Did you notice the board on the Marina beach road (Kamarajar Salai) marking the Tamil Nadu Bharat Scouts and Guides headquarters? Look closely, and you'll see the address carries the words Wenlock Park. A bit of research and I found it is Lady Wenlock Park, developed by the Madras Governor Wenlock (1891-96). He loved his artist wife and he wanted to give the “gosha” women a secluded place to enjoy the sea breeze.
More interesting is the nondescript building set far back from the main road. “The front part of the structure which has a room on either side of the corridor was the “Gosha women's clubhouse,” said Bhaktavasan, West Chennai District Commissioner of BS&G (1979-2012) and State Secretary (87-90). The office room at the back is the Jamboree Hall, he said, built when the Scout jamboree was held in India in 1926. “Did you notice number 2 is missing from the embossed numbers above the entrance? That the Jamboree Hall does not leak even after all these years?” I said I had noticed both; I was there the day Chennai had its heaviest rains. “The building to its right is the guest house,” he went on. “There is a third asbestos “shed” as well, and between these is a Muslim tomb where people worship. The statue that stands among the trees is of the then Presidency College Principal's son. He became Governor of Bombay State.” The good doctor enclosed the guest house with a fence, put up the board listing office-bearers (AL Mudaliar's name leads the rest), and got Gopalakrishnan, then manager of Indian Bank, to build a stage for public functions. As State secretary-cum-medical officer, he made sure scout camps had medical support, upgraded the rule book.
Today, Bharat Scouts and Guides (Hindustan Scouts earlier) can look back on its work with pride, thanks to people like Bhaktavasan, Venkatraman, Meena Muthiah, Manjubhashini, G. S. Saraswathi, Bhuvaneswari Venkatraman, P.K. Rajeswari, Shilavathi Ranganathan and Sarada Hoffman, but it had a rocky start in India. In 1909, when Baden Powell brought the movement to the sub-continent he was unwilling to include “native” boys and girls — he felt they couldn't meet the high standards expected. In 1916, Annie Besant flagged it off in south India, opening it for all children. Her work was recognised and she was awarded the Silver Wolf, which is on display at the Theosophical Society museum. She was also photographed wearing a scout dress. The story goes that Powell came down to address the Indian Scouts in 1921, forgot his lines as he led the oath, and was prompted by a “native”!
I spoke to Meenakshi Sankar Rao (88), the oldest scout/guide in Chennai. “We were called girl scouts, I became troop leader and captain,” she said. “In 1930, Scottish theosophist Lilias Gale-Smithson, Captain, Vasanta Scouts, guided us. Later, Venkatraman took five of us cycling to Mahabalipuram. I am proud we girl scouts were actively involved in helping the poor children in the TS neighbourhood. We, of Olcott Memorial, Padmini and Vasanta groups, cleaned wounds, gave medicines, continued our social work, rain or shine.”
She has interacted with three generations of scouts — her troopmates, CVK Maithreya's batch and his daughters Upasika and Aditi who along with Divya Natarajan, Atulya Vipin and Sylvia have been awarded the Rashtrapathi Puraskar. Radha Rao is another Chennai resident to win the Puraskar. Scout Masters Venugopal, Thirunavakarasu and Sriram joined the tsunami relief efforts organised by the Theosophical Order of Service. Scouts, today, feel more funds will upgrade its building and autonomy will improve its functioning.
Like the DGP Headquarters, Queen Mary’s campus and Lady Willingdon Institute, Wenlock Park, which boasts of 50-year-old trees, has had its share of threats. Bhaktavasan narrated how, around 1989, he fought to save the place. “The PWD has leased the grounds to the Scouts who run their camps and activities here. It was going to be razed to make way for a railway station and a bus terminus. I pleaded at the meeting that I had been a scout since I was six, and I wanted to save the park for BS&G.” His words carried weight – after all, he was a Silver Star/Silver Elephant recipient and the first to start the Rover/Ranger Scouts at a Medical College (Kilpauk) worldwide. The western half of the area beyond the canal was converted to Triplicane Station, but the Bus Terminus idea was dropped. “I just couldn't imagine it here,” he said.
