The routes used to emanate from the Parry's corner. One took you to Triplicane, another to Mylapore, a third to Purasawalkam and others in the north to Mint and Royapuram. Madras Electric Tramways or the MET, they were affectionately called. The tram depots were in Royapettah, Egmore amongst other places. They have lately been converted into Electricity or newspaper offices.

One can walk faster than the trams. The beauties they were, the trams had sure admirers -- who bought season tickets to be in their company every day.

I  collected these details painfully after several sessions with Bedda Perumalu. Painful because he would switch off his hearing aid frequently. Perumalu was a tram driver for a while when young. He still has a grouse -- in that he was not allowed to sit during work. He does not forgive his employers

"But Perumalu, you still do not want to answer my question directly", I nagged.

"No qualms, fire your cannons", prompted a rejuvenated  Perumalu, lighting a fresh bidi.

The  Mylapore line, I believe, used to terminate at the Luz  corner. There was a branch line going up to the Santhome Beach. While in  every other  route  the lines were doubled, this unfortunate link remained single till the very end in 1953.

"You see", offered Perumalu "there were loops at intervals to allow crossings". It should have been much like the trains crossing, in the good old days, when the classical single line working was in vogue. I could imagine that vividly. I am also a great admirer of the trams in Kolkata -- though I consider the double decker trams of the then Bombay were a beauty (they stopped plying in the early sixties).

"Supposing, the trams were to arrive one opposite the other in  a single line, how could you prevent an accident from happening?" - asked an anxious me.

"By stopping the vehicles in time of course". Perumalu continued to  explain, "you can always watch from a distance if there was another vehicle on the track". He also informed me that the  line loops were provided generously. So far he could recollect there were at least two in between, in the Luz-Santhome spur. Plentiful, considering that the Luz-Santhome fare was only half an anna, one way.

For a long time, the tram lines below and the traction wires above - all over the city, remained unclaimed. Later the tracks were drowned by the bitumen laid on the streets successively over the years.

I was not convinced -- however well placed strategically, line loops could be adequate to guarantee any reasonable protection to the travelling public. Perumalu asserted that there had been no head-on collision ever, in the history of  the MET, leave alone the Luz-Santhome bit. The hint was I ought not to have challenged him.

"Despite having been the driver in that section, I am unable to convince you. I am ashamed", he confided.

"If there is any other driver available, I would verify" ­ I mused loudly.

"How can there be? How could it be? Because I was the only driver of that section", added a proud and determined Perumalu.

"Why ? But why?"

"Because" Perumalu said "there was only one tram plying between Luz and Santhome", he explained.

"If  that was the case, then why lay loop lines? There  would never have been a risk of another tram coming on the way,  unless of course, somebody highjacked a Royapuram tram to Santhome. But that would not have been feasible. The art of highjacking had not been invented then"

"Master, you are impossible. A little while ago, you said loop lines are not adequate. Now you want to establish they were never required. I fail to understand. If you are that unpredictable as the proverbial weather, I give up".

Bedda Perumalu walked out in disgust.