Good morning, Chennai!
☀️ Today’s weather: High: 41 ℃ | Low: 29 ℃ | It’s going to be hot and humid. Stay hydrated!
🧐 Did you know? Velachery was once within ‘Kottur Naadu’ (present-day Kotturpuram), part of the ancient territorial subdivision called ‘Puliyur Kottam’.
🎻 Combining art and music
On The Streets (OTS) is organising a three-day event to celebrate art and music.
What’s it about? To shine a spotlight on the symbiotic relationship between art and music, the Art-um Paatum 2.0 event will bring performances and artists to showcase their handcrafted works.
- The workshop will be conducted by self-made entrepreneur Sinthura Shankar, entrepreneur and architect Aafreen Fathima Kabir, artist and entrepreneur Rashmi Nandita, and small business owner Geetha Seetharaman.
- There’ll be solo and group performances in multiple languages. The workshop will also have handmade art products for sale with benefits to support underprivileged children through the OTS Foundation.
Mission and purpose: The OTS Foundation began with the goal of making Chennai the street musical capital of the world. The Art-um Paatum initiative provides music education to underprivileged kids.
🎶 Helping indie music
A new label and management platform called Art Vizha aims to redefine the indie music scene.
What’s it about? The e-learning platform for Indian art forms called Pallikoodam launched its independent record label and artist management vertical called Art Vizha. The new venture was founded by friends Ranjith Govind, Kiran Sampath, and Nara Viswa.
- Its most recent single, Bholenath Rhapsody, is composed and performed by Ranjith Govind to mark Art Vizha’s beginning. It is mixed by Sujith Sreedhar and mastered by Shadab Rayeen.
- The platform hopes to unite artists across boundaries. The single represents the energy the group wants to bring to music lovers.
Connecting artists: Art Vizha aims to redefine the indie music scene by providing artists with a platform to connect and collaborate. The single represents the kind of collaboration that the group wants to encourage.
🚇 New metro train speeds
The speed of the new driverless trains for the metro’s phase 2 is likely to be slower than existing trains.
What’s it about? When phase 2 of the metro commences operations, the driverless trains will likely travel at slower speeds than the trains on the existing corridors. Phase 2 has more curves, and the distance between many stations is shorter.
- The average speed of trains in phase 2 is expected to be 32 kmph compared to the 34 kmph of existing trains. The travel time is unlikely to increase since the stations are built within a kilometre.
- The new driverless trains are built to travel at a top speed of 80 kmph. The operational speed is decided based on the alignment, and for phase 2, there are many sharp curves.
How many curves? Phase 2 has nearly 700 curves across the three corridors. Corridor 5 from Madhavaram Milk Colony to Sholinganallur has 274 curves. It has 52 of the sharpest curves, including one at the Porur junction.
🚌 Waiting in the heat
The lack of adequate bus shelters has forced commuters to wait in the sun for buses.
What’s it about? Several bus shelters and bus stops across the city don’t have proper shade. Some of the regular bus shelters have been shifted due to ongoing work on the metro’s second phase. People are forced to wait in the scorching sun for their buses.
- Due to the Chennai metro rail construction work, many of the bus shelters in places like Nungambakkam have been shifted.
- It’s the same situation in Porur, with metro construction in full swing. With no proper bus stop, regular commuters have to walk to get to their buses.
What’s being done? The Chennai Corporation and the metro officials have taken note and will set up temporary shelters at the new points. However, both didn’t know the exact number of affected shelters. Arrangements are also being made for alternative bus shelters.
✨ Things to do…
Here are some fun and interesting things to do in the city over the weekend!
- Catch Rajhesh Vaidhya live in Sound of Music – A Retro Evening this Sunday.
- IndoSoul’s 12th year is being marked with its At The Theatres event this Saturday.
- An evening of soft rock awaits with A Classic Rock Set featuring Sunny this Saturday.
- Mahad Productions is organising an art festival called The ARTery, on till Saturday.
- Walk and learn in this heritage Story Walk through Velachery this Sunday.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll Results:
- I would consider going abroad for higher education: 50.0% 🏆
- I wouldn’t consider going abroad for higher education: 50.0% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What’s the ideal amount to spend when buying a smartphone?
Shiva: “20K”
Suchi: “20,000”
That’s it for today. Have a great weekend!