Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar and Rani Lady Seethai Achi
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
For years it was the practice of Sanjay Subrahmanyan to perform in December for Kalarasana, a Sabha that held its programmes at the Rani Seethai Hall in Raja Annamalai Buildings, Mount Road in Chennai. Being a regular, I would repeatedly gaze at the portrait of the lady after whom the hall was named. It was a striking image, of a saree-clad woman, the garment itself worn rather stylishly for the age, the pallu brought around both the shoulders and held in place by brooches. On her feet were shoes, not slippers, and most unusually, she wore elbow-length white gloves. Intrigued, I asked around and was told that this was what she wore when she was presented at Buckingham Palace to King George V and Queen Mary. Court etiquette apparently demanded you did not show bare arms to royalty.In 2010, when I wrote Championing Enterprise, 175 Years of the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, I came across another photograph. This had Rani Seethai and Raja Annamalai seated on a bench somewhere in England, with their second son Ramanathan standing alongside. Seated by them was Sir James Simpson, former Chairman of the Madras-based Gordon Woodroffe and standing behind was Lady Simpson. This time, Rani Seethai wore no gloves. The smile on her face was radiant. Clearly, she was enjoying herself hugely.
