In Mani Ratnam’s Chekka Chivandha Vaanam, there is this lovely drone visual of the Kathipara flyover. The junction with multiple roads and loops has now become the prime associated visual for Chennai, especially in films, ahead of the earlier favourites like Central Station and the LIC building. Kathipara may be the current flavour but for many old-timers, if there is a favourite road landmark burnt into their memory, it has to be the Anna flyover, also referred to as the Gemini flyover. Built in 1973, Chennai’s maiden flyover, which turned 50 last year, has been refreshed with a new coat of paint, and an additional aesthetic touch has been granted to the pillars.
A highpoint in commute
For readers of a certain vintage, a bus ride over this flyover was a highpoint in their commute. It could well be a seat on 23C doing its Ayanavaram-Besant Nagar route. Moving through Anna Salai, Mount Road for those with their 1980 sensibilities, the bus went past a list of theatres, now no longer around — Shanthi, Wellington, Alankar, Anand and Safire. Thankfully, a few other movie halls like the Devi Complex and Anna are still around.
As the bus neared the flyover, there was a frisson of excitement. It was akin to the notes struck by that old melody ‘En Kanmani’. Siva Kumar serenaded his sweetheart in a bus, the two leapt into Mysore’s Brindavan Gardens in a dream sequence, before the conductor brought them back to earth with impromptu suggestions like ‘Teynampettai super market, erangu’. And as the bus began its gentle ascent, heads would reflexively swing left to see the U.S. Consulate campus and the sprawling Woodlands drive-in restaurant.
The last-named has vanished and in its place we have Semmozhi Poonga, a much-needed green space. However, the heart does yearn for those coffee and conversations at the previous joint, and the mind remembers the hilarious ‘Mr. Chandramouli’ episode from Mani Ratnam’s Mouna Ragam, with Karthik and Revathi at their best.
Missing link
When you turned your head to the other side, the road leading towards Nungambakkam slipped into view. The hotels and high-rises on that lane add value but the missing link would be the Landmark bookshop, a pit-stop for students and readers at large.
The bus would then gently deal with the curve and begin its descent and on the adjacent link road, an old milestone, stating the distance to Dindigul, still remains. Those fleeting minutes on the flyover were always special, and at that point it seemed to be the throbbing heart of Madras, just like how the MG Road-Brigade Road junction still is in Bengaluru. The buildings around the flyover may have vanished or evolved, but this landmark still remains, a vital cog on Anna Salai and offers an eternal remembrance of things past.
