Madras Week: a tribute to Chennai's spirit, by Oxygen

On Saturday, August 22, at the Hotel Green Park, Vadapalani, there will be several programmes running through the afternoon. But one programme, likely to be the shortest, will be the most special.

Oxygen, the well-known music group inn the city, will play the Chennai Anthem, a composition evoking the passion of Chennaites and also focusing on some areas of the city and the achievements of its people.

The programme is special because a youngster who was passionate about the city and its people composed the original music for the song. V. Vikram is no more, a road accident claimed his life. But his contribution will be remembered and we hope that his dreams of a better and greener Chennai will be realised some day soon.

The lyrics of the song (by Anandan, in Tamil) mentions the Fort St. George, thus far the headquarters of the government of Tami Nadu, the slum dwellers who provide much of the city’s labour force, the Marina Beach, one of the longest beaches in the world, the quieter Covelong Beach, and the Cooum and Adayar Rivers. The song urges Chennaites to keep keep nature’s gifts as pristine pure as they were meant to be. There is also mention of the city being the ‘Detroit of South Asia’, about software development parks and business process outsourcing (BPO) units. The anthem concludes with praises of the cosmopolitan character of the city.

Playing to Vikram’s music will be Girinandh (keyboard), Karthick Iyer (violin), Harish, Prithvi (drums), Ramana (mridangam and percussion) and Anirudh (kanjeera). The singers are Vijay Narain, Subu, Harish and Shakti Sri.

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