My sister was residing in Patel Street. It is a 50-year-old story now. The steeple of the Perambur Lurdhu Mary church could be seen right from the railway station in those days. Tall concrete structures dot the skyline nowadays and one has to take special pains to locate it in the vast concrete jungle.

The Madhavaram High road where Lurdhu Mary church is located has become a commercial stretch now, full of shops. But the shops are all petty and medium in size. Peramburians still prefer to go to Purasavakkam whenever they have to purchase white goods or those items that cost a little more. Luckily (or unluckily?) there are not many multistoreyed buildings or apartment houses in Perambur. Of course the flat system is widely prevalent. Writer Indra Parthasarathy had once told me that he owns a flat in Perambur.

As we saw earlier, the Christian population in Perambur is a little than in other places. There is no denying the fact that deeply religious people belonging to different religions reside in Perambur. Great saints like Ramalinga Swamigal, Suraikkai Siddhar, Subbiah who was an ardent pursuer of yoga, have strode the streets of Perambur. People say Suraikkai Siddhar had a long tuft and a flowing beard. His countenance resembled a ball made of hair. Two sharp eyes shone like beacons through the ball of hair. It was believed that a mere look of the Siddhar brought immense benefit to the person who was lucky enough to be seen thus.

Almost all the Siddhas were poorly clad and appeared no better than a mendicant. Sometimes they preferred to look like lunatics. But they never cursed their devotees. It was only the evil forces behind their devotees that they cursed, had they cursed at all.

Ashoka Mithran

Retro Chennai from Asoka Mithran looks back at Chennai, in fact the Madras as it was known and existed. The column traces the city's lifescape at various points of time.