Rag picker or street beautifier?

The good old rag picker seems to be doing more for garbage clearance than the official contractor in Chennai.
Many years ago, NB Nirmal of Exnora trained and equipped the rag pickers and converted them into 'street beautifiers'. 

Unsafe demolition

An old building in Royapettah being demolished with scant regard for the safety of the workers as well as the pedestrians and other road users. The debris and the demolition materials also occupied a good part of the narrow road.

R.I.P. Thannithorai market

Thannithorai vegetable market, adjacent to the Luz Anjaneyar temple was very much part of the lives of most residents of Mylapore and surrounding areas. The market used to hum with activity in the morning when fresh vegetables were haggled over and traded. Personally, I had, an almost ritualistic association with this market when my daughters were students of the nearby Vidya Mandir School. Sundays were their day of Girl Guides at the school. I would drop them at the school grounds early morning for their weekly activities and go across to Thanni thurai market for the weekly supply of vegetables. Those were the days when Rs.30 or 40 could fetch you enough vegetables for a family of four with a coconut thrown in. The market has changed hands and it is bought over by a real estate developer, I am told. The above is view of the pulled down market (Oct. 2012). Probably it will make way for a  large store or shopping complex, increasing the congestion of this area. 

Amman procession on IT Expressway

A procession of women devotees at Padur, a village on the IT Expressway, popularly called Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR). The official name of this road is Rajiv Gandhi Salai. Many IT companies and other Hi-Tech ventures in addition to several engineering colleges are situated on this road.

M F Hussain in Madras

An M F Hussain masterpiece being exhibited at Ashvita art gallery as part of their decennial celebrations.

Ayudha Pooja for all

During Ayudha pooja, all craftsmen, artisans, professionals, students and  businessmen pray to their books and tools of the trade. Here, an autoriksha with Christian icons is cleaned and ready for the pooja in front of the Anjaneya temple, Luz. Near the (now defunct) thannithorai vegetable market. 

Language soup. Chai stall or soup stall?

Though a Tamilian, the way the purist write non-Tamil words in Tamizh  has always amused me. Does the Sai stall sell Chai (tea) or Soup? A scene from Luz, Mylapore. 
Note the Valai thantu soup. Isn't the sound 'zha' the pride of Tamizh? Then why make 'vazhai' 'valai'?