Onward

A stride that is familiar around the world. 

It is the 68th anniversary of his passing away, a "Martyrs' Day". I believe India has several of those - honouring the many who gave their lives to the cause of India's freedom. 

Part of the ceremonies on this day was to have the entire country pause for two minutes at 11 am, in memory of this man, and to the cause he served. I am not sure how many even remembered the significance of this date!

Under the flagpole

This building, on a street off TTK Road, is quite unremarkable but for the contrast it provides to its more modern neighbours. But it is also unique in being probably the only house in the neighbourhood that has a flagpole in the front yard. And under that thulasi plant near the flagpole is something that makes this building one of the very few, not just in Chennai but across India, hallowed grounds of independent India.

The building houses the "Srinivasa Gandhi Nilayam", that name paying homage to the "two fathers" of Ambujammal, the lady after whom the street is named. Her biological father was S. Srinivasa Iyengar, a highly respected lawyer who in 1920 returned his CIE and resigned his position as Law Member on the Governor's Executive Council in the wake of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Though Srinivasa Iyengar left the Congress owing to his differences with Mohandas Gandhi, he did not in any way thwart his daughter, fired by the vision of the Mahatma, following him ardently, or oppose her claim that Gandhiji was her foster father.

Ambujammal established the Srinivasa Gandhi Nilayam in homage to both her fathers. That was the platform for her to throw herself into social work, continuing her contributions from the mid 1920s right into the 1960s, as the Chairperson of the State Social Welfare Board from 1961 to 1964. The Nilayam was the place where Gandhiji's followers in Madras would meet and decide ways to further his programmes in the city and the state. Whenever Gandhiji would go on a fast, there would be prayer sessions conducted at the Nilayam. Such a profound connection with the man ended with his assassination in 1948. But wait, the connection continues. You see, a portion of the Mahatma's ashes was brought here and interred under the thulasi plant you see. No wonder then, this is a place of pilgrimage even today for anyone claiming to be a Gandhian!

Striding out

This statue of Gandhi was unveiled on the eve of Independence Day, 48 years ago. I am not sure if this was placed at some other, prominent location earlier. Maybe the gardens of the Agri-Horticultural Society were themselves a prominent location in the 1960s. 

Anyway, there it is today, showing the sun-dappled Mahatma striding out from a bush. There is a vase on the base of the statue, but nobody seems to have cared enough to place flowers in it!

In Gandhi's name

Vaithamanithi Mudumbai Kothainayaki was a writer far ahead of her time, but that story will have to keep for another post. She was also one of the few women who were active in the freedom movement. In the 1920s, whenever there was a meeting of the Congress, VaiMuKo, as she was known, would be the one to sing the invocation song, and many other patriotic verses as well. On one such occasion, Mahatma Gandhi was on stage; after the meeting, he told her something to the effect that both "..Mother India and you are shackled; she is in chains, and you, in gold!" That changed her - she swapped her silks for khadi, broke her shackles and became much more active in the freedom movement.

After Gandhiji was cremated, his ashes were mingled with the "waters of India". After that ceremony in Madras, VaiMuKo decided that she would do her bit to preserve his memory. With her good friend Saraswati Bai, she set up the "Mahatmaji Seva Sangam" in March 1948. The Sangam was primarily involved in helping destitute women and children, with the money coming from well wishers, as well as some of the proceeds from VaiMuKo's writings and stage performances of her stories.

In 1953, the Sangam moved to this building on North Tank Street, Triplicane. The facade has the seal of the Sangam, showing Gandhi on his Dandi march. VaiMuKo passed on in 1960, but the Sangam went on for a bit longer and was still plodding along in the new millenium as well. But now, it seems to have become completely inactive, with the building itself showing no sign having been visited by anyone for a long time. VaiMuKo herself has been forgotten, so it should be no surprise that her reverence for Gandhiji is not remembered, either!

Hospital annexe

The Kasturba Gandhi Hospital in Triplicane has been serving the women of Chennai for well over a century. Though the hospital was initially established somewhere in Nungambakkam or Egmore, it moved to its current location at Triplicane very early on and has been functioning from there all this while.

The picture shows the out-patient department, across the road from the main hospital buildings. These must also be the same vintage as the hospital itself, judging by the nature of the building and the materials. The difference is that the OP department is a single storey-ed structure while the main hospital is housed in much taller buildings.

Unlike the namesake railway station, whose name has been effectively converted into a mockery ("Kasturibai") of the original, the hospital is still sticking to the Kasturba spelling, at least in the English signboard. The Tamizh version has gone out tentatively, claiming it to be the Kasturiba hospital!

Looking up

Well, it is Gandhi Jayanthi. And there are still many who look up to the Mahatma.

Whitened man

Putting his statue out on the Marina will convey the grandeur of his vision, but he did walk the streets like a common man as well. Mohandas Gandhi is not usually brought down to the streets, remaining instead on a pedestal, most of the time doing something: striding or spinning are the common choices.

This statue of the Mahatma may be closer to street level, but it has been positioned just outside the temple at Tiruvottiyur, indicating the normal approach of putting him close to the Gods. This is quite an amateur rendering, sponsored by a political party. (Though if you click on the photo, the enlarged version will show the colour scheme of a different party in his eyes....). And yet, being accessible to many more people, it helps to keep the story of the man alive.

In case you missed it, there is one of Gandhiji's favourite tenets atop the cupola; the three cherub-like figures represent the "see-no-evil, speak-no-evil, hear-no-evil" philosophy that he held dear. Gandhiji had them represented more faithfully as Mizaru, Kikazaru and Iwazaru, the three wise monkeys of Japanese lore; but the sculptor probably thought that monkeys may not be appropriate in this case!

141, now

Today is one of the few 'National Holidays' in the country. This year, Gandhiji's birth anniversary falling on a Sunday ruled out one of the 'definite' holidays from the calendar. And I didn't get to see Richard Attenborough's Gandhi this year.... maybe Munnabhai's Gandhi made an appearance? 

But then, thanks to Anna Hazare and many others, the Mahatma has been more in the news this year than in most recent years. Maybe it is time to, as an old advertisement said, "...discover the Gandhi in yourself"! 

New steps

The Marina now has a three-kilometer long uninterrupted footpath - you can walk all the way from the Triumph of Labour statue to the lighthouse without any significant break. Almost at the end of your walk, you'll see the Mahatma striding the other way!

A Summit, a Peak

You'd probably not notice this building if you're going up Bharathi Salai (Pycrofts Road) on your vehicle, but there's no way you can miss seeing it if you are on foot. It is not the oldest building around, but there's a certain art-deco kind of feel to it, so you want to stop and stare at it a bit. It is definitely worth a stare; apart from the reliefs of Lakshmi (on the left) and Saraswati (on the right), there is a headless figure of Lord Subramanian between them. Topping them all is a bust of Mahatma Gandhi, placed on a globe showing the Indian subcontinent.

Each floor seems to have a name of its own; starting with "Siva Mani" on the ground floor, we move up through "Sri Rama Nilayam" and "Swami's Summit", before reaching the penthouse (if it can be called that), which is named "Gandhi Peak". The house was built sometime in the early 1920s by SP Ayyaswami Mudaliar, a civil engineer who was also an active member of the Indian National Congress. Maybe he had ideas of turning the whole building over to the Congress, because there is a plaque saying "Donor Engineer S.P.Aiyaswami" somewhere on the facade. He didn't do any such thing, however, for his descendents continue to stay in this building, adding to the multitude of signs indicating the many purposes the building has been used for - "Sundaralaya 1926" says one, "Sivaraja Bhavanam 1926", says another; a third says "Professor S.P.Singaravelu Institute". A much newer sign says "S.P.Dhananjaya 149 Bharathi Salai".

But the newest of them all is a plaque on the gate-post, one that does not appear in this picture, which celebrates the 5 days that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose stayed in this building, over two visits, in September 1939 and January 1940. Maybe it was between those visits that Netaji firmed up his strategy of aligning with the Axis powers!

Vazhga, Gandhi mahan

The Gandhi Mandapam, on the Mahatma's 140th birthday. More details in a while...

A sleepless night - and a new dawn

Gandhiji was in Madras on March 18, 1919, staying as a guest of Rajaji, who he had met for the first time earlier that day. He had come to the city to mobilize opposition to the report of the Rowlatt Commission, which had been submitted to the Imperial Legislative Council in 1918. Set up in response to a conspiracy by radical Indian nationalists and Germany to undermine British power in Asia, the Rowlatt Commission recommended that the Viceroy of India be given untramelled power to persecute anyone suspected of treason or sedition. Gandhiji, even then, believed the British government would play by the rules, that they would pay heed to public opinion against the provisions of the 'Black Bill'. His visit to Madras was part of his nationwide campaign against those provisions.

Gandhiji addressed a meeting of leaders at Tilak Bhavan, a guest house belonging to Kasturi Ranga Iyengar and the gathering continued their discussions on actions against the Rowlatt Bill late into the evening. As they were debating, they received news of the Bill becoming law; the infamous Rowlatt Act had been passed. Gandhiji's belief that the British government could be countered by normal democratic processes was completely shattered by this high-handed behaviour. No wonder that he spent a "..restless historic night..." as the inscription says. The morning brought clarity with it: Gandhiji had now become a convert to the idea that cooperating with British institutions would not bear fruit and he articulated his chosen form of attacking them through satyagraha, (desire for truth) the non-violent, non-cooperation movement that became his defining legacy much later.

That, as 'The Story of Gandhi' says, "...was the great awakening of India in her struggle towards independence". But Thilak Bhavan, where that restless sleep and the great awakening happened, is no more. The high-powered business executives, movie stars and political leaders going into Sheraton Chola do not have the time to even spare a glance at this monument to that historic day of 90 years ago!

Spotlight on Gandhi

Okay, so today is one of the days when this statue is dusted, washed, garlanded and generally decked out for people to come by and pay their respects. Maybe it was not a good idea to declare the day of the Mahatma's assassination as Martyrs' Day; the entire focus remains on the leader alone and memories of all the other freedom fighters, especially the thousands of nameless and faceless patriots, are pushed to the margins. On this day, almost everyone vies to demonstrate their faith in the Mahatma, and at prime time, too. There are the fringe elements, who would use the attention to either denounce the Man, or to publicise their pet cause. The police have wisely declared that any kind of gathering around the statue for more than a few minutes is prohibited and on days like this there is a small posse sitting in the shade of the statue to make sure there is no mischief afoot.

The statue itself was one of the earliest on the Marina, if not the first. Created by the versatile Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury, it depicts Gandhi marching to Dandi to begin the Salt Satyagraha. The wide Marina in the background provides a calm counterpoint to the purposeful stride of this statue; surely, one of the more common images of Gandhi, say, spinning his charka calmly would have blended with the serenity of the beach and might even have been lost in it. The stride to the north is again symbolic; he is aiming for Fort St George, the fount of British rule in India. Even in bronze, he seems to be charging to throw them off again.

Maybe it was a good idea to declare January 30 as Martyrs' Day, after all. Any day so chosen would have been some lesser light's birthday; and then that bunch of supporters would have played up his contributions. Gandhiji can afford to share the limelight on this day - if only people would allow him to!

Do you know?

Do you know what is special about today? I am sure there cannot be anyone reading this who does not know that today is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's 139th birth anniversary. Thanks to a slightly wacky film a couple of years ago, the Mahatma made a rather unforeseen return to the public - especially the younger public - eye. For those born a couple of generations after the Mahatma's passing away, Gandhi Jayanthi meant a national holiday, one on which the liquor stores remained closed and even the five star hotels wouldn't serve you alcohol unless you were a non-Indian with an all-India liquor permit or something of the sort.

Today is also the day on which a national ban on smoking in public places comes into effect. As is usual with so many pieces of legislation, implementation can be tricky - and some state governments have already let the Union Health Ministry know that they will not be able to implement this ban. While it is a good thing overall, the ban notification has some slightly wonky ideas (like empowering a boss to fine a subordinate violating the ban!); one hopes that the zeal to implement it in Chennai lasts for a really long, long while.

Alright, so you knew what was special about the day. Now, do you know what is special about this picture? Okay, I'm away from Chennai and 'making do' with the few photos that I have.... yet, this road has a very close connect with Mahatma Gandhi.... can you guess what that is?