Seafarer's Club - Chennai

Thousands of people travel along Rajaji Salai in Chennai every day. Opposite the Reserve Bank of India stands a building that most of them probably pass without noticing.

The Seafarers' Club is one of those lesser-known institutions connected with the maritime history of Madras.

It was created in 1945, during the closing months of the Second World War, to provide a place of rest and support for merchant seafarers arriving at the port. What began as a wartime welfare initiative has continued for more than eight decades.

Beginning at First Line Beach

The Seafarers' Club was constituted by the Joint War Charity Committee in 1945.

Its first premises were at First Line Beach, the old harbour-front road of Madras. The building was opened on 20 April 1945 by the Governor of Madras.

The location was appropriate. This part of George Town and the harbour had long been closely associated with shipping, warehouses, merchants and people whose livelihoods depended on the sea.

As the activities of the Club continued after the war, a permanent building became necessary.

The Present Building

Land on Rajaji Salai was provided for the Club in the 1950s.

The foundation stone for the present building was laid in January 1960 by Dr. P. Subbaroyan, who was then the Union Minister for Transport and Communications. The new premises were occupied on 1 February 1962.

The site itself has an interesting connection with the changing Chennai coastline. The building stands on land reclaimed by the Chennai Port Trust.

That is worth remembering while looking at this stretch of Rajaji Salai today. What now appears to be firmly part of the city was once much closer to the old shoreline and harbour activity.

There is another small surprise. Antiquities discovered during construction work between 1960 and 1962 were subsequently preserved in the Fort Museum.

A Home for Seafarers

The purpose of the Club is quite different from that of an ordinary social club.

Seafarers may spend weeks or months aboard ships, often moving between countries and ports far away from their families. Institutions such as this provide a temporary place ashore where they can sleep, eat, relax and communicate with home.

The Chennai Club provides accommodation and recreational facilities for seafarers and maritime trainees.

It is easy for those of us who see ships only from the beach or harbour to forget the people living and working aboard them. The Club exists primarily for them.

The Unknown Sailor

What first drew my attention here, however, was outside the building.

A statue of a seaman stands on the premises. It is known as “The Unknown Sailor.”

The figure represents not a celebrated naval officer or an individual maritime hero, but the ordinary seafarer.

That makes the idea behind the statue more interesting to me. Ships, ports and shipping companies enter history by name, while the thousands of people who actually worked aboard vessels often remain anonymous.

The Unknown Sailor represents them.

The Seamen's Family

Close by is another sculptural group showing a mother with two children.

It represents the seafarer's family.

The memorial was unveiled in October 2011 by G. K. Vasan, who was then the Union Minister for Shipping.

Placed beside the seaman, the family sculpture adds another dimension to the story. A seafarer's occupation does not affect only the person who goes to sea. Families may spend long periods waiting ashore while ships travel across the world.

Looking at the two memorials together therefore makes more sense than viewing them as independent statues.

V.O. Chidambaranar

Another statue on the premises honours V.O. Chidambaranar, popularly remembered in Tamil Nadu as Kappalottiya Tamizhan.

The choice of V.O.C. for a seafarers' institution is particularly appropriate.

In 1906, he established the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company at Tuticorin. The company challenged the dominance of the British India Steam Navigation Company on the Tuticorin-Colombo route and became closely associated with the Swadeshi movement.

His achievement was therefore not merely commercial. Running an indigenous shipping service became an act of economic resistance during British rule.

The statue at the Seafarers' Club was unveiled in 2012.

A Lesser-Known Piece of Chennai's Maritime Story

Chennai's maritime history is usually discussed through the old Madras harbour, Royapuram, the Port, ships or colonial trade.

The Seafarers' Club introduces another side of that history: the people who worked at sea.

Its story begins during the Second World War, continues through the expansion of the Madras Port, and survives today as a welfare institution for the maritime community.

The building itself may not make anyone stop on architectural grounds.

But look at the Unknown Sailor, the waiting family and V.O. Chidambaranar standing within the same premises, and the purpose of the place becomes much clearer.

Sometimes a small institution beside a busy road can tell a much larger story.

Happy travelling.

Some of the noteworthy features of this site include the statues of Seaman and Seamen's family (a mother with two kids). These statues were unveiled by Mr. G.K.Vasan in 2011 CE when he was serving as the Minister of Shipping. The Seaman's statue is named "The Unknown Sailor".

To honor Sri V.O.Chidambaranar, who ran the first native shipping company, his statue was unveiled in 2012 on the premises.

Happy travelling.