In her second book, Degree Coffee By The Yard, Nirmala Lakshman, journalist and director of The Hindu group of publications, weaves nostalgia while simultaneously turning biographer of Chennai. And Madras.

It is made clear at the outset that Degree Coffee By The Yard is the story of the Madras that was — the city where the author’s childhood was spent well — and the Chennai she lives in today. Madras, the author writes, means a Munro statue, long drives in her father’s Plymouthdown Marina and the man selling thenga-manga-pattani sundal, which were not considered edible by the elders. As they never are. Chennai, on the other hand, is the global face of the city dotted with malls, international food chains and other changes bestowed by liberalisation.