Friday, January 22, 2010

Chennai 2010....


My Hot kaapi drinking..dosa sambar idlying...heavy trafikking..in between carnatic music listening... MTC bus smoking...all the more a very sweaty yet likable bustling city.

After a long time i had a chance to stay in chennai for more than a month...thanks to the chennai passport renewal service, they took a month to deliver my passport which otherwise should have taken them just 5 days, well it turned out to be good in a way.

So what was i doing these days...well the first thing i got into was Unknown fever..sibling of Mr.chikungunia, one should experiance this once in a lifetime experience our very own chennai has to offer, no words can explain the pain i went through. A bad start for a vacation.

It was not that bad after i recovered from the Unknown fever. But i got myself into something really bad knowing its going to be worse..yes it is none other than "Vettaikaaran" Sorry vijay fans, my intention is not to hurt you all..But the movie was simply out of my league, we walked out during break time, couldn't get out earlier as we had cheering vijay fans sitting next to us, we dint want to disappoint them.

Chennai never disappoints me when it comes to food, i am a foodie and i take every bite seriously, be it Idly or Italian fare i expect them to be not just ordinary. I tried some new places this time and chennai's pride saravana Bhavan was great as usual, little Italy took me by surprise..awesome pizza and tiramisu. My daily morning walk, its a lie if i say daily walk but my occasional walk around mylapore is solely for one reason only, that is for the filter coffee i get at karpagambal mess near kapaleeshvarar temple, Its simply an amazzing cuppa coffee, and then there is medhu vadai keerai vadai and much more...i get back home and tell my parents that i will have just juice and they look at me amazed that i maintain a healthy diet..only for a short period though..archana smells my hand and reads out the menu i had in the morning...most of our evenings are spent sipping coffee at Amythist whiling some time away(for those who are wondering where this place is its behind sarava bhavan in peters road)

Since this was my first visit after marriage i had to act more responsible, lots of visits to relatives places a lunch at avadi then a dinner at perambur..we will be crawling in traffic to reach each corners of chennai..Traffic, O my god i will get into that part later. Archana wanted to see the music festival, so me being a resssponshible hubby took her to the Music academy and we sat for 3 hours listening to sudha ragunathan..while archana was tapping her lap and enjoying the music i was snoring away, occasionally getting a annoyed look from her.

Chennai Open - Chennai is best in december, it was in mid 30s and it was not humid for a change...may be this is the reason chennai open is played around this time of the year for the past 10 years, you get to see moya and other top stars play in our very own chennai and loving it apart from the commute, i heard that once Boris becker who had come to compete in the tournament covered his eyes till he reached the venue, he must have been gripped with fear looking at our fellow auto rickshaw hero taking the short cuts i guess..

marina and elliots beach - not much has taken shape in elliots beach, but marina shines with a new make over. It looks pretty good and you can never go hungry here for sure, there is even a pizza cart selling a slize of pizza for 40 bucks..way to go chennai, and our usual fare of popcorn and masala kadlai mix is there...

Traffic - its chaos every where, the otherwise bike filled roads are filled with cars this time, ranging from an Audi to nano and very less drivers with sense. I was like a pressure cooker every time i was driving, yelling at every other auto guy or a fellow car driver, as they just don't care. All the biking avatars are really from hell..they are here to make our heart stop at what they do.. messaging, and on a call while driving..and they just don't care even if you honk the hell out. I know i have done the same texting while driving and stuff...but ziss iz tooo much ya..

Dos and Don'ts in chennai - Never try to help a beggar boy in the traffic signal..i gave a 2 rupee coin to a guy in the mylapore signal(note the location for reference) he just threw it right on my face, and these are the golden words he said "andha kadaila idly plate 10 rooba, itha vechunu na inna panradhu" (a plate idly costs 10 rupees at that corner shop, what you want me to do with this)i laughed at myself for this. Do try to get your tickets online for satyam and inox have made that possible atleast now, otherwise you just can't imagine getting a ticket at these places...even a crappy movie gets filled up that easily..is it that more people bunking colleges or chennai has an increased floating population i am not sure what it is but getting a ticket is a nightmare here.

Chennai is getting more crazy...busy...confused...and all the more Hot these days..i wish it is not this busy and traffic not this crazy and the young generations less confused...

Now i don't want to end my story like this..

I was very happy to see chennai going all out to celebrate Pongal...Marina was having a kolam competition it was a color of sorts..Chennai Sangamam was awesome..and karumbu was out of this world..Not bad chennai is doing its best to make these festivals happening..

Next time you visit chennai..

You do need a water bottle..as you might end up getting a Unknown fever..(namma oorla pera illa..vekka vendia dane..like this "takkunugunia"

You need more patience on our roads...just close your eyes listen to our FM radios..they would drive you less crazy than our bikers.

You need More bucks on your wallets to get an average meal at a decent eat out..More buck less worth...

1 comment:

Janny said...

Nice travelogue. I feel like I have just visited Chennai. Thanks for posting your experience. Miss you Chennai. Miles to go.. Months to go before I could think about a Chennai trip..