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

The Madras Week Photowalks – Updates

Since my previous post, and in the last week, a few things have happened. Changes for the better. The Chennai Corporation/Ripon Buildings have agreed to let us do a photowalk in the building, and so have Southern Railways and Central station. Also, the Freemasons have given us the go-ahead to do a walk inside the 1925-built Freemason’s hall.
Which means, I have to slicha change plans. Here is the revised schedule.

1) Ripon Building + Victoria Hall + Central + Southern Railway HQ, Saturday August 22, 2009, between 7 AM and 11:30 AM. Come prepared to take loads of photos, and come with water, and possible a mask/large kerchief to cover face with – the Central Station is especially crowded, and potential carriers of the disease will be around.

2) Mint street + Armenian street, Saturday, August 22, 2009 between 3:30 PM and 6 PM (tentative). Meeting point: Jain Temple, Minit Street.

3) Freemason’s Hall, Egmore on Sunday, August 23, 2009 between 4:30 PM and 6 PM

The previously scheduled Markets of Yore walk will be pushed to a different weekend for intelligent/informed people tell me that the markets are rather desolate in the evenings.

Please take note of changed schedule, and come to walks.

The Madras Week Photowalks

Hello all,

Sorry for the terribly short, short notice on the Madras Week Walks. I have been planning the walks, and running behind councillors, corporation commissioners, Public Relations officers and traffic managers at the Ripon Building, the Southern Railway and Central Station offices, the Port Trust of Chennai and other important landmarks.
I am sorry to say that the walks I had planned in these areas will not happen. More, I am sorry to say that this city’s officials have absolutely no regard for or any interest in engaging with the public and with doing the bare minimum requirement of their jobs. Public Relations Officers are rude, lazy and indifferent.

I have been passed from PR departments to Traffic Management, from the senior deputy assistants to the security desk, and up and down and right and left of every building I had to go to. For the last week alone, I have had to do up to 3 trips up and down to each of the offices, and at odd hours.

So, sorry folks. But there won’t be any of the grand walks I did plan.

As a compensation, I have (together with a couple of photowalker friends), come up with a list of what we hope are more interesting walks.

1) Purasawalkam’s back streets (Chandrachoodan)
The legend with Purasawalkam’s name is that there was once a British officer living in this area who had a dog called Porus. One day, the officer (who must not be named for purposes of privacy – see I do respect the privacy of individuals – be they rich or poor), perhaps a little tired said “Porus, walk home!” and thus we have Purasawalkam.
In all honesty, I must say that this legend seems unbelievable to me. But I do have a few stories that are believable. For instance, the back streets of Purasawalkam have some very interesting, beautiful architecture. A mix of art-deco, indo-saracenic and regular colonial/victorian/whatever period. And that (according to V. Sriram of Madras Musings/Chennai Heritage) R.K Narayanan grew up here.
So – walk #1 – Back streets of Purasawalkam.
Meeting point: Traffic light at the junction of Brick Kiln road and Purasawalkam High Road/Ratna Stores.
Date: 16th August 2009, 7 AM.

2) Blue Cross Centre, Velachery. (Narayanan Hariharan)
Narayanan, a twitter and Fb buddy and I met a month ago. Narayanan has been volunteering with the Blue Cross, trying to get them the publicity and awareness they are due. According to Narayanan, the Blue Cross is perhaps the first, definitely the least hyped of the animal welfare/care organisations in the country. In their centre in Velachery, they care for over 200 1000 animals – dogs, cats, cows and stuff.
So the plan is to meet at the Blue Cross centre, and shoot the animals (with a camera of course) and see if we can each drum up some support (awareness, funds, whatever) for them. He is hoping each of us – offline and online – use our networks to make it happen.

So – walk #2 – Blue Cross, Chennai.
Meeting point: Velachery Aquatic Complex
Date: 16th August 2009, 3 PM.

3) Armenian Street – Mint Street (Vatsan, Subah, and in a minor capacity, C)
We thought we’d spice up things a little. For walk #3, what we will do is give you a start point, an end point and a two-three must-shoot subjects and let you all determine your own routes and plan of action. We hope each of have different subjects, different walks and different stories to tell.
So
Walk #3
Date: 22nd August 2009
Start point: Mint Street Jain temple: 4:30 PM
End point: Armenian Church
Must shoot a) Mint Street post office. Must shoot b) Crown Theatre. Must shoot c) (Though, don’t shoot C) Armenian Church. Must drink d) Kakada Ramprasad’s badam milk

4) Markets of Yore, South-ish Madras (Chandrachoodan)
Long time ago, a bunch of people decided that human cause, human activity was better served by exchanging goods, services and gossip in crowded, colourful places called markets. And therefore, these bunch of people set up the Thanithurai market in Mylapore, the Zambazaar market in Triplicane/Royapettah, the Madavelli market in, well, Mandavelli. Now, all these markets have, since their inception, waited for the one day that we all land up to shoot the brilliant colours. And that day is

August 23, 2009, 7 AM3 PM*
Meeting point: Zam Bazaar police station

—
A small note. I have been talking to the Freemason’s society, to see if we, the photowalkers, can do a little walk inside the Freemason’s hall in Egmore. For a refreshing change from all the red tape at the government office, I got an in-principle approval from the Masons almost immediately, and am waiting for the final approval from the committee member in-charge of the premises. I am told I will get it for sure. So once I get the approval, we will most likely do a walk inside the Mason’s hall.
The Freemason’s have a 300 year old association with Madras. From what I know, Calcutta was the first city in India to get a Freemason’s lodge, but Madras’s Lodge of Perfect Unanimity was the first lodge to admit an Indian – Prince Umdat-Ul-Umrah to the order. Oh, by the way, the Lodge of Perfect Unanimity is today’s Director General of Police’s offices on the Marina. Yup, the white building was the Mason’s lodge. Today though, the Mason’s are in Ethiraj college.
Anyway, once I get the approval, a walk in the beautiful Mason’s hall is on the cards.

—
Update: Small note 2:
Kribs is organising a ‘Wikipedia takes Chennai event’ on the 16th of August. It starts at 9 Am on Sunday, so about the time we finish the Purasawalkam walk. If you guys have the energy left, why not take part in it as well? Details here.
—

• Update 2 Change in Walk #4 time.
  I, like the goofball I am, scheduled walk #4 at the same time as Chennai Heritage’s Vivekananda’s Madras walk. V. Sriram of Madras Musing’s conducting that and I’d already paid to join them. So, I am changing the time for the Market walk. It will now start at 3 PM in the evening, as opposed to the earlier 7 AM start. Please take note of the change.

The twentieth Chennai Photowalk and two more announcements

I know this is extremely short notice but this Sunday, the 19th July, is the 20th Chennai Photowalk. I’ve had a lot of things to catch up with, finish or otherwise deal with that I haven’t really planned a cool route or anything. Well, not a new one at least. the 5th Chennai Photowalk is a classic walk. Not just because I say so but because it was one of the first walks that saw 20+ people, a lot of fun and the first time on a photowalk I was flat on the ground in the middle of traffic.
So, here’s the plan.

On Sunday, at 7 AM, we begin the walk at Egmore station, walk down the road, meet Pantheon Road near the Albert Theatre junction, go past the Police Commissioner’s office, into the thick of Pantheon road, and end the walk at the Musuem and the Art Gallery (which is the Pantheon that gave its name to the road).
The route’s peppered with interesting buildings, great history and loads of photo-ops.
And yes, there are poor, homeless people living on the streets, but hey, you don’t have to photograph them. Not if you want to.
(There, sensitisation over)

Recap: Sunday, 19th July 2009 at 7:AM, Egmore Station.

The nineteenth Chennai PhotoWalk

Update: 10 AM on Saturday might be extremely hot. So, bowing to public pressure and incessant demand during the Trisulam walk, I’ve rescheduled the time for this Saturday’s walk. The new time is:

Saturday, 23rd May 2009, at 3:30 PM
—
Hello all. Two photowalks again this month.

The first one’s this Sunday – sorry for the short notice, but I’ve been busy. Over at the flickr group, quite a few have asked for a Trisulam hill PhotoWalk, so that’s what we are going to do. But, a small twist.

We will all assemble at Guindy Railway Station, Sunday 17th May 2009 at 7 AM. We wait for the first train (tickets in hand, of course) towards Tambaram. We board the train, alight at Trisulam station and walk up the hill to the Trisulanathar temple.

I hope to wrap up the walk in 4 hours, but it’s going to be a hot, hard, tiring walk up the hill, so carry lots of water with you.

—
The second walk is on the Saturday, 23rd May 2009. A route I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and Vatsan asked for ages ago. A walk down Pudupet’s Harris Road. We will begin the walk at Casino Theatre, just off Mount Road, and walk down Harris road to meet Pantheon Road. The distance is about 2 kms, but loads of photo-ops. Sundays, Pudupet is closed, hence the walk is on a Saturday morning, and a little late because they don’t open till 10.
—
So, here’s the byte sized recap.

Walk 1
Sunday 17th May 2009 – Guindy Railway Station – Trisulam Station and Trisulam hill, Trisulanathar temple – 7 AM

Walk 2
Saturday 22rd May 2009 – Mount Road/Casino Theatre – Pudupet Harris Road – Pantheon Road, Egmore – 9:30 AM

See you all there.

The eighteenth Chennai PhotoWalk

Firstly, much many apologies for missing merry March month’s Photowalk. Work, life, travel and new ventures kept interrupting and a total lack of sleep meant that, um, I couldn’t sleep and therefore wake up.
So, to make up for that, this month, April, will see two photowalks.

Walk #1.
What I call the Chennai Photowalk Classic
On the 19th of April 2009, at 6:30 AM, we all assemble at Mylapore’s Kapaleeswara Temple. Walk a bit in the back streets of Mylapore, and then board the MRTS line to Fort St. George. We then explore Fort St. George like it has never been explored before (in the month of April, that is). For those of you who’ve not been to the fort earlier (WHAT! HOW DARE THOU CALL YOURSELF A PHOTOWALKER?), there are a lot of high points to hit. The Fort Museum, Clive’s House, St. Mary’s Church, the Secretariat building (which one’s not allowed to photograph) and the many things there. Then one can just walk around the fort and soak in the atmosphere. Of which there’re many bushels.

Walk #2
Bowing to public pressure, I present the Chennai PhotoWalk in the The Chennai Central Jail.
This walk’s on the 26th April 2009, at 8 AM.

So there we go. Quick recap
Walk #1 – Mylapore to Fort St. George. 19th April 2009 at 6:30 AM
Walk #2 – Chennai Central Jain. 26th April 2009 at 8 AM

The seventeenth Chennai PhotoWalk

Update: Err…I went back and counted. Can’t believe I goofed up. More importantly, cannot truly believe we’ve already done 17 Photowalks in Madras. Woah!

Hello folks and volks and yolks.
It’s been a long wait, I know. But here’s the announcement you’ve all been waiting for. The 16th Chennai Photowalk will be held on the 28th of February, 2009 (A Saturday. We’re breaking our cardinal rule, but we hope you all come anyway.). We will walk one of Chennai’s oldest localities – Poonamallee High Road beginning at Dasaprakash Hotel and ending at the Rippon Building intersection.

The route promises loads of interesting street photo ops, including great architecture – The Dasaprakash is a beautiful art-deco, Wesley church and St. Andrew’s Kirk, loads of beautiful, crumbling old buildings and some hideous new ones. And then, at the intersection of Poonamallee High Road and Periamet is a rare sight in Madras – horse drawn tongas.

In all, I think this is a great route to walk and hope all you people come.
To recap: Saturday, 28th February 2009, 9 AM. Starting point: Dasaprakash Hotel, Poonamallee High Road.

The fifteenth Chennai Photowalk + Chennai Sangamam

Hello all,

Sorry for the silence all these days. What with work, and other commitments, I’ve just not had the bandwidth to keep you all updated on the photowalk plans this month. Before we get into that, permit me a little digression and a little rambling.

I just got back from the Chennai Sangamam Opening Night performance. It was fantastic!

For those who came in late to the show…Chennai Sangamam is an annual event (now in the 3rd year) that celebrates Tamil traditional art forms. It is held on the second week of January (to coincide with Pongal) and bring to Madras/Chennai some of the oldest rural and traditional music, dance and other performances.

This year is easily the biggest show, purely in terms of scale and ambition.

This January is loaded for those looking to get some fun. There’s Chennai Open tennis, there’s the annual Book Fair, there’s Chennai Sangamam, the final few kutcheris from December season, and then there’s the Tourism fair in Island grounds.

But, what with Madras Week in August and Chennai Sangamam in January, Madras has come in to its own in terms of events, but it is definitely not enough. We need more, and I for one am planning a few things that I hope comes through well. I was associated with both Madras Week 2008 and Chennai Sangamam 2009 in a minor way and, like a cat that’s tasted milk/blood, I cannot wait to get more.

Now, back to schedule. I know this is very short notice for all of you, but I hope you (at least all of you in Madras currently) can make it to the Sangamam opening show tomorrow at the Centenary Auditorium, Madras University tomorrow at 6:30 PM

Okay. As I mentioned in the earlier mail I plan to do one walk every day of the Sangamam, at each of the venues. What is more, there’s a photo contest as part of Sangamam

The full list is available here – if you click on the links (each venue is a link), you’ll be taken to a page with the schedule for that particular venue.

But, if you folks all bear with me, I’ll decide which venue to go to daily and send a mail via the FB group. Each night, if you guys check your mail, you’ll get the agenda for the next evening. That’ll let us cover most of the big events and I am the only one sweating over the logistics.

It will be short notice, but I hope you folks can make it. We all meet at 6:30 inside the Madras University Campus tomorrow?

P.S: Remember, there are 7 days and 17 venues this year. So that’s a lot of walking and taking photos.