Good morning, Chennai!
🌤️ Today’s weather: High: 40 ℃ | Low: 29 ℃ | A little cloudy for the day.
🧐 Did you know? The history of the Tamil Nadu police can be traced back to the institution of the Volunteer Guards in 1857. It consisted of Englishmen and Anglo Indians to defend Madras from situations like the Sepoy mutiny.
🎭 Theatre and mental health
At Chennai’s Schizophrenia Research Foundation (Scarf) centre, there’s a performance on the importance of mental health.
What’s it about? It is perhaps the only performance of its kind, given the stage is the waiting room at the centre. It’s unique since the performers are people with lived experience. The plays are aimed at highlighting people with mental illness and caregivers.
- The themes of the mini-plays vary from medication to interpersonal relationships. They’re also about the struggles faced while coming to terms with their condition. The process is being refined with audience suggestions.
- The performance is part of PIECEs, a project conducted in Karachi and Chennai to explore the best way to guide conversations between patients and healthcare providers.
Expanding its scope: Apart from the waiting room area, plays are also performed at the centre’s social hangout space called “Namma Area”. The centre has also brought in actor-director Jayachandran R, who helped create an inclusive theatre group.
🎨 Capturing Chennai
Artist Rebecca Tabitha Devnesh takes inspiration to capture Chennai’s spirit.
Who is she? Rebecca Tabitha Devnesh works at the DakshinaChitra Heritage Museum, as part of their Museum Management internship program. Her artistic journey began at a young age while her skills took shape in college. The Madras Art Movement’s ethos of connecting art with culture and heritage was a big inspiration.
- Among her other inspirations are Indian abstract artist KM Adimoolam and the works of Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico, who founded the Scuola Metafisica Art Movement. She also admires the craftsmanship of Salvador Dali.
- Her Chennai series uses bold colours to showcase Chennai’s beauty. It’s not just the well-known and important places but the city’s variety which are on display.
Purpose: For Rebecca, art is a form of self-expression and a way to send a message to people and help them connect and decipher something from a piece of work.
🎓 Efforts to boost enrolment
Some city colleges are planning to change the course names to increase enrolment.
What’s it about? Some private colleges in the city have seen poor enrolment in basic science and conventional arts courses. They’re planning to change the names of some of these courses and make them professional courses to bring in more students.
- Despite revamping the syllabus and including internships, enrolment hasn’t improved. One example is including computer applications in maths to give it a more professional touch.
- Madras Christian College, for example, is working on new nomenclatures to be introduced in the next academic year. For example, botany will be renamed as plant biology and biotechnology.
Being adaptable: Two years ago, the application ratio for basic science courses was 1:15. This year, it has been reduced to 1:5. Some colleges have introduced new courses that have been in demand, like Ethiraj College with its new BSc maths with data science.
Hoarding removal shortcomings
The Chennai Corporation’s efforts to remove illegal hoardings leave the steel scaffolding intact.
What’s it about? The Chennai Corporation has been on a city-wide drive to remove illegal hoardings. However, the approach is faulty since the steel scaffolding remains after the advertisements are removed. Advertisers then come and fix new ones once officials leave.
- The Corporation has removed over 400 illegal hoardings since 2023. However, in several areas like Anna Nagar and Usman Road, the steel frames remain. These pose a danger to the public since a strong gust of wind can cause it to collapse.
- The Corporation staff aren’t equipped with welders, and the advertisers threaten legal action if the banners are torn off.
What are the rules? Rule 320(b) of the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Body Rules, 2023, states that every hoarding must have a structural stability certificate from a Grade 1 engineer registered with the Corporation. In 2018, the Corporation banned hoardings on private buildings.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Do you prefer to watch movies and TV shows with subtitles?
- I prefer to watch movies and TV shows with subtitles.
- I prefer to watch movies and TV shows without subtitles.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
Who was your favourite cartoon character growing up?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- The Chennai Corporation will revise the tenders for PWD-friendly buses.
- A two-day film festival, in a first, screened three Russian films in Tamil.
- Debris and other waste dumped on open land is covered by a cloth by the Tambaram Corporation.
- Maths professor K Satish has devoted his spare time to feeding the homeless.
- IIT Madras will invest up to ₹5 crore to incubate sports tech startups.
That’s it for today. Have a great day!