Chennai Metblogs » che_david

What I love about the monsoons….

che_david — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:22:34 +0000

The monsoon always brings back a flood of memories of monsoons past. And so it was this time as well, bringing to mind the things one loved about this season in Chennai:
• Going to sleep with the sound of the wind and rain soothing you
• Feeling the spray of heavy rain in your face as you stand in the doorway and watch it come down
• Curling up in bed with a good book and a glass of hot chocolate on Sunday afternoons
• Hot tea and samosas at tea time on a rainy day
• Watching the rain dance on top of the parapet wall before disappearing in spray
• Cycling in the rain
• Rain holidays
• Playing a game of ‘holly golly’ in the rain
• Roiling cloudscapes

And what one didn’t:
• Millions of litres of water escaping into the sea
• People dying due to wall collapses, drowning in flood waters or being electrocuted
• Potholed roads with the deeper holes hidden by the water
• Over flowing sewage drains
• Road surfaces that disappear every rainy season
• The smell of clothes that haven’t dried properly
• Sticky wet bodies crammed into a bus with its shades down against the rain so you can barely breathe
• Getting wet on the way to school or college, then sitting around feeling miserable till your clothes dried out
• People rendered homeless by the floods

What about you? What do you love about this season? or don’t? Let us know!

Extortionist fares: Is the end in sight?

che_david — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:31:20 +0000

I don’t know if you’ve been following the developments, but the police finally seem pretty determined to rein in the auto rickshaws from over charging. First the stated intent to ensure that they don’t charge more than the fares agreed upon by the auto rickshaws union. Then the warnings. And finally the crack down. Including impounding of hundreds of errant rickshaws, and even revoking of their licenses. What has been the response? A strike by the auto rickshaw drivers on Monday to protest the police action. I know there have been debates on whether the fares agreed to were correct. Whether the auto rickshaw owners are giving the drivers a raw deal and therefore the mercenary behaviour etc. The fact is that taking an auto in Chennai can be a terrible experience, leaving one feeling cheated and helpless. In fact, the city’s auto rickshaws are famous all over the country for the extortionist charges, and contribute a great deal to giving Chennai a bad name. I hope that this time the police, and I may add, the public, will stand firm so that we bring this unsavoury practice to an end. Once and for all.

North East monsoon arrives at last?

che_david — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 10:51:22 +0000

We have had so much rain, especially in the month of July, that the water table has been already recharged, and there doesn’t seem to be much news in the media about the North East monsoon and its arrival except for here. The article did mention that it could get active by this weekend, and sure enough, the clouds have rolled in along with the rain. The question is, how intensive is the NE monsoon likely to be this year?

I haven’t been able to locate any forecasts to share with you, and will if I come across any. However, there is general trepidation that if it is intense, we are likely to see quite a bit of flooding given the level of ground water. Still, a water surplus is always better than a deficit I suppose given past experiences. Which brings us to the question: Why can’t we do more to store the surplus water rather than let it run down the rivers and into the sea like last year? Deepen the reservoirs perhaps? Or build additional storage? If you know of such plans do share it with us. It would be good to know.

Kafeoke: Chennai’s first karaoke coffee lounge

che_david — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:23:56 +0000

Chennai has a new happening place that’s just three weeks old and creating waves. It’s Kafeoke, the karaoke coffee lounge in Valmiki Nagar. Located at the end of First Seaward Road, right on the beach and overlooking it, it’s a cool place to hang out and have fun, especially if you are gifted with the ability to sing! I decided to check it out Saturday night after hearing about it from colleagues at work. We landed up there at eight or so to find it packed! The crowd from the SearchCamp unconference being held at Tidel Park was there, having a blast and unwinding after the conference. I bumped into my friend Kiruba, who took me over to meet the person behind Kafeoke, Swapna Abraham. Actually Swapna didn’t need an introduction, for we knew who she was already, having seen and heard her perform in Kerala at a well known retreat centre. She is probably the best Gospel singer ever to come out of India, and could easily have been a pop star if she so desired. Her talent and singing ability, combined with intelligence and a vivacious personality make her a person who is much admired, but still easy to get along with. Check out Swapna on her website.

Swapna took us around the cafe and showed us its salient features. Kafeoke is located on the first floor of a beachside bungalow on stilts. The ground floor has a garden café around a fish pond beneath the building that you enter past a Japanese ‘Manga’ (comic book) style mural. The café itself is on the first floor, that you reach by an open staircase. The café is done up as a lounge, with long sofas with cushions encased in silk, with silk curtains on the windows. It is an exciting space with creative use of color on the walls, ceiling, curtains, sofas and cushions. It is an open plan with the spaces flowing into each other. At the far end from the door is a large screen for the karaoke, where the words of the songs appear for the singers to follow. Each area also has a flat screen, so one does not necessarily have to go in front to sing if one is shy. In fact, one young couple chose to sit in a far corner of a lounge space away from the large screen where you could barely see them and sing. There was also a software professional from Chennai who sang beautifully and did so from the main screen in front of everyone. There were families from as far away as Parry’s, a large business crowd with their wives and children in tow, all having a blast. It was a great atmosphere, where you can really relax, let your hair down, and if so inclined, sing! It’s also a great place to meet like minded people, and relax and have fun.

Swapna also took us into another lounge which was more Indian in style, with low cane furniture. This sound proof lounge is for Indian or Carnatic music for those who prefer it. There were also patrons in this lounge, obviously having a good time. She also showed us her studio where she trains young, aspiring singers. There is also a separate studio where they can record their songs to make albums! Each of these spaces is done very professionally, and with creative flair. The menu is quite like a coffee shop, with a range of fast food favorites such as hot dogs, burgers, sandwiches and the like, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. The drinks include a range of mocktails, all with the names of songs, as well milk shakes, floats, coffee, tea etc. the prices are in the range of Café Coffee day and very affordable. There is an extensive menu for the songs as well, with hundreds of songs in English, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam. The charge is Rs 30 for every song you sing, just like a regular menu! The software for the karaoke system is quite professional, and the sound quality is superb. I suspect that if you do choose to sing, you will be stunned by the sound of your voice on this system! Next time I will post some pictures of Kafeoke., as I couldn’t this time due some technical difficulties with the camera. But hopefully, I’ve managed to give you a good idea of what its like.

So there you have it folks, Chennai’s first karaoke coffee lounge. Check it out with friends when you want to relax and have a blast!

Merchant & Banker’s Regatta held on Saturday 29nth September

che_david — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:41:37 +0000

The finals of the Merchants & Banker’s Regatta were held last Saturday at the Madras Boat Club with prizes keenly contested by several teams: JWT, Madras Hauz, Element K, LionBridge, Sify and O&M. The finals were a roller coaster ride for the teams with all the usual excitement, tension, joys, thrills and spills. The Regatta was sponsored by Vodafone with Sify and Parrys being the co-sponsors. Kumar Ramanathan, CEO of Vodafone in Tamil Nadu was the chief guest at the event.

Element K were the winners of the overall championship this year, with LionBridge the runners up. Sify, who had won the overall championship for the previous six years sequentially, had to be content with lifting the most prestigious trophy- the men’s fours. Madras Hauz, a fledgling film production company, made a magnificent debut winning the women’s doubles, women’s pairs and other prizes with its all woman team. All the teams had trained for about two months under member coaches of the club, overseen by James Joseph, the well known club color (oarsman) who has represented India at different events and is one of the prominent coaches of the club. It was great to see the camaraderie between teams, with familiar faces and rivals over the years meeting and mixing during the training and the finals as friends.

The training was rigorous, with ‘water work’ (rowing on the river), time on the ‘ergs’ (training on the rowing machines known as ergometers or ‘ergs’ for short), followed by ‘circuits’ of running, calisthenics, floor exercises and stretches every day. All of this starting from six AM and culminating at about eight thirty or nine AM everyday! One could actually see the difference in the fitness and physique of the teams after those two months with relentless drilling by the coaches. The course the teams row is about 800 meters long, but it seems like one long sprint with a finish at the end. International events are even longer at 2000 meters, so place huge demands on endurance, yet are short enough to feel like a sprint. This means that rowers have some of the highest power outputs compared to any sport according to the wiki. Rowing is also one of the most satisfying team sports, with team work based on inter-dependence and trust that transcends most other sports. It also fosters self-discipline, whole body fitness, and the finest traditions of sportsmanship.

The races were conducted by the members of the club with the chief organizer being Robbie Rao, with James Joseph overseeing the logistics of the boats, Ravi Thomas overseeing their launch and Rajiv Subramani coordinating the races with the distant starters under the Kotturpuram Bridge. The current President of the club, Gopal Madhavan, and Sanjeev, the Captain of the Boats, presided over the races. Gopal Madhavan rowed in his first M&B Regatta in 1958, fell in love with the sport, and has been a member of the club ever since. He has served the sport well over those forty or more years, including officiating as an international umpire at the 1982 Asian Games. The 1982 Asian Games were also notable for the contribution of the Madras Boat Club to the conduct of the rowing events with Chacko Kandathil being one of the coaches for India, and MV Sriram and S Ravi from the MBC were part of India’s rowing team!

The Madras Boat Club has been conducting the M& B Regatta for over a hundred years from the 1890’s onwards with a few breaks in between. This set me thinking about the history of the sport and here’s what I learnt from the wiki. The earliest recorded reference to rowing is from an Egyptian funeral inscription of 1430 BC of the warrior Amenhotep 11 who was also renowned for his feats of oarsmanship. In the Greek Classic ‘Aenid’, rowing is shown as part of the funeral games arranged by Aeneas in honor of his father. The term ‘regatta’ could have been derived from Venetian festivals of the 13nth Century called ‘regata’ which included boat races.

The first known modern races, as we know them, took place on the river Thames in London between professional watermen who provided ferry and water taxi services. Prize money was offered by wealthy owners of river side houses, or by the London Guilds or Livery Companies. Such races soon became very popular, drawing large crowds and spreading across England, particularly on the river Tyne. The oldest boat race in the world, held continuously from 1715 to this day is held on the Thames from London Bridge to Chelsea. Amateur competitions followed, with the forming of clubs such as the Monarch Boat Club at Eton, and the Isis Club at Westminster College in the 1790s. Oxford University began races in 1815, while Cambridge followed in 1827. The first boat race between Oxford and Cambridge took place in 1829, while the annual regatta between the two universities was established at Henley in 1839.

The Leander Club at Henley is the world’s oldest public rowing club, founded in 1818. The Madras Boat Club was formed not much later in 1867 in Ennore, and shifted to the present premises on the Adyar in 1892 as the sport grew in popularity. Inter-club regattas, as well as club level races were held from the 1890s continuously up to the regatta this year but for a few breaks in between. Over the years, the club has produced some of India’s finest oarsmen and women, and has contributed to the sport of rowing both in India and the region. This year’s M& B is part of this rich tradition of competitive rowing, and will hopefully inspire many new recruits to this timeless sport.

Perungudi shut tight

che_david — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:33:52 +0000

Although the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down the call for a bandh today by the DMK and its allies may seem like a victory to the opposing camp, for all practical purposes today seems to be a bandh day in our area. A walk through Perungudi and Kandhanchavadi showed that, by and large, everything was closed. To begin with, all the cars were in their slots in our apartment complex, with the usual buzz of departures for work completely absent. Traffic on the OMR is thin, with the buses and cars that ferry the IT personnel to work conspicuous by their absence. All the shutters were down in Perungudi, encouraged by a pandhal on the main road with the DPA alliance flags displayed, and their local members prominently present. There was also a fleet of motorcycles belonging to some seniors of the party’s cadres, cruising around to take stock of the situation.

Kandhanchavadi had some restaurants and tea shops that were open, as well as newspaper marts and some potti kakadis, but the tension in the air was palpable. I was quite grateful I had not carried my camera along just in case! Some of the junior party members gathered on the main road, eying the establishments that were open, and a motorcycle borne senior rode up to confer with them. I had heard that they had forcibly closed a tea shop in Perungudi earlier in the day. As I walked towards CBI colony off Kandhanchavadi, I saw a lone police man walking towards the main road looking both stern and nervous at the same time. The ruling on Sunday did not make much of a difference because most companies had already declared Monday off and compensated for it with alternate working days. However, shops, restaurants and small businesses could still operate depending on the situation. What is the situation in your area? Please post a comment so we can get and idea of how its going. It will, in all likelihood, ease during the day as it usually does. So if you are taking stock of the situation it should be in the morning.

‘Morals’ and the city

che_david — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 02:59:51 +0000

Recently the police actually deemed it OK for couples to spend time together in public as long as they behave ‘decently’. A local actress speaks about pre-marital sex being OK and evokes a storm of protest, including a court case. In most other cities, married couples feel comfortable being affectionate with each other in public, but that’s a no-no in Chennai. What gives? The most ridiculous form of hypocrisy, I suspect. Consider this: This is the city whose chief minister has two wives; where many wealthy business people have a ‘chinna veedu’; where the most amount of extra-marital sex takes place according to national research by a leading magazine; and whose citizens behave very differently when in foreign countries. So why do we hold on to so called ‘morals’ which, in fact, actually detract from a healthy relationship between young men and women in most schools and colleges? When will this self imposed restriction end?

Dental health and socio-economic strata

che_david — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 01:50:51 +0000

It has been observed that the higher socio-economic strata generally are in better health because they can afford to buy and consume food of all kinds. So it was interesting to find something that was contrary to this. A group of prominent doctors recently concluded a health camp for students of an employment skills program being conducted by one of the prominent IT services companies in Chennai as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility programs. These students are mostly those who have studied up to the tenth standard, whose parents cannot afford to send them for further studies. So they are from the lower socio-economic strata. The doctors found, to their astonishment, that though their general levels of health and nutrition was low, their teeth and gums were in very good shape! The reason? No colas, chocolates, ice creams and sugary snacks. Their parents simply cannot afford these, leave alone three square meals. Food for thought, isn’t it? Remember this the next time you’re tempted to get these things for your kids or for yourself.

Merchant & Banker’s Regatta on course for finals on 29nth September

che_david — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:14:08 +0000

The tranquil course of the Adyar that you see from the Kotturpuram Bridge to the Madras Boat Club is the scene of hectic preparations for the coming Regatta every morning. Teams from LionBridge, Element K, JWT, Sify and other companies are putting in hours on the water to hone their skills and build their stamina. For it’s a 800 metre course that can draw every ounce of energy and stamina out of the contestants as they strive to cross the finish line first. The heats begin early next week, culminating in the finals on Saturday afternoon with the prize ceremony in the late evening. Plan to be there. It’s a sport that involves grit, guts and glory, and quite exciting to watch.

Cooum to be cleaned up?

che_david — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:35:02 +0000

There have been many statements to this effect in the recent past, including this one by Local Administration Minister M K Stalin. That the Sathya Sai Trust will fund this effort has also been stated before, but there is no clarity to what extent and when. This would be a wonderful achievement and a real gift to the people of Chennai. The river and its banks are a public resource that can be used for the public good for recreation, entertainment and relaxation in many ways if it is cleaned. The challenge, of course, is in keeping it clean, for which there will have to be a concerted effort to educate the administration and the public on the standards to be maintained. The bane of our rivers has been the outlets for untreated, raw sewage straight into them, as well as the dumping of garbage and all kinds of waste such as plastic bags. This will have to be stopped, and its easier said than done. So cleaning up the Cooum goes well beyond the physical cleaning up of the river and its banks to an ongoing effort to stop the sewage and garbage being dumped into the river. Can it be done? If there is the political will, and if the government can win the support of the people by sharing with them its plans for the river as a parkland and recreational area, I don’t see why not. The government has begun to move on its stated intent of resettling people along the banks of the rivers as part of its efforts to clean them up. So let’s hope this will also be done systematically.