Hotel Dasaprakash Chennai set to go!

In December 2010, a feature in our newspaper about the proposed closure of Hotel Dasaprakash in Chennai caught my eye.  I had to read it with some curiosity because the great Hotel now stands for sale to give way to a multi-storey residential complex in a multi-crore project.  The Hindu had also reported this new development two days earlier.  My curiosity about this was because of a strong imprint in my memory from 27-4-1966 when we had the privilege of attending the Centenary celebrations of the revered mother of the founder of Dasaprakash, K.Seetharama Rao, Ganga Bai. I can tell the date precisely because, three books related to some activities at Hotel Dasaprakash still occupy the bookshelf. I'll share a few memories from my tender age and also some old pictures from those three commemorative souvenirs (Cover pages shown below).

This was brought out after Seetharama Rao went to heavenly abode on 15.1.1968.

This is a souvenir brought out in 1963 to commemorate the Centenary of Moonlight Dinners! Wonder what they were.  Moonlight dinners!  How homely!

A souvenir from a religious gathering in 1965.

My advocate grandfather's client was one Murari Rao, a nephew of Seetharama Rao.  Murari had great regard towards my grandfather and he was like a member of our family. Since Murari was visiting Madras (now Chennai) in his car to attend that grand Centenary (of his grandmother?) all the way from Mysore, he had space in his large car for a young me, younger brother, grandmother, mother and grandfather. I do not remember the long journey, but it was a huge beige and brown coloured Chevrolet (or Dodge?) car.  I remember we stayed in the hotel room, know not which hotel, but it must be my first stay out in a hotel. Some of the scenes from the Dasaprakash and Dharmaprakash premises are imprinted in my memory and I found a few of those in those books.

(Murari Rao is seen here in dark dress)

It was a very grand occasion with a very huge gathering of people under a huge pandal and a stage, something like this:

The above picture could be of the same location from 1960.

On the stage was the Centenarian Lady in a chair, dressed in a red sari and many kith and kin performing the centenary ceremonies as per thier religious tradition.   

The great Sri Rajaji (C.Rajagopalachari, the first Governor General of India) was attending the celebrations - but at our tender age, we were totally immersed in our own world!

At Dharmaprakash I recollect sitting on the auditorium floor at the mass lunch where many dishes were served. As a young boy I do not know what and how much I relished, but I can remember the sweet payasam.

May be it was the same hall where we were served food and I remember Seetarama Rao offering the same homely hospitality in person, in similar costume - silk

In the evening, there was a band show where a stuntman did all acrobatics while he was striking the huge stationary drum.  It was breathtaking display. I do not remember if there was any music in that programme.

Before we started our return journey in Murari's car, my grandmother was given some mementos to mark the visit. A small tray and a box depicting the grand old lady's relief image are still chreished artefacts.  Also, a small nylon bag that contained some ten rupee notes as 'dakshine' (One Rupee itself had its full value in those days).  I do not remember the total amount but it must have been a hundred - a very huge amount even in th ose days. They were all 'rich gifts' that showed the much renown generosity of Seetharama Rao.  One of the pin-badges that were given to us has somehow survived the years despite its smallness. Picture below:

With all these seemingly uneventful memories imprinted, I wanted to revisit this spot 30 years later when I went to Madras when it was still named Madras.  A few years later it was rechristened as Chennai.  I was with my cricket team taking part in a reputed tournament and staying in some hotel within easy reach of Hotel Dasaprakash.  I and our team manager Mr.Narayan decided to visit the grand old hotel and have dinner.  I relived some memories after we went round after enjoying the much reputed dinner.

Note the cyclist who is not 'jumping the signal' as there is heavy traffic outside Hotel Dasaprakash, Egmore!!

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Now let me share some more pictures from those souvenirs:

Hotel Dasaprakash was a famous spot visited by famous personalities as Mr.Seetharama Rao was probably the most-sought-for hotelier in the whole of south India.  Seetharama Rao knew most of them in person!

H.M.The Queen Elizabeth II once passed by it.

I guess Sri Rajaji (C.Rajagopalachari) was a frequent visitor.

Sir M.Visveswaraya

Morarji Desai, who later became Prime Minister of India

Who does not know Jawaharlal Nehru?

K.Kamaraj

Morarji Desai again - he was famously very strict on diet (look at his plate!).

Sir M.Visveswaraya again

Dr.S.Radhakrishnan, who later became President of India (bodyguard system came into vogue long later!!)

V.V.Giri, who also became President of India 

Our own Highness, The Maharaja of Mysore, Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar (note the simplicity and homeliness!)

We have been his picture in the papers often in recent times.  Hope you will recognize this young face from the 1960s.

Our Maharaja again - is it one of his shining Rolls Royces partly seen on the left?

1938, Tea Party - Modern Cafe - H.H.Yuvaraja of Mysore

P.Ananda Rau was also a cricket commentator whose typical voice was renown among the audience.  I learnt  only recently when I was reading something in that souvenir that it was the same Ananda Rau!

This was at the Ooty Hotel Dasaprakash.  Our Maharaja is in this.  The Mysore Royal Family had a great patronage to Seetharama Rao's Dasaprakash and earlier, the Modern Cafe too, as many photographs that were displayed in Modern Cafe (picture below) when we stayed there in 2001 or so and again, Sri Murari was instrumental in providing us the accommodation for our family there - his generosity and kindness again showed as we did not have to pay for it!  The look of this building has since changed a bit and also the Street had become crowded with shops. 

Our Mysore Hotel Dasaprakash, is still running under the good reputation.  Hope it survives well into the 21st century.  The Dasaprakash Group has a great reputation of being a 'home away from home' to all guests, thanks to Seetharama Rao's leadership!  I show below only a few of the several messages published in the souvenir to testify the fact.

Click on the pictures to enlarge and read

)::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::(

Sports in the blood

This 1888 testimonial of my great grandfather K.Mylar Rao (he spelt as Malhari Rao earlier) says that he had a good physique and was an ardent cricketer in his college days. He was good at Bridge (cards) and played some tennis also in his later years. He was a life member of Cosmopolitan Club and Mysore Sports Club, Mysore after he retired from service in 1926.

Surely he must have had a good physique as I am told he took regular strolls and used the dumb bells to maintain his body and health. He must have been a supreme example of a healthy mind in a healthy body - he was an avid reader too which the big library suggests.

My grandfather K.M.Subba Rao was even better. He was a much renown sportsman esp. in his heydays and even till the end, aside from his profession as a respected, renown (and honest, I must proudly add) lawyer and a distinguished citizen of Mysore.

H.H. The Maharaja of Mysore, Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar hands over the cup to Subba Rao for Golf at the Mysore Sports Club's tournament, about 1966, at the MSC grounds as Farrokh Irani looks on.


Probably this picture was taken in 1952 at the Cosmopolitan Club during a Tennis tournament. His good friend BS Dattatri is to his right, extreme left.

Madras Christian College Cricket Team, Winners of Inter-Collegiate Cricket Shield, 1918.

Subba Rao is the non-striker at the far end in this picture, probably of the early 1950s or thereabouts, playing in a Lawyers tournament [most likely]. The ground is the "Ovals" [now the Athletic Ground opposite Crawford Hall]. In the background is the Maharaja's / Yuvaraja's College Buildings and the Oriental Research Institute.


This must be a picture of the early 1930s. One of the few where both KM Subba Rao and his father K Mylar Rao are in together [see marked arrows]. Also together in this are HH Krishnarajendra Wadiyar IV, HE Kanteerava Narasa Raja Wadiyar (The Yuvaraja of Mysore) and a young Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar and Sir Mirza Ismail. The building is of the Mysore Sports Club. Probably this is a group of elite Mysoreans who are sports-lovers. Mylar Rao was also a keen sportsman skilled in Cricket in his younger days, Tennis and Bridge. Mysore Sports Club was formed later. The building is still there but a facade has come up.

Below is a letter from J.G.Tait to K.M.Subba Rao. Tait was his teacher at Presidency College, Madras. Tait remembers his student with great affection and shares his feelings like a friend. He remembers a few other names also so vividly even after many years after his retirement. It shows how that bondage between the teacher and pupil was in those days. Subba Rao and Tait exchanged letters even after Tait went back to England in the early 1920s after his retirement. Apart from Subba Rao's all-round talent Tait in this letter remembers a cricket match:

[ Page 4 and 1 here] - click to enlarge and read

[ Page 2 and 3 here] - click to enlarge and read

On the left side, which is page 2 of the letter, Tait vividly remembers one of Subba Rao's famous bowling spells where he had turned the match in one over by taking "four of their best wickets". It was for Presidency College (in 1920) against Madras Christian College. He also feels sorry when he came to know about the accident Subba Rao sustained and had to stop playing cricket [it might have happened a few months or a couple of years before 1926]. He used to describe the incident to us, showing his little finger that had broken while taking a catch. That little finger can be seen in one of the pictures I am with him [in one of my other posts].

Notable is J.G.Tait, his teacher, seated centre in the picture below.

Presidency College Athletic Association -Cricket & Hockey, Madras, 1919-1920.

Presidency College Football Team, Madras, 1919-20

Medals and Trophies in the showcase.
Left Picture - of 1920s; Right Picture - 1952.

Grandfather KM Subba Rao with his treasured trophies won in many sports: Athletics, Badminton, Billiards, Bridge, Cricket, Football, Golf, Hockey and mainly Tennis. What a list!

I am told by Capt. P.Alasingachar (P.A.Char), who was a schoolmate of my father K.S. Ramachandra Rao that he too was very talented in Football but his poor eyesight curbed it greatly. My father was fond of telling that once his nose was struck from one side by a football and turned it to that side, but another blow from the other side a few years later almost straightened it. But I have seen him play Table Tennis with great skill as he used his spin to great effect and Bridge in which he was quite an exponent.

Ramachandra Rao is seen in the above picture, top row in his father's Mysore Sports Club Blazer. He represented his Institute in Bridge, 1976.

So much of my forefathers.

In the above picture, I walk off after a memorable bowling spell (the captions tells most) that won our CSIR team the final match at Nagpur, 2001.

When sports is in the blood, we will not be discouraged at home. Sports gives us so much in terms of joy and friends and develops a personality while it teaches life through its successes and failures, importance of hard work, discipline, etc. Sports makes us as people! It teaches many lessons, if only they are pursued in true spirits.

My own tryst with Cricket has been put together in my blog separately. I have tried my hand in sprints, long jump and tennis and it was only then I realized how hard it is to be proficient in more than one sport and that is where the greatness of my grandfather is to be admired.

B.S CHANDRASEKHAR, nephew of Subba Rao. Each time Chandra took a 'five-for', he used to congratulate him by writing a letter.

Sports in the blood is quite a fortunate thing to be blessed with!

Winners’ plight, trophies’ fate

My grandfather's High Jump medal, Presidency College, Madras, 1921, as thick as a two-rupee coin

Who would not like to be a winner, esp. in sport and other competitions? Of course, parents push kids to ‘win’. The ‘problem’ comes after that, to winners. The prize distribution ceremony! Winners are handed over objects that are called ‘trophies’ or mementos. Of course, the occasion is absolutely thrilling.

I’m not talking about those ‘objects’ we see on television which is usually national or international events – they are of a class of its own. I want to share what I have seen from personal experience at other lower levels of sport and some other competitions. But first let me take you back to a golden era. Good things first!

Are such trophies given these days?

My grandfather was a ‘winner’ in various sports. He was a fine all-round sportsman in his days in the early part of the last century. Athletics, Hockey, Cricket, Football, Bridge, Billiards, Golf and Tennis brought him laurels, esp. the last one for which he was more renowned, needless to say, in his profession also, as a lawyer. He played the sport as it should be and used to mention some incidents proudly. One of them was ‘keep Subba Rao away if you want to win’! He was such a sure-shot winner esp. in Athletics in his college days. Some beautiful medals he was awarded are shown here. As beautiful as they are made and presented with full information like name, year, event and occasion, neatly engraved they became ‘proud possessions’ for the third generation as well!

One of his Tennis cups.

He had great pride in his achievements and was very fond of saying or showing “there are seventy cups” (that matched a riddle ‘seven tea cups’) that he won during his active playing days spanning about 60 years. These are lovely trophies made with expert craftsmanship which he preserved in a special showcase. Engraved details add to the glory and value. They are show-pieces that have never lost their sheen after decades, though the winner of them is no more for long. They require no polishing!

This is a medal that was awarded to my granduncle - I had never seen him. Look at that engraving. I learned that he too was a talented sportsman.

In high contrast, objects presented nowadays are mere junk, more like fast food. They are of cheap metal or breakable plastic in weird shapes that occupy a lot of shelf space. They are kept glimmering on the stage at the time of presentation (to please the concerned). In less than a year, quite expectedly, they dull beyond recognition! Some of them are actual potent weapons that can give a cut as if from a blade. So what do you do then? We have to be merciless.

Which one of these 'weapons' to keep? That is not a showcase you see here!

Some perpetual winners have a real problem in storing these gaudy trophies [of course there are odd and lucky exceptions]. They reach a stage when shelf space and much later suitcase space becomes a premium. Cricket brought me some such and I know how hard it is to ‘maintain them’ after reaching a stage where I’m asking myself “Which one to keep and which one not to keep out on show”. Think of disposing? Where and how to dispose? Trophies are not recyclable as well! It is an unsportsmanlike idea, a painful dilemma. But such winners have to draw a line and get moving. Sportsmen have to be practical, you see! The pleasure and memories of winning remain long if not the trophy. I tried to read the engraving (poorly done) on a certain trophy. I was lost!

Look at the two of them on the right.

My young musician-relative has the same problem, on a much grander scale. A real pain in the neck for her mother!

Sportsmen ought not to sell their prizes unless it is for an emergency. We have heard of pathetic stray cases of old sportsmen selling their medals to survive poverty!

Nowadays, not many people go up the showcases in houses they visit and inquire about a displayed item! So disheartening! Because the TV is a horrid distraction! Or is it the general commercial mindset that has set in? Trophies are not usually the priority for others besides the few interested. Often, showcases become a dumping place for such things that were won with so much pain and pleasure!

I have begun to wonder when the organizers of events will realize the importance of handing over a ‘useful item’ for the winners as a memento, instead of such cheap showy things called ‘trophies’ on which they spend so much! Presenting trophies of the quality I told about my grandfather’s time is simply unthinkable today. They always find space in the showcase. None manufacture such quality.

"All that glitters is not gold." But old!

People seem to have no fancy for “trophies” in recent times and in that background, why not the organizers of various events think of awarding the winners with other useful things for mementos for the same cost? After all, don’t we curiously inquire these days “how much does it cost?” even after winning? Let’s hope some horse sense shows up on the horizon.

K.M.Subba Rao