Historic Gokhale Hall is awaiting glorious days

CHENNAI: Finding Gokhale Hall isn’t easy. Which is surprising, considering the fact that it is on the same heritage grade as the down-the-street neighbour, the gaily coloured Armenian Church. Even on Armenian Street, all the three people whom we asked for directions seemed clueless about ‘Gokhale Hall’ or ‘YMIA’, until we met Rafi, a soda-crate hauler. “There’s an old building next to the Syndicate Bank there, but I don’t know if it’s the one you want,” he suggests on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Turns out it is.

Impressioned in cement are the letters YMIA, the only sign that this run-down (dare we say), visually near-collapsible structure houses the greatest oration centre Madras has ever known. “It’s been many years, decades even, since any young men came here,” says Mukhtar, whose son owns a grocery shop in the vicinity. “We thought that it would be fully knocked down when they first began demolition in 2007-08,” he adds.

Built by the likes of Dr Annie Besant and CP Ramaswamy Aiyer, the building has clearly seen better times. The European-fashioned dome still has shades of its original red and blue as well as chambers along the first floor, from where the crowds listened to Nehru, Rajaji and Kamaraj. When one round of demolition happened, the stage (made of Burmese teak) and a few ramparts had been torn and stowed in the entrance way.

Apparently, they would have razed the structure to a rubble of heap, if the Madras High Court hadn’t restrained them from doing so following a PIL from a Sowcarpet resident. “We heard rumours that they (YMIA) were planning to rebuild a commercial high rise here that would help young men,” Mukhtar reveals. But that might not be on the cards, according to an examination done by INTACH. “We completed the study and submitted a report which suggested that demolishing this heritage structure could be avoided. Repair work and strengthening would help in ensuring that it is safe to use,” asserts S Suresh, State Convenor - INTACH.

The dust hasn’t moved for years and the wooden floorboards from the upper level hang dangerously overhead, but if renovated, the space might well serve as a memorial to the words of our country’s greatest. If not, it will still have the glory and splendour of an oration hall, from ages past.