Celebrating Madras by Sushila Ravindranath

 Sushila Ravindranath is a city-based journalist.

It is August and is that time of the year to celebrate Madras Week. What started as a daylong event nine years ago has now spread over a month. Why do we need to celebrate Chennai? “We have it all… the Railways, roads, the museum, the Medical College. Yes, the Cholas and the Pallavas began it, and the British, Dutch and the Danes contributed. But today, all that belongs to us. As citizens of Chennai we have to take pride in all that is Chennai today and try to maintain what remains. After all Madras is the pioneer of modern India,” says S Muthiah Chennai’s own chronicler.

The founding day of Madras is considered to be August 22, 1639. It was on that day, in that year, that a sliver of land, where Fort. St. George stands today, was acquired by the by the East India Company. It is believed that this deal was made on August 22, 1639.Today, Chennai stands tall for a variety of reasons. Education, healthcare, IT, history, tourism, auto industries, movies, etc. And yes, it also has its warts.

Madras Day celebrates the city.