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The destruction of heritage
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the bringing down of Kushaldoss Gardens (Miscellany, December 19), a Poonamallee High Road heritage landmark. Since them at least two other heritage buildings have fallen to the wreckers' hammers.
On Linghi Chetty Street, round the corner from Anderson Church on NSC Bose Road, another historic building is set to be pulled down, as I write. This L.I.C.-owned building, its rooms rented out for lawyers' chambers, was marked by a steeple identical to that of Anderson Church. When the rains brought down the steeple of a building particularly badly maintained by its owners, work began on pulling the rest down. This building and the Church were the only relics of the heyday of this area, when Madras Christian College and School functioned in several handsome buildings here and sent forth many who became leaders in the land.
The building being pulled down was a classroom block that the legendary principal of the college, the Rev. William Miller, had built c.1910. Around it there still remains vestiges of other college and school buildings, much of it now commercial space.
The L.I.C., which proudly proclaims the restoration of its main building in Calcutta — and an excellent job it has done of it too — has been less than enthusiastic about its heritage properties in Madras. This MCC building was allowed to collapse — and then chosen for destruction rather than restoration. And no attempt is being made to restore that Mount Road landmark where Indo-Saracenic has run exotically wild, the Bharath Insurance Building.
Another bit of wrecking has truly surprised me. Even as the Diamond Jubilee of AVM Studios was being celebrated, the building where Avichi Meiyappan began his Madras success story was being pulled down. Saraswathi Stores, first distributing records, then making them, is from where AVM took his first steps in filmdom. With his centenary year underway and the celebration of his studio's 60th birthday having hardly died down, I least expected Saraswathi Stores to go the way of much of shistoric Madras. Some years ago, the building had been strikingly restored and became a popular restaurant that took the humble dosai upmarket. But when that venture had to close down for reason that had nothing to do with its popularity, the building had been left to languish. Perhaps with that approach of neglect, its fate was sealed.
That we indeed have a curious attitude to heritage, I can't help remarking on. Particularly as, while I was ruminating over the fate of these buildings, I received an invitation from a public sector bank. I was being invited on "a pilgrimage of Kanadukathan (in Chettinad)" to "revisit our roots," the Indian Overseas bank having been founded by M.Ct.M Chidambaram Chettyar of Kanadukathan. With Kanadukathan having been declared a Heritage Village by the Government, I opened the invitation hoping to find that the IOB had made a significant contribution to restoring the neglected mansions of the village. But to my horror I found that what was being inaugurated was a "Solar Lamp Project"! Ye God and little fishes, to take an expression out of my youth, a solar lamp project in a heritage village!
What next? Well, the roads have already been tarred, hotels are planned — a couple even with swimming pools! (swimming pools in a village, forsooth!) — and fountains, restaurants and parks are being talked about. But not a word is being said about restoring the old mansions and making them accessible — and those mansions are the only attractions in the area and the only reason why Chettinad can attract tourists. Whoever dreams up such schemes — no doubt with Governmental blessings — only destroys the very ambience of heritage.
S. MUTHIAH
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