Tamarind City is a love story. Bishwanath Ghosh, a 30-year-old journalist gives up his job as a political reporter in Delhi, and moves to Chennai that was Madras in 2001 on a whim. He was tired of chasing politicians and daily reporting. He was single and commitment-phobic, and wanted to spend a few carefree years in a new, unfamiliar city. He was also happy to work for a Sunday supplement, which would free him from daily deadlines. His exposure to the city had come mostly from the song-and-dance sequences he had watched on Doordarshan. The decision was taken when he watched the Chennai-based filmmaker Rajiv Menon?s Tamil film Kandu Kondain, Kandu Kondain with subtitles in Delhi. He was entranced and decided to book his ticket when his eyes filled with tears during the final scene. He did not expect to get so attached to the city and get absorbed by it. The book is an outsider?s affectionate perspective of Chennai, with its warts and all. As Ghosh says in the author?s note, it is not an authoritative history of the city or Tamil culture, more an account of his coming to grips with what to him was a strange city and an adventure.
Ghosh is given a fond farewell by his Delhi friends who can?t figure out why he would want to leave Delhi. Train gets delayed, he almost misses it, but he is destined to discover Chennai. He asks a young Sikh passenger in the compartment whether the latter lives in Chennai. ?He recoiled in mock horror at my question. Then slapping his palms together, burst out laughing. ?Do you think I am crazy to be living in a place like Chennai??? Not a very encouraging beginning. Chennai, however, welcomes him. An aspiring filmmaker acquaintance finds him a room in one of Chennai?s legendary mansions, where thousands of bachelors find accommodation at a moderate rent. This is in T Nagar, one of Chennai?s buzzing areas, home to giant retail stores. Ghosh eventually finds a flat in the same area and continues to live there. By the time the book takes shape in his mind, his lifestyle has changed and he is married.
Over time Ghosh discovers the schizophrenic nature of Chennai. As it happens, he has arrived in Chennai when the city is in the throes of a transformation. From a sleepy gentle city, it is becoming home to multinational automobile companies, regaining its reputation as the Detroit of India. It is now running neck-to-neck with Karnataka in IT exports. In a place once only identified with idli and dosa, you now find restaurants offering international cuisine opening every day. Ghosh has a ringside view of these changes. He is constantly surprised that Chennai also retains a traditional side: like women getting up in the morning and decorating their home-front with the traditional kolams, or men happily wearing dhotis, not concerned about their social status. The city does not bother to project its history and achievements.
He traces the city?s origins, finds out that almost every modern institution in India, be it education, engineering, medicine, the army or the judiciary, had its roots in Fort St George, the fort built by the British which is today the seat of the state government. Robert Clive, Arthur Wellesley, Warren Hastings, and Elihu Yale are men who started their careers in Madras, and who have left a lasting impact on our colonial history. What is more interesting is that Ghosh spends time with the man who has single-handedly created awareness of heritage in the city. He is S Muthiah, who hates being called a historian and prefers to be known as a chronicler of Madras. He is the one who familiarised most of us with the city?s British past.
True to Chennai tradition, he likes to remain behind the scene and does not draw attention to himself. Ghosh has persuaded him to share his journalistic career in Sri Lanka, his move to Chennai and his ongoing interest in Chennai heritage. This is what sets this Chennai book apart. Ghosh has managed to meet a wide variety of people who all represent Chennai one way or other. It is Susie the transgender one day, and Saroja Devi the yesteryear star another day. He meets Carnatic singer TM Krishna and attends concerts during Chennai?s famous music season during December. He immerses himself in areas like Mylapore and Triplicane, well known for the ancient temples whose bylanes can take you back to the times when life centred round temples.
Times have changed. Triplicane has a large mosque today, with Hindus and Muslims living quite amicably together. Ghosh strikes up conversations with residents of these areas and gets all kinds of nuggets of information from them. He discovers a couple of French women who have been visiting Mylapore for many years. He also visits the state-of-the-art Nokia factory in the suburbs and realises that these areas are growing so fast that what we consider the heart of the city might lose its importance one day. There can be no book on Chennai without a mention of the Marina beach, which appears every now and then in several chapters. Ghosh is in Chennai on the day of the Tsunami which happens to be his birthday: December 26, 2008. He takes a long walk to the beach to see the devastation.
Ghosh is a good raconteur. Tamarind City (the title was finalised in his mind when a feather-light piece of tamarind fell on him from a tree). The book is packed with facts, people, places and anecdotes. Even those who are from the city are bound to discover something they didn?t know. His ever vigilant reporter?s eyes capture familiar things and give them a reinterpretation. For those who want to know about the city, insiders and outsiders alike, Tamarind City provides an intriguingly fascinating introduction.
Tamarind City: Where Modern India Began
Bishwanath Ghosh
Tranquebar
Rs. 295