‘Madras is an emotion that says home’

Aysha Rau, Founder & Managing Trustee of The Little Theatre

Iarrived in Madras on a transfer of a job with HTA from Calcutta. The year was 1982. I was a young girl in my early 20s. I did not know a soul in Madras. My first home for the first two months was the elegant rooms at the Connemara. It was the same hotel my family used in transit from Trivandrum to Calcutta in the 60s. It was strangely familiar. It felt like home. The people of Madras lived up to their reputation of being soft-spoken and polite. Early morning walks from the hotel were a treat. The streets were broad and tree-lined.

The people were welcoming and gracious.

I knew instinctively this could become my forever home. I was already in love.

HTA Madras was where I was introduced to curd rice, sambar rice, lemon rice — a plethora of rice I had never had. But Guru’s curd rice with the fried stuffed chillies and lemon pickle was top class. I soon grew to love it! I wandered into the old Spencer’s departmental store. It was just a big spacious hall like a supermarket lined with even conceivable products. One could find sparrows flying inside from time to time. The feeling was peaceful and old world. Spencer’s in Madras was one of those old colonial buildings with very high ceilings and brick red walls. I’ll never forget the first time I stepped into that shop. A young girl came running to ask if I was the one on the posters lining the Metal Box section. To my utter embarrassment, I saw myself larger than life staring at me! I had reached Madras much before I had arrived to work here.

When I moved into my apartment in Nungambakkam, I discovered this quaint little furniture shop Cane and Fibre tucked away in Fountain Plaza. It was owned and run by Nirmala George aka Nimmi. I bought all my Assam cane furniture from her and even after 39 years they are still there in our studio known as Cherianna. For me, Madras is an emotion that says home. Chennai is still just a city.