Chairman, Nalli Silks
Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti
Your fondest memories of the city?
I was always interested in knowing more about Old Madras. In 1989, a newspaper had featured some old articles and information about the city and had referenced work by historian S. Muthiah. I then bought his books and learnt a lot about the city and later on met him at an event in The Music Academy. I remember telling him how I got answers to many of my questions about the city and we later became good friends.
I know a lot about T. Nagar specifically, having lived here for decades. Years after the Emden Bombing, there was fear that this might happen again and I remember how fire stations were newly built in Teynampet and Nandanam, and a shelter being established at Ramakrishna Mission here. Thankfully nothing of that kind happened.
Bullock carts and jatkas used to ply here, and the road used to be so clean that one could sit and have a meal on a banana leaf!
Tell us about your association with The Hindu
When I was young, I didn’t have an opportunity to read The Hindu. However, English classes began in middle school for me and my teacher would ask us all to read the editorials in The Hindu to learn a lot of new words. Later on, I began buying the newspaper. I always used to wish for The Hindu to also start a Tamil newspaper and was so happy when this happened.
I am proudly made of Chennai!
