the noisy, traffic-choked Avanashi Road stands an oasis of relative calm, whose inmates still live an idyllic life with their trees, bonsais, plants, cows and pets.
699, Avanashi Road is a home rich in memories. Built in the 1940s as an extension to the existing house by G. Venkatasamy Naidu, founder of Lakshmi Mills, it is now home to his daughter Krishnaveni, her son N. Udayachander, his wife Vijayanthi and sons Atul and Shivesh.
Well maintained
The Coimbatore chapter of INTACH gave it a citation for the best maintained heritage home. The four rooms from the old construction (date unknown) now house the kitchen, dining room and Atul’s room. Four glass engravings of Lord Vekatachalapathy, Vishnu, Lakshmi and Saraswati, dating back to the early 20th century, occupy pride of place in the puja room.
Elsewhere in the palatial 13,000 sq ft house, 40-odd paintings by Krishnaveni hang on the walls.
She still has memories of sitting on a mound of sand and eating mangoes when the house was being built.
An office table used by Udayachander’s grandfather occupies a special corner in the office room, which has remained untouched for 50 years.
Sitting as they are on prime location, has it been difficult resisting selling the property? “There is constant pressure, but I want to hold on to this place. We have never been tempted to modernise it and are used to this place as it is,” he says. Of course, maintaining it can pose quite a problem.
“Thorough cleaning is just not possible,” says Vijayanthi. As for the kids, they love the modern feel of their friends’ houses, but Udayachander hopes they will soon realise the importance of preserving this home.
An ardent tree lover, he has also rescued a couple of trees left behind after the Avanashi Road ‘makeover’ and has replanted them at home, where they are thriving.
Lung space
A couple of years ago, the space opposite KG Theatre was a dump yard. Passers-by felt free to use the space to throw unwanted paper and plastic packets, and worse. Till good sense prevailed and it was decided to turn it into a roadside park.
Green cover
And, how it has been transformed! Well manicured hedges hold numerous flowering plants, lush foliage, and more shrubs. The perfect place to stroll by when your eyes crave some greenery.
And, guarding all this green wealth is gardener Chinnathambi and his wife Subbulakshmi, who have been employed by jewellers Kirtilal Kalidas to maintain the park.
In the year that they have been employed, they have worked together to ensure not a single shred of plastic or paper remains in the garden for long.
Their work was amply rewarded when the park won the Pupul Jayakar Rolling Trophy for the best maintained roadside garden/traffic island by the private sector for the year 2006-2007.
During the award ceremony held recently, the proud gardeners were handed over two blankets and a set of clothes.
This because, “they do all the hard work,” explains V. Rajkumar, convenor, INTACH, Coimbatore.
The gardens were judged based on size, location, freshness and neatness.
Speaking about the award, V. Balaji, Head, Marketing, Kirtilal Kalidas, says they have invested a lot in greening the place and putting in place infrastructure to make maintenance easier.
The jewellery manufacturer and retailer maintains seven roadside parks in Coimbatore, including the one at the airport. Because, greenery induces relaxation.
And, the award, he says, is “a great recognition of our corporate social responsibility.”
The second prize went to the Children’s Park by Siruthuli on Race Course and its gardener Papathi.
The third went to the traffic island maintained by Ashok Travels at the Race Course Intersection and gardener Chakkarai.
In another category, V.O.C. Park and took home the first prize for best maintained Corporation Park, while the Children’s Park on Alagesan Road stood second.
Another reason for the local INTACH to cheer was that Major General L K Gupta, Chairman, Chapters’ Division, INTACH, chief guest for the ceremony, rated Coimbatore and Udaipur as the best of the organisation’s 110 chapters.
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