Storyteller at the parking lotOn a perfect clich of a beautiful Sunday morning, I joined a sizeable and motley group from toddlers to old folk to the middle aged to young professionals gathered outside Fort St George. As the sun played hide-and seek with light grey clouds and the wind whistled through our hair (smelling of sea, salt and fish), we waited impatiently for the first walk commemorating Madras Day to begin.
At 8 a.m. (give or take a few minutes), the walk began. Vincent Souza, of Adyar Times fame, introduced us to Suresh our guide and the voice behind the Fort`s history. And right from the first syllable I knew I was on a walk to be treasured.
Suresh quickly traced the history of the region from pre-historic times tools from the stone age were discovered in Triplicane, Kalkshetra and Adyar; the Chozhas and the Pallavas ruled the region before the Vijaynagara empire took over the reigns, and how the Vijaynagara king handed over a plot of land to the East India Company.
Then it was on to the security checkwhere, thanks to positive discrimination, the women's line moved faster, while the men had to put up with thorough head-to-toe frisking. Once over the moat, the Secretariat immediately caught my eye. However, the building was overshadowed by the quaint Fort Museum to the rightwhich stood there with self-possession, spruced up by a fresh paint job.
Suresh's lucid, well articulated, patient and detailed explanation continued. As he talked about Greeks and Romans who were supposed to have come to Madras to exchange gold and silver for spices, he pulled out a little box. And out popped a copper coin of Chozha origin. He passed it along so we could squint at it and trace the pattern of the tiger and the elephant on it.
Special: Madras Day | Magical Fort St George
Text/images: Aparanjeetha Sambandan
Image: A tombstone registry from the 1800s preserved at St Mary`s Church
| Slide Shows | Columns | Calendar
