City Mayor R. Priya on Saturday launched Memories of Madras, a curated volume that reprises the popular column published in the The HinduMetroplus that was published between 2008 and 2011.
The contents of the book include legendary director K. Balachander speaking about the Madras he knew in the 1950s, film musician M.S. Viswanathan on a city that was calm and driven by values and cricketer S. Venkataraghavan on corporate tournaments that drew huge crowds and test cricket at Chepauk during Pongal.
The book features many eminent personalities from different walks of life speaking about the Madras they knew, revisiting old times, their anecdotes, rich with detail, describe how life was in those days. Singers, dancers, playwrights, filmmakers, academics, sportspersons, industrialists and others recall the memories to their early years, giving readers an insight into the city that reveres its past.
In essence, this selection captures the evolution of the city, tracking its growth by recounting lived experiences. The volume also has pictures of old Madras from the archives of The Hindu.
The contents include recollections by 63 important personalities, such as tennis great Ramanathan Krishnan, satirist and political commentator ‘Cho’ Ramaswamy, dancer, actor Vyjayanthimala Bali, Film News Anandan, naturalist V. Guruswami, popular film producer A.V.M. Saravanan, writer Ashokamitran and legendary jazz musician Frank Dubier, about their ‘memories of Madras’.
At the launch of publication at Ripon Buildings on Friday, Deputy Mayor Magesh Kumar and Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi were present.
The book is available now at The Hindu Bookstore. The cover price of the book is ₹399. A special 20% discount can be availed of while booking the copy through The Hindu Bookstore on https://publications.thehindugroup.com/bookstore/
