Chennai is known as conservative and orthodox. Yet almost every modern Indian institution — from army to judiciary, medicine to engineering — traces its roots to Madras’s Fort St. George, which was built when Delhi had just become Mughal India’s capital and Kolkata and Mumbai weren’t even born. Bishwanath Ghosh, the author of Tamarind City, talks to Yogesh Vajpeyi.
What prompted Tamarind City?
Modern India began in Chennai; in Fort St. George to be precise. But how many outside Chennai have heard of it, even though they know all about Red Fort, and forts in Rajasthan? Fort St. George was built even before the Red Fort was completed — but how many people know this? Even I wasn’t aware of it, and many other startling historical facts, until I read Madras Rediscovered by S Muthiah. I realised it was time someone drew a portrait of India’s oldest modern city and documented its life in the present-day.
Does Chennai stand out over other cities in India? Why so?
Chennai is perhaps the only Indian city whose head is ruled by technology and heart by tradition. The marriage of the two Ts makes it unique.
You say Chennai is an ‘old lady… too modest to talk about herself’. Is it because of ignorance of a rich past or genuine humility?
I’d say it’s genuine humility. Simplicity is a quality of Chennai and its people that’s not only striking, but also endearing. People here don’t judge you by your clothes or car — they respect you for your talent. If you are a journalist and write good stories, they’ll respect you for your work and write letters to you, which isn’t the case in like, say, Delhi, where they’ll respect you because of your connections with powerful people.
What about its mix of religious and Dravidian legacies, conservatism and sex scandals?
Chennai is a city of contradictions, because every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Look at the two states dominated by Communists — West Bengal and Kerala — where you have many who don’t believe in gods but an equal number, if not more, who please the gods all the year. The same is for sex. The less you discuss it in public, the more you ogle at cleavages on magazine covers and TV screens.
Any memorable incident from your time doing research?
A poignant moment was when I visited an old-age home. Never in my life have I felt so depressed — to meet elderly men and women with nothing to look forward to. When you’re admitted to hospital, you can look forward to a cure, but in an old-age home, you are left to count your days even when healthy. These were men and women who as parents must have made their children study hard so that they could get jobs or admissions abroad. In fact, the apartment block I live in is a sort of old-age home. When I came to Chennai 11 years ago, it was bustling with young people. Today, all sons and daughters live in the US.
Chennai is changing. Will it retain its character?
Chennai will not change in a hundred years. It’s married to tradition, and divorce is unthinkable. If anything, it will take newer roots. You will soon have big Carnatic musicians performing in newer neighbourhoods like Sriperumbudur or Oragadam, in housing societies during the December music season.
