Good morning, Chennai!
☀️ Today’s weather: High: 40 ℃ | Low: 29 ℃ | Hot and humid for the day!
🧐 Did you know? The first Regional Transport Office (RTO) was established in Madras in 1921.
🎶 Vocal workshop
Musician and educator Karthik Sekaran returns to Chennai to train the next generation of artists.
About: Karthik wears multiple hats – vocal coach, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter. He’s back in the city to conduct the Voice Culture and Vocal Harmony workshop to help explore and showcase vocal dynamics.
- The workshop will be interactive, where participants will learn and contribute. It’ll explore vocal elements like vibrato, huskiness, and volume changes and break down vocal harmonies.
- His workshop is based on blending his Carnatic roots with Western concepts. It helps provide a bridge for those trained in traditional ways to learn Western music.
Personal journey: Karthik began his musical journey by doing a deep dive into Carnatic music and vocal styles with SV Ramani as his mentor for a decade. He then moved on to performing and composing light music and developed an affinity for the acoustic guitar.
🚗 Historic driving license
For the first time in the state, a Chennai man who lost both his arms was given a special driving license.
Who is he? 31-year-old K Thansean from Vyasarpadi lost both his arms in an accident during his childhood. He was given a special driver’s license by the North Chennai Regional Transport Office (RTO), allowing him to drive using his legs.
- The license was given based on a fitness certificate issued by government doctors from the Government Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine.
- Driving an automatic, he uses one leg to steer and the other to accelerate and brake. Persons with disabilities can be given driving licenses after a medical board assessment and vehicle modifications.
Independence: For K Thansean, this now gives him the freedom and independence to travel without depending on public and other private transport.
🌡️ Temperature readings
Correct temperature readings can help understand why some parts of the city feel hotter than others.
What’s it about? Tamil Nadu and Chennai have seen a surge in temperatures over the past week, and it’s likely to continue. With heatwave warnings issued, people have been looking at various weather sources to see temperature and humidity readings. Part of this is looking at the actual temperature and feels-like temperature.
- Humidity is what makes the difference. The same sea breeze that helps keep temperatures in check also increases humidity due to moisture. It rises to 60-65% in Chennai, which increases the feels-like temperature.
- The Westerlies blow into Chennai, which causes the temperature to increase. Within the city, there are temperature variations. On May 1, Anna Nagar recorded a maximum of 39.6 degrees Celsius, while Tirunindravur recorded 42.9.
Take it seriously: When high temperature alerts are issued when it rises to 45 or 46 degree Celsius, then people don’t step out. However, when it’s relatively lower at 36 or 37 with high humidity, then people don’t think the risk is too high.
🌊 Save the lakes
Medavakkam residents sent postcards to the Chief Secretary demanding officials restore their locality’s lakes.
What’s it about? About 1,000 residents have been dismayed by government negligence on the lakes. They’ve decided to send postcards to Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena to clean and restore the lakes in the area. During Cyclone Michaung, Medavakkam Periya Eri breached, causing flooding.
- Kalleri is a six-acre lake south of the 200-acre Peirya Eri. Chinna Eri is a 12.6-acre lake. Kalleri and Chinna Eri are blanketed with water hyacinths, and sewage continues to flow into them.
- There have been several proposals to deepen and revive the lakes, but none of them materialised. The lakes are a major source of water for the locals.
What’s been happening? Residents have filed Chief Minister Cell complaints and used the Right to Information (RTI) requests to restore the lakes. In 2022, there was a ₹10 crore proposal by the water resource department which was later scrapped.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Do you like going on long drives?
- I like going on long drives.
- I don’t like going on long drives.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
How do you keep cool in the summer?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- As the summer continues, Chennai recorded a new peak power demand of 4,470 MW.
- International passengers were again inconvenienced as flights from the Middle East were delayed.
- Taj Coromandel curated a special menu to celebrate 50 years in the industry.
- The Chennai Corporation has released an advisory on dealing with heat-related issues.
- MTC’s financial constraints have meant it hasn’t been able to properly repair and maintain its buses.
That’s it for today. Have a great day!