Selective Amnesia There was a point to this. But I forgot.

Pallava, Chola, Vijayanagara styles.

I suppose I (with loads of help from the experts) could do a similar thing for temples in Madras/TN.
The problem is that temple history is less about the structure and more about the tradition. Still, I think I can start somewhere.

Dear N. Ram, N. Ravi and The Hindu

It’s time that my paper went back to its roots. It’s time the Iyers took back control of the paper.

Sincerely,

Chandrachoodan “Iyer” Gopalakrishnan

Calling it like I see it.

Some names, not entirely fictitious, that straddle the stereotype, the parody and the post-ironic

• Amit Singh

• Andrew Scott

• Vanitha Devi

• Shankar Iyer

• Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan

Overheard at a coffee shop in Madras.

Girl: “That’s why I quit my job at the Taj, for I had it with pampering to the rich. I was tired of serving them…” (and words to that effect). Pauses, and calling out to a passing coffee-shop employee “Excuse me, can I get some tissues please.”
—I didn’t make it up.

A Walk worth writing home about: The first Madras Reporter’s Beat

Madras. Chennai. Call it whatever, it’s a great city. A great city that has crap social institutions. I’ve complained and whined, I’ve beaten my chest and berated my luck, but Madras is not going to get good writers, much less good journalists and good newspapers that way. So, in classic C fashion, here’s what I will do. Crowd source the kind of news/reportage/journalism I want.

And, crowd-please. Here’s the idea. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. We all meet, one Sunday, at a Location, and proceed towards a Destination, capturing everything that catches our fancy. Yes, rather like the Chennai PhotoWalk, true. Except, this time, you bring not a camera, but paper, pen, writing pad, voice recorder and/or other tools of a writer. Oh, please, bring a camera too. Or just bring yourself.

On Sunday, the 10th of April, we will all meet at the Luz Signal (near the Sangeetha restaurant), and proceed in a stochastic and haphazard manner towards TT K Road/Sivaswami Road. Along the way you, and I, will meet people, talk to those we meet and keep a keen eye out for all kinds of things. At the end of the walk, we will talk for a few minutes about the things we saw, and coffee/breakfast/brunch later, disperse.

Yes, rather like the Chennai PhotoWalk, true. But unlike the Chennai PhotoWalk, your job does not end when the walk does. Instead, you go home and, festering thoughts and burning righteousness adequately stoked, you will sit down and write about whatever you think is worth writing about from the walk. It can be reportage, it can be opinion, it can be a long-form piece, it can be funny, it can be serious, it can be scathing, it can, in short, be anything you want it to be. It needs to be consistent within the parameters you set for yourself and your story.
Do not worry about style, form, length, character, tone of voice. Just give me a piece you’d love to read.
I (and perhaps one other person) will then collate these stories, edit them (minimally, and brutally honestly) and structure them into a paper we’d love to spend a Sunday with. A month of Sundays with.

All of this, then, will be published as an entirely online newspaper; due credit given, of course.
The idea is that Madras will get a publication that it sorely needs. If this sounds good, comment away.

So, for our first Reporter’s Beat, meet me at 7 AM on Sunday the 10th of April 2011, at Luz Signal, Mylapore.