Life & Style

18

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Life & Style, Lifestyle

Heritage walk at Chennai port highlights its role in trade, architecture and the making of the city

For centuries, the sea was Chennai’s front gate. Long before airports and expressways, the city’s first encounters were shaped along this coast. In many ways, modern Chennai began here: with ships unloading not just cargo, but cultures, communities, and the city’s very identity. It is not every day that the gates of Chennai Port open to visitors, but on a cloudy August dawn, buzzing with anticipation, a group of us step past the high-security entrance as part of The Hindu’s Made of Chennai heritage walk led by Thirupurasundari Sevvel, architect and founder of Nam Veedu Nam Oor Nam Kadhai. Inside, the…

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18

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Life & Style, Lifestyle

Stella Maris Fine Arts graduates of 1987 come together for reunion art show in Chennai

In a quiet corner of VA Gallery on Chamiers Road, a group of women lean over a desk, admiring paintings. The artist, Kannur-based Vidhya Chandran, appears a little overwhelmed by the attention. “My main medium is fabric… these are just practice sketches,” she says, signing her name with her brush. At once, her batchmates erupt in encouragement, insisting the works deserve to be framed and treasured.It is this spirit of camaraderie and creative persistence that defines An Artful Reunion, a group show by the Fine Arts batch of 1987 from Stella Maris College. Nearly four decades after graduation, 18 of…

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18

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Life & Style, Lifestyle

Chennai’s urban village fest Sempozhil blends folk art, food, and native cattle displays

To commemorate the first year anniversary of the Jallikattu protests, a festival called Sempulam was held in 2018. It was helmed by Thondaimandalam Foundation — that works to sustain rural and peri-urban livelihoods in the Thondaimandalam region spanning from Tirupati to Tiruvannamalai — and Actor Karthi’s Uzhavan Foundation that supports farmer livelihoods. The two-day event brought together farmers who promoted organic farming methods, and the fair showcased native cattle breeds of Tamil Nadu. A cultural performance at a prior edition of the festival | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Last year, Sempulam was held on a much-larger scale as a three-day…

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14

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Independence Day: Memorials in Thiruvananthapuram that are reminders of India’s struggle for independence

On the occasion of the 79th year of India’s independence, here is a look at how the freedom movement swept through Thiruvananthapuram, then a part of Travancore and the monuments built in memory of freedom fighters as a reminder of their sacrifice. These are living stories of courage and resilience. “The fight was spearheaded by Travancore State Congress formed in February 1938 to work towards responsible governance. The Congress was up against not just the British but also the then Dewan, CP Ramaswamy Iyer, who resorted to brutal measures to crush the agitations,” says historian Malayinkil Gopalakrishnan.Remembering the bloodshed Veeraraghava…

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13

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Clarence High School releases picture postcards to mark 110th anniversary

Throwback image of Clarence High School | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement This year, Clarence High School in Bengaluru turned 110 and to mark the occasion, four picture postcards were released in July. The postcards feature five people who were instrumental in structuring the framework of the institution. While one postcard bears the images of Alfred McDonald Redwood and Walter McDonald Redwood who founded Clarence High School in 1914, the others are of former principals Wilfred Wilcox and Arthur CA Flack, and a former KG coordinator Emma Horton. According to Retd Commodore Prem Reuben (Indian Navy), administrator of the school, the idea…

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13

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Life & Style, Lifestyle

Down Under by Milan’s Formafantasma explores Nature and science through art

Illustrated by Clément Vuillier, the book is structured in two parts | Photo Credit: GREGORIO GONELLA Building on the conversations around the environment and educating children about Nature, Milan’s research-based design studio Formafantasma is out with a picture book for young readers and adults alike. Titled Down Under: The Curious Fall of a Child Who Knew Nothing and Became Everything, the book (illustrated by Clément Vuillier) is structured in two parts. It begins with the story about a child ‘who, upon falling into a hole in an open field, embarks on a journey through the hidden layers of the Earth,…

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13

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Life & Style, Lifestyle

Author Prajwal Parajuly chases the perfect dumpling and finds it in Chennai

Almost all my favourite restaurants in New York and London, or anywhere else, are east Asian or Southeast Asian. Clearly, I have a bias for foods from a certain part of the world.In New York, I often go to Thai Diner and Jeju and Atoboy. For no-frills Chinese, I like Chili. I’ve sadly not met a single New York dim sum I can unreservedly recommend—not in Chinatown, not in Flushing, and not even at the aforementioned Chili. For the perfect dim-sum, I choose Royal China Club in London. How serious a patron am I? On a recent weeklong trip to the city,…

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12

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Mega music event in Thiruvananthapuram on August 15

Rehearsal for Thalasthanam Deshathinaayi Padunnu at Gandhi Bhavan | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN On August 15, Thiruvananthapuram will sing for the nation. It is the 79th Independence Day and Kanakakunnu Palace grounds will reverberate with the voices of 1,200 singers at ‘Thalasthanam Deshathinaayi Paadunnu’ (The capital singing for the nation), an initiative of Paattinte Koottukaar, a charity for music. “The singers will render two songs that every Indian knows – ‘Saare Jahaan Se Achcha’ and ‘Jana Gana Mana’,” says Nayas Elias, who heads Paattinte Koottukaar, which has been conducting music sessions at institutions that house cancer patients and their carers…

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11

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Oorjaa’s sustainable lights illuminate various shades of green

Jenny Pinto wants more people to consciously support a movement towards circularity, a practice that aims to minimise waste and optimise the use of resources. “All of us say, ‘Oh, the fossil fuel companies or big corporations,’ but eventually the consumer has the power,” says Jenny, who founded Oorjaa, a Bengaluru-based design studio focused on sustainable lighting, back in 1998. Raising awareness about these things is the raison d’être of Oorjaa’s ongoing Shades of Green, a week-long festival focusing on design, dialogue and self-reflection to promote sustainability, which she hopes to make a biennale. From ‘Songs of Nature’, an immersive…

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09

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Planning a monsoon break? Here’s why South Goa should top your list

You can tell a lot about a place by how it behaves in the rain. North Goa, with its sunny bravado and beach-bar buzz, tends to take a back seat come monsoon — shuttered shacks, quiet lanes, Aperol dreams on pause. But South Goa unfurls. Airbnb seems to have picked up on this shift in rhythm. Their recently launched digital magazine, Goa Unseen, is a soft pivot away from the usual must-do lists. It is thoughtful, image-rich, and most notably, tilted toward the South. According to Airbnb, monsoon bookings in South Goa have seen a steady 20–25% rise over the…

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