Made of Chennai | Celebrate 385 years of Madras through rare photos, cinema, music and food

Explore the ever-changing landscape of Chennai through the The Hindu’s Made of Chennai. Here is a guide.

On March 5, 1939, the then-Governor of Madras Presidency, Lord Erskine and his wife, Lady Marjorie Erskine made a dramatic entrance at the Madras Park Fair on horse-drawn carriages in the company of a mighty contingent. Lending a watchful eye from afar stood the looming clock tower of the Madras Central Railway Station visibly teeming with local commuters. This frame that toggles two kinds of motion, tangible and otherwise, is so characteristic of a time and reign that Lady Erskine’s ornate parasols and the faultless uniform worn by accompanying soldiers show no traces of Madras as we know it today. Yet it shows that movement — in the form of transport, commute and transit — remains central to the growth and evolution of the 385-year-old city.

In an archival exhibit titled Nagarum Nam Nagaram: Our Changing and Moving City, The Hindu premises will hold many markers of the ever-changing landscape of the city through the lens of movement, transport and commute. With 150 photographs and over 200 digital images from The Hindu Archives that date between 1930s to 1980s, the display takes one through the waterways, tramways, rail tracks and roadways of the city.

Madras has had its many firsts. Not only was Tamil Nadu the first State to ban rickshaw-pulling by hand, Chennai was also where the first electric train of the South Indian Railway suburban service plied. Says curator Thirupurasundari Sevvel, “The [Hindu] Archive is a huge inspiration. The narrative is based on movement, but when we think of movement, we think of it being momentary. For the movement to materialise, we need people.” And so, the display also trains a light on the people that make this movement happen and this does not just mean commuters or passengers, but the many hands that contribute to the infrastructural development of the city. For instance, one of the photographs depict a group of women who station on the hinges of the Egmore Railway Station and sell packed lunches in huge baskets. Another shows workers at a brick kiln in a city where limestone kilns are popular fixtures.

“When a lot of development happens, the city also changes in multiple ways. It moves the city. This is a way to acknowledge how those transport nodes are connected to the moving cityscape, and its people,” says Thirupurasundari.

This time around, viewers can take a piece of The Hindu Archive home in the form of postcards, which can be stamped and posted from outside the premises.

On view from August 9 to September 5 at The Hindu office, Central, Guindy, Vadapalani, Koyambedu and Airport metro stations, and Kathipara Urban Square.

Chennai is not just about geography, its buildings or anything else — it is a vibe,” says comedian-activist Rajmohan Arumugam. The city’s many facets, quirks, people, and most importantly, the vibe, will feature in a stand-up comedy show Chennai We Have A Problem…And It Is Hilarious curated by Rajmohan, featuring him and five other comics from the city for an evening of laughter at The Music Academy on August 23.