A sexagenarian looking back at the days of his youth spent in Madras, the present day Chennai. My earliest memories includes watching the ball dance performed by the English (the whites - I don't know there nationalities) at a Hall, the interiors of which could be seen from outside through the tall and broad glass panes in the evenings at the entrance to the Armenian street (now carelessly called அரண்மனைக் காரத் தெரு). My grandfather showed me the scenes. I must have been five years old at that time. Three of four years after India became independent still there could be seen on the streets of Broadway, Esplanade and Mount Road, foreigners still moving around in their European dress. We could hear rick-shaw wallahs speaking a kind of English which was known as Butler English.
George Town -- that is the area covering the Broadway, Mannady, Kotthawal Chavady--- had the glamorous business area called China Bazaar (NSC Bose Road). Chinese were occupying many houses there, many of them practising dentistry where all kinds of fancy items and trinket could be bought. Esplanade as the term means was a large open area where people stroll around upto the Evening Bazaar.
The vehicular traffic was limited to a few cars, tramcar worming its way on the rails, and hand-drawn richshaws and Bullock carts. To cross the road from one side to another we used to stand, watch left and right before crossing, because we had been taught to; stictly speaking there was no need to. Traffic was so sparse.
There used to be plenty of trees alongside of the roads, as in the High Court premises today. There were even small trees in the middle of the road, after the removal of the tramways, on Mount Road in additon to the huge trees that provided shade on the platforms.
Madras was truly a cosmopolitan city in those days. Proof of it is the existence and establishement of streets till today named after the Portugese, French, Chinese, Patthans from Afganistan, Khabul etc.
It was a city of theatre halls, cinemas, circus shows, a zoo located behind the Rippon Building and the Moore Market, near the central station. Clusters of brick buildings were separated by large open spaces and patches of greenery and woods.
There used to be boats moving on the Buckingham canals carrying loads of woods and other marchandise. Madras was a wonderful place to move about and live in. We will continue the tour later.
