STREETCAR NAMED TRAM
-by Ven Parthsarthy Tuesday, February 05, 2008
This story has been read 247 times.
STREET CAR NAMED TRAM
Vengrai Parthasarathy
In the thirties and forties the rumblings of trams were heard in all the main arteries of Chennai. Those were leisurely days when no one was in a hurry. People used to have a ‘brunch’ (breakfast was not very common except for those who worked in factories ) walk up to Tram terminus , pay an ‘anna’ (which in the British days was one-sixteenth of a rupee) and relax in a half- full tram on wooden seats along the length of the tram. And, the tram rumbled along ,covering four or five miles in an hour
There is a good deal of history attached to Trams. V.O.Chidambaram Pillai, renowned Freedom fighter who launched the first Indian Steam Navigation company) had scheduled a meeting with Gandhij He was used to travelling by inexpensive trams because, in his later days, he could not afford any other mode of transport—In fact, he is said to have told Gandhiji whom he was scheduled to meet that his meeting with the Father of the Nation had to be adjusted to the tram timings!
The historic tramlines used to provide service to those residing in places like Egmore, Mylapore, Triplicane, Purasawalkam, Royapuram etc., The tram was a sort of meeting place for temporary social contacts . One could meet students, office- goers, small businessmen, commuters, lawyers and vegetable vendors with baskets –in these trams. It was not for time-pressed executives on the go. The clangour of grating wheels from the trams was a noise to which people living in these area had got used to. The slowness of the trams would seem improbable to the new generation. It was sometimes easy to go aboard or alight from these trams even when it is in motion; they would halt and go, halt and go. Lengthy halts were never explained and no one complained. The trams naturally had no steering wheels because they moved on the tracks. The conductors with their cross-belt handbags were weather –beaten men who could be nice or gruff depending on their moods. They would shout the names of some of the important stops like’Central’ ‘ pookkadai’ (for Flower Bazaar) etc., “If you are not rushed for time” was the ethic which decided whether one should take the trams.. Overhead electric lines for the Trams was a familiar sight and so were the tram tracks on the roads which were a hazard for the cyclists.. I have read somewhere that in the early part of 20th century horse-drawn trams were a common sight in Calcutta where they were regular mode of transport.
Much water has flown under the bridge. It was in April 1953 that Rajaji, in his second stint as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu passed orders for the closure of the Tram services, once and for all. The immediate reason for this decision was the continuing strike by the workers. Moreover, the ageing Trams were in need of rehauling and even replacing. With that closure died a piece of history associated with Chennai.. In retrospect this would appear to be a pragmatic decision because of the present traffic congestion, the population having more than trebled from the 300 millions then to the billion and more now..
The Chennai Metro which is also known as the ‘Flying Train’ is a new incarnation and is what you can call an elevated railway. They are somewhat similar to the suburban trains (which in those days were a gleaming silver), but operating at a a higher plane. They lack the old world charm and quaintness of the chugging Trams of yore (Born :1895; Retired :1953). As we move with the times, .we have to leave thoughts of the chugging, meandering juggernauts of yore, behind.