In reminiscence of a pioneering industrialist of Madras

It was a #TIL second for me. For years, I had handed by A.R.Okay. Colony, a cul-de-sac off Eldams Road, and all the time puzzled as to what these initials stood for. You may have knocked me down with a feather once I obtained to know just lately that they expanded to Anantharamakrishnan. Yes, S. Anantharamakrishnan, the founding father of Amalgamations, that engineering conglomerate, has an area within the metropolis named after him. 

It was S. Muthiah’s Getting India on the Move, the 150-year Saga of Simpsons of Madras that, lately, dropped at gentle a lot of the great work achieved by Anantharamakrishnan, or ‘J’ as he was recognized throughout the group. What by no means fails to stun me are two points – the primary is the zeroing in on the identify Amalgamations for a gaggle that, within the preliminary levels no less than, got here collectively by buying a number of corporations. You can not beat the type of branding that claims all of it. The second was the idea, in 1949, that India would in the future rise as an automotive large. Spurred by that, J arrange India Pistons Limited because the nation’s first automotive part producer at a time when not a single automotive was made in India! 

Also learn: Wheels that aided the development of Madras right into a metropolis

The different nice transfer was kickstarting the Indian diesel revolution. Legend has it that it was at Wall Tax Road {that a} truck operator was really paid by Simpson & Co., then importing Perkins diesel engines, to transform his automobile to function on this various gas to petrol. That was in 1948 and what adopted was the nation shifting over, persevering with right now when public transport, of individuals and items, continues to be diesel primarily based. 

The transport operators have been tremendously beholden to J, and many commemorated him. One such was Venugopala Mudaliar, who lived in a big home off Eldams Road. The land was a part of the 13-acre property often known as the Baobab, the erstwhile residence of John Bruce Norton, Advocate General of Madras within the 19thcentury, and later that of P. Chenstal Rao, MLC. Other divided components of the property had equally illustrious residents, specifically Sir C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar and Sir Mohammed Usman. 

When Venugopala Mudaliar developed his land as a residential enclave, he named it S. Anantharamakrishna Iyer Colony, which over time was truncated to A.R.Okay. Colony. A plaque contained in the compound nonetheless carries the complete identify. This, I feel, is the one public marker for J – the person who set Madras off on its journey to changing into an auto main. There can be a statue to him inside Huzur Gardens, Sembium, in entrance of the India Pistons plant.

Industrial legacies

That led me to ponder over which different industrialists of Madras have roads of their honour. There is a T.S. Krishna Nagar in Mogappair, remembering one of many 4 T.V.S. brothers. Ganapati Colony in Gopalapuram commemorates T.R. Ganapathy Iyer, the founding father of the Rane Group. And I assume Arunachalam Road in Kotturpuram commemorates A.M.M. Arunachalam, whereas Murugappa Road commemorates his father Dewan Bahadur A.M.M. Murugappa Chettiar and older brother A.M.M. Murugappa. Though remembered extra for his philanthropy, it should not be forgotten that Okay.V. Al Rm Alagappa Chettiar, commemorated in Purasawalkam, was an industrialist. Raja Sir Annamalai and his son Raja Sir Muthiah of the Chettinad Group have roads of their names. The former additionally has R.A. Puram named after him and his second son Ramanathan is the identify behind M(ayor) R(amanathan) C(hettiar) Nagar. The IOB enclave close to Loyola is called Chidambaram Gardens after MCtM Chidambaram Chettyar, the founding father of the financial institution. 

In its newest renaming spree, the federal government would do nicely to incorporate a number of industrialists in its listing.

(Sriram V. is a author and historian.)