Madras Matters

For 30 months now, I have been living more or less continuously in Chennai (formerly Madras). This is the first time I stayed outside Kerala for so long since my college days. People often ask me how I find the change. Well, not too bad.

First of all the rain gods have been kind. The weather has been quite tolerable, in fact pleasant I would say, except for a month or two in summer. Since we stay about hundred meters or so from the sea, there is always a lovely breeze. The problem though is that our area doesn’t have a proper drainage system. In certain parts of the otherwise well-maintained avenue, the rainwater forms pools that sometimes remain for a couple of days.

Almost everything is home-delivered except liquor. In fact, buying the potion is quite an adventure. There are two wine shops nearby. Unlike Kerala, there is no system of queuing here. In the jostling and wriggling, strong men get the bottles. The meek wait eternally. I tried a few times to buy drinks personally and gave up – not on the liquor, but getting involved in the melee. Now I depend on the driver for buying bottles.

Otherwise, one can get almost everything within a two-hundred meter radius; including ATMs (see ATM Service). What is amazing is that on the 300 meter long street with no high-rise buildings, there are three ironing booths and two tailors, all on the roadside. They pick up the clothes and deliver them back. They seem to be busy all the time.

The road slopes to the sea. An ‘L’ turn takes one to a broad, straight stretch that that has a dead-end. It is parallel to the beach and is a beautiful place to walk – not crowded, hardly any traffic. In fact children play football at the dead-end, and that is great. And, apart from walkers and joggers, one comes across several good quality breeds of dogs. It is sometimes like a Kennel Club parade.

Talking about clubs – that is one thing I miss in Chennai. Occasionally I do go to the Gymkhana or the Presidency. That’s no fun because I hardly know any one there. And I don’t have the knack of introducing myself and getting into a conversation. One’s own club and group of friends – there is nothing like it.

The area is quiet and trouble free. All houses have watchmen. Several of them are on the wrong side of sixty, possibly with impaired vision and hearing. The reason for hiring them, someone explained to me, is the theory that old men require less sleep. That’s fine but if a thief happens to land right in front, the watchman may not know what to do with him!

Ends.

Also see: No Red Sails in the Sunset

Dress Codes of Clubs

Yesterday an English language daily which has a fairly good circulation carried a double column front page report about a gentleman in dhoti being denied admission to an elite Chennai club. The newspaper devoted 2 columns x 20 cms space to this piece!

The facts as reported are: an ‘honorary advisor’ to a Government of India department was invited by an organization to a function it was holding at the club (name not mentioned in the report). The man turned up clad in a dhoti but was refused admission because it was in violation of the club’s dress code. He went to a shop, bought a pair of trousers, wore them and was allowed in.

Then comes the ballyhoo. The man writes to the Chief Minister. And he tells the press, “The behavior of these clubs is nothing but a reflection of their continued slavishness to our former Western masters”, and adds for good measure, “English language dictionaries say that the dhoti or veshti is formal attire”.

One can understand the man’s ego being hurt. Now, I was also an honorary advisor to the Government of India, on national disaster management policy, about nine years back. I too was once denied admission to an elite Chennai club, most probably the same one as in this case, for violation of dress code. I went there for lunch wearing a round neck T-shirt, and trousers of course. The offending piece here was the T-shirt. So, the ban is not only against the dhoti.

I know at least two reputed clubs in Kerala, which allow dhoti, but not folding it up. The point is that a club, unlike a restaurant or a town hall, is a private association of people and they the members, decide how it should be run. They set the rules and regulations.

To be fair to the newspaper, it also presents the view of a city lawyer that the clubs are entitled to prescribe a dress code. She said, “It would be difficult to challenge this in court.”

Ends.

Also see:

Some Clubs of India

Some Clubs of India

Last week I received a copy of the Platinum Jubilee Souvenir of the prestigious Lotus Club, Cochin. The Committee that brought it out deserves high compliments for the excellent production, which is not only about Lotus but also a good reference book on the history of Cochin.

Though a member of this club for decades, I didn’t know that W. Somerset Maugham was one among the several illustrious visitors to the club including the Maharajas of Cochin and Mysore, and Lord Linlithgow when he was the Viceroy of India.

Linlithgow actually played tennis at Lotus during a visit to Cochin during the early 1940s. Tennis always had a prominent place in the activities of this family club, which used to conduct an All India ranking tournament. By 1990s the interest in tennis waned, but it has been revived recently with the laying of a synthetic court. Last week I was happy to see a group of young children being coached by an expert.

Bridge is another favorite at Lotus. Prof. Robins Jacob, Honorary Secretary of the Kerala Bridge Association writes, “Lotus Club is credited with the unique distinction of hosting the oldest uninterruptedly conducted Duplicate Tournament in India, perhaps in the whole world.”

The souvenir contains an interesting article titled ‘The Club Culture in India’ by David T. Mookken who has the rare distinction of having been President of Cochin Club and Lotus Club. David traces the origin of clubs in India and the transition of the club culture from British times to post-Independence days.

The first club outside Britain was perhaps Calcutta Cricket and Football Club (1792). A year later Calcutta Racket Club was established. Cochin Club was formed in 1821. Some of the other old clubs in South India are Madras Club (1832), Bangalore Club (1868), Coimbatore Club (1873), Secunderabad Club (1878), Coonoor Club (1885), and Kodaikanal Club (1887).

These were known as ‘English Clubs’. No Indian was allowed entry to them. This exclusiveness led to the formation of the Lotus Club by Lady Gertrude Bristow. Her husband, Sir Robert was a representative of the British Government who was entrusted with the task of developing a modern port at Cochin, a job which he completed admirably. But the Bristows were denied admission to Cochin Club because Lady Gertrude was not English born!

The lady was not disheartened, though. With the cooperation of some prominent families of Cochin, she had a suitable piece of land assigned by the Maharaja of Cochin and started the Lotus Club! The Maharaja himself attended the first Club Night of Lotus on September 9, 1932 as Chief Guest.

Lady Gertrude Bristow was the Founder President of the Club, and remained in that position from 1931 to 1941.

Ends.

Some memories of WW II, Cochin and the 1940s.

Irish planter, punter, soldier, playboy