The Chennai Photowalk Announcements

Hi All

As Chandrachoodan is back from his Studies the subsequent announcements for the Photowalks in Chennai will be appearing in the following channels,

Blog : Selective Amnesia …. http://www.selectiveamnesia.org/
FB : The Chennai Photowalk Group …. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6816048801

Stay tuned ….

Happy Walking, Clicking …. and what not ….

Photowalk, #37

Trumpets!!!

Yes, the announcement of the next walk by C.

In his own words,

Frankly, I am disappointed in me. I mean, what? 3 years of doing the photowalks here in Madras, and not once have I (nor Vatsan) hit upon the idea of a walk along the beach at night. If one walk wrote itself into the agenda, it would have been this. But no.
Well then, amends must be made. And plans as well.
So this month, January 2011, we shall walk along the beach. And some more. At night. Loads of bokehs and light play offer themselves, as does the horribly twisted, bio-mechanically wrong statue of Gandhi, the diminished-by-comparison statue of Kamarajar, Kannagi, Ouvvayar and others.
Before we go in to the route, a bit of background.
The Marina is oft-considered the second longest beach in the world. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. As the beach south of the Adayar is now almost entirely an independent entity, and a creation of the slums and fishing hamlet that split the coastline on either side of the Adayar.
Nevertheless, the lovely promenade that Mounstuart Elphinstone Grant-Duff, a governor of Madras, built for the beach was and remains a thing of beauty. Especially today after a recent facelift that’s given it shiny granite walkways and re-landscaped lawns. The name itself, Marina, comes from Elphinstone and his travels in Sicily.

Now then. To the walk.
The route is a, for very good reasons, long one this time.
We begin at Gandhi Statue, walk along the promenade up to Napier’s Bridge, turn right into Swamy Sivananda Salai following the contours of the Cooum and emerge on to Mount Road near the Chintadripettai Station/Simpson’s.
We begin this walk at dusk, give or take 10 minutes, on the Sunday, 23rd of January 2011.
Along the way, we shall stop to sample the delights of bajji sellers, chaat makers and the Aavin outlet near the Doordarshan office.

As always, for details and for directions, email me. Or call. Number is 988four4six746three

Sunday, 23rd January 2011, 6 PM, Gandhi Statue.

Now you know what to do this 23rd …..

Photowalk, #36

Cut and paste from Chandrachoodan’s announcement :-

The thirtysixth Chennai PhotoWalk

Well, what do you know. It is the prodigal son’s return to planning and organising the Chennai PhotoWalks. Rejoice. And kill the goat. Set the table.
This month, December 2010, is going to be special for the Chennai PhotoWalk. Not just because we’ve done 3 years of it, a walk everymonth except for September 2009. Not just because it’s now so big, other people are calling in and asking us to judge photo competitions and asking to buy photos off us. Not just because Chennai PhotoWalk is easily the best of the city’s heritage/history/art walks. Mainly because, well, I am back.

So, as a special treat, and because I am a sadist bastard that way, an extra long, superbly diverse walk this December.

The plan is we all assemble, Sunday 19th December 2010, at 10:30 AM at the Mylapore MRTS station. I don’t care how you get there or what you do before you get there. Just get to Mylapore MRTS station by 10:30 AM and wait for me.
I shall be there shortly after 10:31. We’ll all then get on the train, and go all the way across Madras, following for most parts the line of the coast, to reach Beach station. Along the way, we will spot lovely photo-worthy things, including the new Secretariat building in Triplicane, and the wonderfully empty Sunday-Morning Mount Road.

Once we reach Beach station, we alight, and then cross platforms to board the Tambaram bound train.
We take the Beach-Tambaram train, travel for about an hour, alighting at Tambaram station.
Now, the walky portion of the walk starts.
Around the station in Tambaram are some good little places. The MCC is good, and big. Pretty old too, all 360+ acres of it. Some lovely architecture and beautiful wooded campus. (Incidentally, my father studied at the MCC, and was captain of the Bishop Heber Hall hockey team) And outside the MCC, there is still good photo-ops, including a neat little market and some old houses not far off.

When we are all sated with photos from Tambaram, we board the train again, and go our separate ways, taking back lovely memories and the joy that comes with being in my company.
All good?

So, the plan

Sunday, 19th December 2010, 10:30 AM
Mylapore MRTS – Beach – Tambaram, via train
Tambaram and environs, walk.
And then home.

For directions, and for general pestering, call Vatsan at 944499945six/950007017six. TO bask in the life-giving warmth that is my voice, call 9884four6746three.

Photowalk #35

This Month, the photowalk moves again to the outskirts. This time the walk is in Veteran Lines Pallavaram. Gear up for the veteran lines …. an amazingly picturesque setting ….

Converging spot … is here.

This is among the last remaining Anglo Indian Colonies in Chennai. Veteran lines is bordered on one side by the Army Barracks and the Areva factory on the other, and consists of a row of independent houses, which are still stuck in a time wrap. This time the walk is in the evening, because we hopefully can catch the residents enjoying their Sunday evening.

Date: 21st November 2010
Where: Walk down from Areva Factory, Pallavaram until you hit a row of houses.
Time: 15.30 Hours

And in case your lost/need more details contact Vatsan aka Adapaavi either via email (sm.vatsan@gmail.com) or mobile – 9444999456/9500070176

Walk #34

In the words of Vatsan

This time the photowalk is moving to a part of town which we have never explored before. There was only one walk earlier on OMR. This time the walk will be in and around the Thiruvanmayur Market and Marudheeshwarar Kovil.

The walk begins from the very popular Thiruvanmayur Bus stand, and then turning left into South Mada Street and the Temple Tank Before ending at the Entrance of the temple.

In the vicinity of the temple is also the manual crematorium in Thiruvanmayur, its off Kuppam beach road. Its an old open field, with a few interesting headstones.

Date of the walk : 31st October 2010
Time: 7 am from Thiruvanmayur Bus Stand (Meeting near the temple in the middle of the road)

And if your lost et all please contact Ramaswamy N 9841098406

Regards
Vatsan

Madras week walks …

the two walks for August & Madras Day …. #33.1 & 33.2 from the desk of Vatsan …

As has been the tradition, we have photowalks for the Madras Day celebration, the day when this city was founded. This year there will be two walks, in two distinct parts of the city. the routes are given below

August 15th Walk
Reporting Point: Perambur Railway Station
Time: 7 am
Route: Walk till ICF

August 22nd Walk.
Reporting Point: St Thomas Mount (outside steps leading to the Church)
Time: 7 am
Route: Walk till Veteran Lines

And of course if there are any queries or questions contact Vatsan either by email (sm.vatsan@gmail.com) or mobile 9500070176 or 94449 99456.

Photowalk #32

As Vatsan says ….

This walk is along a classic chennai route. It begins outside the Pallavan (PTC) Headquarters opposite Gymkhana Club and near the Chintadripet railway station. Then we proceed to walk down past the new Secretariat, crossing the historic Simpson building, Kasturi & Sons, P Orr and Sons and the Daily Mail office. Finally the Bata Showroom, where Douglas Jardine, presumably stayed while traveling to Australia for the Bodyline series. Beyond that is the Bharath Insurance Building, which just got a new lease of life since the courts issued a stay order against its demolition. Finally, ending the walk near Augurchand Mansion opposite Spencers plaza.

Date: 24th July 2010
Time: 7 am
Meeting Point: Outside Pallavan Headquarters Mount Road
And incase anyone is lost please contact me on 9500070176/9444999456 or mail me @ sm.vatsan@gmail.com

PS: 24th July also happens to be the Worldwide Photowalk, and the Chennai Photowalk is a part of it.

#31st Chennai Photowalk – Rescheduled

Since the sweltering heat of May is over, the photowalks can happen in the mornings, and this time we will be starting the walk from a 11th century Chola temple. This temple is decicated to Dandeeshwarar. The legend says that Lord Yama worshipped here to get his Danda back after the faceoff with Shiva over Markendaya.

The temple being a 11th century one will offer plenty of photo opportunities, and is also well maintained. It also as is the case with all temples has a market nearby. We will then walk down from there till the vijaynagar bus stand and then to the madipakkam bridge and finally ending the walk at the madipakkam road. The Madipakkam bridge is an built over an open pond/lake/yeri, and hence will offer some good photo opportunities.

Date: 20th June 2010
Time: 7 Am.
Place: Dandeshwaran Kovil -Velachery

Map

and as usual, if any clarifications are required mail me at sm.vatsan@gmail.com or call me on 94449 99456 or 95000 70176

#30th Chennai Photowalk

This is a quasi repeat of the 2nd chennai walk. It is a classic chennai Route. This walk begins at the War Memorial outside Island Grounds. The aim is to shoot that and then walk down the marina beach, hopefully capturing images of Napier Bridge and then cross the Samadhis of Anna And MGR before ending the walk hopefully somewhere near Kannagi Statue. This route is littered with examples Indo Saracenic architecture and there the backdrop of the recently opened Secretariat.

The only change is that considering its peak summer, this has to be an evening walk. There will be the setting sun in the Horizon when viewed from Napier bridge making for some wonderful shots.

Date: 23rd May
Time: 17.00 Hrs
Starting Point: War Memorial

And as usual if your lost/have questions contact me via email at sm.vatsan@gmail.com or mobile phones 9444999456 or 95000 70176

PhotoWalk #29

Vatsan has announced the Photowalk route for walk #29 … check it out below …..

When the vegetable market moved from KothavalChavadi to its current location in Koyembedu, it was viewed as being outside the city and lacked the public transport connectivity of KothavalChavadi.

But now Koyembedu is a bustling with activity especially since the bus stand has moved there, and no one seems to be complaining about shifting the market there. The flower market in Koyembedu is a lovely place for a photowalk, and so the next one shall be there. It does not allow for the entry of sunlight and is almost entirely lit up by incandescent bulbs of various colours to make the flowers look good. The market is interesting for awesome low light portrait shots.

Date: April 4th 2010
Location: Meet outside the Main Entrance of the Flower Market
Time: The standard 7 am.

and incase anyone lands up at the vegetable market looking for photowalkers, call me on 94449 99456 or 95000 70176 but if anyone is totally lost and cant locate koyembedu emailing me at sm.vatsan@gmail.com is also an option.

Be there !!!