On 22nd December 2009, i was about to leave to Chennai in the 2 tier AC of Charminar Express, it was Hyderabad Winter and we still preferred to go by AC coach, as the money would be reimbursed by the company. I had very minute excitement in crossing the borders of Telugu land.
Chennai Central:
Train reached its destination, my friend and i will be escorted to the outskirts of Chennai with the help of my friend's friend. I came out of Chennai Central and took a good look at the Chennai Central railway station, the telugu films of pre-1990 era came into my mind, as Madras was the base for telugu films too.
I was struggling to carry my luggage, somehow reached 'Park Town' station, got into the local train, got down at 'Thiruvanmiyur' railway station. I was still struggling to carry my luggage, suddenly from no where there were 4 auto drivers obstructing us from moving forward, my friend's friend was saying 'Venda' .. 'Venda' .. to them, yes 'Venda' is my first tamil word. At last with the help of some good bargaining tactics a MoU was struck between the auto driver and my friend's friend. We got down at Sholinganallur, I know that non-tamil guys find the name 'Sholinganallur' as a tongue twister, my friend's friend made it easy by breaking the word into his own etymology. He said "Its simple yaar, first pronounce 'Shoe'.. then 'Linga'…then 'Nellore', now combine them and pronounce it." My friend was quick and was able to pronounce it at the first attempt and it took 3 attempts for me to get it right.
After couple of days we completed the joining formalities, staying as a Paying Guest in a 3 bedroom apartment and found a hotel which serves Tiffin’s located at Sholinganallur junction.
Dosa:
I ordered a Dosa, the Dosa was big in length, chutney was served and the hotel worker was about to pour hot sambar on the dosa, I reacted quickly and said NO, he gave back a serious look as though I have committed Blasphemy, and when I was reluctantly asking him for more chutney to complete my dosa and he was reluctantly serving chutney.
FYI: Telugu guys eat a lot of Chutney
Summer:
There are 3 seasons in Chennai, I don’t know about the rest of Tamil Nadu but for a Hyderabadi guy like me, the seasons are Hot, Hotter and Hottest. The January climate of Chennai was making me sweat a lot and I was already missing the Hyderabadi Winter. At first it was horrible for me, later I wasn’t complaining much and after that I got used to it.
I was now moderately adjusted to Chennai, one thing I could find is that there isn’t any Hanuman and Vishnu temples, this observation compelled me to read the history of Aryan-Dravidian divide. Everyone was talking about Saravana stores and I with my roommates decided to visit the Saravana stores at T.Nagar. I was shocked to see the rush in Saravana stores, I could only think of suffocation and nothing else until I left the Saravana stores. I admire people who shop for the whole day in Saravana stores. On my way back I find a Vishnu and Shiva temple.
Note: Scientifically it’s proven that there is no Aryan-Dravidian divide.
Cinema:
Maayajaal was the nearest Cinema Theater for us, and it is the biggest multiplex in India, I wouldn’t comment about the interiors of Maayajaal even though it’s owned by a political family. One thing which I will remember forever is the day when I watched ‘Ye Maaya Chesave’ in the second row from the screen in Maayajaal.
Marina Beach:
If you have read Chetan bhagat’s ‘Two States’ then you would know the Marina Beach, the book has elevated my expectations about the beach as Ananya Swaminathan refers to it as the biggest beach, but I was totally disappointed when I visited the Marina Beach due to the crowd and the beach was clearly struggling to adjust with the pollution.It has been one year and I am still living in Chennai without much complaints. Lets see how the future is gonna be.
Trivia: I was in Chennai when I saw Sachin Tendulkar scoring 200* agsinst South Africa.
Update: I miss Chennai :(
Chennai Central:
Train reached its destination, my friend and i will be escorted to the outskirts of Chennai with the help of my friend's friend. I came out of Chennai Central and took a good look at the Chennai Central railway station, the telugu films of pre-1990 era came into my mind, as Madras was the base for telugu films too.
After couple of days we completed the joining formalities, staying as a Paying Guest in a 3 bedroom apartment and found a hotel which serves Tiffin’s located at Sholinganallur junction.
Dosa:
I ordered a Dosa, the Dosa was big in length, chutney was served and the hotel worker was about to pour hot sambar on the dosa, I reacted quickly and said NO, he gave back a serious look as though I have committed Blasphemy, and when I was reluctantly asking him for more chutney to complete my dosa and he was reluctantly serving chutney.
FYI: Telugu guys eat a lot of Chutney
Summer:
There are 3 seasons in Chennai, I don’t know about the rest of Tamil Nadu but for a Hyderabadi guy like me, the seasons are Hot, Hotter and Hottest. The January climate of Chennai was making me sweat a lot and I was already missing the Hyderabadi Winter. At first it was horrible for me, later I wasn’t complaining much and after that I got used to it.
I was now moderately adjusted to Chennai, one thing I could find is that there isn’t any Hanuman and Vishnu temples, this observation compelled me to read the history of Aryan-Dravidian divide. Everyone was talking about Saravana stores and I with my roommates decided to visit the Saravana stores at T.Nagar. I was shocked to see the rush in Saravana stores, I could only think of suffocation and nothing else until I left the Saravana stores. I admire people who shop for the whole day in Saravana stores. On my way back I find a Vishnu and Shiva temple.
Note: Scientifically it’s proven that there is no Aryan-Dravidian divide.
Cinema:
Maayajaal was the nearest Cinema Theater for us, and it is the biggest multiplex in India, I wouldn’t comment about the interiors of Maayajaal even though it’s owned by a political family. One thing which I will remember forever is the day when I watched ‘Ye Maaya Chesave’ in the second row from the screen in Maayajaal.
Marina Beach:
If you have read Chetan bhagat’s ‘Two States’ then you would know the Marina Beach, the book has elevated my expectations about the beach as Ananya Swaminathan refers to it as the biggest beach, but I was totally disappointed when I visited the Marina Beach due to the crowd and the beach was clearly struggling to adjust with the pollution.It has been one year and I am still living in Chennai without much complaints. Lets see how the future is gonna be.
 |
| Marina Beach |
Trivia: I was in Chennai when I saw Sachin Tendulkar scoring 200* agsinst South Africa.
Update: I miss Chennai :(
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