Every geography has a history. In the history of Chennai, August 22 is a special day. For, “It was on 22 August, 1639, that a sliver of land, where now stands Fort St George, was handed over by the local Nayak rulers to the East India Company’s Francis Day, his dubash Beri Thimmappa, and their superior, Andrew Cogan. From this small three square miles given to the East India Company grew the city of Chennai…,” as Wikipedia informs.
One of the many initiatives to celebrate the day was ‘Namma Chennai’, attempting to bring in a people perspective, and inclusivity, says Rev. M. Jegath Gaspar Raj, Chairman and MD, Goodwill Communications Ltd, and Founder & MD, Tamil Maiyam, explains, in this telephonic interaction with YourStory.
The people clusters will be central to the evolution and expansion ‘Namma Chennai’ in the coming years, motivating local communities to develop deeper bonding and a sense of ownership about their functioning and residing locations, informs the FB page of the initiative. “In that way, it would also become truly people-owned celebrations.”
