Synthesis: The ubiquitous 'Madrasi' in Delhi

by Guest Mon Jan 22, 2018 10:27 am

Ubiquitous ‘Madrasi’ in Delhi

Narayani Ganesh| TNN | Sep 15, 2002, 23:26 IST

So what's an average Delhi-Tamilian or D-Tam like? It's a wide range from the vibhooti-kumkum sporting, dhoti-clad Karol Bagh veterans to hanky-topped disco damsels boogying till the wee hours, to suave corporate honchos. Most Tamils, however, fall somewhere in between, adding value to corporates, media groups or the art world.

Incidentally, the country's First Citizen, the brahmachari in Rashtrapati Bhavan, too, is Tamil, as was former President R Venkatraman. Two other presidents too would qualify as Madrasis: S Radhakrishnan and V V Giri, both Andhraites but raised in Madras. The present Army and Air Force chiefs also are Tamils.

Some half-million Tamils have made Delhi their home. From traditional "Madrasi" areas like Karol Bagh, R K Puram and Munirka to newer localities of Vasant Kunj, Alakananda or Rohini, they are everywhere. And the neighbourhood "Madrasi" temple and grocery store are the dead give-aways of their concentration in the vicinity.

Malai Mandir in R K Puram is the most popular Tamil temple. Malai is Tamil for mountain...

The chant of slokas, fragrance of flowers, gajras, incense and the inevitable idli-vada-sambar recreate for D-Tams a long-lost ambience. "I feel as though I am back home in Mylapore," says 70-year-old Brihadambal as she shepherds her grandchildren through the kovil.

Nearby are the Kamakshi temple and Balaji mandir. Ganesh temples at Sarojini Nagar, Lawrence Road and Rohini Sector-9 are hubs of Tamil cultural exchanges. But delicious prasadam of tamarind rice and curd rice is to be had only at the Rama temple on Ramana Maharshi Marg.

Rama store in Munirka, Madras and Tamil Nadu stores in Karol Bagh are where you get authentic Tamil groceries. Be it Kolamaavu (alpana powder), masalas or murukkus. "The mysore-pak though is not quite what you get at Grand Sweets, Chennai," says retired bureaucrat K S Ambi, "but it is quite adequate."

A more glamorous addition to the Capital is Nalli's, to shop for the rich variety of Tamil sarees. In Connaught Place, it is located bang next to the city's oldest Tamil restaurant, the legendary Madras Hotel. No new entrant, be it Dakshin, Sagar, Naivedyam, Govardhan, Kamakshi or Kanchi, has been able to match Madras Hotel in clientele or quality. The ubiquitous Udupi is not in the race as its a Karnataka institution.

As cuisine so with culture. Voluntary associations like Gayathri Fine Arts, Rohini, and Delhi Tamil Sangam, R K Puram, are in the forefront of promoting Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music, while the DTEA stands out for its academic excellence.

It is this rich fabric of community life in the Capital that is nudging the second and third generation D-Tams into inter-community marriages here and now than back home, a good 36-hour train ride away.
With caterers, jewellers and Vaidiga Samajam offering services right down to rituals, the D-Tams are quite at home in Delhi, living cheek-by-jowl with Bengalis, Malayalees, Maharashtrians or Punjabis.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Ubiquitous-Madrasi-in-Delhi/articleshow/22297939.cms

by Guest Mon Jan 22, 2018 10:30 am

Another perspective:

Aravind Gunasekar’s first few days at Jawaharlal Nehru University were tough. He couldn’t differentiate between the various languages he was hearing. “I thought they were all speaking Hindi,“ says the Erode resident who completed a Masters in International Relations at JNU last year and is now a journalist in New Delhi.

Each year, hundreds of TN students head to JNU or Delhi University and most, especially those from small cities and towns, experience a strong sense of isolation...

Honeyshya R faced similar problems at Miranda House.“Students from TN come from different economic backgrounds, and they form gangs among themselves. Many speak only to those who know Tamil, and don’t try to learn Hindi,“ says the 19-year-old political science (honours) student from Coimbatore. Honeysha and her friend Devadarshini, a B Com student of Shri Ram College of Commerce, last month gave a representation to the TN school education department describing how TN students, used to a syllabus driven by rote learning, are unable to cope with application-centric learning at DU.

https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tracking-indian-communities/blending-in-not-easy-for-tamils-in-delhi-colleges/

Synthesis: The ubiquitous 'Madrasi' in Delhi

Synthesis: The ubiquitous 'Madrasi' in Delhi

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