The technology motif

On a recent holiday, I had a chance to go up to the 5th floor of the Sanmar Group's Corporate Office. It was a nice view of the Radhakrishnan Salai flyover from up there; dominating the scene was one of Chennai's new office buildings. It is difficult to believe that it has been almost four years since the stately old house at that spot was demolished. As I go down the flyover, there is split-second lag before reality replaces memory and then I look up at this 13-storied building rather than look down for the imposing house that used to be there.

Though it was named 'India House', it was better known as 'Vasan's House', after SS Vasan, a one-time owner. Vasan having been a film director, it seemed a natural progression for the house to be used, after his lifetime, as a set for movies and TV serials. It was over 70 years old and with every shooting schedule, it probably took longer to recover, until it was no longer a viable proposition to be hired out. Its gates were shut after the last unit left sometime at the end of 2004; sale - agreement - construction followed and in 2007, Acropolis opened its doors to host quite a few IT companies.

Its first owner, the entrepreneur C.Rajam used the money from the sale of 'India House' to set up the Madras Institute of Technology; with the latest sale, 'India House' has made way to a Technology Park!