Pondy Bazaar

Geohistory of Pondy Bazaar:

Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, a few centuries ago, was nothing more than a few fishing hamlets and villages with port facilities that existed from the time of the Pallava reign. Soon after the commencement of British trade in India, Madras, or Madrasapatnam as it was called, became important for trade with East and South East Asian countries like Indonesia and Malaysia primarily because of its location on the South-Eastern coast of India. Over the years, these small villages and temple localities were brought under the British rule as a town and later became a city. 

In the early 1920s, the boundary of Chennai which had till then included the localities of Mylapore, Triplicane, Washermanpet, Purasaivalkam, Egmore, Nungambakkam, Teynampet and Parry’s Corner expanded to include the villages of Mambalam, and Saidapet which till then were part of the Chinglepet District. This expansion to the west (for Chennai’s eastern boundary was fixed by the Bay of Bengal) while making the city larger also moved its centre to the west. The Long Tank that had till then formed the Western boundary of the city was drained during the expansion for the development of primarily residential localities of Thyagaraya Nagar, Mambalam and Saidapet.

A map of Chennai in 1922 prior to the inclusion of Mambalam, Saidapet and other neighbouring villages into the city. 

Pondy Bazaar, T. Nagar:

Much like the twelve roads that lead away from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, half a dozen major roads branch from the Panagal Park, T. Nagar, in Chennai. This is not to say that T. Nagar is anything like the 8th Arrondissement in Paris. For one, it does not see as many tourists on a daily basis as the Arc de Triomphe nor does it symbolise the sacrifice made by the Unknown Soldier as is the case in Paris. However, just as the Champs Élysées branches out from the Arc de Triomphe so does the Thyagaraya Road, a stretch of which is popularly called Pondy Bazaar initially named Soundarapandian Bazaar after the Justice Party politician W. P. A. Soundarapandian Nadar, from the Panagal Park. 

Thyagaraya Nagar was named after the Justice party leader Sir P. Theagaraya Chetty  and a park developed which was named after the then Chief Minister, Raja of Panagal, as Panagal Park. However, the locality did not remain the quiet residential locality that had been envisaged by the planners. Commercial shops and outlets began to spring up in this area primarily along the Thyagaraya Road in the stretch that is now known as Pondy Bazaar.     

Well connected to the rest of the city by train, bus and other means of transport, this stretch – Pondy Bazaar – has been and continues to be a popular shopping destination for all of one’s needs and wants in Chennai. This highly commercialised area houses hundreds of shops of varying sizes, selling a wide-range goods – from the cheapest quality to the high-end brands – within a few metres of each other. One can find many shops dealing in the same line of merchandise and shops selling complementary products and services all located quite close to each other, thus, providing the customer with something close to a one stop shop. One such case would be with respect to clothing; there are shops selling saris or dress materials, some others dealing in others in related items such as blouse material or petticoats with tailoring facilities and others in accessories such as jewellery, footwear and bags. Thus, one’s clothing and complementary needs are taken care of. Pondy Bazaar is, in that sense, something like a megastore with everything under its roof.

In addition to the commercial outlets, there are also platform shops selling cheap jewellery, toys, bags, plastic ware, books, footwear and clothes. These platform shops can be found side by side the internationally and nationally branded outlets and local footwear and apparel shops selling cheaper versions of the branded products sold in these air-conditioned outlets. These platform shops are most famous among college students and young professionals looking for wide variety at minimum cost to them.

Moreover, the owners of these platform shops are all a part of the T. Nagar Traders’ Association and elect their office bearers. With hopes of educating their children and making them politically active citizens, all members of this Union send their children to schools and support them in their higher studies. One such platform owner said, “All Union members send their children to school and educate them. After all, we don’t want them to end up like ourselves...working on the streets. One of my nieces is now working in a software company, and my son is doing his Plus-2 (12^th Standard in school). He wants to do engineering at Anna University and is working hard towards getting a State rank.”

Pondy Bazaar, in the last decade, has seen tremendous growth in the number of commercial outlets and there has been a significant increase in the procurement of goods from other parts of India as well. This change has taken place in the post-liberalisation context of India with geographically distant regions getting increasingly integrated with not just other regions of the country but also with the rest of the world. 

However, while the platform shops in Pondy Bazaar deal in pretty much uniform goods, the character of the platform shops on either side of the road is different from the other. While the platform shops on the Southern side of the road tend to be more aggressive in marketing and selling their products, the ones on the opposite side are not that pro-active. That is not to say that they do not sell goods of the same quality as the ones on the side opposite to them. Consequently, one can see that even the platform on the Southern side is used more by the shoppers rather than the one on the Northern side. One reason for this could be that shops – most of them are small – are aplenty on the Southern side while the opposite end hosts bigger shops like Naidu Hall and Levi’s.

The flower sellers and garland makers on the one hand prefer to buy their flowers individually from the Koyambedu flower market in the morning before they set up shop at 6 a.m. While they purchase their flowers from the same place, their purchases are made separately at the rates fixed in the wholesale market and there is no opportunity to bargain for a discount. There is, thus, no occasion for the garland sellers to operate as a united group and exert their power to avail of agglomeration economies. Similarly with platform-shop owners dealing in cheap jewellery, the procurement is done from one shop within Chennai but each shop-keeper places a separate order for their shop. The method used by those who sell footwear on the platforms is quite different from the one just explained; these shop-owners who procure their goods from Bombay, come together as a group and make a single order comprising of all their orders, and on arrival of the goods, separate it on the basis of the quantity ordered. Thus, these shop-keepers are able to reduce the cost on transportation by ordering as a single group rather than individually.    

While some of these platform shop-keepers reside in central Chennai, many of them travel from as far as Tambaram and Gummidipoondi on a daily basis to open shop taking advantage of the lower rental rates there. They feel that travelling to and from the city every day for work is better than setting up shop in their area of residences for T. Nagar being a central locality is more accessible to customers. They can in and indirectly more revenue. Land prices have gone up in T. Nagar, especially near Pondy Bazaar, with the mushrooming of shops on an almost fortnightly, if not weekly, basis. There is perpetually at least one shop getting renovated or rebuilt at any point in time in Pondy Bazaar. Faced with intense competition, not only with each other, but also with hypermarkets such as Big Bazaar, these shopkeepers try to find innovative methods to face the competition. Discount sales have become a regular feature today not only during festive season but also in the name of clearance sales, annual sales, etc. This tactic is one used by most big shops to attract new customers and retain regulars. Pondy bazaar, in the last couple of decades, has seen an increase in the number of multi-storeyed stores which include Naidu Hall, Rathna Stores, Levi’s, Sri Krishna Stores, Wranglers, Instore, Diva and Nalli. 

While I have already described two types of shop-keepers – the platform shop-keepers and the flower-shop owners) in Pondy Bazaar, I shall describe two kinds of salesmen next. One can find a sizable number of salespersons, predominantly male, selling, primarily, musical instruments such as dholaks and, nowadays, toy guitars. These salespersons are largely North or North-Eastern Indians who have migrated to Chennai in the hopes of earning a livelihood to support their families back home. They sell these goods either on behalf of their employer or on their own. Selling their wares on the move is a more fruitful alternative to putting up a stall or shop on a platform waiting for consumers to come one’s way and buy it from oneself. Their major buyers are foreigners who come to India and, more specifically, to Pondy Bazaar, and Non-Resident Indians. 

Pondy Bazaar’s platforms have seen a cropping up of small eateries including those selling baked corn, sandwiches, chats, lime soda, chocolate covered foods (with the help of a small chocolate fountain)and soup in the last five years. These provide the shoppers with a wide variety of light snacks to eat while shopping (especially on the platform) and are easy on their wallets and purses. Ranging between 10 and 40 Rupees, these salesmen know how to make money out of the lack of street food in Chennai, especially in Pondy Bazaar. 

Stalls selling light snacks right on the platform have become quite common in Pondy Bazaar over the last few years. 

The narrow roads combined with street parking, often free, makes traffic jams a common feature of Pondy Bazaar.  

Roads are very congested in T. Nagar and Pondy Bazaar because of their being predominantly retail shopping areas and an increase in private vehicles plying on city roads which is a result of the boom in the economy post-liberalisation. There is no scope for the further widening of these roads. There is no organised parking system for vehicles which adds to the problem of road congestion and traffic jams. The emergence of hypermarkets with no parking facility attached has compounded the problem of congestion. This results in long traffic jams that are not resolved quickly. 

Application of Spatial Triad to Pondy Bazaar:

I believe I can apply Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad to my chosen location, Pondy Bazaar. Pondy Bazaar is spatial practice: the activities that the traders and shoppers and residents engage in on a daily basis forms the first component of the spatial triad; these are influenced by the geohistorical context in which development has taken place in this locality and its location near the centre of the city. The Chennai Municipal Corporation has certain ideas and plans for the improvement of Pondy Bazaar and conversion of the Panagal Park into a parking lot which has been criticised and objected to by resident groups in Chennai; this is the representations of space by two different groups of people. The last component of the spatial triad: Pondy Bazaar is representational space for Pondy Bazaar symbolises and signifies something deeper than just a commercialised locality to each and every individual who is a part of it: to the traders, it is a source of income, to the shoppers, it is a source of their pleasure, to the residents, it is home and security. All these come together to form the spatial triad that is Pondy Bazaar. 

Conclusion:

There are several shopping localities characterised by shops selling local goods on the platform, coexisting with shops dealing with national and international branded goods, and Pondy Bazaar is one such area. Despite the congested roads, the poor parking facilities and the lack of walking space for pedestrians who try to weave their way around the vehicles on the road, the experience of shopping in Pondy Bazaar is only one of its kind for most shoppers. 

M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk

Chepauk MRTS Station and the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium

History

The M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is named after M.A. Chidambaram, the former President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA). The stadium was formerly known as the Madras Cricket Club Ground or Chepauk Stadium. Apart from being the site of India’s first triumph in Test cricket (1952 against England), it holds the unique distinction of being the venue of only the second instance of a tied test match in cricket history- between India and Australia in 1986. Chepauk has also hosted One Day International (ODI) matches every time India has hosted the Cricket World Cup- a total of 7 matches in 1987, 1996 and 2011. It has also been the home ground of the Chennai Super Kings since the inception of the Indian Premier League in 2008.

Literally a stone’s throw away from the Chepauk MRTS Station which is located to the east, a major portion of the stadium is visible from the elevated railway station. It is surrounded by major streets, namely, Wallajah Road, Bells Road and Pycrofts Road in the north, west and south, respectively. The Buckingham Canal runs tangentially to the northeastern side of the stadium. It is also not too far from Marina Beach and is only a few hundred metres from the seashore as this aerial view image (Chepauk Stadium is the circle in the centre) shows.

Renovation work

When the World Cup was hosted by the sub-continent in 1996, floodlights were installed at Chepauk as day/night cricket matches were favoured by broadcasters. It enabled them to broadcast matches at a convenient time for viewers in England and also ensured maximum viewership from amongst the rising Indian middleclass. The game has grown significantly in the past decade and the astronomical rates which advertisers pay for advertisement slots during live telecasts of matches indicates the stratospheric levels of popularity the game enjoys in the sub-continent.

Natraj & Venkat Architects (NVA) in Chennai and Hopkins Architects in London, were contracted by the TNCA to upgrade the stadium before the 2011 ICC World Cup. On 28 June 2009, the decision to start reconstruction work for setting up state of the art facilities and an increased spectator capacity of 45,000 over the existing 36,000 was taken, the cost of which is INR 175 crore. The project comprises three new reinforced concrete stands accommodating 10,000 spectators and 24 hospitality boxes under translucent PTFE membrane roofs.

translucent fabric roof structures for shade over the stands

Huge pillars that often blocked the view in the old stadium have been replaced by the light state-of-the-art roof called Quad Conical Geometric Form which is held together by cables imported from China. The designer was Bird Air, an American firm, while engineers from Australia (from Tyio Membrane) have carried out the installation work. The stadium sports as many as nine new stands. These consist of three tiers with the middle one, fully air-conditioned, being the hospitality box. The stands are at a gradient of 36 degrees, which is not too steep by international standards.

The renovation lets the sea breeze in to get the ground's traditional swing back - all this while adhering to the principles of vaastu in design. The plan is to create a series of 12 stands atop a lower bowl of terracing, so the breeze can flow through the horizontal gap between the terrace and the stands, thus bringing some respite from Chennai's humid climate.

Observations

It is not possible to provide a spatial analysis without including an experiential view of the site. These observations are based on visits made to Chepauk-both during a cricket match (Champions League T20) and also on non-match days. I should not fail to mention that on all those occasions when I had gone to the stadium when there was no match being played, I was denied entry into the stadium. But before I do so, I shall first give an account of a match day experience.

Part I

The T20 match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians took place on September 24, 2011. Though it was scheduled to begin at 8.00pm (local time), the stadium was at near full capacity much before play started. The security measures in place and the number of police personnel present at the stadium indicated the high profile nature of the event. Since sponsors had paid enormous amounts of money to get their names displayed prominently throughout the stadium, the organizers made efforts to ensure that there would be no efforts of non-official sponsors to engage in ambush marketing.

What might seem rather obvious, but requires further examination is the seating arrangements. Corporates who have their own air-conditioned boxes and the masses in the stands have all come to watch the same match. But their match day experience is totally different. Whether the game is best enjoyed in the comfort of luxurious lounges, or amidst thousands of passionate supporters is an interesting question. Both have their merits and demerits. But, irrespective of where one is located in the stadium, one’s experience of the game is exponentially altered by the omniscient television cameras. With a penchant for finding the pretty ladies and the quirkily dressed supporters in the crowd, the television cameras ensure that those present in the stadium have their moments in the spotlight. In fact, one of the sponsors even had a competition wherein the ‘best fan’ would be presented with a prize for his/her entertaining antics.

Several association football clubs have retired the number 12 when awarding jerseys to their players as their loyal supporters are their 12^th man. The effects of the “12^th man” are of two categories. Firstly, the effect of showing the home team that they are appreciated, and that the away team are unwelcome. The second directly relates to the deafening effects of a loud crowd. While in cricket the 12^th man refers to the substitute player who fields when a member of the fielding side is injured, the crowd do play a large part during the match. But, even though Chennai’s team were playing, every single time Sachin Tendulkar of the Mumbai Indians was shown on the giant television screen, the partisan Chennai crowd erupted and cheered vociferously. This shows that loyalty and allegiances cut beyond teams and that fans identify themselves with iconic players.

Part II

The Tamil Nadu State Ranji Trophy team also play their home matches at Chepauk. The match between Tamil Nadu and Baroda (November 3-6^th, 2011) in the Ranji Trophy resulted in a draw after three days of play had been washed out, and only 12 overs could be bowled on the final day. It goes without saying that most of the players involved are either upcoming players trying to break into the national team or are fringe players trying to cement their places in the squad. There are no foreign players involved or cheerleaders to add glamour to these matches. When compared to the overwhelming presence of sponsors during the other game, there seemed to be a marked absence of major sponsors. Television coverage for these matches is not as much of a visual spectacle as other international matches.

Unlike the Champions League T20 match, or any other match at international level for that matter, there is no ticketed entry for Ranji Trophy matches. This ensures that such matches would not be played to empty stadiums as most of the players involved are not crowd pullers. Also, since the style of play to be adopted when 4 day matches is drastically different from playing 20 over matches, it is not possible to sustain the interest of the fickle minded fan. Cricket purists would still turn up but inclement weather meant that the match did not see much spectator presence.

As mentioned earlier, play was abandoned on the first three days. When I turned up at the stadium, the security guards at the gates told me that there was no entry allowed. At the nearby Madras Cricket Club, the watchman told me that only members would be admitted into the premises. This provided me with an opportunity to talk a walk around the stadium premises, much in the manner of a devotee circumnavigating a temple. It enabled me to analyze the stadium in spatial terms.

Photo taken during India-New Zealand practice match

Analysis

A cricket match can be seen as an event that has a social and historical component. Members of society come together to witness the match, in which the players have to abide by the laws that govern the game. The events on the field are recorded in terms of statistics and the spectators and players involved also leave with some recollection of events. The spatial component however needs detailed explanation as it can be overlooked because it is always there, but never really analyzed in terms of its contribution to the sociality and historicity of the process.

Foucault uses the term heterotopia to describe spaces that have more layers of meaning or relationships to other places than immediately meet the eye. These are spaces of otherness, which are neither here nor there, that are simultaneously physical and mental, such as when a spectator realises that he is being featured on the giant screen television in the stadium and starts waving at the cameras. Though all cricketing action unfolds within the confines of the boundary region, the crowd are also very much involved as the match progresses. Whenever the ball is clobbered into the stands by the batsman, spectators make attempts to catch the ball. Apart from this, as mentioned earlier, the presence of TV cameras ensures that spectators try and catch the eye of the production crew. So for the millions watching the broadcast either live or later, these spectators at the stadium who get featured are part of their viewing experience.

However, though they are part of the cricket match, spectators do not actively participate in the match. The security personnel are there to ensure that there are no disruptions and that apart from those involved in the match, the spectators do not enter the field. Only the players, the match officials, and the ground staff are allowed to enter the field of play. Even on the field, there are certain areas which are ‘restricted’ so to speak. The protected area or danger area is the central portion of the pitch, and a bowler must avoid running on this area during his follow-through after delivering the ball. The role of the umpires is to ensure that the laws that govern the sport are respected and enforced. To make their work easier, there is also an additional umpire who goes over the television footage and makes difficult decisions. It goes without saying that all these personnel have a good grounding of the rules of the game, which enables them to adjudicate competently.

A simplistic explanation of the game of cricket would be that batsmen score runs by placing the ball in the spaces that appear between fielders and that the fielding team have to keep changing their positions to make the batsmen’s work more difficult. Batsmen are not restricted to playing shots along the ground and can also take the aerial route and play attacking cricket. This expands the region that can be covered by batsmen and also involves non-playing spectators as mentioned earlier. The commercial aspect of the game had been touched upon earlier. But, the money that sponsors have pumped into the game can be seen in the advertising hoardings that encircle the field of play. So, from this illustration of on-field proceedings, it is quite clear that spaces inside the stadium have many layers of meaning and have complicated relationships.

Spectators are consumers in the sense that by purchasing tickets, they are gaining access inside the stadium and are witnessing the cricketing action that unfolds in person. Only those who buy tickets are allowed entry, and the patrons are provided seating based on the money that they are willing to spend on tickets. Premium seats in air-conditioned corporate boxes which have better amenities are worth several times what seats in the uppermost tiers cost. We see that space is being commodified and Lefebvre’s Marxist critique of social space can be applied here. He proposed "social space" to be where the Relations of production are reproduced and that dialectical contradictions were spatial rather than temporal. Corporate boxes which are auctioned off to the highest bidder are bought and paid for by large conglomerations and wealthy individuals who pay as high as INR 50 lakhs for these boxes. Most of the fans who occupy the packed stands pay INR 100 for each ticket while premium ticket holders pay in upwards of INR 3000 for better seats. We see that there is a large disparity in the cost of tickets. It goes without saying that those with better tickets also enjoy privileged treatment on account of the money they have spent.

Conclusion

It is possible to view cricket as a battle between bat and ball-but this is an oversimplification that misses out on the action on so many different levels. The location of the stadium as well as the design has contributed to the nature of cricketing action. Also, while the dimensions of a cricket pitch have been fixed at 22 yards, it is evident that the game is in no ways restricted only to what happens on the field. The involvement of spectators, security personnel, television cameras and various other actors contribute to the overall feel of each match and makes it a unique experience for each individual who goes to Chepauk. It should be added that I have largely dealt with my personal experiences-which are an assimilation of numerous factors that are constantly engaging with one another. This process can be dismissed as trivial-after all, isn't cricket just a game?

Yes, and no.

I feel that it is necessary to accept the singularly peculiar position stadiums and sports teams occupy in cities. By representing a particular region, they become a focal point around which the whole community can come together. This strengthens the region as it provides a stimulus for greater economic activity in the face of greater cooperation. Indeed, as FC Barcelona's motto claims "Més que un club" (English: More than a club)

As this video shows, it must be said that the Chennai Super Kings seem to embody the spirit of Chennai. Region based sports teams can claim to epitomize the qualities that make that place unique and the stadiums they play in is the physical manifestation of the space they occupy. Chepauk Stadium is thus fully lived space, a simultaneously real-and-imagined, actual-and-virtual, locus of structured individual and collective experience and agency.

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1. Thanks to Dipali for the tickets to the Champions League match.

2. Special mention and much thanks to Athul Krishnan for accompanying me during the trip to Chepauk. He has uploaded some of the photos taken during that trip. Accessible here

3. Talking to people who play Ranji Trophy cricket and regional domestic cricket matches has been quite helpful in forming impressions of the way in which the game is played. It also enables one to understand the game from an insider's perspective. Thanks to Tomy Alexander for his inputs.