Well, this is my first ever blog… And I dint have to think a lot to decide what it had to be about. Yes… Chennai !!! Chennai – the land of beautiful beaches, the land of idlis, the land of filter kaapis, the land of kutcheries, the land of what not ! This city has got a charm of its own, an appeal of a peculiar kind. Only a Chennaite – a true one at heart, can appreciate what this ‘City of Simplicity’ has to offer. A perfect blend of cultural diversity and modernization. A metropolis whose ethnic values have not been given up to give place to the bustling city life. A city where people still know who their neighbors are, know even their neighbors’ kith and kin. A place where the 20-somethings celebrate the traditional music festivals in the month of December with the same zeal and zest as the modern musical extravaganza of A. R. Rahman and Shankar Mahadevan.
Chennai is tat mother, which has given birth to the stars in Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan and the likes. A lot of e-mail forwards have been passed around making fun of the psychic, funny, non-realistic ways employed by these actors to prove their herogiri in their movies… But the fact that is forgotten is that these are the people who gross more at the box-office than anyone else in the industry. These are the ones worshipped like demigods by the masses, the ones whom people can look up to, they are the ones against whom NGOs don’t have to start ‘Quit smoking as it affects our children, our future’ campaigns…
The law and order situation in the city is the best one can get in today’s scenario. People here still have their respects intact for the flashing red lights on the roads and for the men in khakees. The IT & manufacturing hub that it is, people and organizations from round the world are flocking to spread their wings here. It’s not without a reason that Chennai is being called as the ‘Detroit of the East’. And even people originating or being educated from this place are succeeding with flying colors all over the world in their respective fields, thanks to the first-class education system in-effect here. It is not difficult to find a ‘Shriram Narayanan’ or a ‘Karthik Subramaniam’ in the biggest tech-based firms of the world like Yahoo, Google & Adobe.
Well… the purpose of this post is not to boast about the achievements of Chennai and its junta (oops, I already have done that !!!). The reason I am penning down my thoughts is to tell the innumerous non-Chennaites staying in Chennai and scolding it each day, that Chennai isn’t a bad place to live; provided you change your perspective a little.
The argument is that the food out here is pathetic. Well, say this is to a Chennaite and he’ll burst with ire. You can’t demand good aloo parathas everywhere in this land of idlis and dosas. People here eat rice with rasam, sambhar & curd as their staple diet, and you cannot demand to change that for anyone’s sake. You will have to like the specialties of this place rather than ask it to change its specialties.
Another issue of debate is the culture of Chennai. “There is no night-life at all” is what is being said. It is true that you will not find many restaurants serving food after 11 pm in this part of the world. Instead of the roadside dhabas operating in the late nights, you will find police patrol vehicles and policemen staying awake so that you can sleep safely and peacefully. And one has to accept the fact that this is a city which sleeps early and wakes up early as well. Where else in the world can you find restaurants serving hot breakfast at 5.30 or 6 am in the morning? This is Chennai after all, not Los Angeles where you’ll find fast-food outlets operating 24x7.
“People of Chennai aren’t hep!!!” Such statements make me pity the dudes & dudettes making such remarks. These are the people who think that wearing mini skirts and 4 earrings instead of 1 is what is called as being ‘hep’. Such people must understand that the actual fact is that the youth of Chennai don’t feel shy to sport a tilak on their foreheads or to wear a plaited hair-style.
“Language is a major problem!” Yes, it is indeed a problem for the locals to understand what is being said in Hindi. The same problem is being faced by the non-Tamil speaking junta living here. It is a mutual problem, not something faced by one side alone. You don’t complain about the language problem faced in Italy or Spain, do you? You accept it because there is nothing much one can do about it. It is the same thing; Chennai is giving you an opportunity to feel like you stay in a foreign land. Enjoy the experience of not understanding the locals and not being able to make yourselves understand.
“The autowallahs are a menace!!” Aah !! Yes, they indeed are !!! And its a fact that nothing much is being done about it either. Hmmm, all I have to say is - It is in reality a big problem, needs to be answered. And the earlier it is done; the better. And which city doesn’t have issues to be attended?? Chennai is no Utopia either. We’ll have to stay with the problem till it is resolved.
What more… Chennai is a city which can make people feel at home; people who have forgotten how to live a peaceful life without any hustle-bustle. It is a proud fact that Chennai is the best metropolis one can get to spend an entire lifetime, provided you can look at it that way !
Chennai Rox !!! Yea, it truly does !!!!
Chennai is tat mother, which has given birth to the stars in Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan and the likes. A lot of e-mail forwards have been passed around making fun of the psychic, funny, non-realistic ways employed by these actors to prove their herogiri in their movies… But the fact that is forgotten is that these are the people who gross more at the box-office than anyone else in the industry. These are the ones worshipped like demigods by the masses, the ones whom people can look up to, they are the ones against whom NGOs don’t have to start ‘Quit smoking as it affects our children, our future’ campaigns…
The law and order situation in the city is the best one can get in today’s scenario. People here still have their respects intact for the flashing red lights on the roads and for the men in khakees. The IT & manufacturing hub that it is, people and organizations from round the world are flocking to spread their wings here. It’s not without a reason that Chennai is being called as the ‘Detroit of the East’. And even people originating or being educated from this place are succeeding with flying colors all over the world in their respective fields, thanks to the first-class education system in-effect here. It is not difficult to find a ‘Shriram Narayanan’ or a ‘Karthik Subramaniam’ in the biggest tech-based firms of the world like Yahoo, Google & Adobe.
Well… the purpose of this post is not to boast about the achievements of Chennai and its junta (oops, I already have done that !!!). The reason I am penning down my thoughts is to tell the innumerous non-Chennaites staying in Chennai and scolding it each day, that Chennai isn’t a bad place to live; provided you change your perspective a little.
The argument is that the food out here is pathetic. Well, say this is to a Chennaite and he’ll burst with ire. You can’t demand good aloo parathas everywhere in this land of idlis and dosas. People here eat rice with rasam, sambhar & curd as their staple diet, and you cannot demand to change that for anyone’s sake. You will have to like the specialties of this place rather than ask it to change its specialties.
Another issue of debate is the culture of Chennai. “There is no night-life at all” is what is being said. It is true that you will not find many restaurants serving food after 11 pm in this part of the world. Instead of the roadside dhabas operating in the late nights, you will find police patrol vehicles and policemen staying awake so that you can sleep safely and peacefully. And one has to accept the fact that this is a city which sleeps early and wakes up early as well. Where else in the world can you find restaurants serving hot breakfast at 5.30 or 6 am in the morning? This is Chennai after all, not Los Angeles where you’ll find fast-food outlets operating 24x7.
“People of Chennai aren’t hep!!!” Such statements make me pity the dudes & dudettes making such remarks. These are the people who think that wearing mini skirts and 4 earrings instead of 1 is what is called as being ‘hep’. Such people must understand that the actual fact is that the youth of Chennai don’t feel shy to sport a tilak on their foreheads or to wear a plaited hair-style.
“Language is a major problem!” Yes, it is indeed a problem for the locals to understand what is being said in Hindi. The same problem is being faced by the non-Tamil speaking junta living here. It is a mutual problem, not something faced by one side alone. You don’t complain about the language problem faced in Italy or Spain, do you? You accept it because there is nothing much one can do about it. It is the same thing; Chennai is giving you an opportunity to feel like you stay in a foreign land. Enjoy the experience of not understanding the locals and not being able to make yourselves understand.
“The autowallahs are a menace!!” Aah !! Yes, they indeed are !!! And its a fact that nothing much is being done about it either. Hmmm, all I have to say is - It is in reality a big problem, needs to be answered. And the earlier it is done; the better. And which city doesn’t have issues to be attended?? Chennai is no Utopia either. We’ll have to stay with the problem till it is resolved.
What more… Chennai is a city which can make people feel at home; people who have forgotten how to live a peaceful life without any hustle-bustle. It is a proud fact that Chennai is the best metropolis one can get to spend an entire lifetime, provided you can look at it that way !
Chennai Rox !!! Yea, it truly does !!!!
