Long walks on arterial roads at Mandaveli and Santhome, now a luxury, was my favourite pastime as a school student. I got updated on the latest film songs through speakers in tea shops that blared all along the arterial roads of Santhome during the early 1970s as I walked to school in the area along with friends. Red-coloured MTC buses then used to resemble school buses, with students clad in different uniforms travelling to Santhome that was dotted with schools.
I am still in touch with my ‘bus-mates’ such as celebrated newsreader Shobhana Ravi and Justice Aruna Jagadeesan. New phase After college education at Stella Maris College, I shifted to Ratnam Street in the undivided Royapettah after marriage to S. Kannappan, son of film producer A.
L. Srinivasan, in 1975. (Mr.
Srinivasan was the elder brother of lyricist Kannadasan). As I hailed from a bureaucrat’s family, it was a complete shift for me. Royapettah, from which Gopalapuram was carved in the late 1970s, was the soul of Chennai’s film and drama industry.
The neighbourhood was the hotspot for actors, producers, drama artists, theatre owners, and film financiers. Royapettah-Ratnam Street, Dr. Besant Road, Thandavarayan Street, and Shanmugam Street were home to many film personalities.
The roads in Royapettah used to be bustling with drama troupes such as TKS Nataka Sabha, N.S. Krishnan Nataka Mandram, and that of S.
V. Sahasranamam. Many of the troupes had boarding for about 100 people, be it actors, musicians, and.