I live in Mylapore. My office is in Mylapore. If you take a look at the tags on my blog post, the label "Mylapore" is very recurrent. And the reason is that there is just so much to see. So much stuff that is sketch-worthy. It's the oldest area of the city and in some small pockets within it, time seems to have passed slower.
Take for instance this cycle-rikshaw that I saw at the corner of Chitrakulam. We rarely see these in the centre of the city. Cyclists are so totally sidelined on our roads and a three-wheeler cycle is all but extinct. I remember when, as a school kid I would travel by bus. The last bus stop was two kilometres from our house and if you felt like splurging you could treat yourself to a rikshaw ride - one of these. The drivers were mostly elderly men with sinewy calf muscles. We even had horse-pulled carts but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to find one of those anymore - not even in Mylapore. No, I am not that old. It's just amazing how in barely three decades this city has transformed so rapidly.
Chitrakulam itself is an area within Mylapore. Past the main huge temple complex and the big tank there is a smaller pond called Chitrakulam and some smaller temples. Adi Kesava Perumal Temple, Srinivasa Perumal temple, Vedanta Desikar Temple. I didnt get the time to go into any of them because I finished the first sketch and was enthralled by a very narrow street that I wanted to capture.
For the first few years of her school life, merely 20 years ago, Radha (together with Vicky and another kid) used to go to and from school (Vidya Mandir in Mylapore) by just this kind of cycle-rickshaw, which also had a `front seat whose occupant would have her back to rickshaw-cycler(?).
ReplyDeletekb...Mylapore is so rich in stuff to savour and write about that it will take you a very long time to exhaust them. Small wonder that despite all the ill effects of the urbanisation of the area, the old residents of Mylapore refuse to relocate to any other part of the city.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have deviated from your usual palette for these two sketches. I like the result very much. Both sketches are very lively. Incidentally
Thanks for visiting and commenting Sunder! I have spotted a bunch of kids being dropped at Children's Garden School by a cycle rikshaw. I know the seat you mean. Its a narrow slat of wood that the kids manage on.
ReplyDeleteThanks Balaji. Yes I moved from my standard pallete to include some pinks and reds. I'm pleased too at the way it creates a different mood :)