Making Madras more inclusive: Voices call for a city that remembers everyone

CHENNAI: A city is more than its streets, buildings and landmarks. It is also the people who inhabit it, the histories that are remembered and forgotten, and whether everyone gets an equal chance to experience it. As Madras Week celebrations get underway, Anaivarum 2 – Celebrating Madras, a panel discussion organised by Madras Photo Bloggers and led by Srivatsav Sankaran, brings together voices from history, disability rights, art, performance and lived experience to look at Madras through the themes of heritage, inclusion, photography, performance and community stories.

The conversation comes at a time when celebrating Madras also means looking beyond its familiar narratives. “Not all our heritage is about celebrating. We also need to introspect and ensure that exclusions based on caste or religion are not repeated,” says historian Kombai Anwar.

The panel brings together Madhavi Latha, former national para-athlete, filmmaker and founder of Yes, We Too Can; Karpagam, visually challenged advocate; Kombai Anwar, historian; Neha, trans rights activist and actress; and Miranda Tomkins, deaf-blind educator. Thirupurasundari Sevvel, architect, urban planner, historian, curator and founder of Nam Veedu Nam Oor Nam Kadhai, will moderate the discussion.

The panel also brings the question of accessibility into the conversation. Madhavi Latha recalls encountering inaccessible public infrastructure during her early years of advocacy. She says Chennai has since made significant progress, including more accessible stadiums, buses and sporting facilities. But she stresses that accessibility goes beyond ramps and elevators. “It is about agency and independence,” she says.

For Madhavi, the remaining challenge is not only infrastructure but also attitudes. She points to the “last mile” problem, inaccessible pavements and transport, and the lack of accessibility in cultural spaces. Her call is for universal design and for people with disabilities to be included in city planning rather than treated as recipients of facilities. “We do not need a separate ‘disability corner’ in history; our stories must be woven into the mainstream narrative.”

For Thirupurasundari Sevvel, inclusion must be built into how a city is conceived. Rather than prescribing one way of looking at Chennai, she hopes the conversation will open up possibilities for doing things differently. “Every voice matters, because each one adds another layer to our understanding of Madras,” says Thirupurasundari.

That multiplicity of perspectives is central to the evening. Madras, as Anwar points out, has never had just one story. “Its history is layered, and voices with greater privilege have often been recorded more easily than others. Bringing different experiences into the conversation allows more of those layers to be recognised. Madras cannot be told through one history, one neighbourhood, one community or one kind of expertise,” adds Anwar.

For Madhavi, the idea of inclusion also extends to how the city remembers its people. “The story of Chennai belongs to all of its people,” she says, arguing that the contributions of people with disabilities must be woven into the city’s mainstream history rather than placed in a separate category.

“If Anaivarum 2 makes someone look at a familiar street and ask, ‘Who else should be able to experience this place, and how?’, then I think the conversation has already begun,” concludes Thirupurasundari. The discussion will be held on August 21, from 4 to 6 pm, at Alliance Française of Madras, Chennai. A sign language interpreter will be available.