There were not many buses in those days in Chennai and even the buses that were plying were relatively smaller. The other alternatives available for the commuters were the hand-drawn-rickshaw or the horse-drawn-cart, popularly known as kai-rickshaw and jutka. There was a belief in those days - I am talking about 40 or 50 years back - that ghosts would follow anyone who travels by a rickshaw through Mount Road. Yes, I am talking about the present Anna Salai.

My friend used to describe how a ghost would look like. 'You know a ghost is not white in colour. It is jet black. It should be around fifty to sixty feet tall and its legs would be as red as burning coals.' He was travelling the Mount Road for years together in 'kai-rickshaw' followed by apparitions and died when he was sixty.

The ghost-stories were a favourite among people those days. I am not able to put my finger on the right reason. It may be due to the fact that the General Hospital was close by, with a large graveyard - used by Christians - in the vicinity. Or it may be due to those who were vexed with life and came to the Government Estate to commit suicide. There were quite many of them. And the Muneeswaran Temple as well as the Dharga present in the Mount Road. The Coovum river meandering through the road. The area would be very active during the day and would wear an eerie silence and be immersed in darkness in the night. There were about four-five theatres in the area. At least a hundred would walk their way home from the night-show. The area was so quite suited for ghosts and apparitions to haunt indeed.

The Dharga (now adjacent to the Wellington Estate in Anna Salai) was wearing a deserted look in those days - as were other Mosques and Dhargas in other areas. In the 1950s there was a jutka driver who was supposed to be good at black magic. He won't speak with you if you hired his jutka. He would drive the horse without a word. Just speak to him about sorcery, witchcraft or ghosts or the likes, and you would be showered with an unending stream of four-lettered verbiage. And many even believed that that 'four-lettered mantra' would ward off all evil. Poor man. He was unable to get even a square meal a day and even his horse went hungry because he could not buy grass for it. What else could he have given excepting that!

That jutka driver could be seen in the Mount Road Dharga often times. May be that was one of the reasons why the Dharga gained sudden popularity at one time.

Ashoka Mithran

( From Chennaionline Archives)

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

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