Walking In Madras

THE MADRAS DAY SERIES

Walking in Madras.

Most of the time riding in your car, or whizzing by in your motor-bike, have you thought how it would be if you were given a choice to Walk your way through the same by-lanes, streets and roads – sans all the noise, traffic and pollution, only taking in the quietude of the morning-time?  

Meet the photo-walkers in Chennai, led by Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan- an enthusiast, city lover and historian to take you through the nooks and corners of city-life, enthralling you with knowledge and an experience you will find memorable for entire of your lifetime.

Yes, the photo-walking expedition which started off in 2007, celebrated the Madras Day, between the 21 and 28 August last, in a grand way. Then, a group of enthusiasts bunched up together on a Sunday morning starting from 21^st and walked stretches of historic miles to discover for themselves and relive a part of that Madras.

Anantha Subramaniam, who has been accompanying Chandrachoodan through the photo-walking for sometime, says that – “a walk down my school road helps me to enliven my memories, rediscover many forgotten facts as well as unhide many nooks and corners that I may have missed back then.”

Srinath, another enthusiast feels that – “a photo-walk helps me to walk my city, for me it is a great me-time, as well as a time to connect with my friends.”

The 41^st photo-walk which coincided with the Madras Day Celebration was an interesting choice of walk – starting at the Royapettah Clock Tower opposite the E.A.; leading us to a rendezvous with Royalty at the Amir Mahal (even though we were denied access into the Mahal, of course,) moving on to Zam Bazaar to sip down the very famous Lassi here.

A teacher I had met at one of the photo-walks – Melissa Enderle shares a perspective or two. “I have lived in different cities across the world. Photo-walking through the Chennai city is exploring a new way of doing something and for me walking it down with a group of enthusiastic bunch, makes it exciting and memorable experience.

While the number of walks already done triggers a shocked response from me, Chandrachoodan and his bandwagon regularly keep walking; in December last I had spotted them from my third-floor home balcony, walking down in the by-lane of Parry’s!