New Gopuram of Sri Marundeeswarar Temple will be ready in May

By Bharathi Yegnanarayanan

The kumbabhishekam of the new gopuram of Sri Marundeeswarar Temple in Thiruvanmiyur will be held from May 21 to 23.This information was given by the temple officers.


The new gopuram (on the eastern side of this famous temple)whose construction was suspended some years ago, is being constructed afresh.The project was taken up in July 2007.
Temple officials say the entire project is being co-ordinated by the Friday Committee Members. S.Rajan is the chairman of this committee. The project is supported by industrialist Pollachi Mahalingam.

The new gopuram is about 85 feet in height. The workers spend about 10 hours a day working on it.
The path leading towards the temple is made up of special granite. About 75% of the work is finished, said the engineer on the site.The painting work is under progress.The engineer said that the work would be completed before May 20.

The kumbabishekam will take place between 9 a. m. and 10:30 a.m. Special rituals are going to take place right from May 21. Devotees are invited to witness this pooja and receive prasadam.
Arulmigu Marundeeswarar Temple is in Thiruvanmiyur,Chennai - 600 041.

T. P. Ekambaram is the Executive Officer.

Contact Number:2441 0477/ 2442 2688

Star Supreme – The shoe shop with a difference!

By Meenaxi Palaniappan

This tiny shoe shop, tucked in a little corner on the 2nd Avenue, Besant Nagar, cannot be seen unless you are looking for it. However, Mr. Abdul Khader, the owner of this shop, says that he could not be happier with the location. His customers are mostly local school and college girls who frequent the shop to buy the latest styles of footwear, which he diligently changes every 3 months. His secret to success lies in his astonishing ability to display flawless replications of some of the most fashionable styles, barely weeks after they enter the market, at almost 25% of the cost. 'My policy is less profit, more turnover' says Mr Abdul Khader, in response to being asked how he manages to sustain such low prices.

This 11 year old shop thrives on recurrent customers, who get benefits like regular discounts and lower pricing than the new customers. Star Supreme shoe shop is located at E33, 2nd Avenue, Besant Nagar, Chennai-90 and it is open between 10 AM and 8 PM on all days.

Novel way to ward off 'nuisance'

By Meenaxi Palaniappan

S. Aravanmudham, residing at house no. T 42/B, 7th Avenue, Besant Nagar has found an innovative way to check the nuisance of people using his compound wall as a toilet. He says he had to put up with the offensive odour and the nuisance of people dirtying his compound wall for many years.

Now, he has come up with a novel idea to address this problem.His compound walls are now embossed with pictures of gods like Jesus Christ, Lord Ganesha and other religious symbols.These pictures seem to inhibit people from answering Nature's call here.

Minor accident in IIT Campus

By Kaveri Murthy

A man riding on a bicycle with an elderly woman on the rear seat crashed on Delhi Avenue road in IIT-Madras on April 18 evening.
The two were admitted to the IIT Hospital, with the woman suffering a severe nosebleed. The man was not badly injured.

The cause of the accident is not yet known though unconfirmed information had it that a scooter had collided with the bicycle.

'Home' for senior citizens in Tiruvanmiyur welcomes donations

By Priyanka Bhat

If you have spare money, don’t waste it on movies or on pizza parties. Instead, you could donate that money. One place which accepts such donations is 'Kaakkum Karangal' in Thiruvanmiyur which is an 'old age home'.

The founder-trustee of this 'home' is Gnanaraj. 'Kaakkum Karangal' was founded in 1992 with five other units across Tamil Nadu.

The 'home' in Thiruvanmiyur houses about 10 men and 30 women at 11, East Mada Street, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai-41. This is a rented place.

One can help 'Kaakkum Karangal' carry out its mission by donating not only money but also clothes, provisions, vessels and medicines. One can donate any time between 8.00 a.m. and 8.00 p.m. on any day of the week.
Bala Murugan is the manager. In order to contact this 'home', dial 2441 5433 (or) 2440 1825.

Besides this 'home' in Thiruvanmiyur, there is also an orphan children 'home' called 'Centre for the Cradle Children' which is managed by the same trustee.
It is at No.6, Railway Border Road, West Mambalam, Chennai-41. The contact no. is 2372 4456.

MASH – A cosy restaurant in Besant Nagar

By Meenaxi Palaniappan

Besant Nagar welcomes yet another addition to the array of restaurants in the area. MASH enjoys a perfect location bang opposite the Elliot's Beach. The contemporary ambience is aesthetically pleasing. Smokers have an option of dining in the open veranda which has a splendid view of the sea.
The menu states that, MASH was started by four friends who were really hungry for good food. It includes breakfast options, soups, pasta, meat, seafood, vegetarian food and desserts.
While some of the diners considered the portions to be small in quantity all of them agreed that the quality of the food was good. A common gripe expressed by customers was the slow service although the hospitality is warm.
The 'Mud Pie' is a highly recommended dessert for chocolate lovers and the 'Burn Me On' is the most popular dessert with the health conscious. An average meal for two costs around Rs.400 and the restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
MASH is located at T-54B, 1st Floor, 6th Avenue, Besant Nagar, Chennai. For reservations call - 45511555 or 99620 03300

Florist in Kottur Gardens gets new look

By Shreya Viswanath


Tulips, the florist in Kottur Gardens, got a face lift after fourteen years in business. The shop opened in 1994.
Tulips is a unit of the A. D. J. Agro Exports (P) Ltd., and is owned by Jayaprakash.

Known for the exquisite floral arrangements, it delivers bouquets even at addresses in select cities in India.
Tulips get its wide range of flowers from Hosur.

It does floral arrangements for weddings, parties and social functions.
They deliver in this city between 8 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. and charge a fee of Rs.30 for every 5 km. covered

They also undertake landscaping and have recently launched a collection of pillows.
The shop is open from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The address - #2, Link Street, Kottur Gardens, Chennai-600 085.
Tele Fax: 2447 4763

Classroom Report / Day Five

By Meenaxi Palaniappan

Now a routine practice, the day started with the students reading reports from the newspaper. The first report, read by Bharathi Narayanan was an interesting story about the robbery at the Sri Kapaleeswar temple on the night of April 17. An article read by Krithika Malini, titled 'Adopt an unusual pet' from the Deccan Chronicle was interesting but ambiguous. Taking this as an example, the resource person, Vincent D' Souza advised us to ensure that our writing is clear and to the point. The second portion of today's class was focused on the lesser known departments of a news organization. We got to learn about the advertising and business departments of a news organization. We had a discussion on unusual modes of advertising like distributing free samplers along with the newspaper, 'scratch and win' offers, coupons that can be cut out of the newspaper, etc. D' Souza showed us the difference in the way a big, local story ( the robbery at Sri Kapali Temple, Mylapore) was presented in three different newspapers ( The Hindu, Times of India and The New Indian Express), which helped us understand the importance of designing a newspaper attractively. He also explained the way a newspaper designer works and promised to organise a trip to a newspaper office/press. D' Souza spoke on the production departments of a newspaper and on the Internet department which manages their online editions.

Classroom Report / Day Four

By Krithika Malini S

The class started at around 9:00 am. First we started of with the routine activity of selecting news from the day’s newspaper. After each person completes there would be a small group discussion on it. After the reading session Mr. Vincent D Souza explained to us about how the news organization works. Firstly the chief reporter, his assistant and the correspondent is in charge of all the field work. He also mentioned that all news could not be covered or published in the newspaper, only major robberies and accidents were to be published. The very important quality of a reporter is to be eager about collecting news and publishing it. Every reporter has certain area of responsibility which is called “BEATS”.
Mr.Vincent also spoke to us about the difference between a correspondent and a reporter. The major difference was that because of experience the correspondent is engaged in writing special stories while the reporter is deals with field work. He concluded by saying that to be a journalist it needs a lot of hard work and energy. After this we had a small talk about field work for the day and ended the day’s class.

Eatery in Valmiki Nagar

By Manasa G Rao

Yet another eatery has opened in Valmiki Nagar.
Mr. Kupps is a new restaurant on Ist Seaward Road.
It offers a variety of food items ranging from simple, spicy sandwiches to lavishly stuffed burgers.
Suresh owns the shop.
There are a few special offers - like the 'Kids Meal' which costs Rs.65, the 'Couples Offer' for Rs.75.
This eat-out also has special offers for students like the 'Student Burger' which costs just Rs.25.
A full meal at Mr. Kupps is priced at Rs 129.
They also have beverages which includes soft drinks, lemonade and soups.
For starters they offer French Fries, nuggets, fingers and Smileys. The shop is open from 5 p. m. to 11 p. m. on all days.
Mr. Kupps is located at 7, (on the roof top), 1st Seaward Road, Valmiki Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur.
Contact cell phone nos. - 9962225757 / 9962225756