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Thursday, 19 December 2024

Madras City in 1960s - Sharada Devi Primary School, Mambalam Railway Station

The area around Mambalam Railway Station in Chennai (formerly known as Madras) was bustling with activity, featuring residential colonies, markets, hotels, temples, and schools. There was even a cinema hall close to my home, making it a convenient place to live. Residents had easy access to all their daily needs. The railway station was situated at the center of a 20-kilometer suburban railway line that connected Chennai Beach to Tambaram, allowing people to travel from one corner of the city to another in about an hour. We often purchased seasonal tickets, which were discounted passes issued for three or six months, perfect for regular commuters and students.

The well-known T. Nagar Bus Stand was conveniently located near both the station and my school, making it easy to access various parts of the city. Buses operated every half hour during that period, and seasonal ticket options were available for students and others. 

My Class Group Photo

I received my primary education at Sharada Devi School from grades 1 to 7, between the years 1956 and 1962. It was only a five-minute walk from my home to the school. The school featured one solid building at the front and thatched huts in the interior. Lower primary classes, from grades 1 to 4, were held in those thatched huts, which were constructed with low mud walls and roofs made of thatched leaves supported by bamboo poles. Classes for grades 5, 6, and 7 took place inside the solid building. The urinals were located at the backside enclosed by bamboo screen walls.

The above photo was taken in front of those thatched walls. I was in Class 3, sitting there to the extreme right in the middle row. 

I enjoyed the thatched structures, which provided a beautiful natural setting. The back of the school featured a large garden filled with various trees, running alongside a railway boundary wall. This made it easy to access the fruits hanging from the trees by climbing the boundary wall at points where the glass fencing was missing. (The garden was protected by placing glass pieces on top of the boundary walls.)

Our classrooms were spacious enough to accommodate 50 to 60 students. We sat on low benches with attached desks that featured drawers for storing our bags and lunchboxes. Each bench was 3 inches high and could seat four children. The arrangement consisted of two columns of benches and a total of eight rows. During teaching hours, we kept our textbooks and notebooks open on our desks. In our primary classes, we wrote with nib pens dipped in ink, while starting in fourth grade, we switched to using fountain pens.

I was promoted to 2nd Grade within six months. There was a competitive spirit among the four of us—two boys and two girls—who were all of equal ability. Typically, any two of us would share the 1st rank at any given time. We participated in debates and science exhibitions with equal enthusiasm. This continued until our 7th Grade. After that, we went our separate ways to different high schools and lost the opportunity to meet again.

I used to play games with my classmates, although not very often. We also had physical education classes and scouts training at school. During those years, I would play cricket and other games like gully danda and hide and seek with my neighbors in the evenings or on holidays.

Later, I attended the Ramakrishna Mission High School at Panagal Park in Thyagaraja Nagar, where I completed my SSLC (11th Grade). The school was about a mile away from my home, which I would either walk or cycle to.

My College education was done in Vivekananda College, Mylapore (Tiruvallikeni). I did PUC with Commerce, Economics, Maths and then BA with Philosophy, Psychology, Logic.

Saturday, 16 November 2024

Madras City Memories - West Mambalam in 1960s


I was born in Madras City, the Capital of Tamil Nadu.

I am a Telugu Brahmin (Vaishnava) who lived there until 1971, from childhood to College Graduation.

We used to live in a rented house in Kodandaramaswamy Koil Street. Our owner was also a Telugu Brahmin. There were two separate buildings within the walled compound. My residence was to the left side of the first building with one more portion to the right. It was an elevated floor as the area was a low-lying place prone to occasional floods. The entrance to our portions was a high platform with steps on the street. The backside has two more portions at ground level with access through a narrow lane by the side of our elevated portions. There was a small entrance gate to reach their portions from the street from our left side.

The owner's residence was in the other building to our left, which had elevated floors like ours. It was exactly two buildings with some path in between. They had rooms on the terrace also. Two families in one stretch and another two families in the other stretch. The main gate used to be that side with allowance for some parking on their Porch. It has some common ground for children to play both in the front and the backside of their residences.

The backsides of the buildings on our road had railway tracks separated by their compound walls in between them. It was the railways' boundary wall (not of the building owners). And, our toilets used to be adjacent to the wall. They were only partly covered by roofs to prevent direct sunlight or downpours from the skies. So, we had to bear the torture of flies while getting released. It was only during the late '60s that covered flushout-toilets emerged in our building.

Our building was located nearer to the end of the street. Three lanes towards the right side of the street provided access to another horizontal road passing behind the Kodandaramaswamy temple. The three lanes connected these streets from one end to the other end. And, both these streets had access to the railway track from both ends through other connecting roads that crossed railway gates leading to the East Mambalam side at one end and the Saidapet side at the other end. 

My elementary school was located at the railway gate that connected East Mambalam with West Mambalam. The Mambalam Railway Station was located at the edge of a small road in front of my school. So, we could approach the station either through the railway track or through the road in front of the school. It was a two-minute walk. My house from the school was a 6—to 7-minute walk via Kodandaramaswamy Temple.

There was a Ganesha Temple (PIllaiyar Koil) towards the left of our house and the Kodandaramaswamy Temple towards the right. We could approach the Kodandaramaswamy temple within 5 minutes from my house and Vinayaka Temple within 2, to 3 minutes. I used to visit the temples along with my siblings frequently to get the prasadam as well as spend some time roaming or playing in the temples.

The railway line always used to be busy with local (electric) trains passing through our backyard every 10 minutes. Other mainline trains also passed through the same tracks. There used to be a spare track that was interlinked with the main tracks for pausing trains to allow for the passage of the express trains without interruptions.

Just opposite the gate of our house owner's was a lane connecting another horizontal road. Both sides of the lane housed many labor-class people living in their thatched huts. The huts used to submerge in waters during heavy rains due to their low-level grounds. Their colony used to be noisy with fights, both verbal and physical.

Saturday, 28 September 2024

Short Stories - A Travel Horror and One More Scary Story

A Travel Horror

I was traveling in a vehicle. Probably a flying bus.
 
A few seconds before, I was still deciding about stepping into it. And so, wandering around it. Suddenly everything seems active with lots of noise. Somebody thrust me onto the bus shouting "Get in, get in'. I barely stepped into it when it started flying. 

All the vehicles around are moving with great speed. It seems everybody is banging.

"Hey you, Mister, keep to your left. Else, you will be crashed off".

I bent to my left within a scratch of a second. Otherwise, my left shoulder could have been ripped off.

"Hey, you, are you not seeing. Your right side is going to be crushed now".

A bus passed smashing my bus from the right and I escaped within a fraction of a second as I bent toward my left.

"Hey, you! Bend, bend, bend. Your head is going to be ripped off now."

I realized that some strange machine was flying over my vehicle's top banging it heavily. I bent down and saved myself by opening my eyes!!!




Another Scary Story

I was wandering with some people through some unhygienic locality in a strange place.

Suddenly, I found myself amid hills, valleys, and dark burnt furnaces. And, I realized that my co-travelers were all strangers.

Making my way through the narrow paths in their midst, I found myself alone and scared of my surroundings.
 
At one point, I find myself needing a path to proceed further. Someone told me to slide down a steep valley to reach my further path. It is deep below and very frightful. I can lose my grip and fall into it anytime. I get much trembling at the sight. Some person offers to help me.

And, then, I find myself sleeping on my bed.