Why's the twist?

On Musiri Subramaniam Road, just before you turn off to Vivekananda College on your left, you should open a keen eye to your right. That way, you will spot this rather non-descript shop at the corner where you would turn to get to the Luz Church. The shop is a throwback to the 70s and 80s, run by two gruffly-friendly brothers who seem to have been there forever. In recent times, they have a younger helper and post-covid, they seem to have spruced up the signage with a fresh coat, even if the shop itself remains as it has always been. 

Speaking to the young man, I learnt that the shop has a formal name: "Lakshmi Cool Bar". GoogleMaps tries to be more helpful by adding that it is also called "Mani kadai" (Mani's shop). Neither of those names feature in this board, according to which the shop is "Oliver Twist"!

Apparently, the younger of the two brothers was a voracious reader in his youth, and Charles Dickens was a favourite author. He was therefore insistent on getting a Dickensian connection to the store's name. The sharp turn in the road is the inspiration for the 'Twist'. But can you guess why 'Oliver'? Ah, yes, that's correct: before it was given its current name, the road was called Oliver Road! 

Special branch

In one way, this branch of the Tamil Nadu Co-operative State Agriculture and Rural Development Bank Ltd, in Alwarpet, is special because it operates as an affiliating bank, linking up close to 200 Primary Agriculture and Rural Development Banks across the state. The Bank itself was set up in 1929 to provide long term finance for some basic agriculture-related activities. Over many years, the bank has surely provided relief to many thousands of farmers in Tamil Nadu. However, this branch is also special for another reason - and that reason is why one gets to see a goodly crowd here, even if they are not agricultural loan applicants. 

In 1968, several employees of this branch decided that, apart from financial assistance, some spiritual guidance must also be made available. For reasons that I'm slightly fuzzy about, their deity of choice was Hanuman - also known as Anjaneyar - and set up a temple inside the bank's compound. Very soon, the temple began to attract students preparing for their Chartered Accountancy exams. Maybe they believed that this Anjaneyar had inside knowledge of accounts. Maybe it was just convenient for them to drop by after their CA classes, many of which were held in nearby Mylapore. Over the years, the belief in Anjaneyar's specialisation was expanded to cover any course that was bracketed with the letters C and A; CWA, CFA, CIA and why, even the CPA exams would be easier if you dropped by for a quick prayer here. 

The place is now better known for the temple than the bank itself. Ask any aspiring CA about the TNCSARD Bank and you will get blank stares, but s/he would definitely know about CA Anjaneyar, or Bank Anjaneyar!

Right wrong

Do you find anything odd about the cars on this road? No? Look again and you will notice that both the vehicles are on the wrong side of the road, which, in India is the right.

This is probably the only stretch of public road in Chennai where you are allowed - actually expected - to drive on the wrong side of a two-way street. Traffic on Luz Church Road - where the white car is turning in from - is only westbound, while Musiri Subramaniam Road, nearer to us, permits vehicles to only go east. This bit of road is where they changeover, if they need to. The flow is much smoother if you to stick to your right when making the U-turn. 

Everyone has naturally adjusted to it, to the extent that quite a few of my friends - including some who use this route regularly - refused to believe me when I mentioned they were violating traffic rules!

Musiri's house

This is not a house which catches your eye from the street. When it was originally built by Musiri Subramania Iyer, it probably had a large garden in front of the building, and a drive-way winding up to the door from Oliver Road. Musiri was one of the first carnatic musicians to buy a car and was, according to Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, the one man who bestowed "gauravam" (prestige) on the carnatic musician.

In keeping with his stature, this house has played host to several famous people. Apart from Musiri's contemporaries in the carnatic music firmament, businessmen, lawyers, and civil servants have all passed through its doors. These days, the doors continue to be open for anyone with more than a passing interest in carnatic music; Musiri's grandson has a sort of open house once a month or so, when one doesn't need an invite, but can walk in if interested.

The driveway, if ever there was one, is gone. So has Oliver Road - thanks to Semmangudi's lobbying, it was renamed Musiri Subramanian Salai. Quaintly enough, Subramania Iyer was not from Musiri, but was born at Bommalapalayam; his friend S.Y. Krishnaswami says that Subramania Iyer, when asked about it, is supposed to have replied half in jest, "How can a carnatic musician prefix such a name!"

Sheets on the street

Why at this place? As far as I can remember, this end of Musiri Subramanian Road did not have anything to do with traditional dhobies (washermen). There is no evident water source nearby and I haven't actually seen anyone doing the laundry out in the open here. These bamboo poles are festooned with various clothes at any time of the day; as they are inside a fenced area, it is reasonable to assume that they are the laundry from the hostel of Vivekananda College.

If so, why is it that every time I pass by, the laundry is dominated by white sheets? Have the hostel authorities deemed that such public display is allowed only for white sheets? And why this particular spot? Can't the sheets be sun-dried on the terraces of the hostel buildings? Musiri Subramanian Road is not exactly a sleepy little side-street, even if it is not a main traffic artery; it is very likely these white sheets would be tainted by the dust and exhaust churned around by traffic. And yet, it does not seem to affect them, these sheets remain untarnished for days.

Whatever be the reasons, it is good to see one more of the surprising reminders of something that was commonplace a couple of decades ago - even if it does not cater to the general populace!