"Singaara Chennai"

Today, as the TV played on in the background, a skewed news bulletin titled “Wassup” on MTV aired something which caught my attention. More recently, Chetan Bhagat’s book ” The Three Mistakes of my Life” also said the same. So many polls in glossy magazines scream the same thing to me. Why is Chennai left out in their polls? Why is Chennai’s youth not interviewed by MTV? Why do magazines not compare Chennai or publish its pictures while introducing a new lifestyle or something new ? Why is Chennai the “left-out” metro?


To make things clearer, what I heard on MTV was the youth of Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and even Hyderabad!. Not Chennai. Chetan Bhagat mentions, ..Ahmadabad is not as hip like Delhi,Mumbai or even Bangalore..” India today reports every thing based on the lifestyles based on the aforementioned cities. Why ? It isnt as if Chennai is left out. I think its in a league of its own. Probably, people are too shallow to realize its real worth. I am not too perturbed by all this. It just makes me wonder as to why Chennai is slowly getting obliviated even from the list of metros?! The magazines and a music channel dont show much anyway.

So what if the city is not as geographically huge as Delhi or Mumbai? So what if Chennai’s youth dont run over cars on sleeping pedestrians? Is it a crime that women in Chennai prefer to keep their clothes on ? Big deal if the south-Indian heroes dont sport six-pack-abs-at-forty or size zeros? So what if we dont have winters? So what if majority of the people are not fair skinned?

Its a beautiful city. Even today, the city wakes up to sounds of suprabathams and nathaswarams. The girls choose to learn the traditional art forms with keen interest. The youth is very well dressed.Some of the best schools and colleges are located here. The roads are safe. (We dont have any blueline buses). The trains not too packed. Theatre is enjoyed by the people even today. Everything is hip and modern just like other places but never indecent. There is no excessive skin show. It has the maximum working women anywhere in the country.The films are meaningful enough (not all but yes the best movies are always remade in hindi which go on to become super hits). The biggest superstar lives here!It has the most amazing restaurants anywhere in the country.(Interestingly south-Indian cuisine has been voted the most healthy..Punjabi is right at the bottom) The best cricket academy (MRF Pace) is in Chennai. The city is nestled on one of the most majestic natural wonders, the marina beach which is the second longest in the world. I can go on about the city…but I dont want to since the city can speak for itself.

Bangalore has hogged the attention because of the IT sector. It is not the same anymore. Im sure an old-banglorean will never be able to relate to the mass of glass and concrete, youth and hippie culture the city has become. Hyderabad follows suit. Delhi is so ultra-modern these days, that it is difficult for normal sensible people to come to terms with its madness and quench the thirst for moolah and power.

I am not slandering any other place, neither am I showcasing Chennai. All I am saying is, give it the respect it deserves. Don’t go by the looks of the place. It is hot,humid and yes, it tans. But hell, look deeper. It has the most amazing choices of lifestyles to offer. You can live any way you want. If you want the mall-hopping, night-club going kind of life, that is also there or else if you choose to live a simple life with a tinge of tradition thrown in, you can find that as well. It is for the same reason, I find the Kapaleshwar Temple in Mylapore so enchanting. It is the oldest locality in Chennai and yet it is also modern. The temple stands testimony to this fact.

Go on, all you silly music channels and magazines. Don’t even bother about asking us all your stupid questions. That doesnt gauge anything much anyway.

I love this city. It is truly “Singaara Chennai”.

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Eye contact…

I walked out of the gym, closing the door lightly behind me wiping the sweat off my face. I was humming some hindi number I just heard on the tv. It had been a pleasant morning. A long walk at the crack of dawn when the sky is still changing colors. I continued my walk mechanically towards the back door of my house when I noticed it. Yellow eyes following me from under an old shoe-rack in the verandah. I stood there transfixed. I knew instantly what it was.

It slithered up to the top rack almost like wanting to take a better look. It raised its head and I saw it still rooted to the spot. It was yellowish green with a muddy underbelly. It took out its tongue like wanting to taste the warm summer air. Unbelievable it might sound, but we both stared at each other. I was still recovering from the shock of look at it from such a close distance. It was as though he also was wondering who I was. Prolly he had lived in the abandoned shoe-rack for sometime now and was just surprised to see a new face in the neighbourhood. It stuck his tongue out again, this time rapidly , almost impatiently.

He tilted his head and looked at whisky. Whisky oblivious to the creature was wondering why I had stopped in my tracks. He moved a little ahead to take a good look at the white hairy thing. It looked back into my eyes. It was the first time I saw a snake eye-to-eye. Parseltongue was the first thing that struck me, but it was dismissed with the incredulity of what I was doing. It was only then that I woke from the trance like state.

I ran back to the gym and closed the door shut. I luckily called my dad who alerted the watchmen. Whisky started jumping around in a frenzy at so much activity.

The mission was successful.
The snake is no more. 😀

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Is rude the new cool ?

I dont know how many of you have noticed this, but apparently being cool is essentially being rude.
This particular thought came to my mind as I accidentally collided with a seven or eight year old boy jumping around the crowded aisles in a supermarket. With everyone pushing their carts and going about their business, the boy was sure to come in someone’s way. That someone had to be me.
Okay, now I did say a sorry and gave him a smile (even though it wasnt my fault) but all that little chap clad in a trendy cargo and football jersey had to tell me was ,” Owwwww! Cant you see where you are going missy?”. I was taken aback. I know swearing is in. Cmon, I swear a lot too. But its not with everyone!And I particularly take care not to swear when Im out of the campus.Or even when Im in it, its only on DC or with close friends. But Ive noticed a large number of people almost flaunting their rudeness. It is scary.

Reader’s Digest took a poll a few years ago on the rudest cities in the country. Though Delhi topped the list and Bangalore was not so far behind, I think no place in this country is left out. With intense competition and the social pressure of doing well in life, a lifestyle to flaunt and the hurry associated with every chore,whatever happened to human emotions?! A smile, a pleasant laugh, a polite excuse me (and not the oh-you-sick-ba****d-get -out-of-my-way excuse me ) or even a small gesture of giving anyone directions honestly seems so hard to find.

I think we are all being incessantly rude these days. There is no scope for telling anyone anything softly anymore. ” Arey aise mat bolo, daant lagao, tabhi kaam hoga!” is so frequently heard. As Barney put it (in one episode of How I met your Mother), its the vicious circle of screaming. (he later made it a pyramid, but never mind! :D). The general thought process of people is like, being soft or polite shows weakness and the other person will instantly take you for a ride?! Huh! Why is that so? Why I should I yell, be harsh or rude to someone I dont know, for a frivolous thing like stamping on my foot (yes, if its pencil heels I do have a problem! 😉 ), unnecessarily increase my blood-pressure and heart rate and pick up a grudge against some other being ?

I realized that today’s youth is the one part of society which is being the most rude. Being a part of the same fraternity, I will try from now on to become more polite and lose my temper only when it is required. But yes, I will also have to learn to increase my tolerance to other people’s rudeness, but im sure they will eventually realize that they needn’t yell for everything that doesnt happen their way.

RUDE IS NOT COOL. ITS JUST RUDE.

PS: I also realized that boxing is an efficient way to take out your anger on the world. It burns calories, makes your hand ache (keeping you occupied), gives you the satisfaction of actually hitting something and is a lot of fun!! 😀

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Little drops of water…

What is it about rains that I love? Is it watching the sky change colour from a bright clear blue to a murky grey? Is it the rain laden clouds covering the horizon making the sun disappear? Or the Ashoka trees swaying dangerously attempting to scare anyone who just looks at them? The billowing curtains, the doors which bang shut, the leaves which fly in the air, the birds which get blown off course, the cuckoo which gives the warning or watching my dog’s body look like its changing shape because of the wind passing through his hairy coat? The ever awesome manvasanai (mud smell)? or hearing the pitter patter rain drops falling against the window? (or on a more geeky note..counting the number of drops it takes to wet one complete tile? ..:P)Is it the rustling of the leaves on the trees ?I dont know…prolly everything.

As you would have guessed by now, I love rains. There is something so exciting about the water drops falling from the sky like washing away all the agony and tensions and giving everyone a fresh headstart. It takes away the scorching sun for a while which makes me the happiest. The bolt of lightining and clap of thunder just add some light and sound effects to this amazing natural phenomenon.

I cant sit in front of my computer any longer while the weather remains like this. Im going to enjoy the evening stormy showers that Chennai gives me to make up for the otherwise scathing hot day.
Adios!

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Kudos Mom!

The last few days have seen me super busy. All this thanks to the absence of my mom who is currently holidaying with my sister in the US. So for the first ever time, the entire responsibility of running a house fell upon my shoulders. It is too much work, I tell you. I wonder how my mom does it day after day after day and still manages to go for work. I get so tired all I can think of is my bed.

There is so much work at home that I seriously appreciate all those women who are able to juggle both house-work and careers. Worse, if you have kids/dogs. Added responsibility. If studies is what you have to do alongside house-work,I dont know how the studying part can ever happen!

So, thats how i am going to be for the next fortnight atleast. But there are a lot of added benefits I noticed. One being, Im up by 5 am. Next, my lazy wont-move-an inch-unless-its-upto-the-dining-table lifestyle has gone for a toss. Third, I no longer sit in front of my comp for more than an hour and last,I feel more responsible and active.
I do manage to read all blogs though.
Nice vacation i must say! 😀
n yeah…Kudos MOM! I never knew what you were doing all this while… u r a superwoman!
(This extends to all moms who have a lot of work and kids who are(were) super lazy bums like me!)

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