Good morning, Chennai!
🌤️ Today’s weather: High: 36 ℃ | Low: 27 ℃ | Mostly sunny for the day.
🧐 Did you know? Wall Tax Road was renamed VO Chidambaram Road after the nationalist who ran a shipping company to compete with the English.
🎭 Raising money for Rafah
Art and activism came together for the All Ears for Rafah fundraiser to raise money for Gaza.
What’s it about? The Chennai Artists’ Collective provided a platform for artists to showcase their talents to highlight the ongoing struggle in Gaza and raise money. The fundraiser was a precursor to the seminars scheduled for next month.
- The event featured Paul and Offscale’s Select Classics Live, a counter-culture music show, The Big Bang, and People’s Theatre’s “Iyal Isai Nadagam”.
- The event, which took place at Kodambakkam and Royapettah, raised ₹7,000 from ticket sales alone.
Raising awareness: The fundraiser was a chance to showcase the powerful effect of art, its reach, and how it can highlight social injustices. In this case, it was the events in Palestine.
🌈 Pride through art and advocacy
Several events across the city aimed to educate and foster inclusivity for lasting social change.
What’s it about? Over the past couple of weeks, the city has played host to diverse events, from artistic workshops to seminars, to empower people to know more about the LGBTQ+ community.
- The Goethe Institut partnered with Hastha, an ethnic foundation that specialises in hand-block printed apparel and accessories, for a workshop to design outfits that people could wear for the Pride March.
- The NGO Sahodaran worked with the LGBTQ+ community for several events in the city to raise awareness about diversity within the community.
Increased awareness: The events are aimed at policymakers and government officials to become familiar with the community, and their needs and help drive positive change.
💡 Let there be light
The Lights On workshop from Keerthi Kumar presented how lighting design is a tool for expression.
What’s it about? Keerthi Kumar, a Kathak and contemporary dance maestro and lighting designer, presented his workshop on lighting design and performance. With aspiring lighting technicians and performing artistes in attendance, the workshop helped illuminate the importance of lighting.
- The workshop went through the fundamentals of lighting design and how lightscapes can enhance performances. He showed how different lighting combinations can be used to spotlight and silhouette performers.
- Colours can often carry cultural baggage. The experimentation with colours helped shine a light on different aesthetics and perspectives.
Personal journey: A keen interest in lighting and multimedia design led Keerthi to hone his skills. He was exposed to the different aspects of performing acts at Bangalore’s Natya Institute of Kathak & Choreography and continued with the STEM Dance Kampni.
🔬 Research & Innovation Park
The Madras Christian College’s Innovation Park is a first for a liberal arts and science college.
What’s it about? The MCC-MRF Innovation Park will help get various startups incubated. The 45,000-square-foot facility is likely to be opened next month to facilitate research ideas and business models.
- The facility has a tinkering lab, a rapid prototype lab, an entrepreneurship cafe, co-working spaces and several meeting halls.
- The building also has a “pitch stage” for budding entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas to an audience. The cafeteria will also allow food-based startups to conduct pilot studies.
Keeping it green: The building integrated the forest ecosystem without any trees being cut and 50% of its power will be met with solar energy. One of the focus areas of the park will also be climate-smart agriculture.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Have you ever experienced déjà vu?
- I have experienced déjà vu.
- I haven’t experienced déjà vu.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
Which animal species best exemplifies the city?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- The Pallikaranai Marshland will be demarcated in the Second Master Plan, likely making it a no-development zone.
- Residents have urged the Tambaram Corporation to repair and revamp neglected public parks.
- Rela Hospital surgeons performed the state’s first synthetic ligament surgery.
- After a two-year delay, the state will re-lay a 2.5-km stretch of Wall Tax Road between Central Station and Basin Bridge junction.
- The Chennai Police have the new Integrated Vehicle Monitoring System (IVMS) to mitigate vehicle thefts.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- My commute has been affected by ongoing metro construction: 60.0% 🏆
- My commute hasn’t been affected by ongoing metro construction: 40.0%
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What adventure sport would you like to try?
Shiva: “Bungee jumping”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!