AgamSei issue 1 - Resilience by AgamSei

AGAM SEI

Volume : 01 Issue : 10 Free Circulation 8 Pages TNBIL/2014/59272 August 14 - September 14, 2015

RESILIENCE

360째 panaroma of the Pallikaranai Marsh. Image courtesy - Vinoth Kumar ARCHNA

SUJAI

KESHAV

AVINASH

August 14 - September 14

AGAM SEI

TNBIL/2014/59272

RECORDING RESILIENCE

In conversation with photographer Santhosh Loganaathan Keshav Suryanarayanan

Santhosh Loganaathan, an architectural photographer, talks about his project- to photograph Kathamandu post the earthquake. His intention is to bring to focus the architectural value of Nepal and the positivity of the process of rebuilding. Nepal faced one of its worst natural disasters on 25thApril 2015, when it was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8. Many villages destroyed, more than 9000 killed, 23000 injured and thousands of people were left homeless. Heritage buildings, centuries old, at UNESCO World Heritage sites, collapsed. The relief eﬀorts that focused on getting food and medical help to survivors was covered by the mainstream media. The Silence of Resilience, however, is a photography exhibition that focuses on the lost architectural heritage and the process of rebuilding it.

What was the genesis of this project? After the news of Nepal and the earthquake’s impact, I noticed that the humanitarian and the social crisis were being covered well by the mainstream media. But the architectural heritage of Kathmandu Valley was receiving less attention in comparison. Given the cultural value of these heritage buildings, and the fact that they were all declared world-heritage sites, I decided to document the impact of the earthquake on the heritage speciﬁcally.

What was the reaction when you ﬁrst got there? I landed in Kathmandu prepared for the worst. To my surprise, I was welcomed by an active and bustling city. In fact, I even started to wonder whether this place was hit by the earthquake at all. Almost all shops were open. People were full of smiles and going on about their daily activities. It took me a while to realize that this city is ﬁghting back, despite being hit. The will of the people to bounce back blew my mind.

What was the focus of your project? The mainstream media and many photographers have done a good job of documenting the disaster. But what they’ve missed out on is the speed at which things are getting back to how it was before. This important aspect has been neglected by the press, which in turn has had a huge negative impact on its tourism, an otherwise thriving economic sector for Nepal. So through exhibition I intended to create an awareness of how things were moving forward and that its perfectly okay to travel back there now.

What did you intend when you said documenting the architectural recovery? I took a set of photographs from existing archives of some famous heritage monuments before the earthquake and tried to capture its existing condition in the exact same frame. This will present a comparitive picture of the damage occurred. I intend to take photographs from the same angle every four months, for the next 10 years. Through this exercise, I’ll be able to document the entire reconstruction in the form of a time-lapse.

Images courtesy - Santhosh Loganaathan

How did the exhibition come about and what was the response? The response of the people overwhelmed me. One of those who visited happened to be a survivor of the quake himself. He told me that he loved how I chose beauty over the ugly side of the disaster to showcase as my work. The rest of them seem to really like the before-after sequence that we put forth. This featured superimposed images of the buildings before and after the earthquake. We also invited a couple of people from an NGO called 'Choose Life', who were involved in the relief work there to share their experiences. The one who survived were also one among those who spoke to the gathering.

Where do you see this project going from here on? This exhibhition was, to me, a trial run. I just wanted to see what the response would be like. The plan was to do a bigger exhibition in Chennai if this one went succesfully. But the response and appreciation I received made me realised that I shouldn’t limit it to just one city. So my team and I plan to take it to diﬀerent cities, starting with Bangalore, then Erode, Coimbatore, Pondy and ﬁnally back to Chennai. After that we plan on taking this to Kathmandu itself. Moreover, I'll be doing a timelapse of the reconstruction and restoration of heriitage structures for the next ten years which will also be made into a documentary. We have also been asked to make a presentation for the 'Pondicherry Heritage Week' by the board in March, 2016.

Who and where did you get the support to take on such an ambitious project? When I first thought of this project, everyone I spoke to were skeptical about the practical risks involved and the funds needed to pull this through. But when I pitched it to the AgamSei team, they were more than willing to support me financially. Their support didn’t just stop with the money. They also helped in organizing the exhibition, marketing it, pitching the idea to potential sponsors. They helped take my mind of the logistics so that I could focus on seeing the project through. They’ve also been a huge support morally as well. To simply put it without AgamSei, this project would have definitely not been possible.

We from the AgamSei team call out to anyone who has a unique idea and are looking for support or a platform to launch it. We as an organization are looking for new ideas and intend to see them through to the best of our ability. If you have one such idea, then please do contact us. Contact : Mr.Reeveezee Antony - +91 9962 89 56 78 / agamsei.newspaper@gmail.com

AGAM SEI

August 14 - September 14

NEPAL DECODED

TNBIL/2014/59272

EARTHQUAKE RESISTENT ARCHITECTURE Sanjana Maria John Nilofer Afza

A comprehensive look at eﬀective strategies that could be applied to building a more resilient future.

Images courtesy - Matthew Jose

On April 25th 2015, an earthquake rocked central Nepal. Measuring 7.8M on the Richter scale, it was the deadliest earthquake in the history of Nepal. A second one occurred on the 12th of May with a magnitude of 7.3M. The kind of earthquake that hit Nepal is a periodic event in the country. The earthquake itself was inevitable—Nepal lies on a tectonic fault line. Despite having foreseen such an event, haphazard urbanization and lack of suﬃcient precautionary measures around the Kathmandu Valley, ampliﬁed the fatal force of nature. Here's how a 2013 World Bank report summed up the problem in an article titled 'How Urban Planning Failed Nepal (by Tanvi Misra):

“

Unplanned urban development in the Kathmandu Valley has led to rapid and uncontrolled sprawl; irregular, substandard, and inaccessible housing development; loss of open space, and decreased livability. It has also increased vulnerability to disasters, making Kathmandu one of the most earthquake-vulnerable cities in the world

”

A timeline of all the earthquakes Nepal suﬀered

Kathmandu's Pashupatinath Temple is one the few structures that was left unscathed during the earthquake and it oﬀers a lesson in earthquake-resilient building. Unlike the Durbar Square or Dharahara Tower , the Pashupatinath Temple isn't very tall. It is also made of solid material; its brick (as opposed to mortar) walls are held together by the strong metal sheets in its roof.

“

Kathmandu's Pashupatinath Temple is one the few structures that was left unscathed during the earthquake and it oﬀers a lesson in earthquakeresilient building

”

"The square pan of the temple, its light weight, the roofs and ﬂoors uniting with the walls and a strong jointing system helped. The quality of construction ... is also very high." - R.S. Jamwal of the Archeological Survey of India. Brittleness of the masonry wall lies on the thickness of the wall as they ought to carry the inertia force along the direction of the thickness. If a masonry wall stands vertically high, untied, unsupported and with less thickness, there is high possibility of brittle failure. So, vulnerability of the building lies on the brittle property of materials. By providing good anchorage, the brittle failure of the building can be restricted. This anchorage is done by ensuring the masonry courses are interlocked at the junctions. Ensuring horizontal bands or lateral ties at regular intervals in order to strengthen the structure is also an important strategy to be applied in earthquake resistant design. Further measures include restricting the size of the opening, maintaining a good proportion of the thickness of the wall and by monitoring the height of the masonry.

magnitude fatalities

An earthquake is a completely natural phenomenon. It releases a tremendous amount of energywhich in turn generates different kinds of waves at the surface. These seismic waves shake the ground surface which then impacts the building by inducing movement at the base of the building. This movement will force the lower part of the building to move along with the lateral movement while the upper part of the building will be in a position of rest. This is due to the effect of inertia which is what makes the building vulnerable. Usually the effect on the built structure is more when the upper part is heavily loaded. Thus lightness of the building, especially the upper part is essential in terms of earthquake engineering. Earthquake-resistant design aims at ensuring acceptable damage to the structure and zero fatalities. The legally built buildings are either load bearing or Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) structures. In case of load bearing structures, the walls (9’’ to 1’ thick) carry the load to the foundation. The RCC structures, also referred to as framed structures, have a column, beam and slab system. The columns carry the load to the foundation generally resting on a concrete pile. Load bearing structures, typically built prior to the 1970s have low earth resistance. They have brittle failure and instantly fail like a pack of cards. In framed structures, the bricks are stiff and have the ability to pull the structures opposite to the direction of the swaying forces and are ductile enough to allow small movement in the structure and hence perform better in terms of earthquake resistance. Most building that fell within seconds of the quake were load bearing structures like the Dharahara Tower in Kathmandu. Inertia Forces

Most buildings that have collapsed in the past have failed due to their poor plan, form and the height as well. The behaviour of a building during earthquakes depends critically on its overall shape, size and geometry. A structure with simple geometry and minimal corners tends to hold good rather than one with multiple edges. Earthquake engineering suggests that the building should be not too high, not too long, neither wide in relation to the ground. Also symmetry is essential to make the buildings less vulnerable to torsion which is the twist caused by lateral forces during an earthquake. Flexibility of the building could also help reduce the vulnerability. Flexible buildings undergo larger relative displacements which may result in damage to the non-structural components and content of the building. Although it may cause economic loss or panic, the building remains safe for its residents. In a well-designed earthquake resistant building, the soil must be stronger than the foundations, the foundations must be stronger than the columns and the columns must be stronger than the beams. One of the main reasons for the large scale devastation during the earthquake was unplanned and unregulated development. ‘’Disasters are “when” not “if” events.’’ The greatest lesson we can take is the need to incorporate sensitivity and resilience to everything we do. Physical resilience must be embedded throughout all development, permanently, not just months or years after an earthquake.

Earthquake resistent design ideas

Flow of seismic forces through structural components

Building in a site lie on diﬀerent soils

Walls and/or columns Foundation

Avoid complex corners and curves Earthquake shaking

Separation joint convert complex plans to simple plans

Thick wall vs. thin wall

Short wall vs. tall wall

AGAM SEI

August 14 - September 14

ONE IN A HUNDRED

C H E N N A I

R E S I L I E N T

About the Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller foundation was founded by Standard Oil owner

John D. Rockefeller ("Senior"), along twith his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr. ("Junior"), and Senior's principal oil & gas business and philanthropic advisor, Frederick Taylor Gates, in New York State May 14, 1913, when its charter was formally accepted by the New York State Legislature. Its central mission over the past 100 years has been "to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world."

C I T Y

Avinash Shanmugam

100 Resilient Cities is an initiative dedicated to helping cities around the world become more resilient to physical, social and economic challenges. Chennai is among the 67 cities selected so far by 100 RC. As citizens of Chennai, we may ﬁnd ourselves constantly cribbing about the many nuts and bolts of the city that fall out of placewater shortage, drainage systems, power cuts, and the list goes on. However, there is one attribute of Chennai city that has recently received some (surprisingly) worthy recognition- Resilience. 100 Resilient Cities—Pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) is dedicated to helping cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century. They deﬁne Urban Resilience as -

“

the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience.

”

The foundation currently has 67 cities on its list. Surat was the only Indian city to be on the first list of 32 released in December 2013. In December 2014, Bangalore and Namma Chennai made the list among 35 cities, out of 330 applications from 94 countries! Of all the cities in the world, what makes these three qualified enough to be considered resilient? 100RC states that resilient cities demonstrate 7 qualities that allows them to withstand, respond to, and adapt more readily to stresses and shocks. And those qualities are - reflectiveness , resourcefulness , robustness , redundancy , flexibility , inclusiveness and integration. *

Resilience challenges CHENNAI

BANGALORE

SURAT

Pollution

Floods

Overpopulation

Transport

Ageing infra.

In addition, Chennai is making eﬀorts by learning from past events and continuing to provide best-practice solutions to other regions. This is similar to how it responded in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, when it developed an early warning system. The city is budgeting resources to improve waste collection to minimize its impact, both as an environmental threat and during ﬂooding.

The ﬁnalists identiﬁed by the end of 2015 in the 100RC challenge will be eligible to receive-

Disease Outbreak

Failed infra.

London Glasgow

At present, as per the CMDA Disaster Management regulations, a disaster management cell functions in the City Corporation of Chennai to tackle flooding problem. Prior to the monsoon in October-December every year, drains are desilted and obstructions if any, are removed. Nodal and zonal officers are vested with adequate powers to tackle emergencies. Relief centres are identified and notified, and responsibilities are fixed for ensuring shifting of affected people to the relief centres. Equipment to take out floodwater from low-lying or submerged areas is kept ready. Arrangements are made for flood relief and details about who should be contacted in such emergencies are published in the media. All the agencies required to be involved such as the Police, Fire and Rescue services, Metropolitan Transport Corporation, District administration, Health, Army and Navy are alerted. Readiness to tackle the flooding situation is reviewed at the government level and ensured before monsoon every year. Although there are strict measures taken, one cannot deny that Chennai does have a flooding and drainage problem that becomes evident after a heavy rain.

“

Recent immigration has made Chennai the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the world. Informal peripheral settlements in low-lying coastal areas that lack access to infrastructure and services house many of these recent arrivals. To protect these in the face of a high ﬂood risk, oﬃcials have begun developing coordinate disaster response plans- one of the main reasons for why Chennai was chosen.

”

Byblos Bristol Belgrade Barcelona

St. Louis Oakland Berkeley

Montreal Athens Boston Lisbon New York Chicago

Boulder Dallas El Paso

Jacksonville New Orleans Milan Norfolk

Juarez Los Angeles

• Technical support to develop a holistic resilience strategy that reﬂects each city’s distinct needs ;

Mexico city

Cali

San Francisco

Medellin

• Access to an innovative platform of services to support strategy development and implementation. Platform partners come from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, and will offer tools in areas such as innovative finance, technology, infrastructure, land use, and community and social resilience;

Be sure to look for further developments about the 100 Resilient Cities initiative, as well as other articles about happenings in Chennai city in future issues of Agam Sei.

One of the main reasons for Chennai being selected was for developing coordinate disaster response plans. What is the system currently in place?

source : www.100resilientcities.org

• Funding in the form of a grant to hire a Chief Resilient Oﬃcer;

• Membership in the 100 Resilient Cities network to share knowledge and practices with other cities.

Sea level

Hurricane

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Quito San Juan

1:3

50 states 17 resilient cities

Amman Ashkelon Arusha C Kigali Ban

Paris

Pittsburgh

USA

Surat

Santa Fe Santiago De Los Cabalerros Santiago Metropolitan Region

Rome Rotterdam Tulsa Dakar Accra Enugu Porto Allegre Rio De Janeiro

Durban Ramallah Velje

Thessaloniki

Welling

AGAM SEI

August 14 - September 14

2013

2014

Surat

Bangalore Chennai

Robin Williams - A man who was so talented that his teachers from Julliard told him that they had nothing more to teach him, and he dropped out of this prestigious institution. Described as a genius by legends in the movie business, Robin had a manic energy and vigour when he performed comedy, imitated by many, equalled by few and surpassed by none. He was equally brilliant on the other end of the spectrum too- the movies. Starting with stand-up comedy as soon as he left college, he became vastly popular with the television show ‘Mork & Mindy’.

2015

???

Reﬂective: Using past experience to inform future decisions Resourceful: Recognizing alternative ways to use resources Robust: Well conceived, constructed and managed systems Redundant: Spare capacity purposively created to accommodate disruption Flexible: Willingness to adopt alternate strategies in response to changing circumstances Inclusive: Prioritize broad consultation to create a sense of shared ownership in decision-making Integrate: Bring together a range of distinct systems and institutions

Population estimate for 2015

”

Sn.no

Cities

Country

Pop. est

Tokyo

Japan

378,43,000

Jakarta

Delhi

India

249,98,000

Mumbai

India

177,12,000

Kolkatta

India

146,67,000

Bangalore

India

98,07,000

Chennai

India

97,14,000

Hyderabad

India

87,54,000

Indonesia 305,39,000

source : www.Demographia World Urban Areas: 11th Annual Edition: 2015.01 (Built-Up Urban Areas or World Agglomerations)

all the resilient cities marked

Huangshi De Yang Da Nang Bangkok Phnom Penh

Chennai Singapore ngalore Semarang Sydney

Mandalay

“

He then went on to give many critically acclaimed performances in movies as well, be it in comic roles like ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’, dramatic roles like ‘Dead Poets Society’, animated movies like 'Aladdin' and 'Happy Feet' or roles with darker undertones like ‘One Hour Photo'.

”

But in his personal life, Robin had to deal with a lot of demons. He soon became addicted to cocaine and alcohol but quit after the birth of his first son. This sudden change could also be attributed to the death of one his close friends due to a drug overdose. However, he was known to talk honestly and publicly about his problems, making it part of his stand-up performances talking about his drug and alcohol problems, divorce, heart surgery and financial difficulties. He even included his relapses in his stand-up. He made people laugh really hard even while going through a hard time. He often said that performing, to him, was like therapy; a vent for the things he could not talk about freely. Even in interviews, he would do different voices, impressions. He could go from being manically funny to deadly serious within a span of a few seconds, especially when asked about his more serious roles, giving a momentary glimpse into his more insightful side, which often gets masked by his manic one. Robin Williams was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia at the time leading up to his death and committed suicide by hanging himself. Irrespective of his end, he was an incredibly strong and resilient man who bounced back after every problem for 30 years, making people happy, getting them to laugh and think; undoubtedly one of the brightest minds in the world. Robin Williams once said, which pretty much sums up his entire life, that, "You're given only one spark of madness, you mustn't lose it."

August 11th marks the ﬁrst anniversary of the death of Robin Williams, one of the funniest improvisational stand up comedians and an inspiration to many. O H C A P TA I N , M Y C A P TA I N !

Keshav Suryanarayanan

ROBIN WILLIAMS

Amidst the dynamic city of Chennai, lies the ‘parrot sanctuary’ tucked away in a busy street in Royapettah. Despite being is a busy neighbourhood, hundreds of parrots gather every day to feast on rice and water laid out by a humble camera mechanic, C.Sekar. To the passersby, this scene is quite delightful and is a serene experience. This sanctuary initially started out as a small feeding point for a few crows and pigeons and once the parrots started showing up, they only grew in number day by day. Every day, Sekar lays out 30 kilograms of soaked rice for these birds at around 5:30 and cleans up after them post sunset. This routine is now an everyday delight to the residents as well as the passersby. It also draws visitors from elsewhere as it is provides an experience that is not found in other parts of the city. The presence of ‘Green amongst the concrete jungle’, the sweet chirping of the birds is an excellent break from the sounds of the busy street below. For nearly a decade, Sekar has been laying out the feast for the birds every evening spending Rs.1000 per day to feed them. A view that brings even traﬃc to a standstill, this sanctuary attracts around 100 parrots and other birds every day.

“ A

Melbourne Christchurch

1:9

source : www.100resilientcities.org

INDIA 27 states 3 resilient cities

”

Green amongst the concrete jungle. P L A C E - M A K I N G

R O U T I N E

THE BIRDMAN

Nilofer Afza

Toyama

gton City

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AGAM SEI

August 14 - September 14

C H E N N A I

INDLESS ONOPOLY OF ASTERPLAN R E S I L I E N T

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C I T Y

Archna Menon

Chennai’s masterplan for its development is older than the name Chennai itself. Drafted in the year 1976, it was revised only once since then. Here’s a take on why there has to be serious reconsiderations to it.

Let’s talk about Monopoly.

When ArchitectureRED took up the re-design of some of Besant Nagar streets, the architects received opposition from a few Charles Darrow’s board-game take on property dealer- within the community for various reasons. The architects then ship that has everything right from avenues to railroads, organized a small discussion with the people at the end of which bank to its very own prison; a ﬁght to win monopoly over they all came out in full support of the design. This just goes to an entire city; a game that guarantees to tear apart even show the huge gap that exists between implementation of a project and people’s acceptance of it.

the closest of friends on a game night.

Contrary to popular belief, Monopoly is more than just a board game. The rules are rooted deep in the Georgian Principle of single taxes. It was originally patented as The Landlord’s Game by Elizabeth Maggie to explain the economic beneﬁts of such a system. What Monopoly could also teach us is, how not to build our cities.

And that doesn’t even skim the surface of this issue. Let’s say, you start out to head somewhere, you decide to go back to a spot you just crossed. So what would you have to do? Go round till you cross it again. There is technically only one legitimate route from one space to another. Now you think I’m talking about the game right?

“

Many conversations on the Masterplan for Chennai. The sad part is we never ever had one. We had a pathetic unprofessional one which itself is a decade or more delayed. The city still grows unleashed. The lack of planning and infrastructure will soon hit us all and the city will collapse in itself. The tragedy of our Indian cities

”

Real Estate price changes after the highline 120% 100% 80%

So you roll the dice, move forward and land on a space. You buy the land and start to develop areas by building hotels and houses. The other players would have no say in what you do with the land. Fair enough for a game? Yes. But for a city? Maybe not. Architect Biju Kuriakose, of ArchitectureRED, explains why. When a development comes up next to your property, you should have the complete knowledge of how it would affect you; the kind of traffic that would hit your street; the kind of people you’re inviting into your space, so on and so forth. There should be somebody in the neighborhood, possibly the elected representatives, who could facilitate negotiations with the developer. This isn’t all that farfetched an idea, as you would think it to be. Many cities outside India have similar organizations, New York City for example. Another would be that neighborhood associations maintain many of the parks in our very own city. Only here, they work in isolation, without the power to create any other significant changes.

60%

20% 0%

within 5 minutes

5-10 minutes away

over 10m minutes

source : http://www.nycedc.com

Images courtesy - Deepika Rajan Well think again.

Old Mahabalipuram Road will soon have a similar story to tell. It has huge roads, lined with large concrete structures that completely lack any sense of community living, much to the dismay of many architects in the city. The rest of us don’t particularly care about community living. But what we do care about is traffic. So wouldn’t we care when, planners project that soon you’ll have to travel across an entire length, like hypothetically speaking, about 100 meters, to find the nearest possible detour Another grossly misconstrued notion, very similar to the game, is onto the parallel street, just like you would have to on a monopoly the idea of revenue generation. Revenue isn’t generated only board. from building hotels and houses, gated communities and malls. Open spaces though at first would seem like a waste of an Things are going out of hand and it’s time to pause and take a investor’s money, could actually be good long term investments look. According to an article published in The Hindu (by and could go a long way to boost land and property values. A A.Srivatsan on 6th June 2013), Chennai is set to grow from 176 classic example is the effect The Highline had on the Lower West sq.km to either 420 sq.km or 800 sq.km. That’s nearly five times Side of Manhattan. When an abandoned railway track in Manhat- its current size. The panic that’s seizing architects and urban tan got converted to a beautiful linear park the real estate values designers in the city is very evident from Architect Pramod of the surroundings sky rocketed. And the cherry on the cake, the Balakrishnan’s Facebook status greeting everyone one morning: project was conceptualized by Joshua David and Robert POPULATION GROWTH IN CHENNAI source : http://www.thaibicindia.org.in Hammond, residents of a neighbourhood through which the railway track ran. 2001 There definitely needs to be a more holistic and sensible approach to money making. Such outlandish overtly capitalist outlooks of the people have made smaller attempts by organizations like ITDP and some architects in the city go unnoticed. If you ever notice your sidewalks fixed, with bays or probably a deserted track (intended for cyclist) then you should know it was a conscious effort of some people who knew better than to work the city like a game of Monopoly.

Percentage of change from 2003

40%

Peter J Park, in an article in The New Indian Express (by C.Shivakumar on 18th Dec 2013), suggests a transit oriented approach to city. He further elaborates that cities are now planned around cars and vehicles and not around people. Broadening roads, building ﬂyovers, will soon lead to ghost cities with barely any life outside of homes and speeding cars. Cities have to be planned for life and people within; planned to be able to simply breathe without being breathed down upon by the towering masses of concrete. Life in a city is more to than houses, hotels, banks and railroads. That’s simply a gross simpliﬁcation acceptable only for game for 6, not for a city of over 4 million players. If we don’t come together and educate ourselves, Chennai will soon become the three dimensional rendition of the Monopoly board, with barely any streets and ghost developments. Let’s just say that all our land is mortgaged and we’re close to declaring bankruptcy and losing the game all together. EXTENT OF CHENNAI (sq.km)

source : http://www.thaibicindia.org.in

2001 1991 1991 1981 1981 1971

Extent

1971 1961

1961

Population growth 0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,00

4,000,000

4,500,000

5,000,000

100

150

200

August 14 - September 14

HELMET PODU DA

AGAM SEI

TNBIL/2014/59272

A R A L LY F O R AWA R E N E S S B Y K . S . A C A D E M Y Adithya Krishnakumar

Bringing out the importance of wearing helmets, planting more trees, etc. as one has to love life. Students of K.S Academy a premier institution for budding chartered accountants conducted a rally and a street play about road safety on 09.08.15 (Sunday) following the tragic death of one of their students who passed away in a motorcycle accident last month. Around 700 students assembled at the Marina Beach, clad in white, to show their support in making use of helmets compulsory. Many people gathered near the Mahatma Gandhi statue, the event place, to witness the happenings. The students held placards with slogans written in it .The rally started at the Mahatma Gandhi statue and went on till the Vivekananda House headed by their dean Mr. K Saravanan, which was followed by a street play. The street play was performed by the academy’s variety team who were trained by the ‘G Theatre society’. The street play was not only about wearing helmets to prevent accidents, but also touched upon many other important things such as planting more number of trees, which was one of the important ideas put forth by our late former president Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam to ensure rainfall and reduce global warming. They also insisted that it would be a ﬁtting tribute to him more than just mourning his loss in the social media, by planting trees. The students enacted on how the social media can become addictive over a period of time and how some people misuse it and urged the public to use it judiciously and for all the right reasons and not become a slave to it. The team insisted that all assembled here should take an oath of wearing helmets as one has to love his life, just like that of their loved ones. They should also insist their family and friends to wear it too. It has been noted that the latest census states that India has the most number of accidents compared to other countries in a year. It’s our responsibility to promote the wearing of helmets for a safe journey and safer life. The event commenced around 7.00 am and went on till 9 am. It was indeed a wonderful show of corporate social responsibility by the future CA’s. Images courtesy - Studio 5

Images courtesy - BHFTH

By Hand From The Heart is a makers marketplace held periodically in Chennai. Started in 2011, BHFTH has featured designers, artisans, artists and entrepreneurs from all over India and abroad to showcase their collection of handmade, handcrafted, handwoven, homemade products. It was initiated and curated by designers who are aware of the logistical hindrances of organizing such an event. The organization is on a permanent mission to scout for new creativity and skill where a jury is held before every exhibition to select the featured designers. The By Hand team receives hundreds of applications every year promising a new and exciting array of handmade, handcrafted products at every edition. The idea is not to bring in mere variety – it is more to create a multi-dimensional, inclusive atmosphere for the craftsman-artisan-farmer working with his or her hands creatively and the consumer. It is an attempt at making the marketplace a more personal space where the consumer gets to understand the story behind every product he/she is buying. It is the perfect setting for buyers to get to know the makers, as well as a way for small businesses to showcase and sell their merchandise. The 16th edition took place on 7th and 8th August 2015 at Hanu Reddy Residences, Poes Garden. BHFTH now enjoys a growing reputation as a craft-focused community of artisans oﬀering unique, handmade products of high

ARTISANS MARKET

A R A L LY F O R AWA R E N E S S B Y K . S . A C A D E M Y

Sneha Palepu An attempt at making the marketplace a more personal space, where every artefact has a story to tell. It is the perfect setting for buyers to get to know the makers, as well as a way for small businesses to showcase and sell their merchandise. high aesthetic and practical value. This time, the makers market featured 43 new participants from Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Bhubaneshwar, Mysore, Bangalore, Cochin, Pollachi, Kovai and Chennai, bringing fresh energy to the artistic community of Chennai, as well as providing a platform for young artisans and designers. It has grown conceptually over the 15 shows it has conducted so far – other than bringing in new talent,it strives to bring in more variety where there is something in the marketplace for everyone. They now conduct workshops and have brought in a café that serves delicious, healthy home-baked treats. The latest addition is a farmer’s market selling fresh organic vegetable and dairy produce besides other products – a great hit with the visitors. Some of the other featured items were clothing, jewellery and crafts, garden supplies, sustainable living showcasing biodegradable tableware etc. So if you’re looking for that perfect, one-of-a-kind artefact or if you’re just looking to support the working artists and farmers who make it all happen, don’t miss the next edition of The Artisans and Farmers market – you will not be disappointed.

AGAM SEI

August 14 - September 14 T H E AT R E

A N D

Avinash Shanmugam

Carnage, a Crea-Shakthi Production DATE : Sunday, August 30th , 3:00 pm- 9:00 pm VENUE : Harishree Vidyalayam

F A I R S

New Zealand Education Fair DATE : August 23rd, 11:00 am- 5:00 pm VENUE : ITC Grand Chola

T R I B A L

IDP, Australian Education Fair DATE : August 29th, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm VENUE : Taj Coromandel

A R T,

F U N

A D V E N T U R E

Trekking to Nagala West DATE : Sunday, August 30 at 4:00am - 7:00pm Dream Madras 2015 – Celebrating Madras DATE : Tuesday 25th August 2015 VENUE : ValluvarKottam

H E A R T S

F O U N D AT I O N

Tribal Hearts Foundation, an NGO, invites you to express what matters most to you in an open call exhibition.

Art of the Matter Submission- 20th August 2015 DATE : Exhibition- 29th August 2015 VENUE : To be announced soon

C O N F E R E N C E S

ART FOR A CAUSE

D R A M A

The Pun-dits: Good Ol’ Chennai Jokes by Madrasis DATE : Saturday, August 29th, 7:30 pm- 9:30 pm VENUE : Alliance Francaise of Madras

E D U C AT I O N

TNBIL/2014/59272

E X H I B I T I O N S

World Down Syndrome Congress 2015 DATE : 19th-21st August 2015 VENUE : ITC Grand Chola Woodtech India 3rd International Exhibition on Wood & Working Exhibition DATE : August 21st- 24th 2015 VENUE : Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam

EVENTS

“

This month, Tribal Hearts Foundation (THF), a youth, non-profit organization dedicated to uplifting tribal communities, is giving you an opportunity to contribute to their cause in the most creative and meaningful way possible! Their upcoming event, ‘Art of the Matter’, is an art exhibition inviting anyone and everyone to submit original, small format artworks. No qualifications are required, just a love for creating in any form for a cause that is dear to you. The participants may choose to sell their work at any price they think fit. The supported tribal community will also get a chance to exhibit their work. THF is using this exhibition as a platform to create an artistic dialogue that begins with, “This is our call, what’s yours?” One of the main purposes of THF is to encourage people to help build communities by setting up vocational centres where women can learn various crafts and trades. Their aim is to create self-sustaining systems for these communities. At present the team of twenty five young adults runs a Self Help Group of five women from a slum in Kotturpuram, Chennai, to learn various crafts and trades at the colourful Tribal Hearts office on Luz Church Road, Mylapore. The foundation is looking to tie up with colleges in Chennai to help them in their outreach programme, where they conduct classes for corporation school children. Subjects such as English and Math are taught through creative mediums like art and drama. They are also looking for volunteers for the same. Being a registered NGO, the volunteers will be given an official statement of their work.

The foundation believes in art as an expression and as a platform for communication. ‘Art of the Matter’ is their second event, the ﬁrst being the ‘Paint Party’ as the team likes to call it, or ‘Help Paint Luz’, where they invited people to freely express themselves on the walls of their oﬃce. Tribal Hearts has made participating in their cause easy for everyonethrough art, volunteering, and as always, donations are welcome! To know more about Tribal Hearts Foundation, log onto their facebook page at www.facebook.com/tribalhearts/timeline .

Tribal Hearts is looking for young volunteers, preferably who speak Tamil and English, to help them in their community outreach programme, i.e, teaching children at the Corporation School in Kotturpuram. Duration: 3 months Schedule: Mondays and/or Wednesdays, 3:30pm -5:00pm For details, contact Varuna Srinivasan, at +91 9952 761515

”CHENNAI

How can you live in Thiruvanmiyur and not know who ‘Mor Thatha’ is?

Owned, published and printed by Reevezee M. Antony. Printed at Meera Oﬀset Printers, 104, V.R.Pillai street, Triplicane, Chennai - 600 005 and Published from 207/9, Asiad colony, Anna Nagar West Extension, Chennai - 600 101. EDITOR : Reevezee M. Antony

Although I was asked questions like these by my friends, I understood his popularity only when I heard guys in their late 20s or early 30s exclaim “ Dai, Mor Thatha vanthutarda!” and run towards him like school children. His son was already standing there selling buttermilk at the Walkers Beach, New Beach Road that night, but when he walked in, the crowd increased to almost two fold. S. Ramajeyam’s buttermilk sales attracts hundreds of people every evening.So many people have his phone number saved in their contacts as ‘Thiruvanmiyur Thatha’ or ‘Mor Thatha’ as he is popularly known. He walked in casually, like he was used to this kind of attention,gave his son some instructions and told him to add more ‘boondhi’ to one particular cup of buttermilk. Who knew he had been an expert at selling buttermilk for the last 16 years? Approximately 30 people approached him in 10 minutes. Most of them were bachelors but there were also a few families. The space gets crowed very soon, especially on Sundays and everything he brings is almost always sold out. He does not possess an overly decorated vehicle with attractive slogans or logos. It’s a simple bicycle, perfectly suitable for the need. He does not use any complex marketing strategy. “My customers generally share my number with others. I know that my number is available on the internet. I freshly prepare the buttermilk myself at around 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. everyday”, he said. One cup of buttermilk, with ‘boondi’ and cucumber is sold for Rs.20 . The ‘special’ ones with mango cost Rs.25 per cup.

M O R

8PM - 8AM

T H AT H A

T H I R U VA N M I Y U R

Innisai Rajasabai S.Ramajeyam sells buttermilk at New Beach Road, Thiruvanmiyur from around 9:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. He also delivers buttermilk to several of his customers in Thiruvanmiyur and Kottivakkam. What inspired him to pick New Beach Road and this time for buttermilk sales? It was not an idea that occurred to him overnight. Initially, he had worked as a watchman. Then after he decided to shift into buttermilk business, he started looking for places that will naturally have more demand for buttermilk. He said that he had also tried selling buttermilk at New Beach Road during the Driver’s Licence exams. He did well, but was determined to time his sales better. It was the amount of thought he put into the work he did based on observation and clearly identifying a target audience that lead to his success. His pursuit is also a good example of how trial and error strategies and constant improvement can yield excellent results. Timing is everything. Hard-work pays too. “There are days when it rains so heavily that the bags with cucumber, mango and all the seasoning get spoilt. Then the whole day’s sale is lost. I am also so old now. It’s quite diﬃcult to manage all the work”, he said. Above all, what is most impressive about S.Ramanujam’s buttermilk sales is that he always remembers to bring an empty plastic bag to collect all the paper cups, so that there is no littering on the way!