Life in Chennai, Of smiles & sighs & tears...

Finally it is happening. I am bidding bye to Chennai. I came to this hot city to join office on January 10th 2005. July 27th 2007 will be my last day at work here. Reason being I am going to get married before it s too late.Already it is kinda late according to my folks and sibblings and antys n uncles n neighbours ..... and all those for whom the highest accomplishement for a woman is to get married to a rich boy and sit at home like a kettilamma. May be i was never made as one of those and thanks to this fact i always had a slice of my life to myself the way i wanted it.

Thats not what i intend to talk about here. It is about how I have enjoyed my life in Namma Chennai the past 2 years and more. About how i realise I will miss chennai even though this trip back home is a much awaited, much planned for one.

I like chennai since it is one city that still has not lost its essence unlike any other Indian city. Chennai is so 'chenna-iish'. It embraces the ultra modern chick as well as the conservative naadan ponnu and not so modern yet not so naadan types like me too with the same love. Chennnai is really safe for girls unlike the capital city where rapes happen in the middle of the day.

It is in chennai where i learned to live life on my own. Its in chennai that i learned to live with my own money enjoying the pride of not having to ask achan for money. It is in chennai that i battled with heat, hostel food, late night work hours, gready autowalahs (I fondly recollect few of them who are really nice here. One of them even commented that i luk like one old actress by name radha. I just prayed that she is not any porn actress. Google told me later that she is not. The reason y i call him nice is not this) and came out in victory as a much evolved much stronger lady who is ready to shoulder responsibilities. Here i got my independence that matters most for the hard core aquarian in me.

I had the best of times here in Chennai. Picked up books from landmark and pavement shops and read them even with my mobile phone's light after the hostel warden ordered the lights to be turned off (its a good collection now), saw movies whenever i felt like, Travelled (now that includes some trekking trips to Nilgris and more) walked around in the streets, enjoyed street food and did many more of the crazy stuff. I will miss shopping in Chennai. We used to shop in cotton street (that s a raw of pavement shops for cotton materials) n malls alike.

To make the most of the rest of my days here i was on a chennai exploration spree recently. Old church that houses a large Pipe Organ, narrow streets (got hit by an auto once), the peace and serenity in Theosophical society grounds, the rythmic atmosphere of the Kalakshetra, the relaxed air in Dakshin Chitra, the thrilling catamaran ride in Taj Fishcove, the crowd and colors of Koyembedu market where we walked on carpets made of rotten fruits and vegetables , (yeah i visited it in the early morning hours managing to wake up with an alarm and all) i enjoyed all my 'chennai thendals'. I checked out some typical eatouts as well. The gujarathi mandal in Paris saw me n my colleague hogging on the hot rotis that kept on coming to our plates even before we could finish the previous one. The Karpagambal mess in Mylapore saw me sitting in wonder in front of the vazhayila full of traditional Tamil food. I picked up a packet of 'thaamara thandu kondaatam' from there which i have to take home and serve fried. Murugan Idli shop always had me ordering for one more sarakara pongal offcourse with the guilt about the ghee and sugar in it. Saw the superstar thalaivar rajnikanth for the first time on the big screen on the second day of the release of Sivaji. Again my alarm woke me up and i was on time at the theatre, at 7.30 am for the same. (Hope my amma and in-laws to- be never come across this. I am not a fan of his, But wanted to know what is this rajni phenomenon all about. And I am not disappointed about loosing my sleep) Two things i wanted to do and could not - Mylapore walk and the turtle walk in Besant Nagar Beach at midnight.

I dont want to list down the facts i dont like about this city. See, I am a positive soul.

As i bid bye, let me say, Enakkku Chennai Romba pudichirukku.