From March 21st to 23rd, the historic neighborhood of Mylapore came alive with stories, photographs, and community spirit at the Mylapore Open House, which officially kicked off the Pelathope urban living lab (PULL). This event invited residents, visitors, and enthusiasts to engage with the area’s rich heritage and contribute to shaping its future. Our key objective was to create awareness for PULL’s area of focus and to build an engaged community around it as a starting point for kicking off the 15 minute cultural neighbourhood vision for Mylapore. The response was overwhelming, highlighting the deep affection people feel for this unique part of Chennai.
The enthusiasm for participation was heartening. Fifty-six people signed up to volunteer in areas such as event coordination, cataloguing archives, community outreach, and collecting oral histories. Forty-two visitors expressed interest in contributing oral history interviews, while 21 individuals offered materials for the archive. The initiative also received pledges for 24 donations, reflecting strong community support.
One of the standout features of the Open House was the “Mylapore Through Your Lens” photography competition, which attracted an impressive 245 entries. Participants of all ages captured the essence of the neighborhood in striking images. Among the winners in the under-18 category was Anirudh Ashok, who beautifully depicted the Kabaleeshwar temple pond, brimming with lotuses and home to ducks and frogs—a peaceful slice of urban nature. Another entry offered a poignant image of a fading building, evoking nostalgia and the passage of time.
Beyond the visual celebration, the Open House fostered meaningful conversations about Mylapore’s past, present, and future. The event invited participants to share their ideas on improving the neighborhood, ranging from expanding cultural activities to making public spaces more inclusive. Visitors expressed appreciation for the oral history exhibits and suggested making them broader and more representative of Mylapore’s diversity. Many were eager to see the initiative grow — with ideas for monthly newsletters, media features, and deeper community engagement. We had people come forward with their own unique family histories and biographies, such as the story of the first female tour guide in Tamil nadu in the 1960s, or the story of a Saurashtrian community on a particular street in Mylapore.
A key element of the Open House was the evolving Cultural Map and Calendar, and the growing Pelathope Community Archive, which aim to preserve and showcase the neighborhood’s rich heritage. The event’s timeline display and exhibits sparked conversations across generations, helping residents reconnect with their collective history.
What emerged from the Open House was not just a collection of photographs or artifacts, but a powerful reminder of the role of community in safeguarding heritage. Mylapore is not just its temples, streets, or old houses — it is its people, their memories, and their shared commitment to keeping the spirit of the place alive. We came away with many key insights, some of which I’m highlighting below:
- We were especially moved by what we saw as an unmet need for seniors to continue to be able to participate and contribute to their communities, which coheres with current research about the crisis facing India’s aging population – currently, due to a lack of last-mile connectivity and walkable streets, many seniors are isolated in their own homes and are excluded from public spaces, green spaces and events, with detrimental impacts on their health and well-being.[1] But, just as importantly, they were in need of community spaces and activities where their experiences and histories could be recorded and heard.
- The Open House also became a site for multi-generational interactions – grandparents showed their grandchildren objects and artifacts from their childhood, and it became a means for new bonds and connections to be formed across generations.
- Our intention – to foreground the power of community – was perfectly aligned with the outcome. It was gratifying to see intention and action meet, and to have our approach validated through a successful meeting of our objectives.
- For the researcher in me, it was gratifying to see research and action aligning and an opportunity to demonstrate that this initiative can add to the academic literature and theory on sustainable urban development from a Global South perspective, and has become a great example to me of how social science research can be applied in the real world to generate positive change.
- This, in turn, led to the realisation that this could become a scalable model for other historic precincts across Chennai and India that could lead to tangible outcomes in the public sphere.
As the initiative moves forward, there is tremendous potential to build on this momentum. From expanding oral history collections to creating more inclusive spaces for dialogue, the PULL Open House marks the beginning of an exciting journey of community-led positive change.
[1] Ritu Sadana et al., India Ageing Report 2023: Caring for Our Elders (New Delhi: United Nations Population Fund [UNFPA] and International Institute for Population Sciences, 2023).
