Happy Birthday Chennai! ♥

August 22 - The city I love so much turns an year younger this day. 373 is just a number for those like me who have grown up along with the city all through their life.

She might not have the climate that everyone claims the best. She might not have perennial rivers that gives water throughout the year. She might not give the peaceful atmosphere and a relaxed life for those who need it.

Yet she accepts and takes everyone who comes to her with a new hope in life. She gives the safety and security which no other metro in this country can claim to have. She accommodates just people - not religions, languages or castes.

There are pubs and growing night life and at the same time sabhas and katcheris in music season. There are enough of things engage retired people at old age and at the same time opportunities for young minds coming out with hopes and dreams. There is a harmonious mix of all cultures, religions and various diversities which is the unique nature of this city.

On one hand, there are a quite a handful of things to be improved - the roads and drainage system especially in rainy season, the storm water drains. The prohibitively costly auto fares which are a total injustice to the common man. The heavy traffic in few areas which could not be controlled by any means. The need of proper "tourist spots" instead of passing off old buildings and memorials of leaders as tourist attractions - something that is worthy spending time on.

On the other hand, the city springs up lots of hopes in its latest developments - the Chennai Metro Rail project which if goes as per plan will be the most effectively connected transport network in Chennai. The new airport terminals that are built to match those in other metros - yet stays very much closer to the city. The increasing bus connectivity and standard of government buses. The booming industrial zones in and around the city and so on.

She knows to balance herself and stay firm for many years to come. She has done it for 373 years and she will continue to do it. And will make people like me always the proud children of Chennai.

To end with, a salute to the city from her Oscar winning musician:

A Tale of Four Cities

Hiring an auto in Kerala:

You need to go to railway station from a hotel in Trissur. You call an auto, get in with your luggages. Meter switched on showing Rs.10(Minimum charge for 2 Kms) You reach station which is about 1.3 kms from your place. Just then you are reminded of special Kerala chips which you forgot to buy. You request autowallah to leave you at the shop at main road.(almost half a kilometer away) Meter is reset now. He leaves you at the shop. You give him Rs.20, he picks Rs.10 from his pocket and gives you.

Hiring an auto in Hyderabad:

You need to return late night from a dinner to your house situated in a residential area. The time is around 9.30 PM. You take an auto, he asks you 5 Rs. extra charge over the meter charge, as it is late night. The meter charge is Rs.23, you give him Rs.30 and he hands over Rs.2 back to you.

Hiring an auto in Bangalore:

You need to travel from Koramangala to Madiwala. Auto 1 has gone without stopping. Same with Auto 2. Auto 3 stops but on hearing Madiwala the autowallah turns his face and goes without a reply. Same with Auto 4. Auto 5 and 6 also does not stop. Auto 7 agrees to take you home and after reaching home you pay him the meter charge.

Hiring an auto in Chennai:

You need to go from T.Nagar bus stand to your house. Empty autos slow down and you say the destination. First one moves away saying "varaadhu". Second one asks you Rs.50 (Nominal rate is Rs.25) You look for the third one who asks you forty. You bargain for Rs.30 and get in. You watch the dummy electronic meter with a sigh which is running for no known reason. You reach your home and the meter has run for about 2 kms and the fare has increased by 20 Rs. You hand over Rs.30 to the auto driver who looks like "the happiest man in the world".

You walk up the steps wondering "what on the hell bothers these guys in life that is not affecting auto drivers in any other state!!!"

OMR–>OMG!!!

It is said that everything in this world exist in pairs.. Day and night, good and bad, rich and poor, man and woman, wife and happiness, tom and jerry hee hee… Soon this list will have one more addition- Old Mahabalipuram Road and New Mahabalipuram ditch.

Those who travel the stretch of OMR between Kottivakkam to Sholinganallur or beyond that will surely understand what my problem is. It was a great project to convert the OMR into IT highway with 6 lanes and all that. So the portion from Madhya Kailash to Tidel Park is reflecting the fact that India is shining

But beyond that, u can see the traditional Indian scenario where u will be taken in a roller-coster ride probably the worst ride in the whole of Chennai. Vehicles float on a non-existent entity called road which is comfortably replaced by beautiful ditches, thanks to seasonal rains.

I can understand that rain erodes road surfaces and its bound to happen every year. But can’t the same construction agency, which is involved in making the Madhya Kailash - Tidel Park stretch glitter more and more (and thereby impress the ministers), take care of this problems on the same road just some few kilometers away??

Not one week or two weeks… Almost a month is over since the rains stopped and even today u can find stagnated water with potholes under it and the size of these potholes is unknown until ur vehicle or u urself submerge in it.

The alternate route left(with a slightly better road) is the Velachery-Thorapakkam road, but u will get a free offer of inhaling the whole stink of Chennai city in the few seconds u pass through the dump yards along way. And if u try to open ur mouth against this, u will even swallow a good amount of that toxic waste-cum-rotten garbage-cum-hospital waste scent inside ur mouth.

People are suffering for the past one month, yet no reforms are made… Leave out the techies traveling in company shuttles. But my heart goes out for those common people who additionally suffer this pain of traveling in bad roads in addition to experiencing the pain of traveling in old green boxes running in the name of buses.

Of course, what else can be expected in a state where government is more concerned about erecting statues, growing language and fighting with opposition than worrying about common man??? Too bad I say!!!

Chennai Day - August 22nd

Its Chennai’s birthday today. It is hard to believe that the city always young and vibrant coping up with dozens of cultures, religions, castes and languages had turned the 367th leaf in its book of history. And as I take a look at the city in the dark evening, amidst the noisy traffic and pollution, I could see the city sitting like a silent, innocent child accepting all the wishes pouring in with humility.

Chennai was not always the best place to live. Coupled with the usual problems of other metros like crimes, underworld, traffic jams and all that Chennai has a peculiar issue- the year long hot weather and water scarcity. May be that’s what is the foremost thing that puts off anyone who thinks of settling down here.

But for those who have grown up with the city, who have enjoyed every precious moment of their life here and who think of the city as a motherland, the city has much more to offer. Like a person in adolescent stage balancing himself with life and adapting with times… May be because of this never ending adolescence only the city seems young always:-D hee hee....

As the city glitters in its glory of 367 years, there are a few long time wishes from the heart of this Chennai Thamizhan which I would like to list down now…. Hope the corporations and the governments in the years to come will make my dreams true atleast by 2020 :P

1) A city void of water scarcity with self-sufficient supplies. The heavy rains and rain water harvesting has reduced the problem to some extent this year. Still, there should be long term plans devised to get rid of this permanently. Enough of losing our self respect begging neighbor states and seeing their hard face

2) A city eased out of congestions in traffic. Especially places like Panagal Park Jn, Teynampet Junction, Sardar Patel Rd , 100 ft road, Arcot road etc need severe reforms asap. And also areas like Perambur, Purasawalkam, Mylapore, West Mambalam etc. Before the situation goes to the “nothing-can-be-done-about-it” stage, hope something is done.

3) A city void of green color thingies running in the name of buses. Though different models of buses have been running in the city, still the oldest green color models are not out of sight. These buses don’t have proper seats, broken support rods and are always in ready-to-breakdown status. Yet they run for long distance routes breaking the backbone of passengers. And especially number of buses should be increased a lot. Its rare to se any bus withour standess these days!!!!

4) A clean and tidy city where everyone is provided with civic education. No more shitting on roads, spitting on walls, dumping garbage on streets or improper drainage facilities. Government bodies and NGOs are doing a lot but still its we, the people, who lack civic sense and don’t even care about our own city. From the administration side, the three rivers of Chennai namely Buckingham canal, cooum and Adayaaru should no more remain as drainage letouts.

5) Provided all the above are done successfully to some extent, we should look upon promoting the city with more tourist attractions than a mere show of tombs and old buildings (Legacy is appreciated but more of entertainment value is what I mean here). Singaara Chennai should not be a mere project of words. It should come out as an initiative from each and every citizen of Chennai!!!

If Dr.Kalam has set Vision 2020 for India I have set my dreams for Chennai 2020 with a minimum requisites of the above ideas. It should happen and I am sure it will happen. The Spirit of Chennai will make it possible to happen… Love you Chennai!!!

Garden City to Singaara Chennai...

I am back to Chennai on official transfer after a period of about one and a half years. Being back to one's hometown is always a special experience that too when you come back to your own area. :-)

Bangalore has not done anything bad to me infact, except that I missed a lot of my friends and I became a little lazy compared to what I was in Chennai. (Of course, now being in Chennai, now I miss my friends out there in Bangalore;-) )The 18+ months I have spent in Bangalore has been really a learning experience both in professional and personal ways. Even when I stayed in Bachelor's accomodation, it was like another home for me.. Such was the levels of comfort and happiness.

The local sight seeing which I went for just few days before receiving the news of transfer was indeed a blessing in disguise, never ever before that I had been on a local trip and never after that it would have been possible by anyways.I can now confidently say that I too know a bit of Bangalore. It is an important feeling, especially for a person like me who knew Bangalore only as a fantasy and had no idea about he city till about two years back.

Coming back to Chennai, hmmm... It is the same good old Chennai. I am not sure if it is the climate here or the new enthusiasm.. But I am more active now than what I was in Bangalore. Things are getting back to routines - Saturdays don't see me sleeping till forenoon, late shuttles for office are no more a necessity, being in T.Nagar facilitates shopping anytime anywhere..

And not to forget, it brings back all sweet memories... A ride through Radhakrishnan Salai reminds me of good old days me and my project mates spent together during final year. Passing through Nelson Manickam Road reminds those days when I travelled in my college bus morning and evening chatting with a bunch of busmates. Walking around my office brings to mind those unforgettable training days which was like a second college life.... Things that can only be felt and can never become reality again!!!

I am enjoying every moment of this life right from food, festivities, shopping, friends, office, travel.. Everything and everyday. I wish this should be the beginning of a "lived happily everafter" life :-)

Death of a legend, rebirth of a legacy

Yesterday, the Kannada matinee idol, the great legend Dr.Rajkumar breathed his last after many days hospitalization, owing to poor health. The news had spread like anything that people had left office earlier fearing riots, causing traffic jams all over the city. My company buses wisely stuck his picture in the front and thus escaping from stone pelting. As I got down at my stop in BTM, I wondered for a minute if I was in the right place. I have never ever seen the BTM main road in such an empty state. I was sure that the next day was gonna be a nightmare for many in Bangalore.

It happened as such. Not even his fans.. His ‘abhimaanigalu’ were always a decent lot. Some useless morons used the opportunity and created chaos all over the city. One of my collegeue said “Don’t talk in Tamil today…. U won’t reach home safely”. The small talkies in my area removed all Tamil horadings and stuck a poster of an old Dr.Raj movie. God only knows what Tamilians’ hand is, in the natural death of the actor.

From Wednesday night 10 PM all channels were blacked out one by one and on Thursday morning there were no channels except for Kannada channels telecasting his funeral. All big heads like Rajinikanth, Saroja Devi, Jayanthi, Vishnu Vardhan, Ravichandran were present at the mourning spot. The body was placed in Kanteerva stadium for people to pay final respects. But things went out of control when the mad crowd mobbed like anything and made a mess of all arrangements. Upon that there was not sufficient police force to keep the situation in control… Tyres, vehicles, petrol bunks, buses etc were burnt and shops and complexes were stone pelted. Why should they remain in good condition when Dr. Raj is dead?

All the shops including hotels were closed in my area. Worst affected were the bachelors staying in rooms and with friends. Everyone was forced to starve for the whole day until in the evening bakeries opened with mad rush. Of course everyone deserves such punishment, because Dr.Raj is dead…

Rajkumar’s three sons were present at funeral. They were pleading to the public and crying in the mike to stay in control. But, no one was ready to listen. The funeral was the worst one that could happen to a big actor like him. It was totally messed up with crowd rioting outside burial ground and once his body was brought, it was difficult even to take it till the burial place.

Final rights were completed amongst the crowds pull and push and all his family members ran away dropping him in the ditch. After that people present were throwing flowers, colors and soil all over the place making it look like a battle field. Yes, we love him so much that we will not even allow his corpse to rest in peace.

And one worst thing is, people here clap in a funeral. I have never seen in my life such a thing happening in any mourning. When his body was laid down in the stadium everyone raised their hands and clapped. And when it was put in burial ditch, again everyone raised their hands and clapped!!

All IT majors were on compulsory shut down except few BPOs which had utmost care for customers. A total loss of 100 crores is reported and more than that Bangalore’s reputation is totally gone in the eyes of world with media covering all these incidents. So what, Dr.Raj is dead!!!!

It was like a sequel to the riots and infernos that happened when Dr.Raj was held as captive by Verappan. Thank God, had he expired at that time, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka would have become like India and Pakistan. Now the legend is dead and the legacy of riots is reborn….

Namma Bengalooru…

For a long time I have spent my days cribbing about Bangalore and going overboard in showing my hatred towards the city. For a change, I sat down and thought about the positives I had seen and I had experienced in this city. I am writing down all those here.

Beautifully yours
In spite of increasing pollution, the city has retained its beauty intact in many ways. Especially on a misty morning, traveling in the outskirts of the city is an experience to cherish. An evening walk in Koramangala 1st block or 5th block has been a stress buster for me many times.

Spiritually superior
Any day I feel the temples in Bangalore are much better than Chennai and other parts of Tamilnadu, atleast so far I had seen that Bhakthi has not become business here. Any devotee is sure to get the blessings of God (Prashad) irrespective of the amount he contributes to the priest. ;-) And there is utmost sincerity and devotion in any rituals performed in the temples here.

Khana Khazana
Leave out the sweet Sambhar… Or the diluted Pongal. Bangalore food has its own taste. Especially Sagar hotels are a boon in a bachelor’s life with Uddin Vada, Khara Bath, Set Dosa etc being my special favorites. And Rava items I feel will never taste better anywhere in India like Bangalore.

Shopping heaven
If you have the money and time to spend, or rather burn, you will enjoy like anything by shopping in Bangalore. With Saravana store like feeling Big Bazzar to hep shopping malls all over, shopping is made a nice experience for all class of people. Jayanagar and Malleshwaram 8th cross give you a feel of T.Nagar Usman Road or Ranganathan street. Especially the vegetable markets in Madiwala and Malleshwaram resemble my dear T.Nagar’s Station Road market very much.

Live in Peace
If you settle down in a house in places like Banashankari or Vidhyaranyapura, you can live a peaceful life free of all hustles in the city. There are many such places ideal to spend the retired life in Bangalore.

There are infact many more factors like Safe buses with automatic doors, AC Volvo services, 24 hrs payment centers for your water bills, mix of all cultures, so on and so forth. Yes, Bangalore looks good on the other hand always. ;-)

Traffic Woes

Hosur Road - The national highway connecting Karnataka's capital Bangalore with Tamil Nadu and is the life line of hundreds of people who travel everyday from Bangalore to various parts of Tamil Nadu and vice versa. On its way to Hosur, it houses all IT majors and a lot of Electronic industries in the Techno Hub- Electronic City(EC). The same stretch also has a host of other IT companies and BPOs leading to thousands and thousands of techies travelling everyday in all sorts of transports.

Long back, I had posted about the traffic woes in Bangalore especially on the Hosur Road, and how people suffer everyday. Today the situation has not changed even a bit, and more worrying is the fact that it may worsen in near future mainly because of big and bigger facilities coming up in and out of EC and the biggest of all coming up on the way to EC.

If all these facilities are opened up in future, then it may add up to many thousands of techies and their vechicles on the Hosur Road. Add to this the new Elevated Highway construction planned by the government from Madiwala to EC. Upon all that, the monsoon rains that may soon hit Bangalore in a few months. Travelling in Hosur Road after a heavy rain is the biggest nightmare for any one who uses it.

Will the new elevated highway planned be of any use in reducing traffic?? Doubtful. More wiser plans would be automation of signals along Hosur road, widening of the existing road and construction of alternate routes for reaching the city from EC. Sitting in worst traffic jams for hours everyday is just a pain with the Radio City and your book companion helping you the least.

The best option is that IT companies should start looking for other cities in and out of Karnataka for their expansions. The city is already dead and stabbing a corpse more and more will not help in anyway.

356 C - The New Volvo Service

Today while on my way to office in the morning, I saw the new "Volvo" bus, running as apart of the new service started from Majestic-KG Bus Stand to Electronic City. With electronic display of Route number and enroute stops, it was really great to see the vehicle moving like a Majestic Red Horse in the morning traffic.

It is a welcome measure by the BMTC whereby techies coming from far off places will get benefitted. And 20 Rs. per trip might be affordable only by such techies and not by commons unless it is a 'once in a while' trip.

Whatever it is, a very good measure for an ailing population. :-)

Hyderabad Trip

I am back after my trip to Hyderabad from 3rd Febrauary to 5th Febrauary. It is one of my most favourite cities next to Chennai and I had been there for most of my vacations during school and college life.

As my train(it was an excellent journey, really enjoyed it) approached Kacheguda(the third terminus of Hyderabad apart from Nampalli and Secundrabad) I could see Chandrababu Naidu's past regime shining all over in Golden glitter of Sodium vapor lamps. The whole city presents you a scenary drawn in gold combined with the morning chill... It should be experienced, not explained.

I had a good break away from Bangalore traffic jams and pollution for about 3 days. Overall a refreshing trip and I am recharged again... :-)

Few observations:

1) The city has a very good local train system intelligently implemented and maintained. I doubt whether it would be a possible reality in Bangalore, even in the distant future!!!
2) The city has a constantly improving bus service in terms of quality and quantity. This, inspite of buses not being primary means of transport there.
3) The city is ever growing in terms of beauty. :-)

Love my Hyderabad!!! :-)

Once more Chennai !!!

I am back after my short trip to my dear Chennai for a couple of days. I really had a good recharge of my mind with visits to my relatives' places, chat with my dear cousins and of course travelling around my favourite Chennai.. A few highlight moments:

* I had a chance for small arguments with the autowallahs, travelling in MTC buses, smelling the stink of Cooum :-D and tasting my favourite Aavin milk khoa, which I missed all these days..

* I did good amount of local shopping especially the junk stuff which I pick up every time from Chennai.

* Nehru has generously moved away from Kathipara jn, Guindy to ease the construction of state of art fly over, that will take care of all traffic woes of Office goers in future.

* The loooooong term project of flyover construction near MIT Gate has almost been completed and I had a chance to travel over that in an MTC bus.. It looks really great!!!

* Bus stations in many places like Tambaram and Pallavaram have been provisioned with roofs. People are heaving a sigh of relief as they can escape to some extent from scorching sun and rains(if any)

Also I observed that my city is growing at jet speed to take over all industrial investments on its broad shoulders... Hats off Chennai!!!

English Gone Only... :-D

These are the few master pieces in English that I came across in past few days of my life in Bangalore:

* On a TNSTC bus from Chidambaram to Bangalore: From "Univercity" to "Electronic city" (Meaning Annamalai University)
* A girl in a BMTC bus: "Morning, morning I have to start from my house" (Kaalankaathala-yaam)
* In my office: "You can only do this" (Means, u can do it by urself)
* In a training session: "You got it na my point" (Did u get my point?)
* Outside a store: "All mobail phone, all modals servis and repar done here"(No comments) :-D

The little English that I know will also get spoilt in near future if I am going through all these on a day to day basis. :-)

God's own country

I am back after my short trip to Trivandrum. This was my third trip to the place and was one of my most memorable trips till now. I was simply awestruck by the beauty fo Kerala(and of course, ahem, Kerala girls..hee hee).

I was lucky to have travelled in a train that passed through lots and lots of beautiful towns and villages of Kerala. Not to forget the great railway network of Kerala that takes us through all these beautiful places. It was green and lush green all the way till Trivandrum.

It is not just God's own country, but its a country where you can feel the existence of God in each and every inch of it. From the awesome nature, beautiful temples, friendly people, pleasant climate to even the sweet water and rich food there is a touch of divinity in each and everything associated with Kerala. It should be felt rather than understanding in words.

Blessed are those people who live there and God bless them all for their hospitality and kindness. I am waiting for the next chance to be there very soon :-)

Platform cases

In most cities of India, the roadside platform or pedestrian walk is used for all purposes other than what it is meant for. From petty shops to beggar groups, the pedestrian walk seems to be the first choice for anyone to occupy.

Even Bangalore is not an exception. I have had strange encounters with two wheelers and even autos when I walk. Many places they are used as parking lots for cars. Only Lorries and buses are yet to occupy the space :-)

Its high time that some thing is done for this…And it is laid just for name sake. After a rain, to speak about the condition of such side-walks, the lesser said, the better. And our people are no less culprits. I have seen stones and earth, stacked for laying roads and constructing sidewalks slowly taking shape as “kolam-drawing grounds” outside peoples’ houses. Few things in India cannot be changed even for centuries!!!

An hour in the Traffic Jam

The title may sound like some high school essay, but if you are a regular traveller from Electronic City towards Bangalore in the Hosur Road, then you will really understand how much that one hour means for you...

I waste one hour everyday when I neither do useful office work, nor spend it peacefully at home.The normal situation on a weekday evening is as below. One should remember that my house is hardly 12 kms from office:

Starting time ---------- Time of Travel
(From office) ---------- (approximate)

6:15 PM -------------> 1 hr 30 mins
7:15 PM -------------> 1 hr 15 mins
8:30 PM -------------> 45 mins to 1 hr
9:30 PM -------------> 20 mins to 40 mins

The final conclusion is the earlier you want to reach home, the more you suffer sitting in the vehicle. This is the minimum possible time for normal days. If it is a rainy evening, add 30 minutes to each of the above values. :-)

I am not into analysing the root cause and solutions for this problem. But what I can conclude is that, IT boom has made common man suffer a lot everyday. God save them!!!

Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam

The whole world knows that Chennai needs rain, but not to the extent of flooding the whole city.....The rains have ruined Chennai like anything and the whole of Tamil Nadu is like a island as I could see from News Channels...

For years together, people were praying for rain and lost all hopes. But it had rained as if all these 50 years, the rains were stored somewhere in the sky and someone has opened it out one fine morning. Too much of anything is good for nothing, isn't it?

Chennai will recover very soon from rains, I know that, but if nature had given this much amount of rainfall equally divided for every year for past 30-40 years, then my city would have been a green heaven by now :-(

Chennai - My first Love

One blog post is not enough for expressing my love towards Chennai. Still I will make it short to fit in here :-) These are simply headlines....

I was born and brought up in Chennai. For 21 years the city has seen me change a lot along with it. And I share a very close bonding with the city even today when I am miles away from it. When I set my foot on Chennai soil, I feel like flying high and my heart leaps up in joy...

I have been to Chennai recently. I have become a guest in my own native city now. I met lot of my ppl and had good time roaming around streets of T.Nagar. T.Nagar shares equal amount of love from me as Chennai does. Simply becoz there is life 24x7 in T.Nagar. :-)

I have suffered from water scarcity, carrying tonnes of water in summer for my house. I have paid 20s and 30s for autowallahs for distances of hardly 2 kms. I have been through summer days which have made me sweat in litres. Still, above all these, there was some love deep inside my heart for the city. It has grown leaps and bounds in time...

There is no one reason why life in Chennai can be exciting. The people of Chennai, the Chennai Tamil, excellent food, MTC buses, Electric trains, the cultures and traditions, the tolerance, the life style, the adapt-to-anything nature, etc etc and lots more I have as reasons for my love for Chennai.

Like Tirunelveli Halwaa, Kanchipuram Silk, Hyderabadi Biriyani, Calcutta Rosagulla etc Chennai has no single item to term as Chennai special. And like business and movie driven Mumbai or IT driven Bangalore, there is no particular reason which drives life in Chennai. Neither it has a culture or tradition of its own....

Inspite of this, anything and everything in Chennai is special. Any kind of profession, you name it and Chennai has it. Whichever part of India you are from, you can find cousins of your soil in Chennai. This is what makes it a special place to live in!!!

The first time I felt my love towards Chennai was when I shifted to Bangalore for my job. And when I shifted my residence here this year, my heart wept silently for leaving my city. Even today, I smile artificially with my heart longing for the life in Chennai.

Whatever might be the case, once I feel satisfied of my earning, I want to spend the rest of my life in Chennai and live all my life that I had missed till now :-)