CHENNAI: 'Chronicler Extraordinaire of Madras' read a huge board in the hall at Welcome Hotel at Teynampet where people had gathered to pay tribute to city historian and writer S Muthiah, who passed away recently.
“I have worked with him very closely for over two decades and it won’t be a mistake to say that I have enjoyed every minute with him. At the Greater Chennai Corporation office, they would refer to him as Mr Madras Muthiah. The amount of time he spent on bringing out his magazine Madras Musings is enormous. He read a lot of publications and told everyone that if they had a story about Madras, they have to write about it. He did fight quite a battle when it came to saving several heritage buildings in the city. Much of the credit for the DGP office standing in Marina today should go to him,” said Muthiah’s friend and historian, V Sriram.
Muthiah was also proud of his Chettiar heritage and brought out several works explaining the life of the entire community to the world. Talking about it, executive chairman of the Murugappa group, MM Murugappan said, “Uncle Muthu has recorded the history of the family from beyond 200 years. He always advised that we derive knowledge from business history, and he authored the book The Chettiar Heritage, which is the most prized possession of our family.”
Among the people who attended the event were Consulate General of the United States, Chennai, Robert Burgess, Colours of Glory founder, Capt. DP Ramachandran, scientist-artist, Manohar Devadoss and Muthiah’s daughters Ranjani and Parvathi Muthiah.