I seek your pardon for beginning this column on a rather stinking note. The public conveniences in the City of Chennai leave much to be desired. Even while we approach the public toilets, the foul smell repels us.  

I am happy the Madurai City Corporation is planning to tie up with the Reliance Mobile for operating 21 street corner toilets in busy junctions to prevent people attending to nature’s call in public places. The toilets would be free of charge to users and Reliance Mobile has agreed to take care of its maintenance. Hope our Chennai Mayor takes a cue from his Madurai counterpart.

We have buses exclusively for women. Now we have trains too. The Tambaram-Chennai Beach, Arakkonam-Chennai Beach and Chennai Beach-Velachery ladies special EMU trains were launched recently. Will we have ladies special aircrafts too?

Incidentally, while on the subject of electric trains, the Chennai Beach-Tambaram line, which started off with daily passengers of around 11,000 in 1932-33, is today handling 4.5 lakh passengers a day – a forty fold increase!

I am an admirer of strong-willed women. Cowardice has no place in a civilized society.  I personally know several very humble, courteous women, silently suffering the after- effects of wedlock.  Very few come forward to fight it out.

Of them is a 24-year-old woman of Chennai. She has moved the Family Court seeking to declare her marriage null and void or to dissolve the marriage on grounds of cruelty, and grant a permanent alimony of Rs.1 crore.

In her petition, she said she was married in May last year. Her husband and in-laws treated her cruelly, both physically and mentally. She said she had already filed a complaint with the police.

Our political leaders have 24x7 police/military protection. Some journalists, cricketers etc have also similar protection. The latest to seek protection are those belonging to the medical profession!  Doctors working at the Rajah Mirasudhar Government Hospital in Thanjavur went on a two-hour strike recently, demanding protection to them while on duty.

And what is the immediate provocation? A doctor was attacked by two attendants of a pregnant woman who was brought to the hospital.  One of them was locked up in a room by doctors of the hospital and later handed over to the police.

Another was absconding. They said police should arrest him and demanded a separate gate for doctors to enter the hospital. Be patient, my dear doctors!!

I do not know how many of you watched S Ve Sekhar’s interview on Kalaignar TV on Independence Day morning. As is to be expected, he was eulogizing the DMK and its leader Kalaignar.  I heard him narrate an incident. I will try to translate it for you.

“Pari Venkat, a Drama artiste went missing for a week after he left Tirunelveli for Chennai. His wife was naturally upset and she wanted me to trace him. I consulted my astrologer-friend Nellai Vasanathan. He said there was no possibility that Venkat could be alive and that most probably he lies buried underground somewhere. I contacted every police Station between Tirunelveli and Chennai. The Police Station at Mangalamedu, near Perambalur informed me that in a bus accident one person was killed and since he could not be identified, he was given a burial. He had a photo showing him with me (S Ve Sekhar). The Police Officer said that according to the rules, exhuming a body is not allowed by law. Then I contacted Smt Rajathi Ammal. She must have spoken to the CM and Shanmuganathan. Within an hour, the body was unearthed and that was a great solace to the bereaved family. Then we artists collected Rs Eighteen lakhs and donated it to Venkat’s two baby daughters.”

Three things are clear from this narration. One, our CM is a very nice leader. He is ever willing to help. Two, only if you can contact someone in CM’s family (read extra constitutional authority), you can get any thing done. Three, the rule of law doesn’t exist in our society.

Thank you Mr Sekhar. And, he didn’t have the courtesy to thank the party or its leader for making him an MLA! May his tribe increase…..

Several celebrations are lined up in connection with the Madras Week. I wish them all success.

I came to Chennai for the first time in 1954. I still remember my happy ride in the tram car; the parking lot where Arignar Anna’s statue in Anna Salai stands today: the Gemini Circle before the fly-over was built; the Gemini Studios….the list is long.  Inevitably I turn nostalgic.

I still remember going to Hotel Buhari, at the Marina,  inserting one Anna into the juke-box and listening to “Kannan ennum Mannan paerai solla solla…” Once I took Shobhana (Ravi) along with me as she wanted Ice-cream. The year 1962. She was three years old. Her mother, a great lady, D Janaki was my senior colleague in AIR.

The Chennai in my mind has no relevance to the Chennai of today. Perhaps, for every one of us, yesterday was better than today!