City: Chennai

That it is the most happening arts festival in the city of Chennai is like stating the obvious. Even the name is different -- it doesn't have 'sabha' as the suffix or 'Sri' as the prefix, not to mention the very ordinary multitude of volunteers who have come together for this extraordinary performing arts festival. With myriad art forms, performed in many open and public spaces, the Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha has come of age. This year, not only is the Vizha happening in the Urur Olcott Kuppam Beach, it has also travelled to other locations. The open spaces of Thiruvalluvar Nagar…

67250… 7328…. Are they mere numbers? No, they are the number of people involved in road accidents in Tamil Nadu and Chennai respectively in the year 2015. With timed traffic lights that are mostly in working condition, police personnel at the signals and an efficient emergency management system, Chennai’s roads appear safe. But statistics tell a different tale. As per NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) data, Tamil Nadu records the highest number of road accidents; among 53 Indian cities studied, Chennai topped the list, accounting for 11.9% of total road accidents – a fact that the city cannot be proud…

It was not a special day in Chennai. Yet, scores of people were seen running towards  Marina Beach. Not for a leisurely walk, but to stand up for a cause that has been bothering Tamil Nadu, and particularly its rural community, for some years now. Since 2004, Pongal in Tamil Nadu has been marred by controversy over a custom that is inseparable from the observance of the festival in the state. In other states, Pongal is primarily a festival of farmers and the Sun god, but in the rural southern areas of Tamil Nadu, it has been inextricably linked with…

D for December. D for disaster. Two years in a row, the last month of the year has brought a Doomsday-like experience for Tamil Nadu. While the ravages of the 2015 floods remain unmatched, in 2016, Cyclone Vardah left behind its own trail of destruction, which the city is still trying to cope with. The city came to a standstill for 4-5 days without electricity and water supply to many areas, and it took all the resilience and spirit of Chennaiites to get it back on its feet. As the cyclone passed, one fact became increasingly evident: the biggest brunt…

We live in an amazing city with rich heritage and a long history. Chennai like other cities of India is going through a critical phase and facing significant developmental challenges. To address these challenges, it's important to understand the strengths of our city. The heritage of our city and its contribution to modern India is one such key strength. The day that went unnoticed August 15th being a national holiday was, as in other years, marked by events remembering India’s "tryst with destiny", but for most of us in the city, another significant date - August 22nd went by unnoticed. This…

“I want to make Chennai the Detroit of Asia.” That is what the late Jayalalithaa told me during an interview in the 1990s during her first term as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Chennai (or Madras as it was then) had already had a history of automobile industry, with the presence of Standard Motors in the suburb of Perungalathur and Hindustan Motors in nearby Thiruvallur. Of course, at the time that she made her assertion, Standard Motors was already dead, but Hindustan Motors, the makers of the old warhorse Ambassador cars, was still alive and kicking. So were Ashok…

At the end of the Gandhi Mandapam road in Chennai, at the point where the road meets the Kotturpuram bridge over the Adyar river, is the Vinayaka temple. Locals say this was one of Amma’s favourites in the city. Her motorcade would often stop on its way back from Raj Bhavan or the airport towards Poes Garden at the exact point where Amma, seated in the passenger seat of her SUV, could get a glimpse of the deity. The temple was closed on Tuesday, and on the notice that talks of the closure, someone drew a pair of eyes with…

For most of us, typical cleaning sessions start with discarding our old and unwanted products from home. But what if you could convert old glass bottles to beautiful chandeliers or flower pots and jeans to bracelets? Would you still let go of it as easily? And what if I told you that by doing so, you would not only be honing your creative instincts but also doing a significant bit for the planet? This, in fact, is the very seed of what is one of the most eco-friendly trends in the city today, called Upcycling. In simplest terms, upcycling is…

We have almost grown used to it now: serpentine queues before ATMs, chaos in banks, the hapless senior citizen waiting on the pavement and praying that the bank dispenses some 100-rupee notes today, and even the strident urban supporter who thinks all the pain is for greater gain in the end. It has been two weeks since the decision to ban currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 in a purported drive against black money in the economy, but the implementation of the policy so far has left the ordinary citizen grappling with serious liquidity crunch. As problems due…

At Sabari Terrace, an apartment community with 56 flats off the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) in Sholinganallur, we took the first steps towards segregation around five years ago. It started with the creation of a few humble compost pits within our premises - cement rings resting on the ground - where we would dump all our garden waste to begin with. We approached the guru of vermicomposting, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Ismail, and under his guidance started the process of composting our garden waste. Gradually over the next few weeks, months and years, we started approaching the families in the community,…