Indian Columbus

In the Veteran Lines of Pallavaram locality of Madras, there was once a strong presence of Anglo Indians. A more detailed account of the Anglo-Indian community and this particular area can be found in another article titled "The Anglo Indians of Chennai" on my blog. Today, only a few Anglo Indians, mainly elderly citizens, reside in Veteran Lines. An exquisite church named St. Stephen's English Church graces this locality. The church was constructed between 1929 CE and 1935 CE, and the Rt. Rev. Harry Waller consecrated it on July 21, 1935 CE. Subsequently, a school was established within the same premises. A more detailed account of this church can be found in another article on my blog.  Within a kilometer's distance from this beautiful church lies a meticulously maintained cemetery featuring an attractive arch at its entrance. This cemetery, soon to be a century old, is regarded as one of Chennai's most picturesque burial grounds. This eighty-year-old church an...

Perhaps everyone in Chennai city knows the Central Railway Station. Almost 50% of the population would have visited or heard about the Body Guard Muneeswaran temple, 1.5 km from the Railway Station. Less than 5% of people who visit this roadside temple would have taken the pain to enter the historic  St. Mary's Cemetery  next door. Even those brave hearts completely ignore the Roman Catholic St. Patrick's Cemetery that is located next. There are graves of a few prominent people of Madras found here. Sadly, no one has recorded or written about this so far. It is said that there was Presbyterian Cemetery located near St. Mary's Cemetery. I believe the lost cemetery was found at the same site where St. Patrick's Cemetery is now. There are a few graves dating 1800s and the early 1900s. They all belong to the original Presbyterian Cemetery, I presume. The modern-day graves dating 1980s and 1990s are found in large numbers. They outnumber the historic burials. The chur...

"My thoughts are all with you, whether parted or together. Yours forever I remain" - an inscription from a grave in the Common Wealth Cemetery in Chennai reads. Another inscription says - Arise my friends dry up your tears I must lie here till Christ appears And when he does I hope to rise Unto a Life that never dies Yet another grave informs us that Simon Hyman had died from the bite of a water snake after 3.5 hours of illness in 1837 CE. Then, we read about a rare incident. Harold Dickinson had been killed by a shark while bathing in Fort Beach in 1939. Adela Florence Nicolson, who wrote English poems under the pseudo-name Laurence Hope, died at 39 in Chennai. Her husband, Malcolm Nicolson, died on 7th August 1904. She died within one month, on 4th October of the same year. Their graves are located in this cemetery. With neatly aligned graves, this well-maintained Commonwealth War grave is in sharp contrast to  St. Mary's graveyard . To reach this grav...

Calm be her sleep! may the tall grass wave lightly Above the meek bosom that bless'd us of yore; Like a bird; it has found out a region more brightly To nestle its pinion, - but glad us no more! The above lines from William Jones are engraved on the tomb of Acnes Eliza, daughter of Robert James Thomson. The inscription says that she died on 12th February 1866 CE at the age of 21 years. It also reads, "She was too like a dream of heaven for earthly love to merit her". This is one of the tombs which is easily accessible and also readable among hundreds of tombstones scattered across St. Mary's Cemetery. This is perhaps the biggest graveyard in Chennai city. The cemetery, formerly called "The English Burial Ground," has a lot of dilapidated but interesting tombstones in various shapes, sizes, and styles. Most of them belong to the 1800s and early 1900s. Unfortunately, this vast area is poorly maintained. Trespassing by criminal elements, the presence...