Come August every year, Chennai residents are faced with a tad trifling-yet-foremost predicament of having to choose between what heritage walk to sign up for or whose session to attend or what performance to show up for. This involves hours of meticulous planning, syncing calendars with friends and with heritage-walk acquaintances and so on. This year, however, the Madras Day, observed on August 22, and Madras Week celebrations will be a low-key affair, resonating with the sombre mood set in by the global pandemic. Madras Week this year will be observed between August 17 to 24.
The good news is that the annual Murugappa Madras Quiz will not be skipped this year, although it will take place online. Speaking to TNM, publisher Vincent D’ Souza says, “There are about 16-17 events planned for this year so far and all of them are online. The Madras Quiz with Murugappa group will take place online. We are looking at late August to finalise the date.”
Chennai based architect and heritage enthusiast Thirupurasundari Sevvel talks about the enthusiasm people show even when there’s an evident cut down on the usual line up of events. “This year, for me, has been a realisation. Several schools and colleges are showing interest to hold and participate in events. I can see that people continue to show good interest in events like the Madras Inspired series that we did, or even the fundraiser we did for those in dire need of help. We continue to work around with what’s available, hosting online sessions, calling for scrapbooks and history album submissions, which is a great hit among the children. The Madras Household Heritage Exhibition continues to receive good response, especially from the elderly,” she says adding, “Architects and Conservators T Sivagamasundari (Muttram) and Akshaya Selvaraj will be hosting the exhibition and workshop for the 8th consicutive year.” Upcoming details of Nam Veedu, Nam Oor, Nam Kadhai's events can be found here.
Those organising events are surely faced with unique challenges. Thirupurasundari adds, “Although there’s nothing comparable to the physical activities, we are seeing that live programs open up new potential. While we miss hosting inclusive events with ramps set up for persons with disabilities to attend walks and seminars, we are trying out sign language interpreters during sessions and it’s an interesting new challenge.”
A representative with Madras Literary Society (MLS) talks about the interesting line-up of events that will be hosted online. "On August 12, we have Padma Shri Manohar Devadoss talking about "Madras Trams and my boyhood", on August 23, Captain Ramachandran from Colours of Glory will be hosting a talk called "Indian Troops; British Victories (Some great battles of the Indian Soldiers)" and on August 29, there will be a talk by Dr KRA Narasiah called "Trigonometric Survey." All of the events will be hosted online," they share. Those wishing to register can do so by writing to madrasliterarysociety@gmail.com.
On National Library Day, August 12, a Tamil Panel discussion to discuss the pivotal role of libraries will be hosted by panellists from various Chennai libraries like Ajayan Bala from Balumahendra Library, Mini N from Dulkal Library, Murugan Manthiram from Koogai Library and Sundar Ganesan, Roja Muthiah Research Library. The discussion will be moderated by Thirupurasundari Sevvel.
TNM caught up with writer and history buff Niveditha Louis who has just wrapped up an online reading session of her book on India’s first women achievers called ‘Mudhal Pengal’. “I just finished a talk on Tamil’s very first novel, Aadhiyur Avadhani Saridham. Often people mistake it to be Prathaba Mudaliyar Saridham. This, however, was released four years prior to that,” she sounds enthusiastic. Niveditha will be hosting reading sessions and in addition a virtual tour of North Chennai. “We are also planning on a weekly radio program, every Sunday this month. We are working out on the details,” she adds.
Dr K Subashini, President of Tamil Heritage Foundation International, who has planned for sessions on Madras and history in addition to a two-day online exhibition of their Digital Madras Project explains why it is important to carry on with the tradition. “Madras finds mentions in several foreign countries. There are extensive records taken down by German priests during their time in Madras. It is important to remember and recall the popular city’s history,” she adds.
Revathi R who works along with YOCee.in and organises regular photo walks for Children during Madras Week shares, “This year, as moving around is restricted, we plan to host an online exhibition of photos of the previous photowalks,” she tells TNM.
Some however, have taken a break from conducting their regular events. Editor of The Madras Musings, Sriram V, who is popular for his heritage walks says, “At Madras Musings we have taken this conscious decision to not participate in Madras Week this year in view of the pandemic.”
Details of a few upcoming Madras Week events can be found here.