Madras Day

VENUE: Srinivasa Sashtri Hall, Mylapore.

Calibreans woke up on 20th Aug’09, filled with enthusiasm and excitement to partake of and celebrate Madras Day.

Children were dressed up in traditional clothes - pavadai / chatai / dhoti angavastram and full sleeved shirts in pale shades. The hall was a beehive of activity. Models of important places of interest like Gymkhana club, Hindi Prachar Sabha, Cenotaph, Santhome Church, Temples, Market, and Parks were on the display. Charts adorned the walls. A coin collection was on display along with traditional games like pallanguzhi, paramapatham, aadupuli aatam etc.At the entrance an array of the old traditional copper pots and pans was being exhibited to give the people an idea of what it was like in those days to cook in copper vessels. The traditional kitchen set up for the Madras Day celebrations had all those old delights like Kanjeevaram Idli, Panagam, Puliyodarai etc to offer to those who visited the venue. Shri S.Ve.Sekar inaugurated the function and and in his speech appreciated the efforts of the children in putting up the project. He also appealed to the children not to let go of our culture and traditions but try and adhere to them as much as possible since that was the hallmark of our identity of being an Indian.

Dr.Suresh, INTACH, organized an interesting quiz based on COINS. Children enjoyed themselves, and also got a lot of information about the origin of coins. There was also another competition – Design a Coin. Prizes were sponsored by the family of a member of INTACH, Raja Sitaraman, who passed away last year. This definitely was a novel and an extremely interesting learning experience not only for children but also for adults.