As part of the Madras Week celebrations I plan to conduct a tour around the Choolai area of Madras/Chennai. Ambling about the place with Karthik Bhatt (someone has said that we must have been property-brokers in our previous birth), I came across this narrow park dedicated to Selvapathi Chettiar (of whom more in a later blog), running along one side of Demellows Road and flanking one wall of what was once Binny Estate. And at one end of the park, there is this massive clock tower.
Whenever anyone has asked me about stand-alone clock towers in the city, I have always been able to name only 3 – Mint, Doveton and Royapettah. There is a fourth in Tiruvottiyur I am told. If so, this must be the 5th. It was declared open in 1948 by Dr U Krishna Rau (son of this blog’s old friend, Dr U Rama Rau) a famous surgeon, sometime Mayor of Madras and a Minister in the Congress cabinets of the 1950s. The clock’s mechanism was made by Gani & Sons, a firm that I only knew of as GNB’s asthana watch supplier. Young Bhatt informs me that they specialise in these massive clocks and in that context, this site is interesting –http://www.ganiandsons.com/fiftyclocks.html
This clock however does not work and I presume that the Corporation has forgotten about its existence. The park is well-maintained as are most of Chennai’s parks and well-patronised. Can we hope that something will be done to the clock tower also (by which I dont mean demolition)?
I have been a regular reader of your blogs and I know that you are a great rasika of Carnatic Music with very good knowledge on the subject. I had occasion also to hear your round up about the Music Season in Madras broadcast over Worldspace in end 2009, if I remember right. I particularly remember your recalling the morning session in MA when SB Sir made spicy remarks about new ragas by BMK etc. I am also an ardent & involved rasika who used to attend Dec season for several years till I stopped my visits for Isai Vizha wef 2000 as I felt that the ‘soul’ of carnatic music became absent in concerts, thanks to ‘marketing, commercialisation and packaging’ of our spiritual music.
I have been meaning to pose two points for your attention for quite some time now and here they are:
1. Why great institutions like MA, the music magazine Shruti and even successive TN Govts have not thought it fit to appeal to the Central Govt to posthumously award the Nation’s highest honour on Subrahmanya Bharathiyar, the Universal Poet? I had written letters to editor of newspapers on this subject several times but no one seemed to take note of my plea. Recently when the Central Govt announced a year long programme to commemorate Tagore’s 150 years, I wrote to The Hindu.
2. When our Govt and Madras Music Institutions (including Sangeet Natak Academy) can award titles like Sangita Kalanidhi, Isai Peraringar etc.,to many musicians who do not reside in Chennai/India, why no one has thought about awarding Prof Trichy Sankaran for his over 50 years of service to Carnatic Music? Of course I do not mean any disrespect for those who have already been decorated but I feel gross injustice is being done to Sankaran Sir.
I am sure you will be able to think and initiate necessary action on the above two points which I feel is much delayed.
I suppose there is a clocktower at Thondiarpet on Thiruvottriyur high road, near some Vani Mahal. Please see
Pataalam Clock Tower is neglected, park is vanished in the name of road expansion, only 2 sides of the clock tower is visible and the other 2 side have gone – means high rise apartment has taken over one side and the other side is not visible because of the poor maintenance. People pass urine and other stuff as well happily.