Good morning, Chennai!
☁️ Today’s weather: High: 36 ℃ | Low: 26 ℃ | Cloudy weather for the day.
🧐 Did you know? The St. Thomas Mount National Shrine at St Thomas Mount celebrated its 500th anniversary last year. It was built in 1523 by the Portuguese and is among the oldest churches in Chennai.
🖼️ Reimagining kolam
A new exhibition takes traditional kolam designs and reimagines them using technology.
What’s it about? Berlin-based artist Sam Madhu’s new exhibition titled “Reincarnations – Ghosts of a South Asian Past” takes traditional kolam designs and imprints them on dark-skinned Tamil women. The images are then displayed on LED screens.
- The exhibition showcases a woman’s body as a canvas. The kolam marks a border zone meant to denote a safe space that can be safe and limiting. It’s also a celebration of dark skin.
- The exhibition showcases her works mounted as canvas and on 12-foot LED digital screen installations. In some pieces, jewellery is turned into weaponry and armour.
Methodology: It begins with grainy black-and-white colonial-era photos of dark-skinned women from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Using digital technology and CGI characters modelled in 3D programs, the subject’s facial expressions and clothing are altered.
🏠 New real estate projects decrease
Analysis showed that new real estate projects in the city decreased by 34%.
What’s it about? The Research and Analysis Wing of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) showed that new real estate projects and sales declined in Chennai from April to June.
- According to the report, 65 new properties were registered in the second quarter of 2024. Of these, CREDAI members represented 65%. It’s a 34% decline from the 98 projects registered last year.
- The sales figures for Q2 of this year were 2,597 units. That’s a 53% decline from the nearly 5,500 in Q2 of 2023. It shows that developers have found it difficult to reduce existing inventory.
Good residential numbers: The number of residential units registered in the city increased. Over 8,700 were registered, representing a 37% increase compared to 6,435 in Q2 2023. CREDAI members dominated this segment, accounting for 90% of registered units.
🏢 Cognizant selling its HQ in Chennai
The IT company is selling its long-standing Indian headquarters.
What’s it about? The building, located on the city’s IT corridor in Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, has been Cognizant’s India headquarters for over 20 years. It’s also the company’s first fully owned property in Chennai. The company’s co-founders, Lakshmi Narayanan and Chandrasekaran, operated from here.
- The site includes a 15-acre land parcel and 4 lakh square feet of office space. Estimates say it could fetch ₹750-800 crore for the company.
- The company plans to finalise the sale and vacate the campus by this December. It has enlisted property advisor JLL to sell the building. Prospective buyers include the Baashyam Group and Casagrand.
What’s next? The company’s new headquarters could be at the MPEZ campus near Tambaram on GST Road.
🚇 Record metro patronage
The average daily ridership of the Chennai Metro has reached 3 lakh passengers.
What’s it about? According to data from the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), the average daily ridership touched 3 lakh passengers for the second consecutive time. While passenger numbers have been relatively low since the metro’s inception, in the subsequent years, it has gradually increased.
- Ridership in 2024 has seen a significant increase. In January, 84.63 lakh passengers used the metro. For August, that number was 95.43 lakh.
- In the initial months of this year, the average daily ridership was between 2.5 and 2.8 lakh passengers. For July and August, that has crossed 3 lakh.
Shortcomings persist: While travelling by metro has become easier and more accessible, passengers feel more needs to be done. While the metro operates feeder services from four IT parks, there’s a need for more. Overall, last-mile connectivity needs to be increased.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Have you travelled by bus to another city?
- I have travelled by bus to another city.
- I haven’t travelled by bus to another city.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
Who is your favourite artist/painter?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- The Corporation and CMRL have been instructed to finish building stormwater drains by the month-end.
- 9-seater air taxis will soon become operations between Chennai and Neyveli.
- One-stop centres will soon be open in the city’s resettlement areas to combat domestic violence.
- The Madras High Court has criticised the government and civic agencies’ corruption for turning Chennai into a concrete jungle.
- Ahead of the monsoon, residents in Tambaram fear flooding due to the failure of long-term measures implemented.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I have read a self-help book: 66.7% 🏆
- I haven’t read a self-help book: 33.3%
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What’s your favourite traditional Indian sweet?
Suchi: “Laddoo”
Preethi: “Palkova”
Shiva: “Thenga barpi”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!