Appar’s Ark

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sriramv.wordpress.com/2021/06/10/appars-ark/ The 7th century hymnodist Appar aka Thirunavukkarasar records his visit to the temple at Thiruvaiyyaru in eleven verses. Each ends with the sighting of a pair of animals or birds, rather like the Noah's ark. It is a wonderful documentation of fauna of the Thanjavur region during those times. The recording has a couple of unfortunate glitches which are minor and do not take away from the core of the narration. 

Chennai is full of people who think they are immune to Covid and so need no safety protocols. As for the pandemic, it is entirely caused by others. 

Between 1947 and 1957, two Hindi, one Telugu and one Tamil songs were inspired by the same tune for the opening line. And all four were hits! Listen to Sriram V talk on (and sing) them. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sriramv.wordpress.com/2021/05/21/four-songs-and-a-common-tune-with-geeta-dutt-rafi-vj-varma-and-ghantasala/

This episode is a tribute to activist KR Ramaswamy, who fought many battles on behalf of Chennai's public. Cover pic courtesy The Hindu. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://sriramv.wordpress.com/2021/05/19/traffic-ramaswamy-chennais-hercules/

When it is time to focus on big infrastructural challenges in the city, it is sad that Chennai's administration spends money on creating vertical gardens beneath flyovers. When will be stop spending on such cosmetics without addressing core issues? Listen to Sriram V speaking on the subject.