Madras Day: Iconic timekeepers on campuses

Read about the heritage clocks at college campuses in Chennai and how they are maintained

The quartet of clocks at the clock tower at Presidency College do not know the meaning of a breather. They are not allowed to take time out from a punishing day-in night-out schedule. A heritage ecosystem ensures the four clocks lodged in a tower stick to their calling, and tick with uncanny accuracy.

Known as Fyson Clock (recalling the memory of celebrated botanist Philip Furley Fyson who was principal of the college from 1925 to 1932), this timekeeper on Kamarajar Salai finds enabling support from two entities on the parallel Mount Road — The Simpson Group’s establishment and a couple of addresses away, P. Orr & Sons.

R. Raman, principal of Presidency College, describes it as a three-cornered heritage partnership forged to keep a marker of time connected with the present in a practical manner. Can there be a more intimate way to connect with the present than by marking it accurately, second by second?

Prof. Raman notes that The Simpson Group has drawn up a maintenance contract with P. Orr & Sons for the upkeep of the timepieces in the four-face clock tower. The watch company has the wherewithal, technical and instrumental, to keep them ticking right.

Prof. Raman notes The Simpson Group is invested in the clock tower beyond providing the financial component of its maintenance. He says a top leader at the group is known to take in the clock tower on the routine drive down Kamarajar Salai, and point out anomalies, if any. There is usually nothing to report to the maintenance team. On rare occasions, when a “slackness” is noticed, it is immediately reported and promptly rectified.

Prof. Raman recalls that in 2022, the clock tower required a slightly drawn-out maintenance effort.

The heritage link between The Simpson Group and Presidency College extends to a patch outside the latter’s premises but connected with it — the Marina ground. Prof. Raman notes the college draws up a contract with The Simpson Group for the ground every 10 years. The industrial conglomerate would maintain the ground, according to the contract, which puts down how the two parties can use the ground without a clash between their respective interests.