Latest news with #Senthil
The Hindu
18-06-2025
- The Hindu
Author Prajwal Parajuly's newly minted fondness for train journeys
Back in the day when I was a Sri City newbie, I'd book a cab to and from Chennai. After trying out a few drivers, I settled on Senthil. Senthil is everything I want in a Man Friday: he picks up the phone well past midnight, likes the chutneys at Murugan Idli almost as much as I do and pretends he has his road rage under control when I am in the car. But he also has issues. He has the weakest eyesight I have encountered in a human: when I call him to fact-check this column, he says he wears between -10 and -11 glasses. I understand he can do nothing about that but often wonder how he'd drive me if his glasses flew off mid-journey. He also is that rare Indian driver who cannot function without AC. I think air-conditioning is evil, and excessive air-conditioning an American barbarity that's becoming ubiquitous in India. That I must go to every hotel, mall and theatre with an extra jacket even when it is 43 degrees outside should tell you how dire things have become. Senthil and I play a game where I ask him to switch off the AC, which he does … for about 15 minutes. He switches it back on thinking I won't notice. I call attention to the cold. Off. On. Off. On. The cycle is endless. It's exasperating. Senthil charges me ₹2,700 per trip. The first two times, I tipped him an additional 300. He now thinks the fare is 3,000 rupees. Neither of us has spoken about it. Now that I am a Sri City veteran, I have eschewed Senthil's Tundra-like Toyota Etios for the more tropical — and pocket-friendly —Chennai Express. Sure, I still call Senthil when I need to go to the airport or have more than one suitcase. But on other trips, the train serves my purpose just fine. You will not find an air-conditioned train that stops at Tada — the closest railhead from Sri City — en route to Chennai. What's not idyllic about leaf-plate food, cross ventilation and the forced camaraderie of a commuter train? You will accuse me of romanticising train travel, and you'd have a point. I grew up in Sikkim, in the Himalayan foothills, the one place in India unpenetrated by railway lines. I should be forgiven for getting stoked at the sound of a train whistle in the same way you'd excuse a Chennaite for squealing at the sight of a mountain. Frequent two-hour rail voyages in my adulthood are just the catharsis needed to compensate for the daily absence of trains in my youth. The general fare from Tada to Chennai is 10 rupees, the first-class fare a whopping 18 times that. The women's buggy shares its borders with the first-class compartment but isn't as much of a free-for-all as our cabin. I have ridden the train about two dozen times but am yet to see a ticket collector. As we weave through lyrically named towns — Anuppambattu, Nandiabakkam, Kathivakkam — tittering school kids join us. The clamour heightens. On one trip, an office goer — blessed with an Iphone 13, a Lenovo tablet and a jargon-heavy tongue — gets on at Attipattu. I owe him my knowledge of the difference between a station and a junction. He's unhappy, though. He declares that hardly anyone in the cabin has first-class tickets. I ask him to live and let live. Outside, the industrial air in Ennore is rancid. 'That's why this country will never make progress,' he says. 'It's not like you don't have a seat,' I reply. The stench of Ennore gives way to the scent of sea at Wimco Nagar. On another trip, my colleague Joya and I are treated to repeated decibel-shattering flatulence from a man who joins us in shameless mirth when he realises we noticed. That alone snags him a cameo in a future Parajuly novel. A rainy day, I eye the lunch of a young man travelling in a three-generational group. Each family member has a lunchbox. 'It smells like the gods descended on your tiffin carrier,' I tell my new friend. I need to be slapped. He confers with his family, who decide that one of them will forego lunch. Feeling equal parts proud and ashamed, I accept the unopened box. I dunk a dosa in the sambar and declare it one of the best meals of my life. I reciprocate the family's generosity by offering them dark chocolate. They pronounce it inedible. I am nervous that Senthil suspects me of cheating on him. He often calls me when I am smack-dab in the middle of Chennai. 'When are you coming next, sir?' he asks. I splutter platitudes. One day I'll muster the courage to tell him about the delights of temperate train travel. Prajwal Parajuly is the author of The Gurkha's Daughter and Land Where I Flee. He loves idli, loathes naan, and is indifferent to coffee. He teaches Creative Writing at Krea University and oscillates between New York City and Sri City.
Time of India
17-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Sanitary workers clean sewer lines without safety gear in Pallipalayam municipality
NAMAKKAL: Sanitary workers were reportedly seen cleaning blocked sewer lines without wearing protective gear in Pallipalayam municipality in Salem district. After recent rain, several areas in the municipality faced issues with blocked sewer lines. Sewer-mixed rainwater overflowed in several areas. The municipality sent sanitation workers to resolve these blockages. However, sanitary workers were working under unsafe conditions without wearing gloves and other protective gear, residents said. "The Tamil Nadu govt has been advised by the courts, including the Madras high court, on multiple occasions to train sanitary workers to utilise appropriate safety gear when handling waste," said Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) spokesman Dr PV Senthil. However, the recommendations were not followed, he said. 'Given the current inability to differentiate between hazardous and non-hazardous waste in public spaces, there is an increasing concern about the potential risks this poses to sanitary workers,' he added. 'People suffering from diseases are likely to spit in public areas. Sanitary workers contract diseases when they use bare hands to remove blocks," Senthil remarked. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Indian Stewardess Makes Headlines Worldwide medalmerit Learn More Undo Senthil urged the Pallipalayam municipality to educate its sanitary workers on the importance of using proper safety gear. When TOI contacted him for a comment, Pallipalayam municipality commissioner V Dayalan stated that all sanitary workers were equipped with safety gear like gumboots, gloves and helmets while cleaning the sewer lines. "We continuously educate them to use the safety gear at all times," he added, assuring that he would ensure compliance moving forward.
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Israeli film fest postponed; ‘nothing political about it'
Chennai: Owing to protests over Israel's attack on Palestine, the Israeli Film Festival organized by the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation (ICAF), which was scheduled to be held from May 29 to 31 at the Tagore Film Centre in RA Puram, has been postponed indefinitely. Organizers say cultural centres have been hesitant, as human rights activists and writers have been expressing concerns over having such an event during a time of war. Writers' groups, politicians, and activists called the move politically insensitive and requested state govt to cancel the fest. Sasikanth Senthil, MP and member of Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers' Artists' Association (TNPWAA) posted a poster of the festival announcement on his X handle and said, "As someone who deeply believes in the power of art to build bridges, I rarely call for cultural cancellations. But there are moments in history when silence or neutrality risks being complicit." He says this event could be perceived as a "tacit endorsement or at the very least, indifference to the suffering of a besieged population". "This is not a rejection of art," says Senthil, but a call to "be mindful of context, timing, and the moral message we send as a society". "This festival has nothing to do with politics; it's all about films," says Emanadar Thangaraj, ICAF's director of administration. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Keventer One: Offices built for you Keventer ONE Undo "The Israel and Palestine war has nothing to do with India. Why should that stop us from consuming the art they make? We've been organizing such events for the past 20 years, and the purpose of such events has been to expose film lovers to films around the world. I don't understand why people are making this political. " TNPWAA state president Madhukoor Ramalingam, says the association believes films are the most important medium of communication to address the masses on important topics and issues. "One of the ways we can condemn what Israel is doing is by not promoting art that comes from a place that bombs innocents." A source close to ICAF says that although external factors pushed for the festival to be postponed, "internal politics has escalated the issue". Despite resistance, ICAF is still planning to hold the festival wherever possible. "We will organize this at a centre that will allow screenings to take place. No change of plans," says Thangaraj.
The Hindu
26-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
DPH doctors to boycott communication, orders from DD of Health services of Madurai
The Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA), in their general body meeting held here on Monday, has unanimously decided to boycott any form of communication and refusal to comply with the orders of Deputy Director (DD) of Health Services, Madurai. As the doctors of Primary Health Centre, Urban Primary Health Centre, Community Health Centre, and others flagged the issue of ill-treatment by the DD of Madurai and registered a complaint with the Department of Public Health (DPH), and an inquiry was initiated by the department based on the complaints. K. Senthil, president of TNGDA, said that following the complaint, Senthil Kumar, Joint Director of Communicable Diseases in the DPH, was directed to conduct an inquiry into the matter. 'He also held an inquiry on May 24, 2025. While doctors informed him about their grievances and the ill-treatment faced by them at the hands of DD, the matter has been taken to the government,' he added. 'He could not sense the seriousness of the issue when it was represented to him earlier by the doctors,' Dr. Senthil added. 'Only when the videos of him spewing bad comments and using unparliamentary words, were published on media and social media platforms, did I understand the grievance of doctors,' he noted. Till a satisfactory disciplinary action was initiated against the DD of Madurai, the doctors decided to boycott all forms of communication with him. 'It was decided that doctors would not attend any meetings conducted by him, exit from all official what's app groups, blocking his contact number on mobile phones, complying with orders only when issued through circulars from the district administration, doctors would apply their casual leave, compensatory leave, privileged leave, weekly off, holidays through Block/Zonal Medical Officers (BMO), BMOs would communicate their leaves to District Health Office through mails,' Dr. Senthil said. It was also ensured the public that the health service given to them would not be affected at any cost, he added.
