To the visitor Marina
beach [often touted as the second longest beach of the World – factually not so
– and that never takes away its credit] and its pristine beauty offers solace,
especially from the sweltering heat. The
sands of Marina provide chance of pleasant times – a few decades ago – there was
the Radio beach – behind the Kannagi
statue stood ‘Seerani Arangam’- the Thilagar Thidal
place on which so many meetings were held.
Opposite to Presidency College, there was a promenade – a radio kept on a pedestal, people would gather
around to hear ‘maanila seithigal’ – the news in Tamil. There used to be many
shops selling sea-shells, conches, and more – and of course lot of food ~from
cut mangoes, sugarcane juice, murukku, thenga-manga-pattani-sundal and bajji
shops [a particular shop run by an old lady – mami bajji shop was pretty famous]
Often there are talks
about regularizing shops in Marina ~ sometimes they would be banned and would
reappear in a week or so. Even recently,
regularisation of shops at Marina beach was intensified with heavy machines being used to lift and
shift the shops. Chennai corporation officials say the shops are planned to be
settled in seven rows and add that such raids will be conducted at regular
intervals thereafter to discourage new shops coming up. Marina as could be seen in old films – boats beached
with lovers sitting around – for the others – ‘thengai manga pattani sundal’
& ‘kai murukku’ were the hits. There is also the view that t as hawkers are
spread out across the beach, incidences of chain-snatching and harassment are
much less ! This year, the corporation
took up the issue following repeated complaints from regular beach-goers and a few NGOs, on the
mushrooming of new shops during summer months. These shops came up on the
pavement or on the sands of Marina preventing walkers and fitness enthusiasts
from carrying on their routine, they claim it to be.
Miles away, Venice is
known as the 'City of Canals' and the 'Floating City' - and it can now add
another name to that list: 'City of No New Kebab Shops'. Local authorities have
banned new fast-food outlets, including those selling kebabs, from opening in
the romantic tourist destination to 'preserve Venice's cultural heritage'. The
new law, which came into effect recently, also sets a limit on the number of
shops which can sell slices of pizza.
'We want to put the brakes
on types of activities which are not compatible with the preservation and
development of Venice's cultural heritage,' said Paola Mar, the city's tourism
chief, according to The Guardian. She added that the Italian city did not
object to kebabs or fast foods in principle, and stressed she did not have a
problem with people eating outside. 'The problem is that with a tourist city
like ours, there is a risk of it losing its identity. There are local products
that we must try to promote,' she continued. To discourage tourists - who visit
in their millions each year - from eating takeaway food in hotspots, Mar said
there were plans to establish picnic areas.
However, Artisanal ice
cream will be exempt from the new rules, as it is a firm favorite of the
city's mayor, Luigi Brugnaro. Quite
simply, artisan ice cream is ice cream made by an artisan which the dictionary
definition of artisan being a ‘skilled craftsperson’. Delving a bit deeper in
to the dictionary tells us that a crafts-person is some one who makes things
skilfully by hand. Although now-a-days, ice cream makers do not plunge their
hands in to a bowl to make their ice cream, the artisan makers certainly do
take a very ‘hands on’ approach using all the skills that many have learnt from
many, many years making ice cream with recipes and techniques often handed down
from one generation to the next.
An ice cream parlour in
Rome which charged British tourists £54 for four cones in 2013 took out a
newspaper advert justifying its high prices. The Antica Roma gelataria charged
brothers Roger and Stephen Bannister and their wives the sum when they stopped
at the outlet near the city's famous Spanish Steps. When the unlucky tourists
complained, they were told the cost would have been double if they had eaten
their gelatos at a table instead of standing up. One Rome councillor called the
prices ‘a scandal’. The family complained about the cost to a national
newspaper - reigniting a debate over high prices faced by tourists in parts of
Italy. But the firm responded by taking out a full page advert titled 'the
price is right,' in which it justified the cost of its products.
Last November, the Mayor
of Florence was sued for $20million (£15m) by McDonald's after he refused to
let them open one of their restaurants in the shadow of the city's famous
Duomo. The American fast-food giant wanted to open an outlet in the Piazza del
Duomo, deep in the heart of renaissance Florence. But the Mayor, Dario
Nardella, told the city council earlier in 2016: 'McDonald's has the right to
submit an application, because this is permitted under the law, but we also
have the right to say no.' Mr Nardella's decision was upheld by a panel of
conservationists who are in charge of preserving the city's most historic
areas. But the company, which has more than 36,000 diners around the world and
is worth $37billion, did not accept his ruling.
Interesting !
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
13th May 2017.
