Treasured tales of T Nagar

CHENNAI: Clad in a white dhoti and shirt, strokes of ashes and kumkum smeared on his forehead, Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti walks into the hall greeting everyone with folded hands and a warm smile. The audience was a mixed bag comprising residents of T Nagar, history buffs, and his friends and well-wishers. They had gathered for his talk on his book Thyagaraja Nagar - Andrum Indrum, organised by Madras Local History Group and Patrikai.com. “I love literature. I always get three copies of a book — for my library, office, and home. This book is a culmination of my days of growing up in a hitherto sleepy village that is now a commercial spot bustling with activity round the clock,” said Chetti, who has penned 75 books.

In a nutshell
Padma Shri awardee Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti is the chairman of the 85-year-old Nalli textile business house. Born in 1940 in Kanchipuram, he completed  SSLC from Ramakrishna Mission in Chennai. Having lost his father while he was still in school, Chetti joined the business in 1956. He developed a 200-sq-ft silk store into a 30,000-sq-ft three-storied building that stands as a landmark in T Nagar. He is also known for his immense contributions in the field of arts, culture and literature. 

Tryst with T Nagar
In 1923, the modern town of T Nagar was set up by the Madras Presidency Government as part of its town planning activities when the Justice Party came to power. It is said that the area was completed after draining the Long Tank lake that extended from West Mambalam to Valluvarkottam near Loyola College, in 1925. Areas like Lake View Road and Lake Area Road stand as evidence to this till date. T Nagar was surrounded by Mambalam in the west, Mount Road in the east, Buzullah Road in the north and Burkit Road in the south. The first Nalli showroom was set up in Mangai Street near the Mambalam railway station in 1928 and was managed by his father. Then it was moved to Nageswar Rao Road in 1935. The present showroom is in North Usman Road.

Once a silent town
“There was pin-drop silence in the locality. People would gather for the 7.15 pm news at the radio station outside Panagal Park and disperse after that. The streets were dimly lit with 20 watts bulb and there was no movement after 8 pm. People were scared to walk alone on the streets,” said Chetti. In 1920, a ground of land was worth `500, and in 1923, an acre of land was worth `2,000 in T Nagar. Subramaniyam Iyer, a station master, is said to have owned a hundred acres of land in 1920 in T Nagar. 

A famous connect
Actors from other industries visited Kodambakkam for shoots and as a result they ended up buying homes in T Nagar. The area was known for its VIP population — late CM J Jayalalithaa, late politicians Karunanidhi, Rajaji, Kamarajar, lyricist Kannadasan, actors MG Ramachandran, and Sivaji Ganesan lived there. The roads in the locality are also named after bigwigs of the Justice Party and Madras Corporation. T Nagar gets its name from Pitty Thyagaraja, founder of Justice Party; Panagal Park was named after Raja of Panagal, the Prime Minister of Madras Presidency; Natesan Road and TM Nair Road after Justice Party leaders and Nageswar Rao Park after the veteran actor. Habibullah Road and Burkit Road were named after Corporation Commissioners. Usman Road was named after governor Mohammed Usman, Thanikachalm Road was named after a lawyer and Duraisamy Road was named after a doctor. 

Hub of activities
The now-famous Pondy Bazaar is said to be named after Justice Party politician WPS Soundarapandian Nadar. However, another story goes that it derived the name from a shopping complex set up by Chockalinga Mudaliar from Pondicherry in 1933.

T Nagar bus depot was the first to be built in the city near the Mambalam railway station. It is said that a majority of the population used to get down there. However, the tram services, initiated in 1911, available to other parts of the city like Royapettah, Santhome, and Purasawalkam was not active in this area. The postal service gained momentum in the 60s and T Nagar was the last stop before the airport.
“There were hardly three shops on Ranganathan Street those days. Counting the number of shops today will be a challenge. Gone are those days when we could count the Ambassador cars on road,” he said. 

It’s surprising that some of the buildings continue to remain intact in their vintage bungalow like a set-up. T Nagar has many schools and sabhas. It is the centre of cultural activities. “I can recollect my friends’ door numbers. I’ve included as much as I can remember in the book. I might be writing a part two to this book soon. Sourcing pictures has been a tough task. Hopefully, my patrons and friends will contribute some from their albums,” he said.