This is an aerial view of my house, 5 Pattakkara St, Mannargudi, the address and the house I have known all my life. We can trace the names of forefathers that lived almost 150 years ago in this house, but this house is generations older than that. This was the root, the first house, for the 'Pillai' clan of Pattakkara Street. As the 'Pillai' family branched out, they constructed new houses in the rest of the street, and over time, moved away to Chennai, Bombay and rest of the country, and now the world. The house pretty much stayed in the same shape though generations that went through prosperity and peril. Once a rich family, (I would think 200 acres of land as rich during the 19th century), our forefathers squandered the wealth, leaving us a lower middle class family by the middle of last century. At least on two occasions in the last 75 years, the house was in imminent danger of collapse, somehow, somebody from that generation, would come to the rescue and save it.
Now the dilemma; In spite of me willing to spend all it takes to shore up the house, it simply is not structurally sound anymore. Also, there aren't any masons available to work with these old houses anymore. Every mason and carpenter only knows the modern concrete buildings. I have been struggling with this decision for years now, and consulted few engineers. It has come to a point where it is putting my mother and others in danger. Every one I know is advocating demolishing the house and building a modern house. Being the lucky inheritor of this ancestral property, the weighty decision is on my shoulder. I am finally moving in the direction of demolishing it. Being the original house of the clan, this house was always open to anyone who descended from there. Even though I legally own it now, anybody from the clan is always welcome to come and live as long as they wished; this is the place some of them chose to spend their last breath. Keeping all that in mind, I requested my mother to inform everyone we will be demolishing it and wanted to give them sufficient time to visit. Until the demolition starts, I will be debating if I made the right decision.
Let me know if you have an idea to save the house or want to visit.
A view of the inner Koodam (hall).
A view from the street level. We used to have two Thinnais, which we modified during the 90s to this look.
Another view of the Koodam. Many many weddings and other functions have happened in this house. Srinidhi is lucky enouh to be the last generation to have been here. He had his Kaathu Kuthu here.
posted by Shan R Shanmuganathan at 12:52 AM
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Anna,
Today is "Ganesha Chathurthi", a listed holiday for me. I am just back from Trivandaram Trip, had been there to take my PMP(Project management) Certificate test. I Passed it ! ..
I spend nearly entire day reading every blog you have entered... Great Content and Narration.
This Particular Blog on the "#5 Pattakara Street" particularly brought my little memories, Father Also was with me...
Lot to Say .... Nevertheless , Thanx for Those Pictures, I have them saved now !..
Regards & Love
Ramesh Babu Muthuvel.
Thanks Ramesh for the comment. Periya Periyappa Sasthiaaptapoorty pictures I have in the blog are from the album I borrowed from your mother. I scanned that entire album. I will return it next time around. You must be having lot of old photos since your dad was meticulous in taking pictures. Please save them and scan them. Otherwise, I will borrow it from you scan next time.