Chennai's old prison, near Central, is about to be demolished, and the prison is now open for visitors. MIL and I finally made it today, and it was interesting to see how everybody was attracted to the gallows--as if the broken place would inspire some images of the macabre act of hanging a person to death.
There were tons of people--what was it that attracted us? It was sort of an outing for many, and an impromptu economy had sprung up, with nut, cigarette, water, fruit, tea, coffee, and, (take this) biryani hawkers!
The cells, stripped of any actuall possession, seemed like a movie set, sort of. But when I saw a mirror embedded in the wall, rather than standalone, I was reminded that this must have been a violent place indeed.
The prison is open until the High Court orders the demolition, and is open from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm (though people there said it's open until 5'ish or thereabouts). Newspapers said there would be a guide, but there was none--policewomen standing about answered questions, though.
Definitely worth a visit--if not to know stuff about the prison, definitely to know something about yourself!
And if you're a shutterbug, there's plenty of opportunities to take pictures.
How to get there:
Any bus that goes to Central Station, then walk. You'll see a long line of people walking down there.
MRTS: Get off at Park Town Station--it's not even a two-minute walk.
Electric Train (for lack of a better term): Get off at Park Station, and walk down.
Tip: When you get there, take the stairs immediately to the left of the gate on the bridge (passing by the sentry gate), and not the ramp--it's a much shorter walk.
6 comments:
Guess its your reflection on the broken mirror.
Reminded me of the trip to Tihar Jail once.
A co-worker had brought tattered jail records from there. Can you believe it?? I guess nobody is bothered. The records are of 1952 and one can see the details and finger prints of the inmates.
oh I heard bout this in the news, I heard it was indeed an eerie place to live in
Munchmany,
Yes, indeed. I reflected a great many times that day :) Tihar must have been overwhelming, no?
Vandya,
Damn! I knew I should have gone there earlier :)
Shrav,
Thanks for visiting. I'm sure it was horrible living there, although the dorm-type cells seemed quite sunny and airy!
Very interesting and at the same time I cannot fathom why the authorities would open up the jail for public viewing.... I must admit that I got somewhat anxious learning about the curiosity of people toward the jail premises. Dunno why. I really think I don’t have the nerve like you do to get in there :-( I wonder about the energies there.
We visited Tihar from school. They wanted us to contribute notebooks, pens and other stationery. That was the time when Kiran Bedi was the Warden there. A very long time ago, i really dont remember much of it.
Every morning and evening they used to play "Ae maalik tere bande hum" and other nice songs. Sitting at home i could listen to all the songs as my home was very close to Tihar.
A lot of self development activities were introduced there for the inmates.
But that was really the time, when Kiran Bedi worked wonders
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