Kids! Work with French Artists!

Hey kids, we have two surprise visitors.

Two artists from France who are here as part of the Bonjour India Fest.

Antonio and Jose-Maria specialise in creating art in public spaces.

They use photos, paper, artworks and the written word in various forms to create works on public walls. And they have done this in many places outside Paris.

The two, who are now working with the College of Fine Arts, will also work on space around the ther at Sri Kapali Temple.

The action starts at 4 pm on Jan 23, Sat. if you like to draw/paint land up with pads and pencils and paint brushes and create a work of art that will go up on 2 walls on jan 24 evening.

You don't have to register but your creative designs must be local, Indian, traditional.

See you at the 'ther' corner on Sat!

This event has been made possible by the Alliance Francaise team in Chennai led by Ms Jean Marie.

Cycle Rickshaw Heritage Tour; Last Call

On Jan 24, Sunday. The Cycle Rickshaw Tour from Luz Church to Sri Kapali Temple is on.

We have space for a few couples.

Only 15 can be accommodated.

It is free and so we don't want those who register to back out even at the last minute ( you must be considerate to volunteers and the rickshawmen who are offering these services).

Register at - mylaporefestival@yahoo.com now. We will ack your reservation.

The other walking tour on the same day ( Jan 24, 7.30 am) is of Sri Kapali Temple. Pradeep Chakravarthy will run it. Assemble at the 16 pillar mantap. No advance regn for this.

Videos On YouTube

Two young men are covering the Fest closely.

Navin loves to take pictures, in black and white.

Vignesh works on his videocam.

The two covered the Fest's pre-events and here is their first co-production.

Check the link at -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcXi2kzICV8

You too can post pictures and videos wherever you wish to but do send us the links and we will post them here!

Calling School Students to Video Report

Here is an opportunity for senior school students to report the Fest on video.

This is the way it happens.

It is open on Jan 23 and 24, when the Fest buzzes with a dozen plus events.

You stop by at the INFO Booth next to the 'ther', opposite Rasi and register and tell us what you wish to cover/ have covered. The Art Street or Classical Dance or the Kolam Contest or the Food Street or the nadaswaram.

Go for the event, make small notes and come back to the booth at 8 p.m. Our videographer will be there and will open the camera for you for 45 secs for you to read your report!

This opportunity is open every day to 10 kids (you can report in Thamizh or in English).

The video will be posted on YouTube

Do some homework and come prepared!

Four Evenings of Cool Talks

TALKS

Jan 21 - ' Classical Dance Legacies of Mylapore' by S. Janaki

Jan 22 - '`Sculptures and Inscriptions of Mylapore Temples' - by Dr. Chithra Madhavan

Jan 23 - ' Papanasam Sivan and M K Thyagaraja Bhagvathar' - by D. V. Balakrishnan.

Jan 24 - ' Palathope - Lawyers' Enclave' - by Shobana Ramkumar

Each talk will be for 15/20 mins and will be illustrated with slides / photos / videos. This will be followed interaction for 20 mins.

Venue - Lady Sivaswamy Ayyar Girls School, Prayer Hall.

Open to all.

Pre Events Contests off to a Nice Start!

About 30 teams in the Discover Mylapore Contest and about 50 kids in the Kolam and Tee Design Contest made for a nice warm up to the Fest on Sunday.

The winners will be intimated in 10 days and they will receive their prizes at the Mylapore Quiz event on jan 24, 5 pm ish.

Vignesh is shooting the events and promises to have small videos up on YouTube. Look out for links!

Wanted: Community Media Volunteers

Volunteers make a Fest like ours.

We have 25 of them meeting at the Park on Sunday at about 8.15 a.m. (Jan 10).

SF called - w0ndering if the rain could dampen us. It would be fun cycling in the rain to discover Mylapore. (Revathi, the Fest Co Ordinator has promised great coffee. She is also co- ordinating the volunteers).

How will the kids draw and paint for the contests?

O! Under the canopy of tarpaulin and green leaves!

We have a need of the hour - to get a small band of people who can shoot pictures and post them on Flicker daily, create 2 minute videos and post on YouTube, stick mikes into enthusiastic visitors and record the comments . . .

Vignesh from Ashok Nagar promises to take his video cam around. The first volunteer. His friend has plans to do a photo-docu. Navin?!

Wonder if the smart VisComm Mylaporeans can band up.

Buzz us at 98405 44629. The first assignment is on Jan 10, 6.47 am.

Four evenings of Classical Dance

This is the schedule for the four days of classical dance recitals held inside Sri Kapali Temple.

Jan. 21 - Students of Kanagasabai School of Fine Arts, disciples of Sasirekha Raammohan

Jan. 22 - Students of R. S. Bharatha Natyalaya, disciples of Parvathy Mohan

Jan. 23 - Students of Bharatha Kalalayam, disciples of Hemalatha Ramachandran

Jan. 24 - Students of Kaladarshana, disciples of Jayanthi Subramaniam

Dancing in the temple precincts is unique and special. More so at this temple where the flow of devotees never stops and many stop by to enjoy the performances.

This year, the troupes are also from outside Mylapore which is good for the Fest.

MYLAPORE QUIZ 3; go for it!

(This is a teaser to prepare you for the Big One on jan 24 afternoon)

Three winners get T-shirts.
Mail answers to - mylaporefestival@yahoo.com.
Deadline - Jan 10, 9 p.m.

QUESTIONS
1. Two legendary Mylaporean restaurants exist today. One is Karpagambal Mess. Name the other.
2. What is an odd feature of the gopurams of Sri Kapali Temple?
3. Where would you find St. Rita's Church?
4. Name the famed artist-actor-classical musician who lives on Nadu Street?
5. What is 'Rain Tree'? A store, a club or a hotel in the neighbourhood?

Suggest Great Heritage Houses please

For the first time, the Festival organizers are to acknowledge the people who have maintained well houses which are over 50/75 years and sport a vintage architecture.

A short list of houses in the areas of Sri Kapali Temple, Chitrakulam zone, Nadu Street zone and North Mada - Kutchery Road is being drawn out.

Those families who own houses that deserve to be recognized can mail a short note on their names and addresses ( we prefer owners of houses to correspond) and a few lines on the age and special features of the house.
The organizers plan to honour the best with plaques during the Fest.

Send us your suggestions - mylaporefestival@yahoo.com

Pre Events Contests Info - on Jan 10

Next weekend, on January 10, Sunday your family is invited to three pre-events that set the tone for this year's fest.

A Discover Mylapore Contest, a Create a Kolam Contest and a Colour a T-shirt Design Contest.

While the first is open to adults and teens, the latter two are specifically for school children.

Later that day, the Open House will provide space and time for participants of the Kolam, Pallankuzhi and Dayakattam events to chat with the resource people and clarify doubts and make enquiries. (at P S School hall, 4 pm, for an hour)

The Discover Mylapore Contest should generate a great amount of excitement and steam as it did last year when 51 teams scurried around the neighbourhood with clue sheets.

At 7 a.m. at Nageswara Rao Park in Luz, there is a briefing session. Clue sheets will be given to teams (3 members). The clue sheets have two functions. First, it leads to various popular and less known destinations. Once you get there, the section also has a question and the answer of it can be got by looking around that very place.

So if the clue takes you to, say the Anjaneya Temple on Luz Church Road and that place is the right one, you look for the answer to a query related to the place. Perhaps you need to get the year in which this temple was built and jot it down.

There are 15 destinations, some easy some tough and the organizers do not want teams to use cars to zip around.

Teams get two hours to crack this contest. Registration is not required.

The aim of the event is to get Mylaporeans to know more about their local landmarks and people.

The Create a Kolam Contest and a Colour a T-shirt Design Contest will start at 8 am at the same park. Open to kids in Classes 6 to 12. 45mins. Which means you cant take part in both - so decide. Designs on chart board will be given to you - you need to bring art materials please.

Prizes will be awarded at the Mylapore Quiz Contest finale - Jan 24 afternoon at Lady Sivaswamy School hall.

Top Events at Main Stage

Here are the BIG EVENTS of the Fest. They are free, open to all and seating on first come first basis. Do invite your relatives and friends to attend.

Jan 21, 2010 - Thursday

Janani Jagat Karini - Dance Drama by 50-plus disciples of Sheela Unnikrishnan (Sri Devi Nrithyalaya) - In front of 16 Pillar Mandapam - starts 7.45pm

Jan 22, 2010 - Friday

- Audio - Video stage show on M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar - presented by Vintage Heritage - In front of 16 Pillar Mandapam - starts 7.45pm

- Theru Koothu by P. Renukambal Kattai Koothu Nataka Manram, Siruvanjipatti. Episodes: Arjunan Vilvalaippu, Draupadi Thirukkalyanam, Panjali Thuhil - In front of 16 Pillar Mandapam - starts 8.30pm

Jan 23, 2010. Saturday

- 'Vazhi Nadaichindu - The Ballad of Arubathumoovar' presented by dancers Gayathri Balagurunathan and P. T. Narendran - In front of 16 Pillar Mandapam - starts 7 .30pm

- Theru Koothu by P. Renukambal Kattai Koothu Nataka Manram, Siruvanjipatti. Episodes: Krishnan Thuthu, Karna Moksham, Padinettam Por & Darumar Pattabishekam - In front of 16 Pillar Mandapam - starts 8.45pm

Jan 24, 2010 Sunday

- Tamil Play - Vittilgal : Directed by Dev Anand - In front of 16 Pillar Mandapam - starts 6.30pm

- C. A. Rajah's Pranavam Orchestra - 'Mayakkum Malai Pozhuthu' - Vintage Film Music Concert - In front of 16 Pillar Mandapam - 7.15pm to 9.30 p.m.

Srivatsan's Take on the 1st PhotoWalk

The photowalkers assembled near the 16 pillared mandapam of Kapali kovil on Sunday morning (Dec.13).

By the time I arrived, I was shocked by the turnout - over 60 people wielding cameras were there. They had taken over the entire space, much to the amusement of those all around us.

The entire group, which was too big to visit all the houses at once, was split into three.

The first group visited Ramans house on Sannadhi Theru opposite Rasi, while a second group visited Nagaraj's house on Pichupillai Street and a third group visited Nataraj's house on East Mada Street.

Nagaraj house amazed the photographers with exquisite carvings on wooden lintels and its courtyard. Nataraj's house had carved metal grill staircase which was a mixture of wood and plaster.

After visiting these two houses, the groups one by one visited Ravi's house and finally visited the wonderful Kannambal's house.

The latter house was the arguably a photographers delight with its lighting and shadows. The house also had a huge open terrace and a open courtyard which was a photographers delight. At the end of the walk, most walkers were waiting for next week to visit another set of houses.

These street houses are truly a remarkable piece of heritage in Mylapore, which sadly is now vanishing.

Fest Pre-Events

There will be a few Pre-Events in early January.

For kids - creating the best kolam they can imagine on a sheet which has dots that will be given to them on the spot at Nageswara Rao Park, Luz.

Another event for senior school students is to Colour a Design meant for a T-shirt. We give you the outline on paper on the spot ( again at the park) and you colour it up. Or even add a few strokes too. Hopefully, the best design will be used on a Tee

The third event will be the Mylapore Treasure Hunt - open to all and for teams. A clue sheet is given to you on the spot and you use the clues to reach each destination and look for answers to the queries we have about these places.

Since the Hunt takes you to the lanes of the area we suggest you should keep your car at home. We can't keep an eye on all the teams so we will have to allow cycles / bikes and light-weight gliders!

There are prizes for the winners in all these events. They will be given at the Mylapore Quiz event on Jan 24 afternoon

More info here in a week!

PhotoWalk 2: ideas please

Please get this word around - share with us the addresses and contacts of some great houses that we should cover in the 2nd Mylapore PhotoWalk.

Street houses, Madras terrace ones, bungalows . . . the area to cover - Kutchery Road, Bazaar Road and Mundakakanni Amman Temple.

This walk is on Dec 20 morning.

So if you know of relatives you never visited, your classmate's uncle's house or a place you adored when you walked by earlier this year, tell us please.

Mylapore Quiz 2; go for it!

Here we go with Quiz 2 ( in preparation for the Mylapore Quiz - Jan 24, 2010 afternoon)

All correct stand to win - 3 T shirts ( lots drawn if more)

Deadline - Dec.17, 9 p.m. E-mail answers to - mylaporesfestival@yahoo.com

1. Who is the MLA of the area that also covers most parts of Mylapore?

2. What do 'R' and 'R' in R. R. Sabha stand for?

3. What is the link between Chennai Super Kings and Mylapore Club?

4. Name the Deputy Commissioner of Police for Mylapore zone?

5. What does 'Luz' mean?

Quiz 1 Answers!

Here are the answers to Quiz 1.

1. WHERE WOULD YOU FIND THE BUST OF

K. M. MUNSHI?

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

2. BRODIES ROAD WAS RENAMED

RECENTLY. WHAT IS THE NEW NAME?

Bro. D G S Dinakaran Road.

3. NAME THE SCHOOL WHICH CELEBRATED ITS GOLDEN JUBILEE RECENTLY?

Savitri Ammal Oriental School

4. WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN TAG CENTRE & THE MUSIC ACADEMY?

TAG joined hands with the Academy to set up the audio archives and listening post.

5. IN WHICH YEAR WAS MYLAPORE TIMES LAUNCHED?

1994.

P. S - Nobody got all this right. Try Quiz 2.

10 great houses to explore on PhotoWalk 1

Ten families said yes to our request to allow Photowalkers to shoot pictures on Sunday (Dec.13).

Ten more will be willing to open their doors too.

Now it is up to the group to document these places - architecture is the theme.

Next Sunday ( Dec.20), the Walk will explore the area on the northern side of Kutchery Road.

Lets see who posts some wow pics on flicker!

We welcome short experience notes on Walk 1 to be posted here. Or give us your web links.

Mylapore Quiz 1

Here is a teaser Quiz. In preparation for the Sundaram Finance - Mylapore Festival 2010 when the MYLAPORE QUIZ will be held on Jan. 24 afternoon.
Email answers to mylaporefestival@yahoo.com
Three winners get a T-SHIRT each.

1. Where would you find the bust of K.M. Munshi?

2. Brodies Road was renamed recently. What is the new name?

3. Name the school which celebrated its Golden Jubilee recently?

4. What is the link between TAG Centre and The Music Academy?

5. In which year was Mylapore Times launched?

Join the Fest Photo Walks

You need to love Mylapore to go on this walk. And you need a camera.

The theme - architecture of Mylapore.

Visits to heritage houses are included.

More info at -

http://chennaiphotowalk.wordpress.com/

The SF role in 2010 . . .

Sundaram Finance, the only and long standing sponsor of the 'Mylapore Festival' that we run have lined up a few interesting things for 2010.

As the Copenhagen Climate Meet rolls out, SF wants to do its bit. It is sponsoring a few thousand cloth bags to be given to shoppers in places where plastic bags are being used.

Aiding this effort is the Chennai Social Service group.

The campaign will take place in January in the Mada Streets area.

SF has also designed the 2010 Fest Tees. An in-house effort again. We will post the design and product here shortly and start sales in early Jan. Will also try to have an online sale for Mylaporeans living abroad.

The base design for posters are also an in-house effort and posters will help create the buzz soon. If you love collecting posters and want this one, let us know in advance.

A few more acts are also planned. More in a while. . .

Inviting Groups of Singing Teenagers

We are looking for groups of children who can swing people from the main stage with their music.

Classical-folksy music, a medley of 6 songs perhaps. . .

Every evening, we feature a group on the main stage.

If you are keen, contact now.

mylaporefestival@yahoo.com

The Mylapore Song: Be inspired by A R Rahman

The Mylapore Anthem we produced for last year's fest became quite popular. It is still playing on the desk of some NRIs, I am told. ( you can listen to it/ watch the simple video) on the Fest web site - www.mylaporefestival.com

This year, we want to invite musicians to do their own thing.

Write the lyrics, compose the music and prepare for a 30min. studio recording.

So if you are ready with the creative, we will find a studio for you. The best studio.

Guideline - the song should capture the Mylapore spirit.

Everybody, at least every AR Rahman fan knows the Mozart of Madras spun the Mylapore Blues song 2 years ago ( you can catch it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLdOlI-k2zk.

Surely, there are dozens of musicians of all streams - Carnatic, rock, pop, light, film, rap, jazz . . who can go out, sit on the steps of the temple tank and write a song.

Buzz your ideas at - mylaporefestival@yahoo.com

Talks: What subjects interest you?

For 2010, we have planned a package of talks.

On all 4 evenings at the hall at Sir Sivaswami Girls Hr Sec School on Sundareswarar Street.

We plan to have 4 different speakers to speak on 4 diverse topics.

Illustrated talks should be more attractive.

We have sounded out a few people.

One has suggested the theme to focus on the classical dance heritage of Mylapore.

Another may want to present the social history of Palathope, the colony of advocates.

A third theme on our mind was - Role of Studios in Mylaporeans' Life.

We want you to also suggest themes that we can explore. You can even suggest good speakers.

These are NOT academic talks. Keep this in mind when you suggest.

You can post your ideas here. A discussion is also welcome.

After all the Sundaram Finance-MYLAPORE FESTIVAL is all about involving the community.

Treasure Hunt & Mylapore Quiz Confirmed

These 2 events are confirmed for 2010.

The Mylapore Treasure Hunt. The Mylapore Quiz.

The first requires teams to trace a route using the clue sheet and finding answers to the questions related to the ques. The answers are of course found at each location!

Since some smarties used new tech devices to make life easy on the hunt, we will allow teams to use Twitters and Google Maps or any other gadget that may arrive in Jan.2010.

You can also drive around in cars - but this time, the clues will end in lanes and bylanes!

After all, we want you to know Mylapore well!

The Mylapore Quiz is a popular event. It brings families to the contest since the questions are a mix of local history and heritage and current news and info.

But the questions can be tough.

Like this one - How many religions are represented in the arch at the entrance of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan? Name them all.

More info on date and venue fill follow . . .

P.S. - Mylapore Times, the neighbourhood newspaper ( published every Sat. will carry a teaser Mylapore Quiz every week in December. That should warm you up. Look out for it. Should we reproduce it here?You tell us!

The 21 dots Challenge!

How big a space would a '21 dots to 1 dot' kolam occupy?
How many designs can come out in those specified number of dots?
Can small kolam patterns be combined to make it to a big 21 dots kolam?
A little research and expert opinions had to be gathered before drawing up a grid for 2010 fest kolam contest.
A set pattern starting with 21 dots in the centre line ending with 1 dot on either side will be the base for the contest.
This means all the participants would be keeping same number and pattern of 'pullis' and make designs on them.
This may be simple for women who draw kolams everyday in their front yards.
This may also interest math lovers and students as to how Fibonacci numbers play a role in kolam patterns!
Here is the basic grid and two simple patterns to make a start. Go ahead, and research. There are a numberof patterns waiting to sit on these dots and make a beautiful kolam of your own creation!

How do we make Mada Streets Bright?

Each year tests us.

We have done little things to add to the colour of the Fest. Designer Kuberan created the simple cloth lamps that lined the East Madas and Sannithi Streets in 2008 and 2009.

Sundaram Finance's MD, T T Srinivasaraghavan wanted the streets to be colourful at daytime. And that has set us thinking.

It isnt easy trying to colour the facades in a hugely busy shopping and religious destination - dozens of boards, dozens of lights, dozens of poles, wires and windows.

One trial is on - two artists are working on cloth that will be strung across walls in the Fest zone. Do you think this will make the place a tad colourful? We want your ideas too. And if you are a Fine Arts / Design student lend a hand. (Mail us your contact).

Kolam Contest will be a challenge

The 2010 Kolam Contests are going to be a challenge.

All contestants will have to start on a pre-set grid of dots ( how many? Wait for a few days to know all this).

That means you will need to plan, prepare and then design the kolam. You cant land up and design what you have in mind.

Log on - details will be out in a week's time. Then, grab all the kolam design books and practice. Prizes for the creative best.

Do you think this will bring out the best? Share your views here. Now!

Shoot Mylapore!

This is the idea. For Fest 2010.

And we are sharing it with the Madras Photowalkers.

In early December 2009, we will be organising a walk that will take people through a few streets and lanes of Mylapore. You need to have a camera ( any make, any size, any function) and you need to focus on the theme - Local Architecture.

We hope to exhibit the pictures at an exhibition to be held during the Fest.

Details will be posted here soon. Prelim work is on.

Want to suggest streets near the temple and Chitrakulam zone which are 'must see' places. Remember we are shooting local architecture - street and tiled houses, unique doors and locks, Madras terraces, thinnai and thalvarams. . .

We welcome suggestions.

And walkers!

Mylapore festival 2010

The organizers of the Mylapore Festival invite creative people who wish to participate in the many events of the fest to send us their applications. This invitation is open to individuals, institutions and groups. Submissions close on Nov.30, 2009.

1. CRAFTS EXHIBITION & SALE - We invite men and women of Mylapore who have specialised in traditional craftswork and wish to set up stalls on a streetspace on four evenings to display and sell small pieces. Tell us what you do and what your skills are.

2. PERFORMING ARTISTES - We invite teachers of classical and folk dance who also have students to present semi-classical and folk dance productions on stage for about 30/40 minutes. Mail us the story line and production details. Be prepared for an audition.

3. CRAFTS TEACHERS - We invite men / women who can hold creative workshops for children during the festival for an hour. Tell us what you can offer to share and resources required for the same.

4. CREATIVE MODEL MAKERS - We are looking for people who can create miniature models on themes related to cultural events / rural life / historical themes / religious or heritage places on an area of 3 x 4 ft. which can be used as part of an exhibition. Write and tell us the themes you are good at creating, materials you use and unique features you wish to present.

All those who wish to submit proposals may do so by Nov.30, 2009. You can e-mail them to mylaporefestival@yahoo.com or post to The Director, Mylapore Festival, c/o Mylapore Times, Alwarpet, Chennai 18.

Rolling for 2010

The break from the Fest was welcome.

And we are back!

A few preparatory steps will be taken for Mylapore Festival 2010 now - to make good use of the summer hols.

Two projects will roll.

One - to produce five-minute docu-films on anything Mylaporean. Anybody who has a digicam and a group of creative people can sign up. (Leave your names, contacts at mylaporefestival@yahoo.com. We plan to have a simple workshop and move on from there.

The best films will be screened at MF 2010.

Two - to produce a stage show with children using professional actors. Story that will be based on Indian tales. Senior school students can sign up. Workshop in summer.

Ideas for Fest 2010

This is where you come in . . .

Tell us what you would like us to feature for the Fest in 2010.

It will help us shape our plans which have begun to roll.

Here is what is on on board.

1. To create a performance space at another venue, not far from the 16 pillar mantap and host shows in the open air there.  Visitors said that they would like to have alternate events.

Having events indoors is not the best if we have space options.

2. To create Sound and Light Show No.2.  The focus will be on Mylapore but it could be thematic. What theme would you like us to handle? It should be engaging, have to be told thro' narration, sound effects, lights and small acts and be about 40.30 minutes! Tell us. . .

3. To produce 2 shows with children. One will be led by a therukoothu artiste, another by a theatre artiste. Both have expressed interest. What kind of themes would you like children to present? The productions will star a few seasoned artistes and the children will rock the rest!

But those who are selected with need to work hard on 4 weekends in August. Look out for audition dates! We may have 10/12 children in classes 6 to 9.

4. To produce a cinema based stage show. Film clips, narration, talk. What is your fav theme? N. S. Krishnan? Early films of K. Balachander? The song and dance era? Tell us now.

5. To produce a docu on Mylapore. Not a linear docu but with a perspective. What do you think it should highlight? The temples and religious traditions? The evolution of a seaside fishing village into a heritage zone? 

Ideas wanted, and welcome. Tell us if there is a person / family / institution that is celebrating a landmark and how we at the Fest can focus on that.

By the way, one event which has received much and positive feedback is the 'Discover Mylapore' one. Look out for the 2010 edition - it will rock you all. It will be tough, engaging, crazy and fun. Thanks Karnik and co. who walked most of the way and gave us some insight from this experience. . 

P. S. : A visitor asked - why don't we use the tank space?

Check out this blog now and then. It doesn't look like it will be frozen today and come alive only in January 2010.

Thank you, Sorry and Good-bye

Time spins you.

It is two days since the curtains came down on the Fest and there is still so much work left to do to wind up.

This the time to say Thank You to everybody who made the Fest what it was. To 'Sundaram Finance' led by T T Srinivasaraghavan, an active partner, to all the artistes who performed at the Fest, to the backstage teams who set the stage for the shows/events, to the state agencies that helped us stage the Fest, to the volunteers and to our small team. 

Special thanks to my colleague Revathi R. who joined us many years ago and has made a huge contribution to the Fest these past years.

It is also time to say 'Sorry' to those who strongly felt that some things had to be done but weren't, to those who experienced our slips and to those who felt they deserved better.

We say good-bye now.

And set the ball rolling for 2010.

 

Thank you, volunteers!

Sundaram Finance Mylapore Festival has the tradition of having volunteers at different venues of the festival who happily come forward to manage the events. Many are young, a few in their middle ages, some studying, some working, some home makers . . .
It is the community spirit that brings all these people together.
It is time to say thanks to all of them!

Krishna, Ramesh, Suresh, Varsha, Anusha and Sindhiya was the team at the Nageswara Rao park who managed 200 kids (and their parents!) during the art contests, workshops and evening shows.

The dances inside the temple, including the one on Pradosham day which had to be started as late as 8 pm and went on till 9 pm were taken care by Vasini and Malathy.

The Tamil literary events at the Hotel Karpagam Hall, a little away from the main show area was under the charge of Srividhya and Karpaga Lakshmi. The team that joined the Pallankuzhi contests there on the weekends had Ganesh, Shyam, Devi and Kalavathy.

Keeping an eye on the happenings at the Arts Street where the students of a few women's colleges displayed their art materials was Balaji.

The food court was managed by a larger group headed by Srinivasan. Vijayakumar, Navaneetha krishnan, Chidambaram, Ramachandran, Jayachandran, Thiruvengadam, Rajeswari, Vijetha, Mythili, Gayathri, Giridharan, Gopi, Ramya, Bhargavi, Sridevi and Varsha. A few of them volunteered only during the weekend though.

At the festival office, seniors Jayaraman and Prabhakaran interacted with the visitors along with Ragini. Venkatesh updated the events and contest results and was giving away the information on the LCD screen on the spot.

The kolam competition on two days had Preetha (she has also been registering more than 300 participants' name over phone), Sundar and Mathangi as volunteers.

Rahul Joined the team for shuttling between the foodcourt and the volunteers at different venues on the weekend.

On the backstage, Meenakshi presented the events on the stage. Other team members were Shreya, Sharanya, Bhargavi, Rajeswari and Ram.

Thank you volunteers for all the help and the spirit you kept up all the four days, before and beyond the festival too!

100 participants on Day 1 of Pallankuzhi contest!

The Pallankuzhi contest introduced last year (2008) as part of the festival is becoming more popular. About 50 teams - 100 participants - took part on the first day at Hotel Karpagam hall.
The senior citizens seemed happy just in playing the game.
Unlike the kids and youngsters, they are not keen on winning a prize. Playing the game which they did in their childhood was fun for them.
The rules for the contest was different from the format they used to play. Still they caught up with the rules quickly.
The kids enjoyed marking the games they won against their 'senior' partners.
The second day contest will be on at 2 pm today.
A quiz follows.
All the prizes - treasure hunt, kids kolam contest, quiz contest will be distributed after the Mylapore quiz at Karpagam Hall.
A docu on writer Su.Raa. will be screened at 6.30 pm

The Story so far . . .

10.45 pm. 

Part Three of the Mahabharatam act of Dakshinamurthy's therukoothu play comes to a close on the main on Day 4 of the Fest.

There are at least 250 people in the audience and that makes us all fell good.

There is still a goodly crowd for such shows.

And we hope we can continue hosting them.

Well trained students of our schools have made a good impression at the Fest. They may not have glitz but they perform well. Sivaswami Kalalaya and students of Radha Ramji set an example, of the groups I saw on stage.

They need to perk up their presentation though. . 

The food stalls ran out of food by 10 p.m.

There were many people who were disappointed.

We seem to run out of food even if we increase the inputs many fold every day!

If you did eat out here, please file your comments and give us ideas!

Good start, smooth progress!

This blog can't keep pace with the Fest!

Admission One.

The Fest just cannot meet the demand of hungry guests!

Admission Two.

We had a smooth launch on Jan 22. 

And we had people in numbers we didn't expect on an opening evening.

Indicator - the food stalls sold out by 9 p.m.

The crowds swelled after 7 p.m. on Day Two.

Packing in for the Sound and Light show.

It got better on Friday.

The weekend should be a blast.

I gotta have lunch and refresh and take charge of the Kolam Contest.

Will look forward to all your comments on the Fest this week and our posts will be only next week. So will be all the photos of the Fest.

Kolam-poti thaaney?!

Whenever we walk the Mada veedhis and bylanes in the run up to the Fest, the people who recognise us are the vegetable vendors, the 'mallipoo' sellers, the fruit hawkers and households around this place.

'Kolam-poti aa?', a 'poo' hawker asks me.

I share the Fest dates.

She passes it on to her fellow-hawkers. 

Late in the night, the kulfi hawkers cycle in. 

A five rupee kulfi tastes heavenly after a hard day's work. 

I tell the kulfi-wallah to land up on the Fest evenings with lots of kulfi and his fellowmen.

He promises to be there.

Check them out. 

The Sundaram Finance Mylapore Fest is all about live and let live too!

If you come across toymakers and treats your parents enjoyed, share your stories here.  .  

Trial on Stage

On Wednesday night, when the quadrangle had emptied and the main stage was set, the final rehearsal of the Mylapore Sound and Light show was held.

There were some hiccups. Naturally. Lighting. Floor movement. Dance steps. And the projection folks arrived late. Traffic jam, they said.

When it ended, the effort was worth it.

The track sounds good. Now the act must fall in place.

We want you there so you can then mail us feedback.

If we were to run this Show with just sound and light, how best can be adapt this first show?

Ideas welcome. Practical and genuine. . .

Coffee Mug design for Mylapore

As part of this year's festival, we had earlier held a contest for kids to create a coffee mug design for the festival.
About 50 kids participated in the contest. Artist V. V. Ramani judged the design coloured by K. Muthukumaraswamy as the best.
Muthu had come all the way from George Town to take part in the contest.
He was present at the Press Con held on Jan. 19 at the Nageswara Rao Park and gladly showed the design to the people and the Press.

The coffee mug is getting ready. A few will be available for the souvenir collectors for sale. At the Festival office near the ther (Opp. Rasi store).

Watch Mylapore Geetham

Did you listen to the Mylapore Anthem we have put up on the website - www.mylaporefestival.com?
If not so far, do so now! The bonus now is the visuals that Venkatesh has created for the anthem.
Venkatesh, a Mylaporean has been volunteering at the Sundaram Finance Mylapore Festival for three years now. When he listened to the geetham on the Net, he came up with an idea of putting the pictures and lyrics alongwith the song.
The result is the YouTube video clip we have for you now.

Have any vintage Mylapore photos?

We have dug up a few pictures of Mylapore life.

I suspect some of them were exhibited at a previous Fest.

But we don't mind putting them up all over again.

Photographer Saravanan brought us a series of pictures of Kamadhenu Theatre which has been turned into a wedding hall now. Thank god, the facade will remain. That Art Deco style that theatres like Casino and Odeon sported.

We will post the Kamadhenu pictures. Maybe one of the Kapali Theatre on its last legs.

The show should be on near the 'ther' shed, opposite Rasi store.

Now if you want to give us a copy of a vintage Mylapore picture, even if its torn a bit, please do so. Time for nostalgia folks. . .

35 dancers on stage, wow!

One is just ten maybe. Another is out of ten. And there are a few teens too.

Dance guru Sujatha Mohan stars 30 plus dancers at the Mylapore Sound and Light show, to be staged daily. Runs for 40mins only.

Dance is part of the package. 

Imagine the crowd backstage then. Wonder how Sujatha manages these kutties!

We want lots of feedback on this show. So be there and mail your comments.

P S - Violinist Kanyakumari is putting 50 violinists on stage at IIT'M's Saarang - to commemorate IIT's golden jubilee. I will have to give Saarang a miss though we had a hand in helping put up the Madras/Chennai Express section . . .

Dance-team of Sound and Light Show

The team of dancers of the Mylapore Sound and Light show:

Samyuktha Sathyanarayanan
Tejaswi
Priyadarshini
Gayatri Devi
Deepthi Shiva
Meenakshi.V
Samyuktha.A
Vishnupriya.B
Yamini.A
Padmavathy.M
Swasthika.T.S
Sadhvi Venkatraman
Sujaya
Lavanya
Preethi
Shruthi.R
Anantha Lakshmi.M.K
Abhinaya Varadarajan
Ananya.S
Reshma Bhanukumar
Manasa
Mayuri
Shruthi Rangarajan
Varsha Srinivasan
Swetha.M
Nandhine.K
Akshara Reddy.T
Shreya Balakrishnan
Vidya
Pooja Lakshmi
Smruthi.S
Malavika
Vaishali Jayaraman
Varsha.S
Aashika Samir
Shilpa Samir
Malarvizhi
Mythili Sivakumar
Lakshmi Sivakumar
Sharanya Sampath
Barbara Dejung
Hansjoerg Dejung
Peter Horisberger
Livia Sauter
Guru Sujatha Mohan

Bring your Cams along . . .

Don't forget to bring your camcorders and Handycams or whatever you need to shoot events at the Fest. Make a short film out of the footage.

Post them on YouTube and send us a link.

Hundreds of people are bound to watch it.

We have just shot 3 little videos on the pre-events and hope to post them soon.

Our team will be shooting at the venues - if you see one pop up and add your comment live.

We hope to screen some shorts on the screen above the Fest Office near the ther.

Keep your eyes wide open.

Mayil is in! We invite our kids to give life to it.

Finally, we will have the mayil take its place near the ther.

And we invite kids to bring along cardboard / cloth pieces / paper and used CDs and any such materials which can help build this peacock.

Artist V V Ramani will be at hand daily, from 6 pm to about 8 pm to guide the kids.

Once it is ready on Sunday evening we may pull it along the East Mada Street!

Where should we install it? Its an art installation. . 

Your suggestions welcome. . .

Should Mada Streets be made 'one way' only?

Cast your vote please.

This is an issue I kick up at the Fest.

Not because we want to take over all the Mada Streets. But because some organised and well planned strategies like 'one way' and 'walk only' for this zone will help us all - shops, hawkers, devotees, tourists, window shoppers and genuine shoppers and residents . .

I want your opinion. . .

I also want to write to the Traffic Chief and the Police Commissioner. To debate this idea and take it forward if it is doable.

Write in!

Work begins on the streets

Pandu is the man who provides the infrastructure.

This year, he has taken off on top of the week and that is good.

We need the stage for a rehearsal on Wednesday night - please don't land up here and get a peek into this main show. See the real one!

Pandu is at the core of this Fest.

He provides platforms, stages and leg rests to all sorts of political parties. So you can't mess around with him.

Actually, he is a fun person and seems to enjoy working for the Fest.

On Monday he made the mayil project happen when he got us the right person to create it.

So all you kids out there are invite to head to a spot near the 'ther' shed opposite Rasi store after 6 pm - bring cardboard or paper or cloth or metal pieces and give live to this mayil.

Artist V V Ramani promises to help you along . . .he is at the arts workshop at the Park on Jan 22.

Kutty kolams

Kutty kolams and Kutties' kolams!
Yes, these are kolam design made by young girls and boys!
When it comes to joining the dots and making a kolam, kids are not less creative than their mothers!
The art of dispensing the kolam powder through the fingers and making designs on the ground starts from a design drawn on a sheet of paper. That is the reason we thought of a kolam drawing competition on a paper for kids.
A set pattern of dots were given to the kids and they were asked to create a design of their own.
Butterflies, conches, roses, stars, flags, elephants are all that they made out of the dots!
Among many young girls were four boys who drew their bright and colourful kolams.

Teams discover Mylapore

About 65 teams of 200 people went around the roads and lanes of Mylapore this morning.
The 'Discover Mylapore' event flagged off at the Chess Square in the Nageswara Rao Park took the teams to the east and south ends of Mylapore.

The strategies were worked out by the teams after they received the briefing and the clue-sheet from Vincent D'Souza.

School kids, college students, office goers and retired senior citizens teams up for this event.
Some went on by foot, a few bicycled, some more biked and a few had smart drivers in their cars!
It wasn't a race. But there was a time limit to drop the answer sheets at the start point.
The teams started arriving with the answers from 8.45 am. Discussed clues, exchanged the experiences of the trip over a cup of hot coffee.

If you have taken part in this event, do share us your experience here.
Did you really visit all the places given in the clue sheet?
And any place you visited for the first time?
Do tell us!

Pallankuzhi attracts the young and the old!

The ancient Indian game of 14 kuzhis (pits) is still popular.
The Pallankuzhi workshop held on the evening of Jan. 17 at the P. S. Higher Sec School hall attracted about 75 people.

Three generations were seen together at the workshop.
As Dr. balambal, the resource person for Pallankuzhi puts it, this is a game that develops mind-eye-hand co-ordination and involves a lot of mental math.
The kids got the rules right and the seniors reminisced their childhood days.
While the terms 'pasu', 'kaasi' and 'peechai' used in the game brought smiles on the young faces, the older generation enjoyed recalling the forgotten words!
Preetha, who volunteers for registration of kolam and Pallankuzhi contests tells us that there are more than 100 people registered for each day's contest.

If you love playing Pallankuzhi and haven't yet registered, do so now. Call Preetha at 94443 81298.
If you just like to watch 100 enthusiastic people playing the game, drop by on Jan. 24 (5 pm ) and Jan, 25 (2 pm) at Hotel Karpagam Hall.

Should we have a peacock installation?

Just an idea.

Should we plan a art installation of a 'mayil'?

And start with a frame and get people, especially kids to give it life and then install it at some public space in the area?

I'd love to have your suggestions!

Mylapore Anthem Team

The Team which helped to create the 'Mylapore Anthem'.

K S R Anirudha - lyrics, music, voice, percussion, co-ordination

S R Mytreyi - vocalist

Aditya Venkatesh - vocalist

R. Priyamvadaa - violinist

Anish Mohan - keyboard

Pooja Sivakumar, G. Janani and K. Maanasa - chorus singers

Baba Prasad - sound engineer

Mylapore Anthem is Live!

Yes. it is LIVE. 

On the home page of the Fest web site, right top corner.

Play it. Listen to it.

Share it with everyone around the world.

Not just Mylaporeans.

And tell us what you feel about it.

It is an effort of about 15 people.

And this is the story behind it.

The anthem, if one may call it, is not a stand-alone.

It is part of the 40min Mylapore Sound and Light show that will be presented at the Sundaram Finance MYLAPORE FESTIVAL 2009 event. Every evening.

We wanted the show to open and close with a rousing song and dance piece.

So K S R Anirudha began to play with words and lines.

He bounced them on his dance and music colleagues.

They had a lot to add to it.

That done, Ani began to put down the music and had a scratch track prepared.

We then went into Baba Prasad's studios in Adyar. . .

We had with us many Mylaporeans, all young, brimming and creative musicians and singers who had volunteered to be part of the Sound and Light show.

They recorded at Baba's warm place.

Late last Saturday, the anthem was born!

On Pongal morning, Revathi posted it on the Fest web site so the world could listen to it.

By the weekend, we should have a video of it! On YouTube.

Another talented Mylaporean is working on it. . .

Tayakattam Trials!

Pallankuzhi Contests are filling up.

And this year we felt we should also bring in Tayakattam.

There wont be contests but some friendlies shall we say - play for fun at the hotel venue, before the Pallankuzhi games begin.

Please buy some nice Tayakattam boards, or better, create one yourself and land up.

If you imagine these games are for the oldies. Sorry!

Half the contestants at last year's show were teenagers and kids.

This is serious stuff.

If you can't play, drop by to watch the games.

Is it Sangamam or Mylapore Fest?

Ha ha ha ha!

When people began to mill into Nageswara Rao Park in Luz and joined in the cul events that were on here, there were a few whispers.

O! So this is the Chennai Sangamam!

Yes it is. CS is across many venues across the city. NPP is one.

The Sundaram Finance Mylapore Festival will be on here from Jan.22.

And the best way to start a fest is with a mikeless, peaceful concert at 6.30 a.m. in the chill!

Walk across to the Mada veedhis and our well wishers ask us - shouldn't the Mylapore Festival be on now?

It used to be on Pongal eve.

Now, it is after Pongal.

The Sangamam needs to have its days.

Then, it will be ours.

Hands Up! We need 5 more volunteers!

We have 20 of them.

But we still need 5 more.

Young men would be the best because we need 2 great people to co ordinate the Hospitality Desk. To ensure food is got ready for all artistes and that they are fed.

The base is Hotel Karpagam.

Work time - 5.30 pm to 10.30 pm on all 4 days of the Fest.

Call Revathi at 98405 44629 now.

Come for the Walks! All 4 morns

Dr. Chithra Madhavan's walk is bound to be a sell out.

At least a dozen people wanted to sign up for it. You don't need to. Just land up and walk with Chithra! It is free.

We are having 90min walks of Mylapore on all four mornings. And we want school groups, women's groups and others who haven't been on such walks to join us.

K. J. Suriyanarayan will lead the walks. Vincent D' Souza will join him on some of them.

Start at Luz Church and end at Sri Kapali Temple area.

The route may be familiar but there are loads of stories we want to share and we want you to share too!

A nice filter coffee in Pitchupillai St is welcome - lets pool in! Thats the spirit of the Fest!

Mylapore geetham

A part of the surprise is here. . .
























Do you too feel all these are part of Mylapore?
Keep reciting this until we come up with more on this 'geetham'.
Come back to this blog; you will 'see' the geetham soon!

While Team Festival is busy putting the shows and events together, the Sound and Light show team is all geared up to present 'namma Mylapore' in visuals and stories and music and dance and more. . .

The Mylapore Show; Getting There

A Mylapore Sound and Light Show is the idea.

It has taken shape for the 2009 Fest.

And it will go on stage on all four evenings. 90 minutes.

I am in Baba Prasad's Digi Sound Studio in Adyar as we score, record, mix and do all we need to produce the tracks for this show. Artiste K S R Anirudha is in charge of the music. And we have a surprise from him too - let me not share this now. Early days.

When this bonus is ready we will have it on the Net for you. A must for all true-blue Mylaporeans.

More on the eve of the Fest. 

Don't miss this show. And send us feedback too. 

We hope to grow this show in the years to come.

Tell us - would it be great to have a sound and light show in the Rasi Quadrangle every weekend?   

How's the Temple area?

We did our first close round of the Fest area a few days ago.

We looked like real estate promoters looking for space!

The Sundaram Finance Mylapore Festival is keen to use spaces here for the arts.

There is good news hopefully - the inner temple streets are being cemented and we hope these will serve us better.

The fine arts students, craftswomen and their friends pitch their tents here.

RASI store's promoter Jayaraman says he can share his garage space and a floor in a new property he has acquired. Wonder if he can lend the space above his crafts store to run a Fest Cafe - it a great location.

We have plans to light up the 16-pillared mantap well - it is a great landmark that acts as the backdrop to the events on the main stage here. And the entire managers at the Kapali Temple have been most encouraging.

Sundareswarar Street where the Food Stalls will come up stinks. 

When will people stop urinating against the wall of a girl's school? We will need three water tankers, lots of disinfectant and phenol and other such things to clean up the pavement. We did it last year, will do it this year too.

There are a few 'nooks' that are there to be taken. 

If we get a group of young artists to join us at the Fest, we should have a street corner art camp!

Temple Heritage Tour is on!

Good news.

The Mylapore Temples Heritage Tour is on.

Archaeologist, author and speaker Dr Chithra Madhavan, a Mylaporean has just confirmed that she will lead the tour.

On Jan 25, 7 am. Entirely on foot. Be prepared for at least 2 hours, 17 mins and 45 secs of touring. To temples on either side of Sri Kapali Temple ( more details on our web site soon)

(If you are not in the best of health, please do not sign up).

This is one heritage tour you cannot miss.

Chithra is passionate, involved and lively.

And if it turns out to be the best event of SF MF 2009, tell Chithra. Tell us too.

(Do you have any other heritage tour ideas for the Fest? Drop a line here!)

Discover Mylapore; Go South

We are hosting the 'Discover Mylapore' event on Jan 18 so that we can facilitate more on Jan 25!

And take the pressure off us!

We have completed the circuit plan no.1.

My tip - go south.

It is an open tip!

Yes, the time limit has been drawn to just 2 hours but you will have to crack lesser clues than last year so you don't have to sacrifice your life on our roads please.

I don't like to write Obits; but they are important to our local newspapers.

If you want to leave a tip on this event - maybe want to tell us how to run it best - leave behind a comment please . .

Kolam Drawing contest for kids

Nearly 50 kids painted the design for the coffee mug on Dec. 27.
Here is another pre-festival contest for kids. For those kids who love joining dots and make kolam designs.
A simpler one when compared to the Kolam contest to be held for women on Jan. 24 and 25.

A specific pattern of dots will be given to the kids and they need to make a design on their own.
Go to the contest section of www.mylaporefestival.com to view a sample design done by us and the pattern of dots for kids to practice.

Open to boys and girls studying in class 4 to 7.
On Jan. 18. At 8 a.m. At Nageswara Rao Park - Chess Square.
No registration required. Just land up with your pencils and colours. Have fun!

Start Shooting!

My colleague Revathi has added a new feature to the Fest.
To get all those who have camcorders and digicams to shoot any of the many events of the Fest and post them on YouTube and let us link your work to our site. Look out for more info on the web site.
There will also be a contest for all VisCom students to produce a short docu on the Fest.
You will stand to win a cash prize. Await details.

Posters Arrive!

The posters to promote the Fest have just arrived.

Five different types with a master design running thro' them. They were created by the Ogilvy team.

Over the next ten days we should have the up across the city.

If you think this is indeed a collector's item - it would be if you love collecting posters - drop by at our base at 77, C. P. Ramaswamy Road in Alwarpet - the KutcheriBuzz.com office - and ask our colleagues to part with one!

The Tees will be with us soon - they are up for sale even before the Fest rolls out. More details soon.

Chess tourney for kids

The Sundaram Finance Mylapore Festival 2009 will host a chess competition for children under 12 years

It will take place next month (in January) at the Chess Square of the Nageswara Rao Park in Mylapore. Sundaram Finance will present prizes to the winners of the chess contest.

For registration, please call: 98416 03285 or 28558077

Design Contest for Students: Dec.28

A pre-event show this one . . 

Open to students in class 4 to 7. The challenge - to colour a design so well that it is chosen to be imprinted on special coffee mugs that we will give away as mementos and prizes at the Fest.

The mugs will also be on sale - limited edition. 

At Nageswara Rao Park, Luz.

Dec.28, 4 pm. For an hour.

You need to bring the colouring stuff - oils, water, crayons, pencils - and colour the design sheet we will provide.

There is no prior registration. Entries will be judged later by artist V V Ramani.

Kolam Contest Registration Opens

The books are open to register participants in the hugely popular Kolam Contests.

The dates to mark - Jan 24 and 25, 3.45 pm. 

South side of North Mada Street, Mylapore.

There will be two contests and each accommodates in about 101 people ( that is if Nisha's sister cyclone does not hit the city between now and mid January!) 

Yes, men and boys can also sign up.

But a person can sign up only for one contest.

The person to call is Preetha who is another veteran MF volunteer. The number - 94443 81298

The first caller was from Chingleput - this woman never fails to sign up.

This year we should have more people from the suburbs - thanks to early promos at the SF offices.

Welcome to Mylapore Festival 2009

Welcome!

I didn't get a Santa Claus assignment tonight so there was time to launch posts on Mylapore Festival 2009.

Sundaram Finance, as before is our sponsor.

And the venues remain the same - in and around Sri Kapali temple.

The dates have changed - Jan 22 to 25. Thursday to Sunday.

There will be two unique events on the calendar - one, a Mylapore Sound and Light show which will play on all four evenings of the Fest. Two, a therukoothu series on the Mahabharatam that will be staged on four evenings though the story will for the Fest start midway from the epic.

The rest of the calendar should be the way it has always been though there will be a few new events that encourage community participation ( more details on these will be posted soon).

The fest web site - www.mylaporefestival.com - is being updated and should come alive soon. . .

Our contact - 98405 44629 - Revathi R, our longtime festival co ordinator.

Looking back; looking forward

We have just recovered. 

And the Pongal hols are an excuse to relax further.

The Chennai Sangamam is with, full blast and a tad loud.

In some ways it is rocking the city.

In some ways, it built up on many little things we have done at the Mylapore Festivals. 

The concerts and workshops in the park, the folk shows, the food adda . . .

And that makes us feel good.

What will make us feel better is when other larger areas of the city flesh out their own fests.

We feel dejected that Triplicane is labouring the idea after we gave it a big boost two years ago.

This is just the area which should have a vibrant fest of its own.

Thiruvanmiyur could be inspired too.

Purusawalkam is another area that should have a fest. Washermanpet and Royapuram too.

There are bigger things to aim for now. How about a One Way or a Only Walk zone on the Mada Streets on Sundays for a few hours please?

We will be asking the Traffic Police Chief to consider this idea.

If this succeeds, then the Mada Veedhis will have another life. 

And we will be encouraged to go forward with another idea - host a 'Sound and Light' show in the Sannidhi Square, on Mylapore. We have a script ready and we have some talented people to do the music, the visuals and the soundscape.

Does this idea sound good? Let us have your feedback too.

And tell us what we can do to improve this Fest which is now know outside the country! (we have with us a French artist who has been studying the kolams. . . )

As for me, I'd like to have a few more creative spaces for children besides the one at the park.

Also, we plan to have more senior, well known Mylaporeans give talks on life in Mylapore.

Plus, there will be a slew of documentaries on this area which will be screened at the 2009 Fest.

And I'd like the Pallankuzhi Contests to be a rage and the kolams stretch from the top end of North Mada Street!

See you in 2009. 

Heritage Walk is Big Hit

The effort pays off.

The heritage tour of '10 unique Mylapore houses' on  Saturday is a big hit. 36 people plus 2 more joined us.

From Luz to Mylapore's temple area, C R Raghuram and K J Suriyan Naraynan of Namma Mylapore lead the enthusiastic group which comes from all over the city.

20 mins after they start, I get a call from a couple, tourists from Assam, who have got to know about the Mylapore Fest and are keen to be on this walk. We network them at the Mylapore Police Station.

"You made my day,"says Harazika.

Thats what this Fest aims to do.

PS; If you love to go on heritage walks, we are officially promoting all the different walks in the city.

Mail us your name and contact - mylaporetimes@vsnl.com

Day 1 and 2

The rains challenged us. We kept our cool.

Day 1 was just fine.

It made immense sense to kick off at 7 pm on the Thursday so that we could escape the peak hour traffic.

Even the performances were tight.

We need this warm up evening to get the buzz going.

Wish we had another set of folk artistes groups to add to the colour and sounds on the main stage.

The new set of street lamps we made got all the attraction and we have begun to offer them on sale.

Foreign tourists picked up a lot of souvenirs.

It rained minutes after the last show ended on the main stage on Day 1.

Relief. Then it poured and poured.

It did the next morn after the park kutcheri.

But we didn't give up hope.

Clear skies from 3 pm onwards and we are in high spirits.

We have close to 18 volunteers helping us, two co ordinators.

They are raw but they strive.

The Kerala-based panchavadyam artistes take time to roll the music and the martial arts by music.

The wet evening keeps off the book sellers and some craftspeople who have stalls alongside the temple tank. 

And at 10 pm, we begin work on marking out spaces for kolams. Back breaking work!

Saturday's Buzz

Hosting the kolam contest is now a breeze. We've been doing it for over a  decade now.

The local police help. Esp. the Traffic Police wing.

We expected 126 people but my guess is that 110 must have taken part in the contest.

And most seem to hail from the Mylapore and K K Nagar area.

Perhaps there is a need to raise the profile and attract women from all over the city.

And the suburbs too.

The events on the main stage rolled well after the contest.

The team of acrobats led by Syed Jaffer drew the biggest applause. 

We quickly screened an old film on Mylapore. A 30mins docu which focuses on the need to restore and revive heritage here.

The classical dance which had to start only at 7.30 pm because of prodosham went on till 9.20 pm and people stayed on. 

And life in the Art Street refused to die even as late as 10.10 pm.

Which gives us an idea - can we have the street life on till late for a week during the fest?

What do you think?

Mail us feedback please!

Jump to Day 3

Apologies for blanking the blog!

Day 3.11.05 am and a breather.

In this fantastic sunny weather we had a great kutcheri in the park which ended with great pongal and sundal served by the Walkers Group, a tradition now followed as part of the Fest.

Midway thro' the kutcheri, dozens of eager beavers landed up and we understood why T T Srinivasaraghavan, head of Sundaram Finance was mildly upset.

The excited voices were drowning the mikeless kutcheri.

These excited people were at the launch of the Treasure Hunt. And what a kick off it was. Everybody scooted out. Some, relaxed to get a grip on the clues.

I guess this will be a fun contest.

Back to base, we are getting ready for the long day ahead starting with Pallankuzhi contest 2.

The first one held on Sat., had 36 plus teams.

Today, there should be more.

Great sunshine day. Finale on!

Day 2 : Wet but fun!

Our cell phones buzzed and buzzed and buzzed. . .
Is the evening Art Contest at the park on?
Will Rahnu's cartoon workshop go on as scheduled?
All the artistes called to confirm whether they can get ready for the evening show.
The girls at the Art Street were calling to say that they would miss the fun that evening if it rained!
The participants of the Saturday Kolam Contest were the most worried.
I guess I would have answered more than a thousand calls.
But we kept our spirits high.

At 2 pm, the skies smiled at us.
Cartoonist Rahnu was game to have his board on the Chess Square at the Park surrounded by pools of water at 4. 30 pm
60 kids turned up for the contest and the workshop.
Rahnu liked all the kids to learn the art of cartooning. And then break for the contest!
The walkers in the park, the parents all joined the fun and watched the lines and circles turning into lions and tigers!
The Panchavadhyam from Kerala and Velakali rocked the park.
Sri Kapali temple hosts a religious discourse on all Friday evenings. So the festival dance programme was advanced to 5.30 pm.
Guru Sujatha Mohan's disciples presented all the pieces on Mylapore and concluded with a Kapaleeswarar Pancharatnam.
Books, arts and handicrafts took cautious steps to face the rains any moment.
Navbharat School from T. Nagar travelled on the wet roads.
We retired quickly to save energies for the the next two days - Kolam and Pallankuzhi contests, longer shows, quiz and talk!

Day one at the fest

Cloudy weather kept us teasing.
At the morning kutcheri at the Nageswara Rao Park, two kids from the US Jayashri and Shruthi Sarathy were experiencing a different climate, atmosphere and audience.
Good take off for a fest.
It rained just after the kutcheri.
We were planning ahead for the day. An evening workshop for kids and an Art Contest for kids.
Arts person Kamla Ravikumar, the resource person for the Clay modelling workshop called to say that she hasn't been doing well.
But landed at the Park sharp at 5 pm protecting herself with a sweater and the kids jumped in excitement!
Dolls, animals, cellphones, faces of grandma - all came alive in clay.
The Lambadi folk group from Andhra landed up in colourful costumes. And the festival evening spirit was on!

When we moved to the temple area, the books and handicrafts stalls were already rolling their businesses.
The food street was catching up with spread of kozahakattai, kuzhi paniyaram and two-in-one dosas
The dance at the temple had a hick up. The sound system had to be replaced!
On the main stage, guru Hemalatha's students rocked with three different types of folk dances.
Andhra folk dances followed.
The end of day one.
Then came the rain. It poured through the night!

On the Mada Veedhis

Time is ticking.
And we have been checking out the Mada Streets to ensure they are in some shape.

This fest has to live in open spaces. And that is indeed the biggest challenge.

The kolam registrations are overflowing; we have a waiting list now.
The Pallankuzhi contests are full.

The Treasure Hunt registrations are over 50. Thats wow and this hunt is going to be fun and testing too.
And we hope to see lots of Mylaporeans at the Quiz.

But the action will be on streets.
Fine arts students, though on hols, are ready to paint the street red, blue and green.

The Food Street will offer a good mix - Chettinad, Kerala and Tamil Nadu food and snacks. The kol-kottais may run out by 7.30pm, we fear so we told Sridhar of Taste IT Foods to bring lots more!

We have some colourful lamps all over East Mada Street.

So, bring your friends and families to the Fest.
And please tell us what else we could create on the streets.

Santa can be a spoiler!

Yes. This isn't the best of times to confirm participation in a fest.

Christmas hols can spoil parties you have in mind!

Stella Maris' Fine Arts Dept has always been a welcome partner in our Fest.
But the unscheduled hols during the rains and Xmas hols, the students scattered and colleague Revathi has been tugging the phone lines to form the team.

Its working. And we also have a few neighbourhood creative minds joining them to create the Art Street which is a colourful place when the curtains go up on Jan.3 evening.

If you are young, creative and want to be at the Art Street, drop us a line; we have some space left.

Mylapore Quiz: won't be easy!

Ashwin Prabhu is the Quiz Master for the Mylapore Quiz 2008.

Holidaying in Goa, Ash who works for a private bank and is an ardent quizzer and a more ardent Mylaporean, didnt refuse the assignment.

"But aren't all the questions on Mylapore asked?", asked Ash.

I shook my head. How can a quiz run out of questions.

I didnt want to spoil Asfwin's party in Goa and we left it at that.

Just now we have run up a bank of 102 questions including 40 pictures which the Mylapore Times photographer, Saravanan, pulled out of his library.

And on Christmas eve we had 31 teams signed in and we hope we will have at least 75 teams when the D day arrives - Jan 6, Sunday.

Its much easy to crack the standard quizzes but a localised quiz sounds easy but can show up a lot of your ignorance!

No, we dont plan to have a tough quiz. Ashwin should get some fun quizzing that afternoon.

So if you are a quizzer or a Mylaporean, sign on now.

This is the first quiz of 2008 in the Quiz Capital ( is Madras the capital anyway?)

Sound and Light withdrawn;sorry!

We had to decide on this. 

With some components of the planned Mylapore 'Sound and Light' show  getting delayed we decided to withdraw it.

It was a difficult decision. But since it was a first time event and there were many strings to it, we said 'withdraw'.

But the project will build in 2008 and may even premiere in early 2008.

We hope to have with us folk troupes from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, courtesy South Zone Cultural Centre, Thanjavur.

Also, Subham Ganesan has withdrawn from the Food Street.

For the Fest, we will have different kinds of food on offer from different sources.

Big attendance at Pallankuzhi Workshop

Five events were on at the P S School campus on Saturday, 22nd.

Ours was so different from the concerts and sales elsewhere.

And it throbbed with life.

I was good to see many children eager to learn more about pallankuzhi from resource person Dr. Balambal at the 2nd workshop.

We hope each contest ( there are two) will have at least 100 people.

That will indeed be a crowd to manage.

After kolam, it has to be pallankuzhi.

Is there some other game / art you feel we should promote next year?

Tell us here!

Contest for Cooking Smarties!

This idea came in a flash.

We were planning the Food Fest on Sundareswarar Street ( it is messy and we will need to sweat to clean it) and then this came up.
How do we involve people in this act?

Cookery Contest? We had one last year and the response was good.
But this time, its different.

We invite people to send their recipes to the Food fest organiser. Recipes on dry snacks - east to make, but daring in idea and keeps to tradition).
He will select a few and even had them made and served each day of the fest!

So, all you people who love cooking, take a shot at this.

Mail your recipes to - Subham Ganesan at 210, St. Mary's Road, Mandaveli, Chennai. You can even drop it off at his store.

The best will get hampers.

Spread the word. Lets get about 50 recipes.

Tell your grandma about this.

We need volunteers!

Yes, we need another dozen. Ten should do.

Revathi, my colleague, hosted a meeting of the first set of volunteers.
12 attended it at the Mylapore Times office on Sunday last.
All of them have been given assignments.

One senior woman who lives on the Mada Veedhi wanted to work all four days!
Great spirit.
She also wanted to take part in the Pallankuzhi contest!

Since some events need 2/3 volunteers, we'd love to have more Mylaporeans in.

Call Revathi now on 98405 44629.
(Avoid calling between 10 am and 1 pm; that time is for working on the December season!)

All volunteers get a Fest Tee. And some goodies.

Sound and Light Show

We hope this idea works.

It is new to 2008 at the Fest - a sound and light show on the core of Mylapore.

The focus is on the temple and the Mada veedhis.

Sounds simple but the butterflies are around and about!

For, there are many components to this show.

It has dance and music, it has video and docu-film, it has mime and narration.

And two dozen people are involved in it.

Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, scholar and arts activist, is working on the script.

Dancer Sashirekha Rammohan is directing the dancers and actors.

Dancer Priya Murle should have done the Mylapore kuravanji. But she's busy with the 'season' so she will guide another dancer with this delightful piece. 

Another dancer, Gayathri Balagurunathan, is also busy on stage and will present a piece on Goddess Karpagambal, through her dancer colleagues.

Mohan Das Vadakara has been out with her camera shooting. And if Nagaraj cuts the film well, there is a delightful cameo docu on one of Mylapore's colourful streets. Which one? Wait for the show!

I am hoping we will do well with this. Pardon us if we slip. Once sharp and smart, this is the kind of show we should have up every weekend outside/inside the koil.

The show is on every evening at the Fest.

2008 edition rolls

Pardon us for arriving late here.

The 2008 edition of the Mylapore Festival should be with us soon.

We have been keeping pace with the famed December season here in Madras.

And it is a challenge.

We started work on the Fest in late August.

Planning on paper is easy.

Making things happen isn't.

Some things have worked this year around.

RASI, that landmark store on Sannidhi Street, has made peace with us.

Its owner Jayaraman had a long chat and promises to lend a hand for the fest after holding it back these past years.

Which means there will be space for more seats in that quadrangle and a clear pathway for people who wish to shop at his store and those who head to the temple.

Thanks Jayaraman; it pays to work together.

The managers of RR Sabha on Sundareswarar Street have also promised to plan the construction work here so that we can have our famed Food Mela out on the street.

RR Sabha's  grand old hall was pulled down a year ago and a new one is coming up.

The Food Mela is a great hit and we will have Subham Ganesan back with us on the street.

The special menu list will be out soon. 

New at the Fest - Mylapore Quiz, Mylapore Treasure Hunt, Mylapore Sound and Light Show, Pallankuzhi Championships and a new heritage walk of old houses.

I've got to run off now to check out the owners of a few houses for the walk . . .

If you have suggestions to make, shoot them!

Old Mylapore Pictures

There is a SOS from St. Bede's.
Father Rector wants to make sure a book I borrowed has got back to his library.
It is a precious book of sorts - a rare copy of a souvenir of St. Bede's silver jubilee event held in 1932.

We at Mylapore Times have been literally grabbing old tomes with pictures of local people. Because we hope to archive all that is about Mylapore at least from the 1900s.

So when I drove my photographer Saravanan to bore into the dusty drawers of local studios, he landed at Sathyan Studios which survives on the fringe of the Thirumailai MRTS railway station.
(Hopefully, it will need another post to retell Sathyan's history)

We have not found a treasure trove but we do get a few simple pictures which should make it to the photo exhibition we planned for the Mylapore Festival.

We wish we had some enthusiatic Visual Communications students from the city campuses to do the dirty work to raise such an event. Saravanan does it tirelessly though I drive him hard.

In the end the exhibition, mounted off the fence of the Sri Kapali Temple tank, is a huge success. Every evening scores of people stand to stare.

They laugh at a 60s portrait of Cho Ramaswamy who still had a mop on his head then; They wonder how Lal Bahadur Sastri could have driven to Mylapore and stood inside an open car at the east gopuram of the temple here and sought donations at war time.

Saravanan has also displayed pictures of Mylapore Festival 2006 and keeps posting fresh ones of the Fest as it rolls.

I only hope more Mylaporeans will spare their lovely old pictures for the archives we have in mind - pictures of weddings and trams, of Luz Corner and Bazaar Road.

If you do have a treasure house of them, email us at mylaporetimes@vsnl.com

A parallel show

It happens always as the Mylapore Festival buzz spreads. Quickly, street hawkers, toy makers and home based caterers head to the Mada Streets here.
And set up shop.

On Pitchupillai Street, the Art Street of the fest, a shop keeper, coaxes his wife to run a stall which sells all sorts of religious booklets. The 'panchu mittai wallah' lands up and spins money with the pinky fluff. More Narikuravas spread their beads and chains and sell fast.

On Kumaraguru Street, which runs alongside the temple wall, a family which resides here, pull out tables and begins to sell steaming iddlis and hot vadas. As the street fills up with people gawking at the stuff that woman members of the Self Help Groups are selling here, the snacks disappear real fast.

We snap an idea on observing this - let's have more food stalls all around the Mada Streets and Fest venue - food is always the hot seller you see. And it sells fast on the street.

Now we know why the Janal Bajji and the Kolakottai Mami shops in this area are so popular for their simple, tasty local food.

Now tell us, what kind of food would you like our caterers to serve next year? Your feedback will be really useful.

Off the Streets !

January 11 morning.

The Mylapore Fest is a thing of the past. Calendar wise.
I never got the time to blog but I want to jot down thoughts that must go on record. So pardon me for the rewind.

One image stays in my mind.
The folk dances of the students of CSI School of the Deaf, San Thome. Principal Rebecca has warned us that she and her colleagues have a church service to attend at 7 pm. It is a Sunday! So we better keep an eye on the clock. ( The best thing about the fest this year is that all the events run from one into the other without a long break).

Kannan Kumar, a respected folk artiste and guru, has been training the CSI children for 4 days for the fest. Every year, we invite schools to send their best dance / music groups to perform at the fest on the main stage. I remember the year when the Vidya Mandir dancers landed up. They had a 30 strong group of cheer leaders who rooted for the troupe from the far end!

So how do these hearing handicapped young girls and boys dance to music they cant listen to?
They dance to the beats and to body movement!
It is certainly not an easy task. Rebecca and her team of teachers stand below the main stage and each of them signal to a set of dancers on stage. On cue, the girls and boys swing to the movement of the hands of their teachers.

There are tears in the eyes of some people in the audience. It is a touching experience.
The image remains in my mind too.

Students, techies and kids at the festival

We had pleasant surprise when an Orkut community came in to volunteer for the festival.
Many are students in professional colleges and few are just into their first jobs.
Sharanyaa who kept 'scrapping' the other community members, continued to pass on the contact numbers of many youngsters ready to volunteer for the festival.
The team, Sharanyaa, Krishna and Venkat at the Nageswara Rao park was amazed at the enthusiasm of the kids participated in the Art contest and workshop. The kutcheri and the folk dance on the Chess-square of the park just rocked the park last evening. The team is up till Sunday!

The hospitality volunteers Raghav and Rahul are game for providing anything! Be it buttermilk or lunch, Rosemilk or Bondas. The team is seen shuttling between the restaurant and the main stage. The friendly hotelier and the restaurant managers are new faces for them. At the end of the day, the team bids bye with a smile!

The Arts Street on the Pitchupillai is managed by Vimal and the dances inside the temple by Saranya.
And yes, the website www.mylaporefestival.com maintained by Prasanna and friends is updated everyday. Don't forget to drop by!

Walks are becoming popular

V. Sriram warns me that he will be able to manage only 25 people on the first walk - the music heritage walk scheduled for January 5 morning.
Sriram seems to have had a hectic concert-hopping 'season' and may not have the energy to throw his voice across to 50 people.

We have hosted this walk many times before and it gets a good response. But many people request us to start only at 7 am. "Its a Sunday na!", they say.

Sriram is travelling south, perhaps hopping down to the aradhana in Thiruvaiyaru that weekend, so we had to schedule this walk for a Friday.

We are starting out at 6am. So we suggest that you should wrap up well. It is chill and we would all like that chill to remain in Chennai at least till February!

P.S: The other two walks are on Sunday, Jan.7

Big rush for Kolams!

It feels good to know that the Kolam Contest of the Mylapore Fest is hugely popular.
In less than a week, registrations for both events - on January 6 and 7, had to be closed.
Volunteer Priya Ravi, who has played a key role in organising community events in her backyard in Kotturpuram, handled the registrations.

It feels nice to recall here of the time, over a decade ago, when the first kolam contest was held in the playground of Lady Sivaswami Girls School in the Chitrakulam area. When we found that the contestants grew restless while the judges had backstage discussions, we thought it would be a good idea to host two cultural events.

Since then, the contest has grown into a fest.

We had the entire North Mada Street to hold the kolam contests. Which meant that we had about 175 people creating what would become a carpet of kolams in less than an hour.
Some store owners on the street did not like the idea of closing traffic for an hour. So we had to respect those objections and narrow down the kolam space.
Now we can accommodate about 125 people. And that includes about 20 children.

So all those who did not get to hear of the kolam contest in mid- December, had to be disappointed.
We feel bad about turning them away.
Perhaps you may have a solution to this - how do we accommodate everybody in the Mada Streets area?
Write to us now!