Buildings on Mt. Road

Last year I come across the heart of Chennai – the Mount road or Anna Salai, after long time and I got to capture few shots on the buildings that exist as one of landmarks and heritages of Chennai.  We took a drive on Sunday which is the best time to take this stretch that’s almost busy throughout the week since it’s an arterial road and even it was little crowded that day, we managed to capture few photos on the buildings from the movie car, that follows below.

LIC Building

LIC Building doesn’t need an introduction in Tamil Nadu as well throughout the country, but for others information, LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) is the Chennai’s first skyscraper and tallest building in India, when it was inaugurated in 1959. The 14 story building serves as the southern regional headquarters of the LIC India and the building marked the transition from lime and brick construction to concrete columns in the region.

The building was designed by the London- based architects on the lines of the UN Secretariat in New York City; but the withdrew of architects from the construction after 4 years of its  commence was overseen by Chennai based architect L.M. Chitale. The location on the Mount Road to construct the building was identified by Chidambaram Chettiyar, the founder of Indian Overseas Bank and the United India of Insurance, for his group’s headquarters. 

Spence Plaza

Spencer Plaza is the oldest shopping mall in India and a renowned landmark of modern Chennai (Madras). Originally built during the period of British Raj in-between1863-64, the Spencer Plaza is the first Departmental store in the Indian subcontinent, comprising India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The building established by Charles Durant and J. W. Spencer was one of the biggest shopping malls in South Asia when it was built and the original building that destroyed in fire in year 1985 was an example of Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. The present Spencer Plaza was opened in 1991 on the same site, measuring about 10 acres and spread across a million square feet built in three phases with parking space for 800 cars.

The plaza is one of the major hangouts for the Chennaities.

Aguchand Mansion

Agurchand Mansion is a red brick stone building that date back uncertainly more than a century; and it is near opposite to the famous Spenser Plaza. The building is built by an old Madras family called Agurchands; and today the building holds quite commercial shops on the ground floor, whose number of hoardings occupies much space of the building facade, but there are no details about the Mansion, whether it’s running or not.

Tarapore Towers

Tarapori tower’s is half a km from LIC building and the large sign hosted on its terrace was one of the attractions on Mount Road. This is the first public LED display come up in Chennai, over 25 years ago or certainly longest time in survive and it usually displays time and temperature of the city.

Our drive doesn’t stop with Mount Road, and we also come across Parris and Central Station, capturing few more buildings along.  I will post on them in further posts...

Duma

I watched this 2005 adventure drama, Duma, which is a movie based on the friendship between a boy and cheetah and it is a true story loosely adapted from the book titled ‘How it was with Dooms’. The story set in the South Africa, takes us thought a wonderful journey across the dry grasslands, deserts and wildlife... filled with various adventures and revealing the beautiful relationship between a boy and cheetah.

Alexander plays the role of a fearless schoolboy, adopting cheetah as his pet and venture into the wild as per his father’s decision to leave the cheetah back at its real home. The movie wasn’t distinctive among the wildlife adventures and its dealings are very simple and lighthearted to quick pass with strong emotion shared by the boy and cheetah. The desert sailboat rides on the converted bike and cheetah chased beside the speeding bike are few exciting moments and the background score was so fascinating through the 5.1 channel.

What more enthusiastic was the cinematography, which is a real visual treat with scenes changing on landscape and wildlife are notable. The movie directed by Carroll Ballard and produced by Warner Bros also stresses the comfort at home and for the wild animal’s forest is the only place to alive and it’s impossible to exchange its base. Duma is the name of the cheetah and since the story adapts fiction its enjoyable quite unquestioning the impossibilities.

A small date

Image: google

From the day meeting you at heart

I still hold to the conversation
every night at the dreams.

The smile that struggle to untie
the emotion that bewitch
reading the love status on the lips.

Eyes conveyed the message silently
while the lips relish on the coffee
that long lost its savor.

Under the wild date palm tree
the heart shares the unfold files
converting the cool breeze into ocean current.

Footnote: A small write up on fantasy and fiction...  

Happy Onam

Photo on mom's colorful kolam

With colors of Onam,
life becomes a Pookolam
and delight of Orchids.

Wishing Happy and Colorful Onam to all! :)

Colors that I captured

Our friend Rajesh of My Indian Travel invited me to participate in ‘Capture the Colour’ contest by TravelSupermaket and here I like to share the colors in images that I captured and picking the photos randomly from the folders. The photos below are highlighted by the colors of blue, green, yellow, white and red.

Blue

This memorial is erected in the southern tip of India, Kanyakumari, in the memory of the Tsunami victims; Kanyakumari lose hundreds of lives to the tsunami that stroke the Southeast Asia on 26 December 2004. In the abstract sculpture, I could observe a hand allying the rage wave and other one holding a lamp as pleasing the wave.

Green

This is a part of Kodanad Estate, in the Nilagiri District of Tamil Nadu and this is a shot captured close to the TN chief minister’s bungalow, where she use to take rest while in office or not and coincidently she was staying there while we visited the estate and view point. But she was not in the power that time and it was the period waiting for the results of the state assembles election last year in April.

Yellow

Other day mom brought banana flower from market and it looked very pretty in color like ever seen before. The middle part was in mild pink and tip in yellow; I find it wonderful to capture. For some time now, the banana flowers have been my favorite thing on food and I wish mom cooks it at least once or twice in a week.

White

This amazing white colonial building was taken into renovation to its original appearance of what it is now from nearly destruction. The 250 years old, former Danish Governor’s bungalow in Tranquebar was taken into restoration from brick by brick by the INTACH, holding up the building’s Madras terrace roof with great pride and poise. The building which is belong to the Tamil Nadu Tourism Department with the assistance from the Danish National Museum and INTACT restore the original structure, which melds colonial features with the local Tamil vernacular.

Red

Sometime before we checked the Marry brown restaurant on the ECR, near VGP golden beach, for some spicy and crispy chicken; and while waiting on car I find the facade of the building pretty in red to capture. Marry brown is not my favorite outlet for crispy chicken and we checked it for only couple of times before KFC open its outlet in our neighborhood close to ECR.

I also pass this invitation to 5 of my blogger friends for their participation: 

Betsy

Eden

Ashok

Krishna

Linda