Chennai turns 370

Today was Chennai’s 370th birthday and here is a shot note about Chennai city and its existence.

(National emblem of India on Kamaraj salai Chennai)

Been appeared to the world as a simple fishing hamlet, today Chennai seems to be one of the most important and 4th largest city in India. In 1639 August 22nd, the so called Chennai today, was formed by then as Madras was happened to develop as a city only after the arrival of Europeans to immigrate here. Portuguese to be the first to immigrate here in 1552 had been settled in Santhome area and have been doing business.

The place where today the Chennai High Court exists had a temple then, called Chennakesavar and around the temple there was a hamlet named Chenna Kesavapuram. On 22nd August 1639, Francis Day and Aandru Kohan of East India Company had bought the land where St. George Fort was today, from Chennapa Naicker. In memories of him, the village on north side of the Fort was called Chennapattinam and the south as Madras. The British then merged both the villages and named it Madras, and Tamils kept calling it as Chennapattinam.

In 1997 the name was changed as Chennai. To the ancient Chennapattinam, there’re few great nobilities for being first in India. The first Christian temple, first Hospital, first entertainment institution and first Municipality were formed in Chennai. Today, Chennai have grown in various sections and 6 million in population, it leads as a forefront city in miscellaneous sections such as Education, Hygiene, Information Technology, History, Auto mobile, tourism, art…

(Chennai Santhome Basilica Cathedral)

In medical industry, Chennai shines as a capital with immense hospitals around and next to Bangalore, Chennai continue to be so as an IT hub in list of large cities with many motor vehicle factories are formed in Chennai. In movie making, Chennai remain next to Mumbai. Alike many other cities in India, Chennai has its part of troublesome too. Scarcity of drinking water (thankfully lately the problem is less, since reservoirs around Chennai gets enough water by rain and linked by canals), lack of proper rainwater draining system to not even withstand a little showing (thanks to ‘J’ government to come up with a wonderful rain water harvesting project to increase ground water level and reduce water wastage), announced and unannounced electric resistance, unending traffic and more unsolved problem are there to find solutions.

While celebrating the Chennai day or week, let people think to do something to make certain problems are solved and esp. the vehicle traffic and rainwater draining. Government should also think about to control the vehicle population in city to reduce traffic and pollution.

I wish chennaities a very happy birthday of our city and I wish to write more about Chennai and hope to do so sometime soon.

School for MD in Chennai

First time in India, a special school for Muscular Dystrophy students is inaugurated by Chennai Corporation on Thursday. In presence of Chennai Mayar M. Subramanian, deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin opened the school for children with MD in his own assemble constituency Thousand Lights. With adequate facilities for wheelchair movements in barrier-free environment and spacious restrooms with specially designed toilet seats, the school provides education along with physiotherapy and speech therapy.

The deputy chief minister says “the school is opened on past prime minster Rajive Gandhi’s birthday, who was interested on the development of youngster society. Not alone the corporation and government, even the service organization should take part in this to make it success.” It’s been 3 years since I heard the MDA announced to begin a special school for MD children and it happens at last. It seems there’re 3,000 MD patients in Chennai and about 30,000 throughout Tamil Nadu.

Being one and faced the trouble with MD, and going to school alike normal children is not easy, and many a students are forced to use wheelchairs when come to a certain age and period, and with the familiar Duchenne muscular dystrophy, students are dropped out of school for inconvenient. I agree, we need certain basic education to develop our knowledge and to communicate with world, and also to express about our sense and knowledge we gain through our experience.

So far 28 students have been registered with the school and the corporation teachers are trained to handle these students, the government is requested to provide special buses to this school. Must thank Union minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment D. Napoleaon and Mayar M. Subramanian for being known the importance themselves and being a parents of MD children, must sure impressed upon leaders to open this school.

Report on inauguration here

Late Sunday Tale

I was near chengalpet last Sunday and it rained heavily for more than an hour in noon and I enjoyed it never like the one in lately. There we went to one of our grandma’s home and it lays outskirt of the town and being spacious and calm and surrounded by hills, I loved being there always and in our school days, it’s our most favorite place for vacation. And more than these all, I loved the company of my uncle and aunt – who was my best friend then, and we roamed everywhere along with them and my uncle had a bicycle and he take me around village’s, fields and we simply go and have a cuppa at the main road.

Today the life turned to be different, but memories constant and when I come across those places, I recollect the moments passed. Since my grandma’s family was moved near to Chennai, we hardly visit the place and home was closed almost with regular visit by uncle on week’s basis, and this time we went along with them just like that and had lunch and returned by evening. What makes this travel special was the heavy rain that last more than an hour and I enjoyed in the drizzle, along the fragrance of rain and pleasant weather, and as soon the rain stops I found interest on the dew drops on leaves and a millipede on multi pace.

We always take the road via thiruporur, since the road passes through villages, forest, and nature being and less traffic pollution. On this stretch I always come across monkeys and for nearly a km there are Palmyra trees grown both sides of the road, standing in a row making narrow the road. I always wonder looking at these trees how narrow they have been planted in a row and this place had come in some old movies. Passing through this way in night always seems scare and it remains very dark. It’s a single lane for ages and never turned to be better, and if any vehicles come at either side, one had to go off-road to leave way to other. Only few kms of this road had been widened and have smooth surface.

Being surrounded by forest and hills, this place receives monkeys often. They always come and sit on the walls and if we’re little careless they enter the home and take anything caught up there eyes and more or less make trees damage and mess up the walls. This time also I saw few monkeys and one caring its kid under its back. Grandma had recently painted her home in striking green color and made certain they aren’t exception in the current trend of painting homes in pretty colors. Unlike other places, it receives heavy rain always and few kms away from their home there was no evidence of showering and by evening we returned home via ECR.

Regret to those survive

For everyone death is certain and happens sometime in our lifetime, so why should we go in search of it. Life is to live until the death comes in any form and let it happen on its own, why do we need to drag in. Sometimes more than mourning, we regret for the dear ones whom gonna struggle without them and such a situation happened to one of my relative family today, because of the death of my uncle’s brother at young age, leaving alone his wife and two little children to survive. Thought they aren’t gonna left alone since they have more relatives and dear ones to take care, the space of a dad and husband can never be fill with anything. None can imagine a situation like that so easily and explaining children’s mind on missing their father is impossible, but it could be similar to Paris speech which makes tears overseas.

Being admitted to hospital for nearly a month long for ripe jaundice, in cause of liver damage and due to liquor addict, he lost his life today early morning after a daylong uncertain situation in his health and been sent off to home from hospital in no means of remedy. We aren’t long time relatives until my aunt was married to his brother and I also used to call him uncle and he do care and enquire me wherever we meet. I haven’t been practiced with him more and know what’s happening with his life through my aunt and cousins. He was married to the women he loved and have two little kids, one in age 8 and other in 5. Being addict to liquor, he faced many trouble in his personal life and have also been sent to rehabilitation center lately to get remedy from the drinking habit and as a result he comes out well in treatment to console everyone, but it never sustained and he began to catch up with drinks again.

I met him at last in an event three months ago and even that time he was in drunk. I met his children first time at the same event, those whom I have only seen in pictures until then. They are two cute kids and there mom introduced me to them as a brother, thus I’m bro to my cousins. Thinking about them now, I feel regret for their future without a father. It might not sense me more, but looking into other lives suffers without a father I could sense something great lose. What if I sense or not, who had to be sensed and thought have been failed to realize and fell into the ditch of death. I would say, he searched his death and if he was an individual it might not bothered much since it affects him alone and his dear ones for sometime, but what he had done gonna affect the dreams of three individuals.

Its hard to imagine a situation like this in my life and for these little kids who know or not what’s happening in their life, makes me worry where would they search their father in means of fear, source of love, welfare and what all struggle they go through. And this happened to a father, who loves children and not alone his own ones and generally a kind person at heart, but got ready to leave everything for the lust of liquor. Life is one’s to live and making it certain is in our mind and we’re steady even we struggle but they’re in hurry while enjoying freedom. My deep console and good wishes to there family.

foot prints of growth

Leaving its foot prints on trunk
grows the coconut tree
making certain aid to man
to climb and claim tender coconut

The moment I look into one
the trunk explains me life
that rose stepwise
to reach high state,
leaving foot prints like the trunk
it helps someone, to
follow the taste of success
like the tender coconut – healthy drink

Following the foot steps
and grasping on the trunk
one climbs the tree with ability,
and similarly befits the life and carrier.