CHENNAI: Chennai is a city that is known for hiding away little secrets of the past in corners and alleys. This is true of certain streets in the city, especially those named after the English colonisers, who lived in a time when Chennai was known as Madras. Contrary to popular beliefs, these men have worked closely with the locals to uplift them. The Chennai Corporation changed some of the street names, but some still remain intact paying a tribute of sorts to their contribution to the city.
Bishop Wallers ROAD
Bishop Wallers Road Avenue in Mylapore is a quaint residential area. Lush trees tower the little houses and small two-storey buildings, which throw a cool shade over the road. A CSI Church of the Good Shephard lies at one corner of the street and a Sundaram Motors assembly line at the other end. The West, South, North and East Avenues are quaint, tranquil neighbourhoods that are a mix of modern and traditional houses.
The Archbishop in the Diocese of Madras in the 1920s, Bishop Wallers was very concerned of the condition of women in the city, and led a big movement in Madras for women’s safety. Wallers oversaw attempts to rescue women from red light areas. Historian Sriram V comments that Wallers and his wife, Ireen Waller, who was a member of the Guild of Service, formed a ‘powerful couple’ working towards women’s rights.
Balfour Road
Balfour Road is a bustling, busy street in Kilpauk. Buses honk as they screech to a halt. The commercial buildings are interspersed with residential buildings. Sindoor Sunshine, a large, yellow apartment building, towers over the tarmac. A shopping complex, dosa store, clothing store and IndusInd Bank all line the street before it joins Purasawalkam High Road. Despite this image of bustling metropolitan activity, it is a little-known fact that Balfour Road was named after a Scottish surgeon, Edward Green Balfour.
Balfour, an environmentalist, believed in interacting closely with Indians for the mutual benefit of both parties. A supporter of women’s rights, Balfour helped translate one of the first books on midwifery, Outlines of Midwifery by Dr T Conquest, into Tamil, Telugu and Kannada with the help of a munshi. He worked to get women into the medical field, believing that European women would be able to interact with Indians easier. He also tried to introduce Indian languages into the medical education system but to little avail.
Sriram states that Balfour’s greatest contribution to Madras was in the founding of the coveted Government Museum in Egmore in the year 1850. He also started a zoological park in the city, now known as the Vandalur Zoo, which was opened in 1855 as just the Madras Zoo.
Ellis Road
Ellis Road off Mount Road is a hodge-podge of commercial buildings and restaurants. The crowded street has little shops that encroach on the road, with bikes and scooters parked before it. From the metro station at Wallajah Road-Anna Salai junction to the ICICI Bank at the end of the road, the street is bustling with activity at all times of the day.
RS Ellis joined the East India Company and became a part of the Madras Civil Services in 1844 and worked his way up to the position of Assistant Collector of Customs for Madras. However, he had a delicate constitution and had to take many sick leaves to England. During one such visit, Ellis met Florence Nightingale.
Nightingale had compiled her Indian Sanitary Report, which stated that Madras was susceptible to cholera due to its open drainage system. According to Sriram, she was obsessed by the fact that Madras did not have a closed drainage system, and she directed Ellis to be her right-hand man in implementing this. He drafted many proposals for sanitary arrangements, which were ultimately bogged down by bureaucracy, much to Nightingale’s displeasure. The city received its closed drainage system in the 1970s, after the then-Governor Lord Hobart passed away from cholera, much to Nightingale’s joy, but Ellis did not live to see the day.