There is a training institute in Choolaimedu High Road. The Asian Research Institute functioning from Chennai is sponsored by the Japanese. Japanese is one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn. And if you by any chance master it, it is not that easy to speak or read aloud. But surprisingly a Japanese professor has been claiming for the past twenty years that there is a close connection between Tamil and Japanese. Japanese is nasal at least to an extent of 50 percent whereas nasal sounds are almost non-existent in Tamil.

Choolaimedu was once known to be the preferred residential locality of Tamil pundits and practitioners of Tamil medicine. The pundits of Loyola College would carry an aura of royalty in the presence of these Tamil pundits of Choolaimedu. It was a prevalent notion in those days that once the Tamil pundits occupy a house, they would not vacate it easily. The rule was applicable as equally in the case of Loyola College staff quarters too. It is the general attitude of anyone. Supposing a person gets a government or railway quarters, he would prefer to occupy it for as long as possible. If at all he constructs a house, he would not move to his own house, vacating the quarters. He would rather let it for rent. The Loyola College staff quarters were no exception.

A friend once remarked that one could see occupants of Loyola College staff quarters living there for generations together. He was a retired professor from Loyola. He lived in the staff quarters for more than 30 years and vacated it only when it was impossible for him to occupy it any further.

We will walk down Chennai's memory lanes again

Ashoka Mithran

Retro Chennai from Asoka Mithran looks back at Chennai, in fact the Madras as it was known and existed. The column traces the city's lifescape at various points of time.