City: Chennai

Four days before the Bhogi festival, the state Environment Minister, K C Karupannan had flagged off an awareness campaign at the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) office in Guindy with a view to ensuring an improved post-Bhogi situation in the city. “Auto rickshaws sounded a recorded message over microphones as they plied across the city, warning citizens against the hazardous pollution created by festival practices. We sensitised people in all the fifteen zones in Chennai,” said a spokesperson from the TNPCB. But all claims by the TNPCB came to nought on Bhogi day when thick smoke engulfed the city,…

For our English readers: Mandram is a global platform for like-minded people with interests in Tamil language and literature. It marks the coming together of people from different backgrounds to share their perspectives, journey and success stories for everyone to be inspired. Despite the Internet binding us all together, we still stay polarised. Mandram looks forward to be a TED in Tamil. The first ever Mandram was organised in Chennai which had speakers from varied backgrounds like science, art and culture sharing their perspectives. தமிழ் மரபை பறைசாற்றும் பொங்கல் திருநாள் ஒரு புறம் நகரத்தில் களைகட்ட, தமிழ் இலக்கியம், எழுத்து மேல் உண்டான ஆர்வம் காரணமாக…

Let's face it. There's no way you can be sure that the organic food that you bought from the store was genuinely grown organically, unless and until you yourself have produced it. I say this because genuine organic food can only be produced by natural farming practices. Natural farming, again, isn't possible without an  integrated farm and the very few integrated farms that we find cater mostly for self consumption by the producer. When food is grown for commercial purposes, it is easier to produce, process and transport a single item in large quantities, than to manage 10 different items…

A parking area with neatly parked vehicles, a reception area to welcome visitors, a waiting room and canned drinking-water. Hold on, this is not a resort or restaurant, but a local police station in Namma Chennai! The K4 Police Station on Third Avenue in Anna Nagar does catch your attention with its infrastructure and facilities, but it is not just that which makes it distinct. At the inauguration of the three-day All-India Conference of Director Generals / Inspector Generals of Police on January 7th, the K4 Police Station won fifth place among the 14850 stations in the country ranked for…

On Bhogi, people discard old and derelict things and look for new things that signal change or transformation. At dawn, people light a bonfire with logs of wood, other combustible stuff  (mainly knick knacks that are no longer useful at home). We knew it was coming. The burning of random stuff in the name of tradition. The pollution on Bhogi day. The itching eyes, burning throat, breathlessness.. But it turned out to be much worse than last year. Probably because we actually have a winter this year. so cooler temperatures, combined with zero wind this morning, caused a dense impenetrable…

When the story of Kanchanamala Pande, the silver medal winner at the Berlin para-swimming championship in 2017, hit the headlines, there was wide furore, and rightly so, over the tribulations that that she was made to go through. The grant sanctioned by the Government of India for six participants failed to reach them on time and Kanchanmala was forced to beg and borrow on the streets of Berlin in order to be able to stay there and participate in the tournament.  . If such is the treatment accorded to a para-sportsperson representing the country in a global tournament, one can…

Mention Mylapore and the most prominent images that pop up are the iconic Kapaleeswarar temple and the lively Mada streets bustling with activity around it. The temple and its tank steal the show, and rightly so as the village of Mylapore and its agraharams grew organically around these two iconic structures. But, hidden behind the stretch populated by roadside vegetable vendors and the rows of parked cars lie vestiges of a glorious past – richly detailed, quaint little houses which have managed to withstand the test of time. A short walk into the narrow alleys around the temple literally transports…

In August 2017, the Electricity Board (EB) office in Kasturba Nagar was moved to Thiruvanmiyur. This has proved to be extremely inconvenient for residents in Adyar, especially for senior citizens and older people. Most of them are not tech-savvy enough to pay the dues online, and travelling to Thiruvanmiyur is a big challenge for them. Distance and  commute are, however, not the only factors. FEDARA (Federation of Adyar Residents Associations, an umbrella organisation representing 30 Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) in the Adyar, Indira Nagar and Kasturba nagar area) has been consistently highlighting several other issues, which have been bothering residents.  For…

The indefinite strike by workers of the transport department has completely derailed commute in Metropolitan Chennai, a city lauded for its integrated public transport module. Thousands of commuters are stranded and roads are gridlocked in the city, but it is impossible to miss the sense the anger among transport department workers who have been off the roads for four days now. They did not call off the strike, despite being warned of termination from service by the Madras High Court. What could have prompted them to this level of desperation? It’s time to take a deeper look. The minimum ticket fare…

What do a 91 year 'young' activist, and a 40-something marine biologist have in common? A love for this city they call home, and a desire to help its citizens overcome their sense of helplessness in finding solutions to everyday civic problems.. Garbage not cleared? Road being relaid without milling? Storm water drains not cleaned before the monsoon? Electricity cables hanging dangerously in the open? In each of these situations, the solution is at hand. Help is often only a phone call away. But if we ask the average citizen on the road, the most common response will be  -…