It was 1990. Calcutta was celebrating its 300th year with fanfare. The West Bengal government, the city corporation and business leaders worked in unison.
1990 also marked 350 years of the founding of Madras. S Muthiah, with his vast contacts in the industry, tried to get a focus on the city that pre-dated Calcutta. The response was lukewarm. The reason: Madras was a metro of migrants. Few to claim it as its own! Muthiah was hurt by the lack of a sense of pride and history.
Muthiah has been chronicling the various facets of the southern metro. His journalistic instincts, his deep interest in studying gazettes, historical literature and manuscripts and his gregarious nature that helped collect information were great assets.
For the IE annual 1990, he wrote a ten-page comprehensive history of Madras. Narayanachari, the well-known photographer of The Hindu, illustrated it with rare photographs.
Soon after Muthiah launched Madras Musings. His writings as MMM (Man from Madras Musings) were looked forward to for their style, content, and humor. When the economics of running the paper was tough and with no solution in sight, he announced editorially the publication will cease. N Sankar of Sanmar came as the white-knight and mobilized support from several companies of Chennai. Now Muthiah had the satisfaction of some business leaders of Madras willing to identify themselves with Madras!
The master-printer
This alumnus of Columbia University, with excellent communication skills, had qualifications in engineering, science, and journalism. He worked for The Times of Ceylon. Later Muthiah taught the craft at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
Muthiah is also remembered for his great work as the Managing Director of TTK’s Maps and Atlases. Encouraged by T T Vasu, the company pioneered cartography in this part of the country. The printing house had excellent facilities for high-quality printing and its maps and atlases gained in popularity. Sadly, this venture was short-lived. Muthiah’s rich talents as a chronicler and writer were utilized by dozens of corporates in recording their history. His ability to pour over records spread over decades proved invaluable in the narration of the evolution of various industrial units like the Parrys, Simpsons…
I remember three of the long-run columns of The Hindu. Leo’s News & Notes of P A Seshan was the longest. This was understandable as he was an employee of the publication. S Rajaratnam’s Tax Matters column distilled tax wisdom to the common man (it was abruptly stopped though). And finally the Madras Miscellany of Muthiah, a regular feature on Mondays for 973 episodes. When I met him last, he mentioned the difficulty to write every week and the periodicity dropped to fortnightly. I found him sitting before his PC with a cellphone in hand, instructing corrections in the next edition of Madras Musings.
His wife Valliammai was a qualified company secretary. The couple would attend several functions and public lectures together. Her demise a few years ago badly affected Muthiah. Their two daughters have settled abroad.
Muthiah was closely associated with the Madras Book Club and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). He worked passionately in the refurbishing of the Madras University’s Senate House and used to express concern over its poor upkeep. Many heritage structures in the city, including the Police Headquarters on the Marina, owe him their escaping demolition.
The persistent campaign of Muthiah helped celebrate Madras Day annually. Starting with week-long celebrations, it got extended to a fortnight and now to almost the whole month with lectures, walks, discussions, and culinary delights. Chennai, rather Madras for this great chronicler, would miss the versatile, multifaceted Muthiah.
Thank you, Muthiah for instilling a sense of pride, belonging and history in the citizens of this oldest Indian metropolis.
