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An Early Morning Walk that ends at a Famous Caf

I have often passed by Triplicane, always going someplace else and wondering
what lies behind the facades of the old buildings, the narrow lanes and the temple
whose tank and perhaps other water-bodies gave it the name Tiruvallikeni or The
Golden Lily Pond.
On the walk that was organised with V. Sriram at the helm of it, could one really
resist joining? And join I did, a lazy Sunday person though I am, I woke up early and
picked up my friend and literally raced to the Victoria Hostel Road to join a group of
twenty odd people that I barely knew, and who had one definite thing in common
with me: a pleasurable anticipation.
A pleasant, misty 2
nd
morning of the month of February proved to be memorable.
The walk, the talk and the enthusiastic people who walked along was made even
more enjoyable as history came alive through the words of Sriram, whose turn of
phrase and fluency is now renowned!
I am a history teacher, passionate about my subject and do everything I can to
make the subject live deep and interestingbut the one thing I havent managed is a
Walk. Yes, it needs to take on the capital case, because the crux of the fun, the
enjoyment and learning was walking through the narrow lanes, bylanes of Triplicane
along with someone who was an authority on the subject.
What makes a place? The location, the geography, the buildings or the people? I
would put my weight behind the last. In the many stories that were narrated, one
common trait seemed to foreshadow any other: generosity. I need to add to this
word. I found individuals bound, not necessarily by time, but by boundless energy,
purpose, courage and concern for the less fortunate. Caste, religion, norms and
gender did not stand in the way of their deepest beliefs.
Four women stand out in the narrative that Sriram wove and what bound them was
their immense sense of generosity, immense sense of adventure and deep courage.
The first was a pioneer in the truest sense of the word. The Kasturba Gandhi
Hospital for Women was once called the Royal Victoria Caste and Gosha Hospital.
Behind this is the tale of a woman who decided to educate herself and qualify as a
medical practitioner in the years when men were threatened by the presence of
women and when professors would refuse to teach women. She was, to quote Mr. S.
Muthiah, an Englishwoman, Mary Ann Dacomb Scharlieb, who was helping her
husband William Scharlieb in his law office till she decided, after ten years in India,
that Indian women needed doctors more than lawyers. She went to England to
qualify further and returned to Madras in 1883 and founded this hospital.
The next was Va Mu Kothanayaki Ammal, or Vaithamanithi Mudumbai Kothainayaki
Ammal who wrote books but did not know to read any herself till she taught herself
the alphabet and grew so proficient that her output was voluminous. Born in 1901,
she was married to a nine year old at the age of 7. One can do charity by helping
people out directly. V.M.K (as she chose to be known as in film credits) wrote about
the deepest social ills of the society she lived in and highlighted strong and resilient
women in her stories. This was not all. She transformed her lifestyle and founded an
association called Mahatmaji Seva Sangam to help the poor and orphaned children
which is in North Tank Square Street. She also ran a school in Triplicane exclusively
for women where she taught among other subjects, music, tailoring, handicrafts,
embroidery and languages. In her 115 novels, she dealt with socially relevant issues
of the day like the dowry menace, ill-treatment of women, women's education, ills of
the Devadasi system, untouchability and many more.
The second was a resident of a home in Hanumantha Rayar Koil Street, the house
that till recently had a plaque that proclaimed that this had been the residence of the
mathematics genius: Srinivasa Ramanujam. Yet the individual who stood out in my
mind was his hapless wife caught between poverty, a stern matriarch and a dying

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husband. She felt like a strong and unsung woman who adopted and brought up a
young man (the son of her friend who left him to her care) all on her own. I raise my
metaphorical hat to Janaki Ammal. I now hope that the biopic to be released on the
young and brilliant Kumbakonam mathematician will also focus on the wife. How she
supported herself, raised herself from penury and helped others in difficulty points to
a generous and strong woman.
The third is also a woman: Saraswati Bais mother. Saraswati bai is a legend in her
own right as being the first harikatha exponent in an age when women performing on
a stage were looked down upon. But her mothers generosity caught my attention.
As a poor stationmasters wife at Renigunta, she took in and looked after an
abandoned passenger who was suffering from Cholera. She nursed this man back to
health. Then, here is the nub or the rub the abandoned patient turned out to be a
wealthy man of Chennai who brought them to Triplicane and bestowed wealth on
them to take care of their needs and wants till the end of days.
She did not stop there. She took care of two abandoned girls whose mother died at
the Ghosha hospital and married her sons to them.
The stories of generosity, affection and humaneness do not end with just these
people.
Philanthropist Rao Bahadur Vemuru Ranganatham Chetty, whose house, now a
ladies hostel was another person who, Sriram informed us, was from the Arya Vysa
community and left his own stamp on the city and its history. Srirams article on him
appeared in The Hindu many years ago can be accessed through its archives.
We passed through streets named quaintly, Big Street being the most interesting,
not just for its name. Our walk, which was punctuated by delightfully rendered
anecdotes took us from the Victoria Hostel Road, to Car Street, briefly pausing at
North Tank Square Street, Hanumantha Rayar Street, before turning to the Temple,
going past Bharatiyar Illam on T.P. Koil Street before proceeding to see the oldest
street light, the Big Street Pillayar and the Hindu Higher Secondary School that was
built for Indian children whose parents were reluctant to send them to East India
Company run schools. Initially bifurcated as the Dravida Pathashala (Tamil boys)
and the Balula Pathashala (Telugu), it merged into the one school that it is now.
Established in 1852, it can easily lay claim to being one of the oldest in south India. It
was lovely to see the red brick graceful building and Sriram assured us that it is well
maintained inside as well.
As we walked the length of the Big Street, one couldnt help noticing many
mansions even though the famous bachelor pads are actually located on Triplicane
High Road.
Our last stop before the finale was another pioneering movement: Triplicane Urban
Co-operative Society or TUCS. The TUCS Ltd was started on 09.04.1904. Mr.Rt.
Honourable V.S. Srinivasa Sastri was its promoter and first president. On
25.03.1925, Gandhiji has visited this Institution and appreciated its services. It was
one of the members of the society. The wooden door with a carving of its symbol, the
banyan tree said a lot about its aspirations.
Finally, we walked on towards another Triplicane landmark: Ratna Caf. It was my
first visit to this place and truly I enjoyed the sumptuous breakfast followed by coffee
that was just right without necessitating any specific instructions that I have always
had to make to other restaurants in the city to satisfy a diehard coffee drinker like
me.
It seemed to me when I left the caf full in my mind and my stomach that anything
worthwhile comes always from generosity of spirit, sense of service and care.
Triplicane told me stories of all this. This probably is the spirit of a place.
So, the next time there is an event like this wake up the Sunday bones and take
leisurely and beneficial walksand discover facets of your city as you never will on
your own!

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Akhila Seshadri