Good morning, Chennai!
☀️ Today’s weather: High: 38 ℃ | Low: 27 ℃ | It’s going to be a sunny day today.
🧐 Did you know? St. George’s Cathedral in Anna Salai houses a 200-year-old pipe organ made by Hill and Company. It’s one of the oldest musical instruments in the city.
📷 Stories of resistance through art
The Vaanam Art Festival showcases how art can and should be used as a tool of resistance against injustices.
What’s it about? The Niththam Photography Exhibition at the Art Kin Centre shines a light on the stories and struggles of the everyday lives of the working class and oppressed communities. This event is different from others, which are usually dominated by elites.
- With blue being the big theme, photographers showcased images of Ambedkar and his vision of social justice and equality. Others, like filmmaker Kamaraj Sivanandan, document the life of Dalits in his village.
- Chennai-based journalist Nithya Pandian’s ‘Red Passport: A Journey Through the Lives of Tamil Dalit Tea Plantation Workers’ delves deep into their community. Abishaa’s and Santhosh Krishnan’s photos spotlight the evictions at RA Puram.
The event’s importance: The event also exhibits posters, bookmarks, and postcards for people to buy to help them remember the photos and stories of their subjects. Exhibitions like these will help break stereotypes and foster discussions on oppression and injustices.
🎤 Breaking stereotypes
The rap group Sollisai Sistahs hopes to bring about changes in society one rap at a time.
What’s their history? Cinematographer Abishaa (stage name B-Shaa) was the key person in the group’s formation – the first-of-its-kind all-women rap group from the city. She began rapping to deal with the RA Puram eviction protests she documented. Then, Kavyaa and Salem-based rapper Raaga Kaatralai joined. The final member was school student Neya, interested in writing raps.
- Their first appearance together was at Margazhiyil Makkalisai 2023. Since then, they’ve performed at events at DakshinaChitra, Women’s Day celebrations at Goethe-Institut, and Vyasai Thozhargal’s ‘Our Street Our Stories’ photo exhibition.
- They rap about things happening around them. Social injustices, gender politics, caste oppression, and the struggles of marginalised communities.
Open to collaborate: To help spread awareness, the group is open to working with artists and other groups since music doesn’t see gender, caste, or social wealth.
📈 North Chennai’s economic woes
A survey of government departments showed that poverty and unemployment in North Chennai were higher than elsewhere.
What’s it about? Tamil Nadu’s economy is often praised for its high growth rate, Human Development Index (HDI), excellent infrastructure, and education. However, a recent survey showed that North Chennai is the exception.
- A survey of 19 government departments showed North Chennai’s poverty rate is 29.5% compared to 14.3% for the rest of the city. The unemployment rate is 10.3%.
- On education, 75% of kids are below the age-appropriate learning levels. There’s also lower learning interest due to weak foundational learning in classes 6, 7, and 8. About 25% of the government schools in the area have only 16% enrollment rates.
What can be done? The School Education Department has laid out a three-year plan, beginning from the 2024-25 academic year. There’s a need to fill the existing gaps in enrollment by upgrading schools and their infrastructure. The CM Breakfast and mid-day meal schemes have helped to some extent.
📱 Train tickets through an app
Commuters can now book MRTS and suburban train tickets through the UTS app.
What’s it about? Passengers no longer have to wait at the platform ticket counter to buy local train tickets. It’s now available on the UTS app. The railways have removed the outer limit geo-fencing that prevented people from using the app to book tickets if they were near a station.
- Commuters can now book platform tickets, suburban train tickets, and unreserved tickets from home. They need to reach the station within two hours of the booking time.
- Geo-fencing inside the station remained since officials don’t want ticketless people to misuse the facility.
One precaution: One thing the railways need to keep in mind is to ensure a cap for unreserved tickets issued from the counter and the app. Overbooking on routes leads to crowding of trains, especially during festivals and long weekends.
✨ Things to do…
Here are some fun and interesting things to do in the city over the weekend!
- Aravind SA is back with his comedy show We Need to Talk this Saturday.
- Comedy and cinephiles come together for Women in Cinema Let’s Speak the Unspoken this Sunday.
- For art lovers, the Neram Art Festival begins this Sunday.
- An evening of musical delights awaits at the Uncalled Jam 2.0 – Musical Jamming, this Sunday.
- TEDxNapier Bridge presents an event on tackling misinformation this Saturday.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll Results:
- I would buy an Electric Vehicle if it was cheaper: 81.2% 🏆
- I wouldn’t buy an Electric Vehicle if it was cheaper: 18.8%
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
Which public figure would you like to see a biopic of?
Suchi: “Kamarajar”
That’s it for today. Have a great weekend!