Great work by Mylapore Times

Hello!
This is a great work by Mylapore Times. I am sure all of us who grew up in Mylapore will have many interesting things to say about life then. I vaguely remember a long time resident whose family had close connections to Gandhiji. Apparently, Gandhiji used to stay with them during his visits to the city. The family owned part of what is now known as Nageswara Rao Park. I wonder whom Nageswara Rao Park is named after.

Mylapore social history project

Hi everybody,

This is Shyamala, the Mylapore social history project coordinator.

As Vincent says, the History, Heritage and Culture of Mylapore go back into time.
When we started this project a few months ago, we had little idea what we were looking into. Even before we could scrape at the surface we were overwhelmed by the greatness of Mylapore's history and the richness of its culture.

We have an onerous task ahead.

However, we believe that this project is very worthwhile and will become a most valuable resource for information on Mylapore’s social, cultural and economic life. And we are talking of not only the rich and the famous but even the poor and humble sections of the society.

We want to create something that will continue growing forever. Will people be adding to it, twenty, fifty or even hundred years from now? Can this collection form the most powerful bond of understanding between generations of Mylaporeans?

We invite anyone who has recollections of Mylapore's rich heritage - or has friends and relatives who can recall life as it was in the late 1800s or early 1900s - to participate in this program by contributing or directing us to useful resources.

Happy bonding!

Welcome to Ol' Mylapore

Mylapore ( or Meilapur - one of the many ways in which this area in the heart of the city of Madras that is now Chennai was known ) is far, far older than the city of Madras. And so, its history, heritage and its people and their lives, go back into time.

Little has been done to record the place, its people and its life.
Reason why 'Mylapore Times', a weekly free community newspaper in English, published since 1994, has started a Mylapore Social History Project on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.

The project will endeavour to document the families who lived in Mylapore and made a mark in different fields - law, music and dance, journalism, sport, education . . whatever. It will also document the physical changes that have taken place here - how areas like Alwarpet, Mandaveli and Abhiramapuram developed.

It will also document the histories of the institutions that have contributed to life in this area and the momentous events that took place here.

We hope to execute this project by collecting data, diaries, documents, books and booklets and brochures on any person or place of historical relevance and by collecting pictures and albums that reflect old Mylapore.

We invite senior Mylaporeans to write for us, stories of their family histories that trace the men and women who played key roles in the city, and to share copies of their pictures. Even pictures of a wedding procession near the temple tank in the 1920s and 30s or of people travelling in a tram to Santhome in the 1930s will be valuable records.

We invite you to use this blog to post notes of value to this project. Please keep your notes sharp and short. And provide us with additional contacts that we may wish to tap down the line.

To share information. which will add value to this project, do e mail us at mylaporetimes@vsnl.com


Vincent D' Souza
Publisher
Mylapore Times