With Madras Day now behind us, let us take you on a gentle walk through the efforts that unfold quietly, yet passionately, behind the scenes. At the Library Department, every July begins with an eager wait for the official nod that allows us to set the Made of Chennai celebrations in motion. Once greenlit, our journey of ideas, planning, and collaboration begins in earnest.
It was no different this time around. Thirupurasundari Sevvel, the curator for the project, gave us a brief outline of the theme. We then began by sifting through the huge repository of archival images to pick out the best based on the year’s theme. This year, it was Thiral, Thiran and Thakkam — celebrating the City of Madras. The keywords given were crowds, celebrations and sporting events in Chennai (then Madras) with the ‘Black and White’ era in focus.
It was really interesting to find that in a cricket-crazy nation, other sports like badminton, gymnastics, swimming and boxing had a huge following as well. We had a photo of Muhammad Ali visiting Madras in 1980. There was one of Russian gymnast Maria Grokhoskaya, the absolute champion in the Helsinki Olympics, visiting Madras as part of the Russian gymnastics team in 1956.
From the first shortlist of over 120 images, we narrowed it further to the final lot of 78 photos. With a few iterations, we were ready with the flow and arrangement of photos. Each photo was then colour-corrected and polished to make it resonate with the theme. With the final approvals in place, it was printed and exhibition-ready.
The main attraction — The Book (kept at the centre of the exhibition) — is collated from the rich archives of The Hindu with the theme in mind. The carefully curated pages speak volumes about the city, even as the photos tell many a tale.
The marketing team finalised the layout and design, and we waited with bated breath for the inauguration. This exhibition was inaugurated on August 8 by film director Revathi and Carnatic musician Aruna Sairam at the Kasturi Buildings.
The curation holds something for everyone in the audience. For a textile enthusiast, it shows how sports apparel has changed over the decades. We had photographs of women playing badminton in sarees.
For a heritage enthusiast, the images of buildings and places allow them a glimpse of Chennai as it was in the 1950s and 1960s.
For a marketing enthusiast, the archival pages from The Hindu give an idea of how yesteryear brands promoted their products and services. Most of the advertisements featured illustrations that captured the style and costume of the people.
The exhibition, which is on display at The Hindu Group’s office premises, is seeing a steady stream of students who are amazed at seeing Chennai as it was in the past.
For the senior citizens who come in large numbers, it is a time for recollection of events they had stood witness to.
They recount their experiences of having watched a match or having been at the Integral Coach Factory when Queen Elizabeth came visiting.
There have been many takeaways for both the young and the old. We have been listening to countless stories from the older generation who spend a lot of time looking at each and every photo.
As part of the promotions for the archival photo exhibition, we provided photographs to the marketing team and the social media team.
The Special Madras Day columns always hold a significant place in the Madras Day festivities. This time, our reporters from the Chennai city bureau had written about the Statues in Madras (there are quite a number of them). And also about the various art and cultural activities in Chennai under the theme Crucible of Culture, highlighting light music troupes, gaana music and street theatre. We found some amazing gems from our Archives for the ever-loved Snippets Column. Each piece of news, each story unearthed, became another thread in the fabric of celebration.
We are now ready for the Special Supplement of The Hindu on Madras, curated by historian and columnist V. Sriram. Once the theme of the articles is decided, we put out collections of photographs to go with the article. The teamwork, dedication and purpose of providing the best edition of the newspaper to the reader are visible when you browse through the special supplement. The beautiful city of Madras teaches us a lot in the two months of preparation and execution for the Made of Chennai events.
Madras, in its timeless charm, continues to teach us much. It reminds us of resilience, grace, and the quiet poetry of everyday life. The months of preparation for Made of Chennai is more than just work — it is a journey of rediscovery, a chance to fall in love with the city all over again. And as one celebration ends, our hearts already long for the next, when once more we set out to uncover new gems hidden within this beloved city.
Another exhibition that The Hindu Archives is proud to be part of is the Constitution Museum at OP Jindal University. We were provided with an extensive timeline on the evolution of the Indian Constitution. It was a huge learning journey where we travelled along with The Hindu Archives in unearthing our constitutional history. Each Amendment to the Constitution and each landmark Supreme Court verdict had been reported in detail in The Hindu.
Each exhibition and each archival search strongly underlines the core values of The Hindu and the spirit with which it is still upheld. At The Hindu Archives, we are ready to uncover more treasures which embody the legacy of The Hindu and its Digital archives.
Published – September 05, 2025 01:20 am IST