Memories of a long lost garden bungalow on Luz Church Road

Explore the history of Amjad Baugh, once a grand residence in Chennai, through the life of patriot S. Ambujammal.

Conducting a heritage walk in January dedicated to S. Ambujammal the patriot, I decided to pay a visit to Luz Church 2nd Street and found there was no way of accessing it. This is due to the ongoing Metro Rail work, which has more or less marooned that cul-de-sac. Now what did this have to do with Ambujammal, you may ask. Well, at one time, this was no blind alley but the entrance to her father’s bungalow: Amjad Baugh.

Sriman Srinivasa Iyengar was a giant of the Madras Bar who very quickly shot ahead of his illustrious father-in-law Sir V. Bhashyam Iyengar. Having qualified in the late 1890s, he set up practice and by 1916 had become Advocate-General, Government of Madras, the youngest ever to do so. A large income as a lawyer also demanded a suitable bungalow in keeping with his status and so he purchased Amjad Baugh with its entrance on Luz Church Road. This was no ordinary residence, for, apart from the house, it had a garden space spanning a whopping 150 grounds, or eight acres. Ambujammal describes it in her biography as pretty much a forest. Even today, several seemingly unconnected properties in the Luz area trace their origin to Amjad Baugh.

For all that, it was an enclave by itself, the house had a miasma of sorrow hanging over it, which seemed to affect all its residents, almost like Manderley in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Sriman Srinivasa Iyengar’s legendary temper did little to ease situations and the fact that his wife, Ranganayaki, was of a retiring disposition did not help. Ambujammal’s marriage, celebrated in style on moving into Amjad Baugh, unravelled quickly enough leaving her to tend to a mentally ill husband. Her brother was afflicted with polio, and though he overcame that to become a lawyer and later a successful businessman, he had his share of sorrows to contend with, including the early death of his wife and the accidental electrocution of a son.

In all of this, the bright ray of light was Mahatma Gandhi. By the 1920s, he was a major influence on the household, staying there when he visited Madras. Though Srinivasa Iyengar would have a tempestuous relationship with the Congress and finally leave the party despite Gandhi’s entreaties, Ambujammal remained a firm follower, defying her father in courting arrest and later travelling to Wardha. It was a journey of self-discovery, one that would lead her to social service and spiritual uplift.

In later years. she would move away from Amjad Baugh, setting up home in neighbouring Alwarpet in a property known as Sudder Gate House, which has since made way for a high-rise apartment building called MidTown. The neighbouring streets, much of which were owned by Srinivasa Iyengar, are named after the father and the daughter. Ambujammal Street houses the Srinivasa Gandhi Nilayam she founded. It is now run by a band of dedicated volunteers and does social service.

What of Amjad Baugh? Ambujammal’s brother Parthasarathy sold much of the surrounding lands which became housing developments. Taking to monkhood in later years, he retired to an ashram he founded at Thirumullaivayil, which still houses the Vaishnavi temple he established. The main Amjad Baugh building, too, vanished to make way for blocks of flats a couple of decades ago. I often wondered if there was any photograph of the house. A couple of months ago, Karthik Bhatt, during his indefatigable searches on the Internet, found it, in a book that Ambujammal penned, titled Mahatma Gandhi Ninaivu Malai. I have since had it digitally cleaned and present it alongside.

(V. Sriram is a writer and historian.)