From heritage to high-rises, how Chennai grew taller

“Andha kalathula ellam…” [In those days...] is how many memories of Chennai, or Madras, begin. We all grow up, and inevitably, so do our beloved cities. Every goodbye is followed by a hello: old buildings are torn down for new high-rises, beloved theatre screens go dark, garden houses become apartments, and corner shops give way to malls and multiplexes. Relatively flat for most of its early development, the city today has tall buildings and skyscrapers vying with each other in certain parts. Swept up in the business of being a metro, Chennai grew wide and tall; and as it did, it changed the memories that different generations carry of home.“In 1962, I would cycle from my quiet residential area of Teynampet towards the Mambalam station to board a train to Ambattur for work, meditatively ga