City: Chennai

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” - Albert Einstein. Whenever I read this this quote, I always joke that our Indian education system, being evaluation based, makes sure that we forget most of what we learn! But the same quote takes on a new meaning in the present context when children have almost forgotten what they used to take for granted – to learn in a physical classroom with a teacher supervising and teaching them, in person. Schooling in times of COVID-19 It will soon be six months since schools shut and…

October 2. Gandhi Jayanti. Swachh Bharat Day. It was three years ago on this day that  the Greater Chennai Corporation mandated that all residents must segregate their waste at source, and only segregated waste would be collected by the workers of either GCC or Ramky, depending on which zone one lived in (I live in Zone 13- Adyar, one of the largest zones in the city.) The ensuing three years have been a journey of mixed experiences.. In many areas, citizen groups and resident welfare associations (RWAs), took upon themselves the task of ensuring source segregation of waste in their…

If you look at the last six months, Chennai has adopted a strategy that in some ways is similar to other large cities in the country: go into intense lockdown, lift some restrictions and back into selective lockdown again. Chennai has spent more days under intense lockdown than any other large metropolitan city in the country. While it’s technically still under lockdown, there have been significant relaxations that could see further easing over the next few weeks, but the incidence of cases in the city hasn’t caused any big spikes in the recent weeks. Source: https://www.covid19india.org/state/TN An overview of figures…

Three months and a number of loans -- This is what it took for S Mohammed Thameem’s father to buy a smart mobile. Thameem is a student with hearing disability, studying in Class 10 at the St Louis Institute of Deaf and Dumb. He had already missed classes for more than three months, due to the lack of a smartphone. Whenever his friends sent a screenshot of their virtual attendance, Thameem would be sad and gloomy.  With a salary of Rs 6,500 per month (after the pay cuts, due to the COVID-19 driven economic crisis), it was not easy for…

The rich nectarine blooms hanging from indigenous trees adds to the beauty of several streets in Chennai. What often goes unnoticed, though, is the number of butterflies that are seen fluttering around the plants. Amid the hustle and bustle of a megacity like Chennai, it may be hard to believe that a sight like this is so common. Wherever there is lush canopy, we can see butterflies in the dozens. The city has lost acres of green cover to infrastructural projects and natural disasters. Yet, the urban jungle is home to about 150 species of butterflies.  Throughout the city, Common…

Translated by Vadivu Mahendran வீட்டிலிருந்து அலுவலகப் பணி செய்து கொண்டே, பல்வேறு விஷயங்களையும் நிர்வகிக்கும் சமயத்தில் அரவணைப்புக்காக ஏங்கி உங்களை நெருங்கும் ஒரு நாய் உங்களது  மன அழுத்தத்தைக் குறைக்கும் ஒன்றாக இருக்கலாம். பெருந்தொற்றால் தொடங்கப்பட்ட ஊரடங்கின் போது காணப்பட்ட பலதரப்பட்ட போக்குகளில் நாய்க்குட்டிகளுக்கான தேவையின் அதிகரிப்பு குறிப்பிடத்தக்க ஒன்றாகும்.  “லாப்ரடார், ஹஸ்கி மற்றும் கோல்டன் ரெட்ரீவர் போன்ற அடுக்குமாடி குடியிருப்பு நாய்களுக்கான தேவை கடந்த ஆறு மாதங்களில் ஐம்பது சதவீதத்திற்கு மேலாக அதிகரித்துள்ளது.  அனைத்துத் தரப்பு மக்களும் ஒரு நாயை வாங்குவதிலோ அல்லது தத்தெடுப்பதிலோ ஆர்வம் காட்டுகிறார்கள்“, என்கிறார் கோகுல்ராஜ் தர்மலிங்கம் எனும் நாய் வளர்ப்பாளர். ஆனால் நம்மில் எத்தனை பேருக்கு ஒரு செல்லப்பிராணியை எவ்வாறு கவனித்துக் கொள்வது என்பது தெரியும்? ஒரு பொறுப்பான செல்லப்பிராணி வளர்ப்பாளராக இருப்பதற்கு அது குறித்த அறிவும் அனுபவமும் தேவைப்படுகிறது, அதனால்தான் சமூக ஊடக சேனல்களில் புதிய செல்லப்பிராணி வளர்ப்பாளர்கள் பகிர்ந்து கொள்ளும்…

COVID-19: New rules for containing zones; 50,029 fever camps conducted so far On September 24th, Chennai recorded 1089 fresh COVID cases. The day also saw 1005 recoveries and 15 deaths. In a fresh development, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has removed all containment zones in its limits. According to the updated regulations, a street will be declared as a containment zone if there are three index cases reported and if the contacts are untraceable. An index case is defined as the first case in a family or other defined group to have come to the attention of the investigator. The…

Greater Chennai Corporation has kickstarted the vertical gardens project under 14 selected flyovers in Chennai. According to a news report, the spaces under the flyovers at IIT-M traffic junction, North Usman Road flyover, Mint, Doveton, Pantheon Road, Perambur, Mahalingapuram, Usman Road, TTK Road, Kauvery hospital, Royapettah high road, G P Moopanar flyover, LB Road and Gandhi Mandapam will get vertical green cover.  This is a utilitarian move aimed at better use of public spaces in order to mitigate carbon emissions on Chennai roads. GCC is following in the footsteps of developed cities such as Singapore that has made the concept…

According to legend, King Solomon had a brief encounter with a “valley of ants” and his admiration for them led him to value all life forms. The resilience of ants is seen in the way they quickly adapt to changing conditions of the environment and their ability to colonise new habitats. It is further evident in the fact that there is practically no habitat, including the most developed cities, where there are no ants. Little is known about the diversity of ants in Chennai and there is a dearth of scientific studies on this. However, from what little is known,…

As an active citizen who has been filing complaints on the state of various civic infrastructure in the city, I find the prolonged inaction on some of the problems raised deeply concerning. I would like to detail three such instances where the apathy of the authorities and the public has come to the fore. Patchwork roads Thiruvengadam Lane in Ward 70 was resurfaced with concrete for the second time in the year 2016. I had filed a petition with the Greater Chennai City Corporation in January 2018 seeking their help in repairing the damage caused to the surface of the streets.…