The Association of British Scholars, Chennai organised the release of ‘Madras (Chennai): a 400 year record of the first city of modern India’, consisting of three volumes and a comprehensive index on Monday.
“We have undertaken this mammoth project of documenting the contribution that Madras has made to modern India. Everything of significance that we see in modern India, started in Chennai and this is what we wanted to bring out,” said P.M. Belliappa, president, Association of British Scholars (ABS).
The book’s editor, S. Muthiah, said, “people now are beginning to remember the unique facets of the city and are eager to learn more. We’ve had a number of contributors to the books who have all been extremely helpful in taking this forward,” Mr. Muthiah noted.
N. Ravi, Publisher, The Hindu, said that the ABS and Mr. Belliappa had done an extremely valuable service in bringing out the books.
A short video was played at the event.
Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford, British Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, released the books and spoke about how the history and culture of Chennai fascinated him as a history buff. “The city has such amazing history and this has given me an idea of how it has evolved into the modern city that we see today,” he said.