They last came together in a big way in 2003 when the State government tried to take over their beloved alma mater’s campus to build a new secretariat. That battle was won thanks largely to their spirited protest, the clincher in the courts being an alumna proving that her ancestors had donated the land only for educational purposes and nothing else. A decade later, the alumni of Queen Mary’s College have come together to produce a fitting coffee table book for the institution’s centenary.
The book, written by Nitya Balaji, Gita Narayan and S. Anandalakshmy, all alumnae, is a delight to go through. It is filled with black and white photographs and sketches, the latter by the talented Chennai Weekend Artistes, an amateur group that goes around recording the various heritage precincts of our city, on canvas and paper. The text is chiefly culled from reminiscences of past principals, students and news clippings.
QMC began life as the Madras College for Women in 1914, the present name being given in 1918. The idea for such an institution, the first of its kind in the city, may have come from a girl’s prize-winning essay, written in 1913. The Governor Lord Pentland was impressed and set his Council on the task, Sir P.S. Sivaswami Aiyar drafting the papers. The campus as we know it owes much to the first principal, Miss Dorothy de la Hey. Many years later, the girl who wrote that essay, Nallamuthu Ramamurthy, became the first Indian principal of QMC!
The college has a dream campus — plenty of space, lots of trees, proximity to the sea, and plenty of heritage buildings. Sadly, it presents a derelict appearance in keeping with the popular view that old structures cannot be restored and need to be replaced with tasteless high-rise ones. The Old Students Association is doing its best to change that perception.
Historic Capper’s House, dating to the 1850s and perhaps the first private building on the Marina, formed the core of the college. This collapsed in 2003 and has since been replaced by a new building, originally named Kalaignar Maligai and from 2011, Kalai Maligai. Still surviving, but devoid of all maintenance are Beach House, once the residence of Sir S. Subramania Aiyar and the neighbouring Sankara Iyer Bungalow. In better shape are the three main blocks — Pentland, Stone and Jeypore Houses. The old laboratories and the library need attention. Lost to the world are some curiosities — the first swimming pool for women in the city, built in the 1930s and now filled with debris, and a covered tennis court, now known as the TC Hall. The music department is a first in South India, begun in 1928 following the request of the Music Academy.
The campus is a prime site for heritage tours and an experimental one, done a year back by alumna Vasantha Madhu and former Principal Dr. Uttara Prabhu, ought to be made a regular feature. Will the centenary make this happen?
