All the great cities of the world are at their best at
night. After the clatter and bustle of work and business in the day the
leisure, cultural and romantic period take over and both the city and its
denizens start unwinding, aided by the romance of the night lights. The night
life in a city develops over a period of time and the richer a city becomes the
more expensive and sophisticated the night life becomes, and even attracts
tourists. There are cities like London and New York where music and
drama make the cities vibrant cultural places. Then there are places like Macao and Las
Vegas where casinos dominate the night life.
Chennai, a collection of villages before the arrival of
the British, slowly evolved into a city when the British established themselves
as masters. It was a soporific city where the sunset signaled the end of active
life except in stray spots. As the city grew, its night life also developed.
Before World War 2 there were two distinct night-lives in the city - the British,
and the natives. The British had their nights out in their clubs with drinks
and dance. The natives had their own evenings with drama, music and dance
concerts in the houses of devadasis or on make shift stages, and if they were
religious, in temples, listening to discourses and harikatha expositions and
devotional music. The division was rather rigid except when very senior Indian
officials and zamindars were invited to British parties. So night life in the
strict sense of the term did not exist in a big way.
World War 2 changed all that. First, there were the
American GIs in Madras
during the war with their democratic attitudes and willingness to mix with
natives. Secondly, there was the waning British power which resulted in the
Brits leaving India
shortly after the war. From the GIs the adventurous natives learned of new
enjoyable ways of spending the night. It was just taking off when the
government introduced prohibition. To a population who learned to enjoy the
pleasures of alcohol it was a shock, but soon, ways were found to circumvent
this stupid law. This was the background against which the night life of the
city of Madras
developed in the post independence period. The staid conservative Madras slowly absorbed
influences from outside and by the 21st century, had a varied mix of night life
from the rigidly conservative to the most innovative which would make even a hardened
sailor blush.
Night life in
the fifties in Madras
In the nineteen fifties and sixties the Brits, though no
longer rulers, controlled the commercial life of the city. And so it was the
days of the clubs and brown sahibs taking over the reigns slowly. It was to
this Madras
that Parameswaran returned as Waran. He had had an English education at Oxford and developed an Oxford accent and a love for quaffing beer at
the pubs. The Madras
he returned to was outworldly unchanged except that prohibition was in full
swing. Before he went to Oxford,
he could quaff beer in Hotel Connemara or the railway restaurant. Now for the
love of money he could not get a drop without a permit for which a government
doctor had to declare him a drunkard who would die without the salve of alcohol.
He bribed a doctor to give him a certificate and applied for the permit. The chef
minister of the state, an ex-imbiber who gave up drinking after joining the
Gandhian freedom movement, looked after the issue of permits personally. Waran
got a rejection letter with a personal letter from the CM on the evils of
drinking and advised him to practice Yoga and relaxation.
Oxford
has produced a number of British Prime Ministers who have managed serious
crises and this education now helped Waran to solve this bureaucratic obstacle.
“Use the system to beat the system”, and Waran used this golden rule to get
over the problem of drinks. He found a police officer, Parthasarathy Iyengar,
in charge of enforcing prohibition, who was a friend of his uncle.
Parthasarathy Iyengar lived in a side lane off the Parthasarathy temple in Triplicane.
Waran visited him with his uncle, and he arranged for supplies but warned them
to drink only in the house or the outskirts of the city.
Drinking in the house was no fun and Waran and his friends
went to Kovalam Island or Mahabalipuram in the weekends
and had parties. Sunday mornings they were back in Besant Nagar beach for a
swim followed by a breakfast at Murugan Hotel in Triplicane. Murugan Hotel was
and is famous for paper ghee roast about three feet in diameter and “randu
mozham” filter coffee – an excellent pick me up.
For the more orthodox, the evening and night came alive in
temples, listening to “Harikatha Kalashebam”- discourses on ancient mythology,
spiced by music and commentaries which incorporated present day problems and
politics. This could go on for hours. There was music and dance in houses of
well known artists descended from devadasis. Each area of Madras had its own specialty and moving about
was easy as there was no traffic. The Tripicane mosque area specialised in
North Indian music which went on through the night. There were very active
theater groups for those interested in dramas.
The white sahibs and a small group of brown sahibs spent
the night drinking and dancing in their clubs. There was a very strict pecking
order among the white sahibs - the clubs were socially segregated according to
status. This broke down late at night when the senior sahibs had one too many
and their spouses used this to carry on their romance and extra marital
affairs. The brown sahibs were invited
to join only after careful screening.
The night life in Madras -
if it can be called that - was dull compared to other cities in India like Bombay
or Calcutta or even Bangalore. Sometimes the prohibition created
hilarious situations in Madras like the time
when Waran gave a birthday bash at the Connemara.
Waran's friend Pathasarathy Iyengar had gone up in his career and was now head
of the enforcing squad, with powers to conduct raids anywhere to enforce
prohibition. Iyengar arranged for the drinks and told Waran to hold it in the
Arcot room. When Waran went early to Connemara
to check the arrangements the banquet manager told him that they had shifted to
mode Z for the party as the prohibition wallas were active. The only change was
to serve the drinks in teacups from a tea pot. It should be a quiet party till
he gave all clear signal. This did not surprise Waran and his guests and he quietly
enjoyed their Black Label in tea cups. One of the guests remarked that it was
fun to have a Boston Tea party in Madras, which used to import ice from Boston not so long ago. Out of the blue the
door banged open and in stepped Iyengar in full uniform with a coterie of his
men.
“Mmmm and what do we have
here?! Nice smell of Darjeeling
tea. I wish all you youngsters would stick to tea and make our life easier and
your health better. Whose birthday is it?”-
Iyengar
Waran stepped forward and Iyengar wished him a happy
birthday and told him to carry on and walked out with his staff.
Later on the banquet manager told Waran that raids were a
regular feature, especially on week ends. Connections with the police did help
and then the parties became tea parties!
Drinking alcohol in
tea cups is not as novel as it sounds. South Indian musicians and theater
actors (the addicts) drank in coffee cups to quench their thirst during the
performance. North Indian singers drank from metal carafes to improve their
voice and inspiration. Those days the performances went on through out the
night, and performers did get thirsty often. You could audibly hear the singing
climbing to great heights as the night went on and drinks were sipped and the liquor
level in the carafe went down. At the end in the early morning you had the
'randu mozham filter coffee' as a restorative and pick me up. For those
interested in music there was no better way to spend the night in the weekends.
What about night life for those with limited means? Money
is the basis of night life but if you are short of it that is not end. Many
gathered on the sands of the Marina Beach, enjoyed the cool invigorating sea
breeze and got away from their dingy rooms. There was “ manga thenga pattani
sundal” and hand made “murukku” to munch on and “elanir” to drink. You could
spend the whole night and sleep on the seats. It is not as bad as it sounds.
Night life in
cities goes with alcohol- probably as a lubricant for the tongue and a relaxant
if taken moderately. In India drinking
was not openly approved of but went on all the time. The prohibition did
nothing to control it. Indians from time immemorial were used to the pleasures
of soma and wine and in the colonial period were introduced to the pleasures of
rum, gin and whiskey. The whiskey caught their imagination and scotch whiskey
in its malt version is still a hot favorite with those who can afford it. Rum
is very popular with the masses and 'rum and coke' rules the day. Gin, the
drink made famous by the British royal family, is an after noon drink.
I will call this stage of night life in Madras as the prohibition stage. Not very
interesting by modern standards perhaps, but exciting to people then. This laid
the basis for the blooming of night life in Madras next century.
To be continued.
A fantastic start!
Posted by: Kamini | March 24, 2010 at 09:39 PM
A fantastic start!
Posted by: Kamini | March 24, 2010 at 10:04 PM
Nice to see that you have moved from in-laws (your number 1 favourite topic!) to alcohol (your number two favourite topic!)
Am eagerly awaiting the next part!
Posted by: Account Deleted | March 25, 2010 at 02:14 AM
An excellent piece, full of interesting facts. I remember very well the prohibition days and the tea parties!
I am looking forward to further posts in this series.
Posted by: Shankaran | March 26, 2010 at 07:31 AM
Hi,
I found your article interesting and useful.
I'm also part of the night culture in Madras.
I also love the filter coffee culture that grows and flourishes here.
I actually brought a Fresh And Honest filter coffee machine for my daily use. No more endless trips to the Coffee Houses again
I thought that you might want to know that Fresh and honest offers patented Swiss fresh milk coffee vending machines in India at only the installation cost for corporates. Owners now have the option to pay either per cup of filter coffee or buy coffee beans per KG. Their 24/7 free vending machine upkeep along with a 4 - 24 Hr service turn around time makes them one of the most preferred coffee vending machines provider in the country.
Checkout the type of machines that meet your business needs/ personal machines for top corporate management or even your homes at http://www.fresh-honest.com/
Thanks Again
Marina "Coffee Lover" Lobo
Posted by: Marina Lobo | May 17, 2010 at 06:07 AM
Dear sir!
Greetings.
Landed at your blog while i was googling about nostalogic Madras.Quite amazed to see your writeups.
I'm in the midst of collecting the articles about nostalogic madras and planning to come out with a website. It could be great if you allow me to publish your articles too in the same with credits to you.
I can be reachable at jovemac@gmail.com
Thank you!
Jothi vel moorthy.AC
www.themadras.in
Posted by: Account Deleted | July 22, 2010 at 03:49 AM
Hi! I'd like to know a little more about the phrase "randu mozham" filter coffee? Super interesting story, thanks for writing!
Posted by: Minakshi | November 12, 2012 at 08:12 PM
means two yards filter coffe. This is the distance between the tumbler and dowra when pouring and mixing the coffe. Creates foam which makes the flavour come out.
R.Ramakrishnan
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