Fierce, feisty and fearless — 92-year-old Kamakshi Subramaniyan, fondly called Kamakshi paati, is a superhero without a cape. A die-hard optimist, no threat deters her from cleaning up the city’s civic mess, getting corrupt officials transferred, saving the local waterbodies and restoring the historical Schmidt Memorial at Elliot’s beach
CHENNAI: I have always been a fighter, even for small things. For instance, a few years ago, Aavin was charging four annas more than the MRP for the milk sachets. When I asked the shopkeeper, he did not care to give an answer. So, I took the bill and registered a complaint and the amount was eventually reduced. People were asking me why I was making a fuss for just four annas, I told them I will give Rs 10 to the shopkeeper if I wish to, but for milk, I won’t even pay an anna extra. I believe we must all demand for what is rightfully ours.
I was born in Thanjavur and studied in Bengaluru till class 12. My husband and I lived in New Delhi for 30 years. He was the deputy secretary at the Secretariat and our bungalow was inside the Rashtrapati Bhavan. While I enjoyed the sceneries and breeze, the best part of the day used to be listening to my husband’s workplace stories. In three decades, I understood how the bureaucracy works.
I know how the government works, who to talk to for which issue and where there is scope for them to loot money. For example, while laying the road, the tar must be laid 2 ft X 2 ft. Instead, the government does it 4 ft X 4 ft to save time. They fill the whole road and leave no space on sides for percolation because the more they fill, the more the money. I closely monitored the work on Besant Nagar Fourth Avenue every day. It has been 12 years and even during tsunami, water did not stagnate. The road still looks new.
My first big fight in Chennai was in 1982 when I had just come here. There was no Rajaji Bhavan then, it was an open space and the only lung space for Besant Nagar area. The government then wanted to start the construction of the Bhavan. A few others and I went to every house, took signatures, held meetings, shouted slogans and finally went to the court. So, every day from morning to night, I was only involved in this work. Though we lost the case, there was one achievement. Instead of five storeys, they built only two storeys. With each win, my confidence kept growing. When there is a civic issue, follow-up is most important. You must keep on demanding till they get tired and give you what you want. In 1999, I fought a battle for eight years. There was no compound wall outside Olcott Memorial and every day people used to come, cut trees from the enormous green cover and leave. So, my first job was to shoo away anyone who came to cut trees. Every day I used to sit by my window and do this, and also make calls to the Corporation to build a wall. Six months later, the wall was built, but there was a large space along the right side of Besant Nagar Fourth Avenue filled with weeds and poisonous reptiles.
I called the Corporation requesting them to plant trees here. After 100 calls and numerous excuses by the civic body, one fine day workmen randomly planted a few trees without clearing the bushes. I was angry. Half of the work in the city is done for the sake of it. So, I went to the Commissioner’s office and said that I am not up for such shoddy job. From 1999 to 2007, I called the civic body every day to convince them to plant saplings. Finally, when the day arrived, the workmen did it with so much enthusiasm. They cleared the weeds and asked me for suggestions.
Then came the issue of water. Who would water the plants? I asked the residents if each one of them could give a small bucket of water per day. But, they refused. By that time I had made friends in the Corporation. They worked out a solution within days and started using recycled greywater to water the plants. A person called Ekambaran used to come on a cycle with two buckets of water every day and tend to the plants. I felicitated him on my 90th birthday in 2017.
After all the work, a senior Corporation official said, ‘Madam, you always refer to the road as my park, but you must understand it is Corporation’s’. I replied, ‘They are my children, I gave birth to them and I brought them up’.
The work at Schmidt Memorial was similar — continuous calls to different departments and running from pillar to post every day. I even had to ask the government for food and accommodation for the masons. I believe, to solve an issue, you do not need a group. You alone are enough. Supporters are, of course, helpful.
A few years back, there was an executive engineer who was corrupt. Whenever, he was transferred, somehow he would come back within ten days. I went to his senior official and told he has to be transferred. I used to sit outside the official’s office from morning to evening, stop him whenever he got out and asked him to remove. Finally after a month, he was removed. From then on, the recurring joke among revenue officials and others was, ‘Do your work properly or Kamakshi paati might transfer you’. Such is the power of the public. I was obviously threatened by a lot of people whenever I tried to stop the government from looting money. Once, some political party members broke the windshield of my friend’s car, pelted stones at my home and threatened to kill me if I didn’t stay in my limits. Within an hour, I complained to the police and headed to the political party member’s office alone and told him he can do whatever he wants now. Till date, they have been respectful. As long as you are right, the law is there to protect you.
I want students to volunteer for civic activities, like beach clean-up. If we can instil a sense of social responsibility in the younger generation, the future of Chennai will be great.