Chennai Not Madras: Perspectives on the City

Though the city of Chennai is over 350 years old, it has not received the attention that other metropolitan cities in India have. Books on the city that are available are written from a somewhat elite perspective, epitomized by the opposition to the renaming of Madras a few years ago. But the fact is that in Tamil literature it has always been referred to as Chennai. Thus the tussle revolves around the cultural views of colonial Madras and the Chennai of a wider democratic populace. This somewhat provocatively titled book seeks to highlight the vernacular character of Chennai. Many of the contributors have not been visible to a non-Tamil audience before, others are academics who have been researching aspects of the city. Their writings are reflective and impressionistic and describe the changing character of the metropolis.