Walk down Palathope Street in Mylapore and you will stumble upon stories inherited over five generations, a century-old yellowing sale deed, and nostalgia so tangible, it pervades the very air one breathes.
Palathope Street or Vedanta Desikar Street as it was known in its heyday, was to lawyers what Harley Street in the City of Westminster was to medical practitioners. In the words of a resident, however, the street today is an anachronism, where modern structures are being superimposed on eons of heritage.
Mylapore, and Palathope Street in particular became a “micro-habitat” for aspiring lawyers who wanted to stay in close proximity to the houses of big advocates of the time, as well as to a tram station to commute to the High Court.
Subbaraya Aiyar, an illustrious lawyer and educationist of his times, bought a portion of the garden area of the stately property of the Kodiyalam family in the street, built on it and moved in.
As you step into Subbaraya Aiyar's house, imposing portraits of Rabindranath Tagore, C. Rajagopalachari, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Radhakrishnan among many others hang end to end, unmistakable in their intent — to overwhelm. “They were all my father's contemporaries,” says S. Viswanathan, Subbaraya Aiyar's son. Over 90, he is now the oldest resident of the street.
Shobana Ramkumar, one of Subbaraya Aiyar's granddaughters, recollects old stories about the street. “My grandmother used to tell me that part of it was a keerai thotam (spinach farm) when she came here in 1910,” she says. “We still have an irrigation well in our compound.” With a penchant for detail, and vigour that resurfaced when asked about his father, Mr. Viswanathan fondly muses over his father's closeness with C. Rajam, the man who lived in the sprawling India House opposite Music Academy back then, and how, their association was instrumental in the setting up of educational institutions like Madras Institute of Technology, Vivekananda College and Vidya Mandir. It was from Subbaraya Iyer's house that the Mylai Tamil Sangam operated in the 1940s, says Shobana. Junior cine artistes lived in a small by-lane of the street back then.
Another landmark house is that of Justice C.V. Krishnaswami, whose son C.K. Venkatanarasimhan was the Secretary of the Music Academy. The house often resonated with the music of G.N. Balasubramaniam, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, M.S. Subbulakshmi and Palghat Mani Iyer, who were regular visitors to his house. The family continues to live there.
Some of the oldest residents of the street — M.S. Hari Rao, Justice V. Ratnam and S. Viswanathan are second or third generation inhabitants of Palathope. Octogenarian Hari Rao's great-grand-nephew Aravind Sriniketan is a fifth-generation family member living in the 110-year-old house. “Being a lawyer's enclave, every morning the sound of typewriters resonated in the street. The men wore turbans and dhotis, and visitors often came in Plymouth cars,” Aravind recalls.
Palathope was home not just to lawyers and Chief Justices but also to musicians G.N.B and journalist M.R. Prabhu, editor of Sunday Times among others, says Shobana.
“Even though the architectural heritage has not been maintained, the living heritage and traditions are still alive,” says Shobana. When asked about what it means to be living in a heritage home, she quotes Wordsworth, “The music in my heart I bore, long after it was heard no more.” Perhaps, heritage lies in rediscovering the sublime in the beautiful.
