Madras on My Mind: A City in Stories

by Krishna Shastri, Chitra Viraraghavan

Once upon a time by the sea, there was a story and another and another and some wandered into these pages to make up a city.

So meet, among others, a travel guide who falls for a French tourist, a rice merchant with Kollywood dreams, a god whose editor proves elusive, a portly musical lawyer caught in a noir plot, and a man in search of family in the Great Madras Flood.

Find yourself, among other places, in Town, at that gastronomic oxymoron, the Udipi café, in Velachery, looking for pot or maybe for love, on Kaanum Pongal day all across Madras, even in a fast car on East Coast Road, fleeing the city till it lures you back with its lovely lies.

It s all here: the salt in the breeze, the eternal summer, the swing of the sea.

It s Madras on your mind.

Genres: Nonfiction, Short Story Collection, Short Stories, Indian Literature

232 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 10, 2017

Reviews

[Shridhar Ramachandran · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I really really did. When I started reading and flipped through the names of the short stories, some of them like “Rendungattan”, “Curd-rice cricketers” and "Still life at Marana Vilas” really caught my eye. The foreword by the authors only set my expectations higher. KS Devulapalli’s intro specifically, was a riot - he had me at “If you’re expecting filter coffee, malli poo and lungi dance, you will be disappointed”. What I got instead, was pedestrian prose, subpar humour, and only a handful of tales worth remembering - and I was still disappointed. So disappointed that the only way I can make up for it is by publishing a long-ass Goodreads review that approximately 3 people will read.

The book is an anthology of around 20 short stories, a mix of fiction and (mostly autobiographical) non-fiction. Many of the fiction ones started well, but ended up drawling on with uninteresting characters and no real theme. And almost all of the non-fiction stories were poorly narrated - while there is no doubt the authors have led interesting lives, their portrayal was more Wikipedia-article than short story, choosing to compress entire lives into 10 pages of hurried anecdotes.

This is not to say that all of it was bad. Off the top of my head - the Sowcarpet story, the IITM one, the kanum pongal one, and the detective one, all had the quirkiness and irreverence promised by the editors. These stories and a few others left you wanting more - which I think is a mark of a good short story. I also appreciate the diversity of authors - it gave glimpses of life in several niche communities of Madras.

I would have actually given this book 3 stars if it wasn’t for one story that really irked me - Rendungattan by Kalpana Komal. Again it started off well, but what I thought would be an endearing tale of the love-hate relationships tambrahm housewives share with their maids, ended up being an exhibition of elitist upper caste ranting. This is an actual line from the story - "Even though she spoke Tamil, her colloquialisms and poor communication skills were not what my PhD ears were used to". I mean, wtf man. And just in case you were wondering - no, it wasn’t satirical.

Bottomline: if you are not from Madras - give it a pass. If you are from Madras - freeya vidu.

[Sudharsan]

Middling set of stories. Keeps up with the premise of not covering the usual parts of Chennai/Madras but the stories themselves didn’t always work for me.

As with all collections there were a couple of stories that gave me a glimpse into sections of society that I was not familiar with.

[Gouthami · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tries to explore Madras or Chennai through a collection of twenty stories by twenty different people. As Chitra mentions in the Introduction, a city has any many stories as inhabitants. All of them cannot be brought together in a book, so this is only a glimpse. Krishna states upfront that he wants to go beyond the image of “filter coffee, malli poo (jasmine) and Bharatanatyam” that the city has. Initially I was happy to read that line, but as I went through the stories, the strong nostalgia it evokes made me want even those aspects of the city included. The Editors have moved to the city to make it their home and this is clear from the selection of pieces in the book.

There are enough stories for several more books and I hope these keep coming. Some of the stories that I would like to see in future volumes include those of the fishing community, some from the slums (Kaaka Muttai was a beautiful film), some from those who have migrated newly, the IT industry, the taxi drivers, the auto drivers; I guess I could go on; but also the cliches such as the Music Season, Pondy Bazaar and the kolams in Mylapore. There is more to a city than the cliches; however it also includes the cliches, no? (One title suggestion is “Chennai off my Chest” ;))

The book has a collection of stories and essays revolving around people. The editing is a bit uneven with some of the pieces leaving me unsatisfied. One story that remains in my memory is “Daylight Moon” by V.Sanjay Kumar. It lightly skims relationships of many kinds, set in the background of a unique festival of Tamil Nadu - Kaanum Pongal. The author translates “Kaanum” as lost, while in my understanding it means “Sightseeing”. I am amused by the inter-connectedness of these two meanings.

When I travel, I usually go through typical travelogues that help with logistics. And I also go through stories from that place to understand the ethos of the place. For example, I wanted to explore Mumbai after reading “Shantaram”. Jayanti Naik’s “Salt of the Earth” is a super way to get a feel of non-touristy Goa. I hope “Madras on my Mind” adds to people’s experience of Chennai. I am sure the next volume will set right the limitations of this one.

The advantage of a short story collection is that you can dip into it randomly in any order. You can abandon a piece at any point and move on to the next one. You can read another book in parallel. And in a collection such as this, you get so many flavours all together, it is very enjoyable. If you have ever lived in Madras or Chennai, I would recommend this book to you definitely. If you are even mildly curious about Madrasis and their life beyond idli sambhar, I would recommend it to you too.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: This is not a book I can review unbiasedly and hence I won't, because as with all things connected to Chennai, I am likely to go teary-eyed with emotion rather than smart with good judgement.

I bought this book after I fell in love at first sight with it's cover in the Higginbotham's store at Chennai airport. The book caught my eye instantly and after I learnt that it was stories of the city I love, and after circling the store twice trying to keep away and resist the temptation to buy, I ended up buying it much to the delight of the store manager who'd been eyeing me suspiciously all the while and probably mentally labeling me as one of the browse-around-till-plane-time types, which actually I was. My rational mind kept saying I could buy it later online, but the sentimental part of me put up the argument that a book on Chennai had best be bought in Chennai itself, as a souvenir of the city which was once the only world I knew. Needless to say, the emotional and illogical part of me won and I don't regret it at all! :)

[Arundhati · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would actually rate this book a 3.5 (generously rounded off to a 4 given that this attempted to combine my love for good writing and Madras). The introduction sets expectations really high with Krishna Devulapalli's wit and Chitra Viraraghavan's writing. Some of the pieces made me yearn for my hometown such as orange, like the firecracker flowers on a string, objects of desire, eclipse, house of powders, mind your tongue and my mother's Madras. The anthology does a great job of showcasing the different communities in the city and memoirs of migrants who have fallen in love with the city as much as I. Some of the pieces were aimless and could have been avoided (like rendugatan whose title and beginning was promising).

[Aishwarya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aside from filter coffee, idli & sambar, temple architecture, Pondy Bazaar, there's significantly more than meets the eye to a place like Madras. The Chennai you know is not the Madras I grew in.

Madras is where we caught some days, kept it vivacious with the nosy neighbours, sneaked away to eat a plate of sizzling mixed bajjis in Marina; if a neighborhood uncle takes the responsibility of taking the apartment kids on a day tour to Pondy Bazaar, no parent objected and now we know why! For 25 year olds like me, Madras is nostalgic. If the Puli sadam Prasad was over in the temple, a kind stranger would offer hers to a crying kid. whatever the religion, people living in a building were a family. If my mother tried to beat my five year old arse, the next door maami would come for my rescue in a heartbeat. When my mother makes palagarams for festivals (sweets & savs), my sister & I distributed it to the whole apartment & we would get home with twice of what we gave, that would last for over a month! I remember Ameera akka baby sitting me, alongside Pattu maami and Vallabhan anna. I fell ill crying two straight days when Pattu maami sold her house and moved abroad at 2001!

I was on an emotional rollercoaster while reading this anthology. 20 stories, 20 writers, 20 perspectives and I loved 2 of them! "Daylight Moon" by @v_sanjay_kumar and "House of Powders" by @rj_sano ♥️ Both the stories were raw, depicted Madras in its true light, both the good and the bad, whixh cast my mind back to when I was a child! There were three or four entries that were unnecessarily long & boring. If you can get through them, you'd definitely love this book.

People who are curious about Chennai, people who find the term "Madrasi" a slur, people who want to take a walk down the memory lane, pick this book up.

P.S.: Pattu maami taught me classical carnatic music 🥺😇

[Divya Pal · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is humour, communal riots, adultery, nostalgia, romance, natural calamities – vignettes from the humdrum life of residents of Madras/Chennai. The cherry on the cake is the piece by Krishna Shastri Devulapalli in his inimitable rambunctious Leacockian style.

[Nanditha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros: Different parts of Chennai covered in the various short stories, and interesting/fresh perspectives of the city instead of stereotypical narratives.

Cons: Some stories felt forced and not entirely representative of the soul of the city I dearly love. Probably had very high expectations from this book.

[Anu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed
A collection of insipid stories.
Started with great expectations, landed up flipping through and abandoning it .

[Aditi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Followed Iceboys in bell bottoms with this. Couple of stories are interesting but otherwise largely can miss.

[Bhargavi.lawbookskettlebells · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*, rounded up.

[Shashwat Rai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am probably very biased here but I just love some of these stories: curd rice cricketers, IITM ,.etc

[Suyog Garg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flowers on the Madras Train by Bujjai
The Destoryer by K. Srilata
Still Life at Marana Vilas by K. Raja
Orange, Like Firecracker Flowers on a String by Priyamvada N. Purushotham
House of Powders by Sanobar Sultana
Sweet Calamity by M. V. Swaroop
A Passing Show by Harry MacLure
Learning Spanish in Chennai by Usha Chaya
The Rice and Fall of ‘Royal’ Ramana Rao by Krishna Shastri Devulapalli
Curd-rice Cricket by V. Ramnarayan
Mind Your Tongue by Dilip Kumar
Eclipse by V. Sudarshan
Daylight Moon by V. Sanjay Kumar
Objects of Desire by Aniruddha Sen Gupta
Redungattan by Kalpana Komal
Triplicane to Taramani by G. Sampath
Split Ends by Chitra Viraraghavan
The Appalling Lack of Vice & Spice in Chennai City by Anuja Chandramouli
My Mother’s Madras by Vamsee Juluri
Water and After by P. Balasubramanian

[Michelle Fernando · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far one of the best and memorable books that I’ve read in so many years. Here’s why!
The book holds an unusual rendezvous of fiction and reality. The vocabulary used in the book just brings in front of your eyes, the true colours of Old and New Madras , which pushes the book to limelight! Different stories by different authors talk about-how beautifully the past and present of Madras are woven together and the multi-faceted identity of Madras and its people. Each character has a very intricate bond with the city itself and every man who loves the city and living in its smell can relate to it. The balance between fiction and non-fiction is cleverly handled and clichéd portrayals of the city have been stayed away from.

[Parwati Singari]

The book is a collection of short stories by different authors of varied age. Each seeing Madras through their own experiences.

Before the tide and the Tsunami, there was a bustling city with Moore Market, the Spencer circle. The Higginbottoms, the Marina beach, the Valluvarkottam, the mami’s, and music. The book brought back those memories to me. Each story awakening a memory to bring back a part of my childhood. Each author also brings a unique language and flow of their thoughts. Though the southern dry humour and the candour dominates the writing.

Some writer’s observation just stood out and made me read the book all over again. Like Juluri Vamsee talking about actress Jamuna her journey from Andhra to Madras, someone acts his mother's role, while his own mother acted as some child-actor’s mother.

Anirudh Sengupta talking about American-Indian becoming Miss India though I am not clear if he was speaking about an ABCD or if he was referring to the indigenous people of USA. Anyway that is his trip; he brought back the IIT campus to me, the deers and the archway to the ultimate destination that I never made to.

Chitra Viraraghavan uses a term “mood out-an” again something that is so typically southern we seem to add an “a” and the entire intonation and the demeanour of the sentence changes from a formal one to peer bonding.

Kalpana Komal in her Rendungattan by the way the word had totally slipped out from my vocabulary with my grandmother who passed away in 1997, she brought back the shared pet peeves of the mami’s. She also brought back memories of a very middle class moralistic approach and of course we as teenagers having visions of the aunty in sleeveless blouse having an orgy with any masculine gender... as we listened to Paati and Pakkaveedu-mami gossiping about her. Kalpana’s observation that her mother used scolding as an expression of love brought back the incessantly reprimanding mothers.

G.Sampath’s short story from Triplicane to Taramani takes you through Madras in a very different way.

Anuja Chandramouli in her  Appalling Lack of vice and spice in Chennai city, is pulls a string as its protagonist sits on the fence, of wanting the adventure but her upbringing stopping her stepping into one. the was wistful young person wanting to rebel but is conditioned to conform, she does not judge the people who do, she just wears blinkers to the existence of the vice and spice so that she remains quiet and nice.

The Rice and Fall of Royal Ramana Rao to become a movie producer, was quite interesting. House of powders by Sanobar Sultana talks of two things that I totally connect to “ra ra venu gopabala’ and the “rasam” somewhere her observation that her wearing a hijaab brought a shift in relationships did make me sigh. Hope we shall overcome that someday.

The experience of human behaviour in the last story by P.Balasubramanian was touching too.

[Supriya]

DNF'd it at 50% :(