Articles by Geeta Padmanabhan

N Muthukumar is over 60 years of age and works out at the public gym in Thiruvanmiyur. The gym has a building with equipment for hard exercise indoors and mild workouts outdoors. There is an Anganwadi across and the intervening area is roofed.  Muthukumar is oscillating gently on the low pendulum outdoors. On one side he can feast his eyes on flowering plants and on the other, a set of colourful playthings meant for the Anganwadi kids. It is 7.30 am. He stops, breathes deeply, closes his eyes and says, "Forty years ago, this was just a mud pit that…

It is difficult to imagine a couple of constantly-overflowing garbage bins standing near a transformer being a part of so much history. But the ones you see at the tri-junction in Thiruvanmiyus where Malaviya Avenue Third Street bifurcates into the left and right of Sivakamipuram First Street in Thiruvanmiyur dominate the conversation in these parts.  For nearly a decade, efforts have been made by tenacious residents to transform the area by moving street furniture and getting the necessary infrastructure in place to prevent flooding. During this time, there have been recurring issues with waste management in the streets. If only…

After three months of freedom to grow, my hair needed to be contained. It now formed a curtain over my eyes and glasses. When the government allowed the opening of beauty parlours, I booked myself for a first day, first trim. This was a calculated move. I would be in a place cleaned thoroughly after months of lockdown.  The shop wasn’t quite ready, so I made it “second day, first cut.” The Aadhaar card was mandatory, I heard. Parlours had to check the ID of people they had “beautified” routinely for years? But it made sense. I did look unrecognisable. …

As it makes its way through crowds of unsuspecting people, the COVID-19 disease leaves behind a trail of physical and mental misery, showing no bias in whom it attacks. But the epidemic has come with in-built compensation. In the lockdown that followed, the world rediscovered nature – in the form of clear skies, clean rivers, quiet surroundings, breathable air...and traditional medicine.  Traditional medicine in use across states The Kerala model, recognised for its success, has asserted that Ayurveda preparations are part of the treatment of Covid-19 patients. “Integrated treatment protocol” they call it. That life-long intake of Ayurvedic concoctions has…

For months, a group of young men in Marundeeswarar Nagar in Thiruvanmiyur had been trying to meet their MP Jayavardhan. They had a prayer: Would the MP renovate the community gym in their area? Once up and going, this historic gym served a population of more than 3000 slum dwellers. These men are the youngest in a long line of similar groups that have been using and taking care of the MGR-era gym. An earlier article in The Hindu talks of how the gym came into being and how these young residents had been striving to keep the gym running,…