Tajy Prasad was born in Rajahmundry but made Chennai his home.
“I used to visit the city during my school holidays and after graduation moved here,” says the 80-year-old resident of T. Nagar. He has lived here for nearly 60 years.
Two restaurants that were famous among the residents of this bustling shopping hub of Madras then were Parkland and Narayana Café. The pesarattu dosa of Narayana Café at Pondy Bazaar was a favourite among film personalities. “In peak summer, we did not feel the heat as the streets had plenty of trees,” he recalls.
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“In those days of the unified Madras Presidency, T. Nagar had many Telugus, so it used to be nick-named ‘Telugu Nagar’. Because of the film industry there were more Telugu people — actors and writers and the cultural activities had a major representation of the Telugus. The three theatres — Nagesh, Rajakumari and Sun Theatre — used to have morning shows of Telugu movies,” he says.
Mr. Tajy Prasad, a member of the Tamil Nadu Sports Writers’ Association, used to play table tennis at Club House opposite Siva Vishnu Temple on South Usman Road with actor Nagesh, lyricist Vaali and former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s brother Jayakumar. A table tennis champion, he has won several State awards.
His favourite memory is his visit to the Kalaivanar Arangam in May, 1953, when the Assembly was held there.
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“After Potti Sriramulu died, Prime Minister Nehru decided to bifurcate the Madras Presidency and create Andhra Pradesh. At that time, my uncle took me to view the meeting of the MLAs under T. Prakasam, which happened in the Assembly Hall. It is likely that I am the only living witness to that meeting as all of them who participated then were in their fifties,” he says.