Your dignified silence is sometimes misinterpreted as helplessness, your ever helpful, good-samaritan nature is also taken advantage of. So what if you have fewer restaurants, shopping malls and discotheques to offer as compared to other big cities? So what if residents can never get a hold of first-day, first-day movie ticket for the latest Spiderman or Ranbir Kapoor movie? (Nope, I'm not exaggerating, I've lost track of the number I walked away dejectedly sans a movie ticket, from the Satyam cinemas ticketing counter all through my school and college years. BookMyShow and online reservations you say? We didn't have those luxurious in the mid '90s.)
So what do Chennaites do for entertainment you ask? We chill at the world's second longest beach, Marina. We take slow, long, lazy laps at the Olympic-sized pool, housed by the 133 year old Madras Gymkhana Club. We enrich our literary knowledge by visiting Higginbothams, which also happens to be the first big book store, that was set up in the country. We indulge our culinary cravings with massive paper dosas that can feed an entire army of famished footballers at Sangeetha, Saravana Bhavan and Murugan Idli. If we're in the mood for sizzlers, we head to Tangerine. If Thai is on our mind, we head to Benjorong. And for Biryanis we head to Dindigul Thalappakatti, Karaikudi, Anjappar and Samco.
Chennai for me is an emotion (trying my best to not sound cliched, but what to do). It gave me my identity, gave me the best education, empowered me by showering me with some interesting professional experiences and encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone.
Like every true blue Chennaite, I voted for my Amma, Dr J Jayalalithaa in 2001. I cried each time she went to jail and felt my heart-breaking into smithereens, the day she died. She took a huge chunk of my childhood along with her death.
Each time I took a flight back to Chennai, I would peer down eagerly from the ovular airplane window to catch a glimpse of the larger than life, movie posters of Rajnikanth, Vikram, Surya and Ajith, until it got banned by the Supreme Court in 2008.
Elliots Beach or Besant Nagar Beach as it is popularly known by the locals, was my refuge each time I bombed my Maths or Chemistry exams. Visiting the famous Thirumalai Thirupathi Devastham Temple in T.Nagar, (which is a replica of the famous Tirumala Tirupathi Temple) was just an excuse for me, to gobble down their gigantic, sinful brown laddoo laden with an overdose of cashew nuts, cardamom, ghee, sugar and raisins. Freeze Zone and Milky Way made our sultry Chennai summers bearable, by dishing out the softest, creamiest softy ice-creams topped with chocolate sauce, candies and nuts.
So why do Chennaites go to bed as early as 9pm if the city is filled with so many activities, you wonder. So that we can wake up early, take a long walk/jog on the Marina and dip our faces in ghee laden Pongal. Duh!
Filled with abundant rich cultural history, enthralling musical programmes (Kutcheris) and shopping spots (both on the streets and in malls), Chennai will never fail to amuse you. Having lived away from the city for close to 4 years, I deeply miss it's warm embrace and the comforting smell of "tiffin" in the evening.
Chennai, my small big city, with an even bigger heart.
(Image Source : http://www.goodywebs.com/2012/10/lovely-chennai.html)
Chennai for me is an emotion (trying my best to not sound cliched, but what to do). It gave me my identity, gave me the best education, empowered me by showering me with some interesting professional experiences and encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone.
Like every true blue Chennaite, I voted for my Amma, Dr J Jayalalithaa in 2001. I cried each time she went to jail and felt my heart-breaking into smithereens, the day she died. She took a huge chunk of my childhood along with her death.
Each time I took a flight back to Chennai, I would peer down eagerly from the ovular airplane window to catch a glimpse of the larger than life, movie posters of Rajnikanth, Vikram, Surya and Ajith, until it got banned by the Supreme Court in 2008.
Elliots Beach or Besant Nagar Beach as it is popularly known by the locals, was my refuge each time I bombed my Maths or Chemistry exams. Visiting the famous Thirumalai Thirupathi Devastham Temple in T.Nagar, (which is a replica of the famous Tirumala Tirupathi Temple) was just an excuse for me, to gobble down their gigantic, sinful brown laddoo laden with an overdose of cashew nuts, cardamom, ghee, sugar and raisins. Freeze Zone and Milky Way made our sultry Chennai summers bearable, by dishing out the softest, creamiest softy ice-creams topped with chocolate sauce, candies and nuts.
So why do Chennaites go to bed as early as 9pm if the city is filled with so many activities, you wonder. So that we can wake up early, take a long walk/jog on the Marina and dip our faces in ghee laden Pongal. Duh!
Filled with abundant rich cultural history, enthralling musical programmes (Kutcheris) and shopping spots (both on the streets and in malls), Chennai will never fail to amuse you. Having lived away from the city for close to 4 years, I deeply miss it's warm embrace and the comforting smell of "tiffin" in the evening.
Chennai, my small big city, with an even bigger heart.
(Image Source : http://www.goodywebs.com/2012/10/lovely-chennai.html)
2 comments:
well written Gayathri....rele one can connect to each and every statement u mentioned..keep on writing we love ur write ups :)
Regards
Smita
Well written Gaythri.Your love for Chennai is clearly reflected in your writing.Yes,nothing can beat our Singara Chennai.Viva la Namma Chennai
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