Madras Week: Malayalee Club joins in... and how!

The Malayalee Club in Chennai is 110 years old. It has a great history and we will go into that some other time, but for the present I must mention the leadership qualities and enthusiasm displayed by its president M Nanda Govind in participating in Madras Week celebrations. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I had broached the subject of the Malayalee Club being a part of the heritage celebrations in the city. Nandu, as he is better known, wished to know more about it and once I explained he was keen to get started.

This afternoon, I received a letter from him, addressed to the Club’s members. And may be I should quote some sentences in it to bring out the flavour:

“…Very few modern cities can boast of this type of antiquity (of being 370 years old)… many have contributed to making Chennai what it is – a cosmopolitan, tranquil cradle of tradition and culture, blending seamlessly with an unobtrusive modernity. From the days when it was the capital of the composite state of Madras, including large parts of present-day Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, to its current position as the gateway to south India, the growth of Chennai has been influenced and nurtured by people of various linguistic denominations. And not the least among these have been the Malayalees…”

So, what has Nandu managed to organise in such a short span? Well, he and his team have decided to honour some of the Malayalees who have enriched the heritage of Chennai with their invaluable contributions – stalwarts from varied fields such as politics, literature, cinema, music, education, medicine, business, civil service, social service and theatre.

On Madras Day, Saturday, August 22, at 6pm at the Malayalee Club auditorium in Chetpet, the Club will honour the following:


Politics
MG Ramachandran, represented by his nephew MGC Prabhakaran
Kozhippurath Madhava Menon, represented by his daughter Meenakshi Menon

Civil service
PC Mathew
TV Antony
Hari Bhaskar

Education
AK Gopalan
TP Imbichammed

Law
P Govinda Menon, represented by his son
M Sankaranarayanan
MK Nambiar

Medical science
Sarada Menon

Accountancy
M Ramachanra Varier

Literature
Chelanat Achuta Menon, represented by his grandson KP Sunil
Prabhakara Warrier

Music
V Dakshinamoorthy
MS Viswanathan
KJ Yesudas

Cinema
Sasikumar
MO Joseph
KS Sethumadhavan
Navodaya Appachan
Sukumari
TR Omana
Jayabharathy

Social service
TG Menon
V Ravunni Menon

Business
KM Mammen Mappila, represented by his son Vinu Mammen

Art
KCS Panicker, represented by his son Nandagopal

Theatre
VP Sidhan

There are bound to be trips down memory lane and it is a programme not to be missed by Malayalees in Chennai.