Once a landmark - clock tower at Royapettah

When it was underway, their site claimed ‘chennai’s newest landmark !’ – can you guess what it was…. For long it provided great quality wind to the Chennai – the Express Estates which was virtual greenery with so many trees – it housed the office of Indian Express, Dinamani and group of publications…. In that place sprung a new mall ~ a destination for Chennai youth.. you can see people waiting outside, before the mall is even open. 

Modern day youngsters may not really understand many a things – one of that is the importance of watch ~ a wrist watch was a luxury till about 5 decades ago… only college goers were blessed with wrist watches ~ HMT ruled the roost… the most common Q that one to put to the other on the road was ‘may I know what the time is ?’ ~ now the Q is ‘where are you ?’ [everyone talking on mobile on street and perhaps mostly asking the other person as to where he / she is ?]

At a time when time was at a premium and not many possessed watches – there were those ubiquitous clock towers; yes clocktowers as landmarks – some of the famous clocks include the one at Central, at Presidency college, P. Orr & sons and many other bus stands……… Britishers built lot of things which were landmarks……….. there is yet another time-tested one connecting the oldest landmark with somewhat latest……… ‘the Royapettah Clock Tower and the Express Avenue Mall’.

Big Ben ~  is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London.  The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower, commonly called Big Ben, are among London's most iconic landmarks. Technically, Big Ben is the massive bell inside the clock tower, which weighs more than 13 tons (13,760 kg).  London is famous for its Big Ben; the clock's movement is famous for its reliability. The designers were the lawyer and amateur horologist Edmund Beckett Denison, and George Airy, the Astronomer Royal. Construction is reported to have started as early in 1853 but was  not complete until 1859.

The clock tower looks spectacular at night when the four clock faces are illuminated.  Each dial is 7 metres in diameter; the minute hands are 4.2 metres long and weigh about 100kg (including counterweights);  the numbers are approximately 60cm long; there are 312 pieces of glass in each clock dial.  The chimes of Big Ben were first broadcast by the BBC on 31 December 1923, a tradition that continues to this day.

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Royapettah is a centrally located in the city of Chennai.  It has the famous Govt hospital.  As you travel straight in Bharathiyar Salai [once Pycrofts Road] from Beach in the Presidency College / Marina Cricket ground intersection – at Woods road intersection, you still see the Royapetah clock tower, from where the road branches off as Whites Road ~ and nearer stands the once Express Estates; now the EA mall. 

By some account, the ruler’s [Raya’s] district [pettah or pettai] became Royapettah – not very convincing though ! ~ closer is the place of Nawab of Arcot called Amir Mahal.  In the next intersection, you have the Royappetah Govt hospital.  Closer to the clock tower stands Wesley Church.  This clock tower here must be a century old at least. 

the photos above, before the EA mall came

On the Whites Road, you have Hobarts Girls High School and you have the Principal Offices of 2 Insurance Companies – Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Co and on the other end near Mount Road, that of United India Insurance Co Ltd.

 at Central Railway station

 P. Orr & sons, Mount road

  the one at Presidency College, Kamarajar Salai

 at  University of Madras

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

PS : made quite some time back... lying in my drafts and seeing the light of the day now....

non delivery of Onion consignment ~ spiralling prices....

What is the value of ‘Allium cepa’…..

Though not a rule – in general, small articles of high value are more prone to thefts; common goods which are sought in market place are prone to thefts; those goods which have a grey market attract burglars.  Heavy material,  Bulk goods, low priced goods, goods with short expiry date, technology driven items which are used only specialists, special medicines and the like are not ‘theft-prone’…… Insurers with long experience  would vouch that losses do not follow any pattern and there are many surprises at times.

Goods in transit from one place to another are exposed to many risks – theft and non-delivery are one amongst them. The purpose of taking a Marine Insurance Policy is to cover the goods whilst they are moved from one to place to another.   The  coverage is governed by the clauses attached to the Policy and in India – it would be ‘Inland Transit (Rail/Road) clause’ when the transit is by road / rail and Institute Cargo Clauses [C/B/A] when moved by sea.

Besides the basic perils, there is ‘Theft, Pilferage and Non-delivery’ clause attached specifically to policies extending coverage. In legal parlance, Non-delivery, is failure to convey or transfer a legal instrument or goods as required by law or custom. The coverage offered under Marine Policy in respect of ‘non-delivery’  is primarily one providing indemnity when the consignment in its entirety is not delivered at destination by the Carrier to whom the goods were entrusted. BY the TPND clause, coverage is extended for shortage / short delivery too.  Of course losses should be established to have occurred and should be arising out of an insured peril. 

Some simplest of examples of ‘non delivery’ still not within the purview of coverage could be – seizure by Public authority, package jettisoned by the carrier [when the coverage is on restricted terms], misdelivery especially on production of documents, consignment taken to wrong destination by a carrier ……..and the like.

The cargo owner knows the value of their goods – it is not only the inherent value, the commercial value, or the Invoice value of the goods – also there is the potential profits that would be realized upon sale of goods at destination, the loss of market, market share, potential good will and other issues – hence generally, cargo owner would not like a loss to happen, even when they are fully protected by insurance. Still, you often come across instances of ‘high value cargo’ entrusted to literally unknown operators / carriers and often even basic check of vehicle / driver records are not carried out. There have been instances where the carrier or the lorry driver ran away with the high value cargo, thus causing a huge loss to the cargo owner.

The onion (Allium cepa) also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is used as a vegetable and is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. Its prices have been sky-rocketing causing concern for everyone including the politicians as this could impact their fortune when elections to some States are around the corner…….  Still none thought that unscrupulous robbers would add onion to the list of precious items.  Here is an interesting report from Daily Mail of 21.11.13

The Nashik police are on the trail of a truck driver who has vanished with 194 quintals of onions worth around Rs 10 lakh. The onions, according to the police, were stolen from Swami Samarth Enterprises. The firm's owner Anita Mahajan had purchased 194 quintals of onions from the market in Nashik. The onions were packed in 424 sacks and were to be sent to Uttar Pradesh.  Mahajan had booked a truck belonging to one Faisal Khan to transport the vegetables to Uttar Pradesh on November 11. Normally, it would take around 30 hours for a truck to reach Uttar Pradesh from Nashik. However, the onions didn't reach the intended destination even after four days.

not this truck though !!

Failing to locate the driver and the truck, Mahajan on Monday filed a complaint with the police. Police said the truck driver, identified as Sanjay, has been missing. Police suspect he has already sold the onions.  "He must not have entered Uttar Pradesh and could have sold them in Madhya Pradesh. We have formed three police teams to trace the driver," said a police officer. CB Holkar, a member of NAFED, said such incidents are known to occur whenever prices go through the roof. "We see one or two such instances during the years when prices of onion go up. Even several quintals of sugar had gone missing when the sugar prices went up in the past."  He added that in most such cases, the traders come to know about the robbery very late. They are also aware that on certain occasions, the truck could have broken down.

"When you don't hear from the driver of the truck and if the delivery to the intended destination is delayed by more than two days, you need to go to the police immediately," said Holkar. According to him, traders should check the registration and other documents of the transport company and should rely only on those who have been in the field for a long time. In October, a shop in Thane district was robbed of onions worth Rs.18,000.

Onions, Marine transit and …. a possible Marine claim…. Interesting !!

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

22^nd Nov. 2013

sad story of Olympic medalist .... and top earning Sportspersons...

Ever heard of Sita Sahu….. ? who worked in a road-side eatery…..

Sachin Tendulkar, the greatest batsman had a planned retirement and the Commercial kingdom ensured enough hype to make it a marketing summit …. Some players have been axed from the BCCI contracts ~ the emerging star Virat Kohli has become the fastest person to score 5000 runs in ODI (equalled Viv Richard’s feat in terms of matches – but much shorter in time) ~ and back home at Chennai, Vishwanathan Anand struggled making some tactical blunders…………

Sachin chose his moment and selected his venue too….. the emotional and big moment was when Sachin  Tendulkar returned to the ground after the lap of honour and bowed down to touch the 22-yard strip and prayed in a show of reverence. As Ganguly said, it was a message that whatever profession you pursue, you must respect that. You should not take it for granted if you want to make it big.  Away from the Cricketing field where he sure was a Don(ald Bradman) – Sachin was bigger in Commercial market too…….. of the many brands he endorsed - Adidas, Coca Cola, Future Group, Toshiba, Aviva India, and SAR Group - said they were looking for longer association with him after retirement. He has lost some like Canon, which chose not to re-up when their deal expired last year, seeing the twilight of his career.  Still he is worth many crores and reportedly his $1.2 million-per-year contract with Coca-Cola is worth more than most IPL players' entire salaries. Dhoni and now Virat Kohli are busy signing many more contracts.

This year when Forbes released its list of highest earning athletes, it was 37-year-old Tiger Woods with  $78.1 million being No. 1, followed by Tennis star Roger Federer at $71.5 million. Sachin Tendulkar was 51. Interestingly there were only three women in the top 100,  led by Tennis ace Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, and  China’s Li. The great Indian icon Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was far behind Tiger Woods  with earnings of $31.5 million and was at 16^th place. .   Last year it was boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. nicknamed “Money” who was no. 1 ~ and he fought only twice in the previous 12 months spending less than one hour in the ring !!! So athletes earn more … and get richer more by endorsements !!!!!

Most of us followed the London Olympics in 2012.  More than 10,000 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated. A total of 85 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) won medals, 54 of those countries winning at least one gold medal. The United States finished at the top of the table winning 46 gold medals and winning 104 medals overall. China finished second with 38 gold medals and 88 medals overall;   and hosts  Great Britain came in third place winning 29 gold medals and 65 medals overall.   

India had sent a very large contingent of 83 athletes, 60 men and 23 women, who competed in 13 sports. Men's field hockey was the only team-based sport in which India had its representation ~ and London proved lucky too…. being India's most successful Olympics in terms of total medal tally, having won a total of 6 medals (2 silver and 4 bronze).  STOP……

There was another sporting event ……the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games was a sporting event held in June – July 2011 at Athens, Greece. "Over 7,500" athletes, from 185 countries, competed in a total of twenty-two sports.  The Special Olympics World Games are an international sporting competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics World Games take place every two years.

Sita Sahu, a 15 year old made India proud by winning a bronze medal each in the 200 and 1600 meter race in 2011 Athens Special Olympics. There were two Cinderella moments in Sita's life. First she accompanied seven other kids to the CM  Shivraj Singh Chauhan's residence for tea with the chief minister. Less than a month later, came the crowning glory when she returned home on July 6, 2011 from Athens with two bronze medals -in 200 metres and 1,600 metres- from the special Games.

In April this year, she was in news for wrong reasons ….. she was struggling to make ends meet and was selling `gol gappas ’ in the streets.  Yes, sad enough, she was working in a roadside eatery in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.  Reports suggested that this winner of 2 medals was in dire straits.  Sita's mother was quoted as saying that they were very poor and her husband is also not keeping well. "So we have been to forced to sell the chaat and other eatables.  It was the sad news official neglect  stopping the 15-year-old athlete's promising career in tracks. Usha Sahu, Sita's trainer and teacher from Rewa,  was sad too to see her protege's potential going waste.

The silver lining was that the Social justice minister said neither the girl nor her parents ever met him but he came to know of her plight from the media reports.   Then came the news of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan  sanctioning  Rs one lakh to Seeta Sahu of Rewa.  The State Govt acted swiftly with Chouhan announcing financial assistance. Congress general secretary, Digvijay Singh was swift enough to criticize the Govt and spoke of assurance from the centre.  

Intellectual disability, also known as general learning disability, (previously known as mental retardation), is a generalized disorder characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors that appears before adulthood.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

21^st Nov. 2013

Bronze statue of Karikala Chozha at Kallanai (Grand Anicut)

Of the Movendars, the Chozhas have left a lasting legacy … the heartland of the Chola dynasty was the fertile Kavery valley… and at times their kingdom encompassed the entire South India and far off places too. According to tradition, the Chola country comprised the land between two streams of Vellaru and included the modern day Trichy, Thanjavur, Pudukottai and more.  The holy river Kaveri and its Coleroon [kollidam]  dominated the landscape of rich delta of paddy fields interspersed with coconut, mango and other fruit trees.

The glory of river Kaveri formed an inexhaustible theme of early Tamil poetry and literature.  Common  names among Chola kings include Valavan and Sembiyan.  Cholas adopted Tiger as their crest and it was figured on their banner too. Some of the early day Chozha kings are mentioned in Sangam literature ~ among them most famous are : Karikala Chozhan and Kochchenganan ~ as also the town of Puhar or Kaveri Poompattinam.

Karikala Cholan was the son of Ilanchet Senni ~ the name Karikala would translate to ‘the man with charred leg’ – perpetuated in the memory of a fire accident in the early years of Prince’s life. We read that Karikala was deprived of his birth-right to rule and was confined in prison – the plucky manner of his escape and establishing to power is a favourite theme of many poets.  The battle at Venni – a village nearer Thanjavur provided the turning point in Karikala’s career.  Pattinappalai describes the destruction carried by forces of Karikala.  From the literature, it is observed that Karikala was known for his valour, faith in Vedic religion and the care for his subjects.

The Chola kingdom mingled with the river Kaveri and the raising of the banks by Karikala are mentioned by the Melapadu plates of Punyakumara.  Karikala Chola is famous for the construction of ‘the Grand Anicut’ (Kallanai).  . In January this year, Ms. Jayalalithaa, while inaugurating a memorial for Colonel John Pennycuick, the British engineer who built the century-old Mullaperiyar Dam, said a similar memorial would be created for the ancient Tamil king near the Grand Anicut.

~ now there are reports that a  14-ft statue of the king on his elephant is ready for installation. The Hindu reports that the bronze statue weighs between two and three tonnes. The image for the memorial was provided by the State government, and created by Chennai-based sculptor Kishore Nagappa “The bronze statue depicts the king astride an elephant and pointing to the kallanai. The height of the elephant is 8 ft and the king sitting on it adds another 6 ft,” said Mr. Nagappa, whose father Jayaram Nagappa created the statues of Veerama Munivar and former Chief Minister Kamaraj on the Marina, and Swami Vivekananda at Vivekananda Illam. Mr. Nagappa used ‘sandwich moulding,’ a process that is normally employed to create larger-than-life statues. “While bronze images of Gods are solid pieces, statues are made with hollow insides. Handling and putting up a solid 14-ft statue will be a Himalayan task,” he said. 

Kallanai (kall –stone & anai-bund) also known as the The Grand Anicut, is an ancient dam built on the Kaveri River, located about 20 km from Tiruchirapalli. It was built by the Chola king Karikala Cholaaround the 2nd Century AD and is considered one of the oldest water-diversion or water-regulator structures in the world, which is still in use.  Sweeping past the historic rock of Tiruchirapalli, it breaks into two channels at the island of Srirangam, which enclose between them the delta of Thanjavur (Tanjore), the garden of Tamil Nadu. The northern channel is called the Kollidam (Kolidam); the other preserves the name of Kaveri, and empties into the Bay of Bengal at Poompuhar. 

The purpose of the Kallanai was to divert the waters of the Kaveri across the fertile delta region for irrigation via canals. The dam splits the river Kaveri into 4 streams known as Kollidam Aru, Kaviri, Vennaru and Puthu Aru. It is constructed from unhewn stone spanning the Kaviri and is 329 m (1,079 ft) long, 20 m (66 ft) wide and 5.4 m (18 ft) high.  The area irrigated by the ancient irrigation network is about 69,000 acres (28,000 ha).

the one there right now (above taken in 2008) & the bronze statue...

With this statue, the wish of the delta farmers of Tamil Nadu for honouring King Karikala Chozhan is fulfilled. [bronze statue photo courtesy : the Hindu]

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

21^st Nov. 2013.