Chennai Sangamam 2008

Chennai is the place to be in December and January especially for music and art lovers.The yearly music festival is on throughout the Sabhas in Chennai.Now,there is another festival going on in Chennai. Chennai Sangamam Festival 2008 was inaugurated at the IIT Open Air Theater on 10 January.The mascot of the festival is a bull named Marimuthu. The theme of inaugural function was the festival Pongal which is round the corner, and environment.The festival of Pongal was depicted in colorful art forms,dances accompanied by good music. The festival of Pongal and its significance was explained in the voice of the mascot.Marimuthu spoke of the garbage in the streets and how there is plastic everywhere on the roads,degrading the environment.Children from the Corporation Schools formed the majority of the dancers. They made a vow to preserve their culture, and stop pollution. The message was that the Generation Next had awakened. The chief guest of the evening was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Like last year, the festivals will be conducted in the various parks,beaches and street corners.It will conclude on 16 January.

A new world class library for Chennai!

There is good news for book lovers.Chennai will be the first Indian city to get a world class library soon. On the governement land at Kotturpuram earmarked for a new secretariat by the old AIADMK Government,The DMK Governement has now decided to build a huge library costing about RS 100 crores. The library will be housed in a total area of about eight acres.The design for the library will be finalized after floating a global tender. It will be on the lines of the library at Singapore.

Chennai Metro!

Close on the heels of Calcutta and New Delhi, Chennai will also have its own Metro Rail. The project costing a mammoth Rs 9757 Crores was announced by the Central Government as a Diwali Gift for
Chennai. The Tamil Nadu and the Central Governement will chip in with the money.Money will also be borrowed from a Japanese Bank. The project will commence in the latter half of 2008 and finish in about four to five years. The Metro will be partly underground and be about 40 kilometers in length. it will run in two corridors. One corridor will connect Washermanpet to the Airport touching Egmore, Anna Salai, Teynampet, Saidapet and Guindy. The underground portion will be between Anna Salai and Saidapet.
The second corridor will run between Fort Station,and St Thomas Mount via Poonamallee High Road, Aminjakarai, Anna Nagar, Thirumanagalam, Koyambedu, Ashok Nagar and Alandur.The underground section will be between Poonamallee High Road and Thirumangalam.

Chennai is 368 years young !

Chennai celebrated its 368th birthday on Wednesday, 22nd 2007.Madras day is being celebrated for the past four years. This time, heritage walks and talks have been organized by the famous city historian S Muthiah and a few other people. This is a city still very deep rooted in culture, and which is growing modern at a breathtaking speed. Sadly, many of its heritage buildings have been pulled down and have given way to ugly multi storied buildings. Few people can forget the old Moore Market with its little shops , selling everything under the sun. One could pick up rare second hand books there. Recently, the old Bharat Insurance Building on Anna Salai was saved from the bull dozers by the Madras High Court. It is being renovated now.

Chennai is growing very fast .There seem to be new constructions coming up everywhere. One can see massive gleaming IT Parks on the Ring Road. The It Corridor (OMR) looks very inviting. The first stretch has been completed and hopefully the whole length of the road will be completed before 2008.

For those of you who do not live at Chennai, the price of one ground of land on that stretch (OMR) is a mind boggling Rs One Crore. Hard to imagine, huh!

Shivaji, Rajni, and After!

Shivaji, Rajni, and After!

The dust has finally settled in Chennai after Shivaji’s release. The movie is still running in Chennai’s theatres after about fifty days. Tickets are easily available, and one wonders if the movie is a hit because of the clever marketing gimmicks and all the hype created by the media. If the local Tamil media cried themselves hoarse over the movie’s release, even the national media were not far behind. NDTV, CNN IBN and other channels had exclusive shows devoted to the film. The film , according to the news is running to packed houses in Mumbai, Chandigarh, New Delhi and other places in North India. Astonishingly enough with no subtitles! Apparently, even the non-Tamil audience have taken to the film in a big way!

I had accompanied my teenage daughter along with some other young people to the preview of the movie in Abriami Theatre. It was on the night previous to the movie’s release in the theatres. There was a big crowd, and everywhere in the premises which were colourfully decorated, there were huge banners and cutouts of the superstar. There was an air of underlying excitement which only a Rajni film could create. As we were waiting to go inside, there was a ripple of excitement. The Petti ( the box containing the film reels) had arrived. Since the owner of the Abrimai Theatre had taken the distribution rights of the film in Chennai, the Pettis which were to be sent to other theatres, had also arrived at that theatre. The Pettis were all placed before a giant idol of a Hindu God ( I have forgotten which) and pooja performed.

Then the Pettis were taken to the respective theatres amid cheers. We then went to the theatre and saw the movie. When we were coming out of the theatre at about 1 am, one auto driver with folded hands asked me respectfully “ Amma, How was the movie”? I really didn’t know what to reply. Recognising a Rajni fan and not wanting to hurt his feelings I replied “Not Bad”.

As far as the movie was concerned, it was very colourful. I found it almost garish in places. It was gaudily opulent. Rajni certainly looked better than he looked in his last film. But age does take its toll! All the special effects done cannot camouflage his real age. It is also stupid the way he mouths dialogues like “Cool”! again and again. Another dialogue which comes to mind is “ Gimme me a break yaa”. One can expect such dialogues only from teenagers, and not from a man nearly sixty! As my friend’s fifteen-year old son, who is a huge Rajni fan said sadly “Rajni has become old”. Rajni should start doing roles more becoming his age and stature. But one thing is very clear from Shivaji’s release. Tamil films have come of age at least in the field of marketing!

Chennai Sangamam

Politics and art are irrevocably entwined in Tamil Nadu. On February 20, the Chennai Sangamam was inaugurated by the Chief Minister, Shri Karunanidhi , who is himself a noted script writer and poet. Chennai Sangamam attempts to give the people a slice of Chennai, a city which accepts any innovation with ease and grace, while retaining its traditional charm and beauty.

It is presented by Tamil Maiyam, and the Department of Tourism and culture, Government of Tamil Nadu and will go on till February 26.It is called Namma Theru Vizha, ( Our Street Festival) and it will be mostly conducted on the streets and the parks and beaches in Chennai. Over 2500 artists from all over Tamil Nadu will take part in the week-long celebrations, Carnatic music concerts are also being held simultaneously.

It is planned to keep this festival an annual event, on the lines of the Edinburgh and New York Festival, to bridge the growing distance between art and the people.it will be part of the Pongal celebrations and will be a huge tourist attraction. It will be an event to showcase Tamil Nadu’s ancient folk art and culture. A majority of artists will be from rural Tamil Nadu

Reputed names from the carnatic music world will net king part in the festival.Chennai will also witness the ancient folk dances like Karagattam, puliattam, poikal kuthirai etc. Special dramas like Valli Thirumanam and Pavalakodi will be performed. The world famous Avigna Troupe will perform at the YMCA grounds at Royapettah.

In keeping with the city’s cosmopolitan image, a segment on Western classical Music has also been included. Also, traditional dances from the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka will be showcased.

Chennai Sangamam is for a cause. GIVE LIFE. Through GIVE LIFE, it will reach out to help the street children of Chennai. The large hearted people of Chennai are expected to contribute generously towards this project. The other project is The Green Chennai project. This will include a rally planting trees in schools, colleges and other open places.
The finale will at the Marina Beach on February 26.

Elliots Beach,Besant Nagar

The Chennai Corporation had made elaborate plans to modernise Elliots Beach. This means, of course, more concrete structures.But, fortunately for the residents of the locality and the public, the beach development plan was put up near the beach for public approval.The public shot it down ,ruling down structures on the sand itself.One of highlights of the earlier plan to construct a concrete path,cutting right across the sands, for the physically disabled to enable them to approach the sea, has been dropped.This path was to be lined with electric lamps and would have definitely marred the beach.Now,the plan envisages improvement of the existing path with a little landscaping on either sideThe new design will be taken up after further consultations with the public.

Second Desalination Plant for Chennai

Kipal Sibal,Union Minister announced on 28th July 2007 that Chennai would soon get a second desalination plant to alleviate the perennial water shortage in the city.Thanks to good rains lat year it is not experiencing any water problem this year.But it is evident that a permanent solution has to be found.Since Chennai is a coastal city,this is the only obvious solution.The cost of the water will be four paisa per litre of water.