Once a Mylaporean, Always a Mylaporean

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Originally uploaded by theiyer.

The title might sound cliched if you have been in the part of Chennai called Mylapore. There is an aura associated to this area which blends the old and the new. And it is therefore not suprising that Mylaporeans came in droves to celebrate the "Mylapore Festival".

This festival, if I am not wrong, was into its second successful edition. Mylapore was resplendent in the street lights that were erected for this purpose and the small gullies were bursting at their seams with not just the Mylaporeans, but even foreigners who had come specifically for the event.

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Originally uploaded by theiyer.

Folk dances, street theatre, kolam competitions and many more such items were there to keep the people entertained all through the four days. But my favourites were "kutcheri in the park" and the special food counters put by caterer Shubham Ganesan. The concerts were held in Nagswara Rao park in Luz. Suchitra and I go for a walk in the mornings to the park and during these four days we used to catch up with some good music while on the walk. Talking about the latter, on two consecutive days I had food at Shubham Ganesan's stalls which had some of the best Tamil delicacies . Relished them and added some good calories.

My sister Usha was coordinating the events at Pitchu Pillai Street, which had Stella Marris girls displaying and selling their handiwork - ear rings, glaass and paper paintings, mehendi tatooing. Arts college students were involved in drawing portraits of the visitors. Needless to say, Pitchu Pillai street drew a lot of visitors, more for the people who were selling rather than their wares.
Some of the men were keen on mehendi tatooing, for some obvious reasons. MY sister said she had tough time managing these "over-enthusisastic" men.

Sundaram Finance is doing a good job with this initiative . Yeah not to forget, Vincent (of Mylapore Times) has been able to do a great job - probably you can forgive his put-on accent for this effort. If only Mylapore streets were broader to take this....if only wishes were horses....