olice are cracking the whip on unauthorised boat rides into the sea, especially along the East Coast Road, after the Besant Nagar boat capsize incident on Sunday evening in which

The incident has come as an eye-opener for the police after heavy media focus criticising such ille- gal ferrying into the sea that put innocent lives at risk.

The local \ufb01shermen usually lure the visitors to the beach with a joy ride into the sea on their \ufb01shing boats for a fee ranging from Rs. 20 to Rs 100. The rides with the absence of safety gears are conducted without permission from the tourism authorities at some spots on Marina Beach, Elliots Beach and a few shores along ECR.

from Kottiwakkam beach said that some \ufb01shermen along ECR and Mari- na often take people who want to have a drink in the sea. \u201cThese \ufb01sher- men ferry them with absolutely no precaution or safety gear like life jack- ets and ropes inorder to make some quick bucks from the boat ride,\u201d add- ed Khan.

Khan also informs that Fortune Chariot, GRT Temple Bay, Taj Fisher- man\u2019s Cove and his \ufb01rm E Zone are

Sources in the Adyar police limit under whose jurisdiction the beach stretch till Muttukadu falls revealed that beaches including the one in Thiru- vanmiyur, Neelankarai and behind the VGP has been identi\ufb01ed as places were illegal boat trips take place mainly on Sundays.

K. Narendran, an IT professional from Saligra- man, con\ufb01rmed upon experience that boat rides along on ECR do happen and are easy to get. \u201cAll one needs to do is go to one of thosekuppams (hamlets) near the beach and \ufb01x a boat ride for a negotiable fee,\u201d he said.

Apart from the ECR, Marina and Elliots, some \ufb01shing hamlets in North Chennai also offer boat rides for a fee. One such ride with 13 people from Annai Sivagami Nagar in Ennore on April 5, 2009 proved fatal for two men after the boat capsized mid sea. On the shadow of the Besant Nagar incident

city police commissioner K. Radhakrishnan has or- dered and immediate probe into the unauthorised ferrying of public in Chennai. \u201cMore police personnel will be posted mainly on Marina and Be- sant Nagar beach with two constables near the shore watching out for any unauthorised boat rides with the pub- lic,\u201d commissioner said.

Cases will be booked against offen- ders and their boats will be seized and their licenses will be cancelled, he added.

"Cases will be
booked against
offenders and
their boats will
be seized and
their licenses will
be cancelled"

China, New Delhi and the Indo Cine
Appreciation Foundation opened a Chinese
Film Festival at the South Indian Film
Chamber Theatre on Monday. Around six
\ufb01lms will be shown as part of the festival.
They include:

of a girl looking for a place to stay on a
snowy day. She lands in o the private
residence of an old woman. First they both
dislike one another, though as they spend
more time together
their friendship grows.
However, one day the
girl must leave the
house of the old

p.m.) tells the story of
an affair between a
struggling screen
writer and his young
female assistant, its
effects on his marriage and the impact on
the man himself.

Jiang Yan and Zheng Siji and the struggles
they face after buying a house. The Knot
(May 27; 7.45 p.m.) revolves around Chen
Xiushui, an English teacher in Taiwan. The
boy he tutors has a sister. They fall in love.

The \ufb01lms will be screened at the South
Indian Film Chamber Theatre, Anna Salai.
For details call 98401 51956

EarthSync is hosting the third edition of the EarthSync Festival on
May 30 at Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall. Tickets for
the show are priced at Rs. 400 and available at Landmark, Odyssey,
Anokhi and EarthSync of\ufb01ce. For details call 4205 2532.

emember \ufb02aunting the na- vy blue skirt to school, with strict instructions from

your teacher that the hem- lines should not be above or be- low the knee. Or returning home with mud splashed water on your white shirt and green knickers on the pretext that you wanted a new pair every quarter. Or cursing your college for the uniform as you are often caught red-handed with friends outside the cinema hall during college hours.

Whether in school, college or of\ufb01ce (if your company has one), uniforms conjure up different memories.

Love wearing it or hate it, but the business of procuring and selling the fabric to hundreds of students in a school is an impor- tant occupation for some.

In Chennai, Sugan has been as- sociated with school uniforms, a business Sugan Mal Jain and his son Vijay Kumar Jain started in T. Nagar 34 years ago. Today, a ma- jority of Sugan\u2019s customers are the second generation who now shop uniforms for their children, too.

\u201cIn fact, we were the \ufb01rst to in- troduce striped uniforms in the city in 1975,\u201d Vijay Jain recalls. Holy Angels School in T. Nagar was the \ufb01rst educational institu- tion to introduce the change, go- ing away from the traditional white and plain fabrics.

\u201cSr. Rose and Sr. Leena were in-charge of the school then. We called for 10 students and showed the different shades of white among the children, con- vincing them to switch over to the coloured pattern as it was easy on maintenance and struck a cord among the school\u2019s students.\u201d

\u201cThere was a lot of resistance when we initiated the striped/ check fabric in the public,\u201d says Vijay

Holy Angels School\u2019s brown check shirt and brown skirt came as their \ufb01rst break. Since then there has been no turning back for the Jains\u2019, who diversi\ufb01ed into

the textile segment from the fam- ily-run jewellery business. \u201cOver 97 per cent of schools today have converted to the striped or check fabrics. We stock uniforms of around 400 schools from the city alone, and what makes us differ- ent from other stores is our busi- ness is not seasonal. We stock

uniforms round the year,\u201d ex- plains Dipesh Jain, the third gen- eration in the business. April to June is their busiest period.

With schools coming up with instructions like \u2018Nowhere within the radius of 200 km should the same uniform be introduced\u2019, Su- gan\u2019s big task is to come up with patterns to please all and sundry.

\u201cWe add 20 to 30 designs every year, which are procured from our inhouse in Mumbai,\u201d says Di- pesh, who has a degree in textile designing from NIFT and post graduation in the same from Cali- fornia.

After being synonymous in Chennai for its school uniforms, Sugan is getting aggressive from July to market its institutional uniforms. If six years ago uni- forms were looked as an expen- sive commitment on the part of the company, in the last couple of years even corporates have woken up to implement uniforms as a company\u2019s image. \u201cProduc- tivity increases when everyone is in uniform. Plus, it is the cheapest way to brand a company,\u201d says Dipesh. \u201cFrom K.G. to M.D: uni- forms for all, that\u2019s going to be our strategy in the coming years,\u201d he concludes.

Besides, it is looking at opening branches in Adyar and Velachery by the end of 2009.\u25a0

(Made in Chennai is a column
that showcases the evolution of
home-grown businesses)

Thanks to detergent companies, naughty kids and
growing children, Sugan has been having a
run for the last three decades

Here\u2019s a chance to \ufb02y to England and watch the ICC World Twenty20 live. Big 92.7 FM has launched the \u2018Dham Dhoom
T20\u2019, which will see Chennai musicians wish India success for the world cup. The radio station is offering \ufb01ve cricket
fans get an all-expense trip to England to watch the match. SMS 55454 to participate in the contest.

We stock uniforms of
around 400 schools
from the city alone,
and what makes us
different from other
stores is our business
is not seasonal