ARE WE CELEBRATING MADRAS WEEK IN VACUUM ?
I have been following the Madras Week celebration events during the last few years. I have felt that the celebration is being done in vacuum. I got the same feeling this year too.
Obviously, we are celebrating past Madras and it’s heritage and tradition and not present Chennai or possible future Chennai.
One thing that is very clear is that Madras Week is celebrated by a selected few who belong to upper and middle income group. Those who celebrate are not representative of the present day Chennaites, whom we call as common man.
The celebration is not creating enthusiasm amongst vast section of Chennaites, since there is nothing to celebrate as far as the present Chennai is concerned. As one walks on the road, one cannot but see over flowing sewage, people urinating on the road and half naked drunkards lying on the road. Are we to celebrate this?
Should we confine ourselves just to be proud of the past ? Does such celebration of the past glory have any significance for the present and the future?
It has been lamented that the government of Tamil Nadu is not supporting the Madras Week celebrations. Obviously, recognition is sought for the celebration from the government in principle and some fund support too. The government does not have the face to celebrate the happenings in present Chennai and therefore, it is reluctant to play it’s role in celebrating the past , which would reveal the difference between the past and the present in a glaring manner. Would any government of the day subject itself to such humiliation ?
It is high time that we do not confine ourselves to celebrate the glory of the past Madras for a week and then wait for the next twelve months for the next year’s Madras Week celebration. The enthusiasts should fix target to improve conditions to the level of their ability for the next twelve months , before celebrating the next Madras Week , so that they can celebrate the past and also the present to some extent next year.
Have we planned any purposive programmes for the next twelve months, particularly involving the youth and poor and deprived section of the society , who are as much residents of Chennai as those presently celebrating Madras Week.
N.S.Venkataraman
Nandini Voice for The Deprived
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