New grocery store in Mandavelipakkam

Reported by Praveshika K

The six month old second branch of Rahman Grocery Store in Mandavelipakkam offers groceries and provisions.

The owner of the shop is Abdul Rahman. He already owns a store in Atanjan Street, Mandavelli which has been there for the past 30 years.

He said sales at the new store have been good.

You can also shop for dairy products here. It also offers home delivery for free.

One minus point here is that the aisles are too narrow to drag the carts around.

The store timings – from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm on all 7 days.

Address -  new no 121, 2nd Trust Main Road, Mandavellipakkam Chennai 600028.

Contact = 044- 42329016

IBACO—The icecream parlour in Beasant Nagar

The Arun ice creams have changed their name to ibaco. But what does ibaco mean??

Ibaco is one of the many styles of scooping the ice cream. The ibaco outlets are part

Of the HATSUN group of which companies like AROKYA and ARUN are a part.

But the packing is done by Arun ice creams.They have 17 outlets in Chennai.

 Ibaco has 36 flavours. Their specialities are Unique flavours like Macedemia,

 Maha Raj Bhog , California pista,etc.

Their official address is:- 5A,Vijayaraghava Road

                                        T.Nagar,Chennai-17.

Manager- Mr. Nickson

Phone number- 9840946266.

Web address:- www.hatsun.com  

Vivek and Venkateswaran: create application which helps us select videos, games online

Vivek Vaidyanathan who has just graduated from grade 12 in P. S Senior Secondary School, Mylapore, along with his partner, Venkateswaran Vaidyanathan, are innovative software engineering youth. 


The two have ceated 'The Media Place', an innovative Java application which allows its users to search for, select and buy music and games with an instant, 'click'. 


In a school-level competition on Java application held at the end of the 12th grade, The Media Place team bagged the first place and won a prize of Rs.2000. 


The application has since gained significant attention and could prove that two young programmers are on their way to becoming tomorrow's top developers. 


Vivek says the application enables the user to search, select and buy music, movies and games instead of pouring over shelves of the same, thereby saving time and energy of the buyer and the seller. 


He says that the user also has the previlege to take a sneak peak at the music, the movies and the games they are about to buy.


"It also notifies the buyer as soon as a transaction is triggered by the user. The notification takes palce through email, " says Vivek. 


Vivek adds that he and Venkateswaran enjoy challenges,  "this project was an opportunity for us to learn more about the ways we can improve as programmers and see for ourselves how we can use our talent in a real time application that could be commercialised."


Vivek feels that Java is THE most prominent programming language and the platform for client server applications run across the globe on a massive scale.


"Java apps are also used in our everyday life in simple instruments such as stereos, radios, cars and so much more. Java has a versatile approach and is user friendly in all respects, " he adds.




Vivek says his love for games tickled his curiousity and incited his thinking. I used to ask myself -"How is it that at the exact moment when the bullet hits the plane, there is an explosion? What commands this order of events?"  It was then that i learnt about programming codes, which are nothing but a set of logical codes in the language of the computer, which tell the computer what to do and when to do it. 


Vivek cites a particular incident that took place on his first day of schooling  in Chennai, at P S Senior School.


"I stumbled over Basic, which was a language taught to us in that class. I found the programming interesting and delved into it. The next day, having gone over the entire language in a single day, i finished a programming assignment the fastest in the class, " he adds.




Vivek credits P. S. Senior for his academic interest and excellence. "The teachers of my school were always there for us, helping and guiding us. "


On the duo's plans ahead, Vivek says they are now looking towards upgrading the project to make it more commercial.

Vivek lives in Mylapore  and Venkateswaran lives in .Valasarvaakam You can reach Vivek at 9094852738 

Let's audit local civic projects

You have cribbed about the garbage piles outside your apartment block.
You have cribbed about the potholed street that you negotiate to and from work.

You are now cribbing about the unfinished drains in your colony.

There is a bit that you can do to bring some sense to all that your civic body, the Corporation of Chennai promises to do for you.

Make some simple suggestions for your area's projects. Take a good look at what is proposed. Do a simple survey of the works which have been executed.

At our newspapers, we have made an earnest attempt to get our reportage closer to our local Wards, our elected councillors and MLAs and our local state bodies.

Years ago, when we sought to be at the monthly meetings of the councillors and local officials at the zone level, we were told we did not have permission to do this.

So we hung outside, coaxed a friendly councillor to give us a copy of the proposals, chatted with others and reported key issues that affect you and me.

In time, officers and the elected gave us some space and respect. We were now alerted to these meets so we could cover them a tad closely.

For some time now, we have been publishing the key issues and projects that are proposed and debated at hall meetings.

This is not a mere typist-kind of job. Terms have to be understood, projects have to be explained and often, we have to read between the lines.

We have gone one step up - we try to take up some issues/projects and report on them. Why does one councillor have to allocate funds for a gym that has been closed most times? Why is July the season for building bus shelters? What kind of street board designs does the civic body have in mind for neighbourhoods?

More  importantly, these projects need to be audited. Lakhs of rupees are allocated for parks, street boards, drains and street lights. Are they spent on what was listed? Was the project delivered? What did not work?

This is where citizens of each Ward, made up of 3 or 4 nagars can do that extra bit to be auditors of public, local projects. Collate data, make them public, engage with the elected, the officials and the civic body.

Perhaps, there will be a change for the better?

An interview with budding singer Sathya Parthassarati

Reported by Monika.S

Sathya Parthassarati is a budding singer and an artist. Sathya is a 2nd year B.Com student of Holy Cross College, Trichy.  This is an interview with the eighteen year old.

Q : Tell us a little about yourself.  

Sathya: I’m an alumni of St.Joseph’s  Convent and currently doing my B.Com in Holy Cross College, Trichy. I want to pursue my MBA and become an entrepreneur  in an innovative  field  and excel in my singing career as well.

Q: When did you start singing?

Sathya: I started attending music classes  when I was six years old and was trained by Mrs. Muthu Lakshmi, a senior Carnatic singer and a trainer. I initially started singing in school from my 4th Class and later participated in inter school competitions and cultural events. I got the opportunity to sing on air in the All India Radio and it was a driving force for my singing career.

Q : How has your singing progressed ?

Sathya: I have learnt Carnatic music and I also got acquainted with film songs singing and have taken part in solo and group performances as well. But since entering college I have not had many competitions to take part in.

Q: What else keeps you busy?

I have compered many events and programmes on local TV channels. I’m also the President of the Rotaract Club of my college.
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Sathya Parthassarati

                                           Skrat, the band is back

                                                                - Reported by Anita Rajan

SKRAT is a four member rock band based in Chennai.

With Sriram as the lead vocalist, Tapass as the drummer, Abhinav as the guitarist and Satish on the bass, this band was formed on July 15, 2006 and they played their first concert on July 21 at the Unwind Center, Adyar opening for another band, Nervewrek

Skrat has had an eventful life and recently ( May 3) it was back at the Unwind Center to play a gig after a break.

The band spoke to me, telling me how they got this name - "at one point we were unable to decide the name of the band, and while watching ice age, we decided to name the band after the squirrel in the movie."

Skrat has started playing in 2012 after a break of almost two years. 

They said, "We were searching for a new direction and  a meaning for our sound and music. And we found it - Rock meets a fun, quirky side, clearly illustrated by our songs."

The band has released a new album titled “Design” in March, which features 8 songs. 

Skrat’s major influences are some of the greatest rock bands, including The Vines, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.

Alamelumangapuram suffers due to faulty transformer

Reported by Siranjeev

Alamelumangapuram residents find their nights disturbed badly due to problems in the local transformer.

The power supply is infrequent and power cuts inconsistent many a times.
The TNEB staff  have attended to the problems but the faults persist.

"It is very irritating and somewhat scary to think that the power could go off at anytime at night and nobody knows when it would come back. sometimes it does not come back for almost an hour." says 43 year old Kamal who lives at Alamelumangapuram, close by the Sai Baba temple. 

To aggravate the issue further, on the night of May 8th, at around 9 40pm, a short circuit took place, igniting a fire on one of the wires of the tranformer.

Vigilant residents of Murali Anand Flats, who saw the flames from the transformer contacted the Electricity office locally and the problem was sorted out in the next hour.

But they want a permanent solution to this problem.

Budding photographer willing to create portfolio for young models

Reported by Monika. S

Young photographer Ruben Rayappan is ready to create a portfolio for budding young models of this city.

He is a student of Loyola College. He is a 2nd year Economics student with a passion for photography.

To develop his talent,  this teen says he is prepared to create a portfolio for new models.

The photo shoot is to be conducted on May 12 at Semmozhi Poonga, Cathedral Road.

Interested models can arrive at the venue at 3:30p.m. Models are expected to come in comfortable attire.

For more details contact Ruben Rayappan at 8148427282

Email ID: ruben.rayappan@gmail.com

Ramana Kendra: quiet place for discourses, chanting and meditation

Reported by Siranjeev

The Ramana Kendra, an abode of tranquility and peace, stands at the heart of Alamelumangapuram, Mylapore. next to P S Senior Secondary School.

This hall is open for all from between 8 in the morning and 7 30 in the evening. Discourses are held regularly  in this hall, which was built as a shrine for the renowned sage, Ramana Maharshi.


Numerous devotees visit the hall for a peaceful period of meditation, chanting or just plain introspection

Discourses on the Bagavatha darsanam are scheduled to take place here from July 21st to 27th from 6.30 to 8.30 in the evening, while a parallel discourse, 'Naan yaar', delivered in Tamil will take place from July 22nd to 28th from 7 to 8 in the evening. both these sets of discourses will be given by Acharya Nochur Sri Venkataraman.

Interview with Sudha Desigan: specialises in catering Brahmin type food

Sudha Desigan is a Adyar-based caterer. She has been in this business for eight years. In this interview she talks to Manassa Ranganathan about her business and how she has developed it.

Q: How old are you?

 Sudha: I am forty three years old

Q: How many years are you in the catering business?

Mrs. Sudha : I am in this business for the past eight years.

 Q: What motivated you to start this business?

Mrs. Sudha: Since there was no service which provided pure Brahmin food in Besant Nagar  I thought I would start this business because it would benefit many people in Besant Nagar.

 Q: To how many people do you supply food everyday?

Mrs. Sudha: I supply food to about 30 to 40 people everyday.

 Q: What kind of orders do you undertake?

Mrs. Sudha: I undertake orders for meals, for marriages and for small parties.

 Q: How do you deal with leftover food?

Mrs. Sudha: There is excess food when ordered for parties or functions. I let my customers decide what theywant to do with it.                     

 Q: You shifted your business from your house to a separate room. Has that helped ?

Mrs. Sudha: After shiftingI am able to undertake more bulk orders than I could before. And I have gotmore regular customers.

Sudha Desigan is a resident of Alraza Primrose Apartments,  F block no. 1 second floor, Ellaiamman Koil Street, Adyar, Chennai-20. Her contact numbers are:- mobile: 9840246226: landline: 24911424.

Besant Nagar Tennis Club offers summer coaching By Manassa Ranganathan

Reported by Manasaa Ranganathan

The Besant Nagar Tennis Club offers summer coaching classes. They started on April 6 and will go on till May 31. 

The classes are available for 15 days and 30 days with a fee of Rs 1500 and 3000 respectively. 

The camp timings are from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

This Club was started in the late 70s is currently managed by Rajiv Naidu who was a former state player.

Match Point handles the operations. 

The tennis club timings for the beginners who are members is from 9:00 am to 10:00 am and for intermediates it is from 9:30 am to 10:30 am. 

Children from 5 years on can play in the tennis court. 

The club also has per hour offers where you just have to pay  Rs 200 and can play for an hour. The timings for the per hour playing services - from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm and the markers will be available to play with you. 

The contact : Edwin Sundar- chief coach: 9444170048 

Kumbhabishekam of Sri Varasiddhi Vinayakar Temple in June By Manassa Ranganathan

The kumbhabishekam of Sri Varasiddhi Vinayakar Temple, Besant Nagar is to be held in June this year. It will take place between 6:30 a.m and 7: 30 a.m. 

This is the 5th Mahakumbhbishekam of the temple. 

The temple and its gopurams are being renovated for the Kumbhabishekam. A sum of fifty lakh rupees is to be spent for the whole project. 

In addition to painting the temple and the gopuram, a repilica of the Viswaroopa darshanam costing about four lakh rupees has been created. 

The replicas of the Meenakshi kalyanam and the Dashaavataram have also been erected newly for the kumbhabishekam. 

Many people have contributed to the funds for the event. So has the Sri Varasiddhi Vinayakar Sath Sangam whose members say they are financially comfortable. 

The rituals will commence on May 27 and homams will be performed 9 times between May 27  and June 1. Since there is a practice of inviting a guru or a sage for every kumbhabishekam the temple is inviting Siddheswanandha Bharathi of Siddheswara peedam in Courtallam.

The contact number of the temple: 24467062, 24464062

Website:www.varasiddhivinayakar.org

Indira Nagar Women's Association open to neighbourhood women

Reported by Ananyashri

The 41-year old Indira Nagar Women's Association is buzzing with activities everyday. 

Every Tuesday members meet at the association premises for their weekly get-together. 

Talks, games and birthday celebrations of the members etc take place. 

Various programmes are offered to members and their families including yoga, karate, dance, instrumental music etc. 

Chennai Corporation school students are offered tuitions free of charge. The money collected from the classes and membership fees  is donated to various needy organisations like the Spastics Society, Cancer Institute, Avvai Home, Ramakrishna Mutt etc.

The membership of the association is open to all women irrespective of their age, religion, education etc. Interested women need to fill up a form and pay a membership fee of Rs.300/-per annum.

The association was founded by 4 people who were service-oriented. They were Jaya Vedhanarayanan, Kokila Samandham,  Rajalakshmi Srinivasan and Padma Narasimhan.

This year, the Annual day was celebrated on February 18 in the premises. The Chennai Mayor Saidai Duraisamy graced the occasion.

The current president of the association is Anitha Shankar. She can be contacted at 9445249258.

The association functions at 44, 1^st Main Road, Indira Nagar, Adyar, Chennai-20

Ph: 944512122.

GINI AND JONY OUTLET IN ADYAR

The new Gini and Jony outlet in Adyar….

There is a happy surprise for all Adyarites!!! A new outlet of Gini and Jony has been opened at our neighborhood. The shop is run by Mr.Prakash raj, a resident of Kasturiba Nagar.It has clothes for girls and boys aged 3 to 16 years in a variety of brands.

As part of the Inaugral offer, there is a scratch and win contest where a coupon of Rs.500 can be won. The shop also has introduced a membership scheme through mobile numbers. Every purchase adds up to points. Every 250 points collected can be redeemed as discounts in the next purchase.

 The shop is located at N0.86,1^st Avenue Indira nagar, Adyar.(opposite to the corporation bank) and can be contacted at 044-24411666.

First School open for admissions at KG level

Reported by T. A. Nishanth

Vruksham First School at Kamarajar Avenue  has announced that it has started taking admissions for the year 2012-'13.

Apart from offering pre-schooling, it also offers infant care, kindergarten (LKG, UKG) and After school education upto theage of twelve.

It says it has trained staff and a child friendly environment to ensure that the children are entertained. It also has transportand medical facilities.
The first batch is slated to begin in June, said a staff member at First School. There aremany weekly programmes such as ‘story time’, ‘library club’ and  ‘dancing and singing’.
First School is located at Akil Apartments, 108, Kamaraj Avenue, Adyar, Chennai-20.

Contacts -  info@thefirstschool.com and jana.nbh@gmail.com,  9003010015.

Working in 40 degrees

Our mornings begin with reading of the daily newspapers published from this city.
Each participant has to carry the newspaper to the classroom and is invited to read a report of his/her choice.
The exercise helps in many ways - we discover new places, concepts and words. We also understand the news and the issues around it. And we ask questions and provide factual info. It also helps tune our listening skills.

The past week we have been looking at How Reporters Work - their job, their beats, the skills that a reporter needs to accquire.

Participants have been asked to go out, locate a news story or an interesting place or person and seek information and file reports. It has not been easy and smooth for all.

We ended the week focussing on Interviewing Skills.
And the temperatures rose to 40 degrees.

Padmanabha Nagar residents alert after string of chain snatching cases

Reported by Anita Rajan

Fourth Street Padmanabhanagar, Adyar is a lonely road, especially after six p.m.

Three cases of chain snatching have been reported to have taken place in this area during the past year. 

One of the victims, Nalini Muthu, says she was walking down the street in August last year, at around 7.30pm, when two men on a motorbike sped past her. 

What was unusual was that they came back and within a fraction of a second, yanked her gold chain and took off.

She then registered a complaint at the J-5 Police Station, and the accused were eventually caught a few weeks later. 

Another victim was a maid servant who was walking to the bus stop, when a man tried grabbing her thali.

She managed to hold on to it and it was a failed attempt.

Inspector of crime, Riyaz, of the J-5 Police Station states that every alternate day, two Inspectors patrol the area after 6pm.

He adds that these chain snatchers usually ride bikes at high speed and target married women or older as they are the ones who usually wear their thalis all the time.

As a precautionary measure, the police have gone around to the houses in the neighborhood to warn the residents about the chain snatching activity in the area and have told them to be alert and careful.

Showroom for Honda bikes opens in Mandaveli

Reported by Praveshika K.

On February 8, MPL Ford and Honda joined hands to inaugurate a bikes showroom at R.K Mutt Road Mandaveli. 

Showroom staff Arjun Kumar said that it was their first showroom. He said that “Honda Activa” and “ CB Shine “ are the two most popular bikes that are sold steadily here.

They offer 2 years of warranty to each bike that they sell and they offer  service in the showroom premises itself. 

Models for each motorbike of the Honda brand are on display. The hours of operations are from  9:30 am to 7:00 pm every day

Honda showroom is at 214, R.K Mutt Road, Mandaveli  Chennai-600028.

Contact-  24629131/32, 49071100/49

Summer camp in dance, music in Koratuur, Anna Nagar West

===

Reported by Monika.S

Josh Academy of Music and Dance has launched a summer camp in dance and music.

This two and a half year old school offers dance of various genres such as Jazz, Hip-hop, Salsa, Samba, Jive, Filmy western and folk styles.

Training to play on musical instruments like Keyboard, guitar, veena, Tabla, Piano, Flute, Saxophone and drums are also a part of this summer camp.

The camp commenced on April 15 and ends on May 31.

 The school is run by Joshua Oliver Ebinezer who is also trained in music. Classes are taken by trained professionals. “Students will be taken to various music, dance shows and competitions. We train the students for Trinity Grade and Indian Classical exams,” says one of the choreographers of the school. Regular classes are also taken.
Branches at: Shop# 2, 1st floor, 31st Street, Korratur, Chennai-600080
No.441/ New No.17, 4th Street, 6-sector Anna Nagar West extension, Chennai-600101                                                                                                                                                        
Contact no. : 9941994577, 9841223100
Email id:  jam.school@yahoo.com

Summer Camps at Hippocampus, Indira Nagar

Hippocampus in Indira Nagar has announced a summer workshop for children between the ages of 3 and 12.

The main aim of these workshops will be to educate children in a more interactive and easily understandable manner.
Hippocampus has introduced 16 workshops on the basis of age. The camp runs from 10 am to 12.30 pm and from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm. The fee structure depends on the age group and also on the nature of workshops taken.

The fees vary from Rs 1800 to Rs 4000.
Hippocampus  has a good library as well as some games for young children. This year, it has a workshop which will train children to become radio jockeys and theatre artistes.
Hippocampus is located at the 29th Cross Street, Indira Nagar, Chennai. Phone: 42116417

Herbal products for summer

Reported by Praveshika Kumar

Sri Vidya Nilayam at North Mada Street, Mylapore has been in existence for the past 63 years. The shop is  famous for pure form of kumkumam and manjal.  But the shop also sells herbal products.

The shop also has a special product for the summer - it is a herbal bath powder which they say reduces the sweat and controls sweat rashes and prickly heat says Mrs. Viji Ashok 

The good thing about it is that it does not contain any harmful chemicals and is made with organic herbs.

For skin related problems the shop sells Kasturi Manjal, kuppaimeni, korai kizhangu, poolan kizhangu and neem. For cold and cough it offers 'chitharathai' also known as ‘alpinia galangal’.

For stomach related problems, you may buy kadukkai  and neem powder and to treat tanned skin, there are herbal creams and herbal kajals for eyecare.

This shop is at 

No: 45C, North Mada Street, Mylapore. Chennai - 600004.

Contact: Mrs. Viji Ashok - 9170053960                              

Road work affects phone, power lines in Korattur colony

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Reported by Monika.S

Chennai Corporation teams are widening the roads at Central Avenue, Korattur. Work began on April 28.
Workers began to dig up the sides of the road using bulldozers. In the course of this work, the phone/Net lines of Vodafone  were damaged and lines got disconnected.
Consequently, Vodafone users suffered network problems for a while. Staff of this company came in and quickly rectified the damage.

Later that day, residents at Central Avenue were victims of power supply breaks. After a series of complaints to the Electricity Board, employees of EB came in to solve the problem.

Launching in 37degrees!

We launched the 2012 edition of the Journalism Camp on April 30 even as the city began to sizzle at 37 degrees later in the day.
The group gathers at the office of the KutcheriBuzz, a web site for classical music and dance.
The arrangements are makeshift with chairs borrowed from the Mylapore Times office down the corridor.

Day One was a warm up morning and a time to work out the rules of the Camp and the course it would take. The group of students went home with an assignment - to map their own neighbourhood and look out for events around them. the

Day Two was down to business. The practice is for students to read news reports from the daily newspaper which each one has to carry to the classroom. The exercise provides the space to discuss a few basic skills that journalists must possess to do well.

It was also a day to look at what News is all about and at News Organisations; its structure, its staff and their jobs.