The gateway of south India Chennai formerly Madras is a 350-year-old city that evolved from the English settlement of Fort Saint George absorbing the neighboring villages and towns over the years. A fascinating blend of the past and the present the historical and the personal Chennai with its unique proximate location to three south Indian states is a crucible of the traditions and cultures of peninsular India with its variety of temples shrines forts and palaces and its traditional art and dance forms. While retaining a lot of its old-world charm it has also emerged as the nerve center for trade commerce and transportation in south India. The Unhurried City peppered with photographs and illustrations puts together stories articles and poems which celebrate the amalgam that is Chennai. Presented in this anthology are writers as diverse as Ashokamitran Arundhati Subramaniam Pudumaippithan Ramachandra Guha Timeri Murari A. R. Venkatachalapathy Janaki Venkataraman Theodore Baskaran V. ARasu Vijay Nambisan Gopikrishnan Salma Ilampirai Manushyaputhiran Gnanakoothan Dilip Kumar and S. Muthiah and the marvelous illustrator Manohar Devadoss. Their captivating stories detail some defining aspects of the city: the evolution of the New Black Town which today stands as the commercial heat of Chennai as George Town; the birth and development of cinema in India; the famous Marina skyline the Thousand Lights Mosque and other heritage buildings; the Ghana songs which rise from the slums; and the river Cooum The city they create is fascinating and enticing; threatening at times but also rew... See more
The gateway of south India Chennai formerly Madras is a 350-year-old city that evolved from the English settlement of Fort Saint George absorbing the neighboring villages and towns over the years. A fascinating blend of the past and the present the historical and the personal Chennai with its unique proximate location to three south Indian states is a crucible of the traditions and cultures of peninsular India with its variety of temples shrines forts and palaces and its traditional art and dance forms. While retaining a lot of its old-world charm it has also emerged as the nerve center for trade commerce and transportation in south India. The Unhurried City peppered with photographs and illustrations puts together stories articles and poems which celebrate the amalgam that is Chennai. Presented in this anthology are writers as diverse as Ashokamitran Arundhati Subramaniam Pudumaippithan Ramachandra Guha Timeri Murari A. R. Venkatachalapathy Janaki Venkataraman Theodore Baskaran V. ARasu Vijay Nambisan Gopikrishnan Salma Ilampirai Manushyaputhiran Gnanakoothan Dilip Kumar and S. Muthiah and the marvelous illustrator Manohar Devadoss. Their captivating stories detail some defining aspects of the city: the evolution of the New Black Town which today stands as the commercial heat of Chennai as George Town; the birth and development of cinema in India; the famous Marina skyline the Thousand Lights Mosque and other heritage buildings; the Ghana songs which rise from the slums; and the river Cooum The city they create is fascinating and enticing; threatening at times but also rewarding. Absorbing thought-provoking and rich in detail this anthology is evocative of the spirit of an exceptional city.