At a time when most of us think that the current corona epidemic is the worst ever, let’s not forget that smallpox in the 1950s was probably much worse. Few remember though, because a whole generation (and their parents) have grown up in an environment that has been largely free of scourges. During the 1960s and 70s India conducted massive campaigns to defeat seemingly incurable diseases – smallpox, polio, tuberculosis, measles, malaria and others. Hopefully, corona too will one day be a notch on the belt!

Most of us know who built the Qutb Minar. The Delhi Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak commissioned it in 1199 as a tower to commemorate the victory of his master and mentor, Mohammed Ghori. He died before he could complete it; therefore, his successor, Iltutmish completed it 20 years later. Iltutmish named it after his own master and predecessor, Qutb-ud-din Aibak. Did he, really? Some historians think that Iltutmish had a different Qutb-ud-din in mind when he christened the tower: Qutb-ud-din Bakhtiyar Kaki! [Detour: While this story is about the ‘Other Qutb’,  we have another story about the ‘Other Minar’ at the […]

Have you ever wondered why one end of the Chepauk Cricket stadium, in Chennai, is called Wallajah End? Your response would probably be “That’s because, that’s where the Wallajah Road is!” Yeah, so why is the Wallajah Road called so? Well, THAT requires a serious answer. Wallajah Road is so called because it leads to the Chepauk Palace of the Nawab Wallajah. And who was Nawab Wallajah? To find out, let us travel back to a time when the British were a formidable power in these parts.

In 1960, a Tamil fiction film called Raja Desingu was released, starring the swashbuckling matinee idol, MGR. It flopped. But after centuries, Raja Desingu stories continue to be told in street performances like Therukoothu, Poi-Kal-Kuthirai, and even the Burra-Katha tradition of Andhra. In fact, many boys in Tamilnadu are named Desingu even today, after the legendary hero of Gingee Fort in Tamil Nadu.