Saturday, December 13, 2008

Namma Chennai

Its been almost two and a half years in IIT Madras, Chennai.
I still recall those days in the beginning when we used to say (& sometimes even now we say) that Chennai Sucks Man!
But, its a very strange relationship between a city and its people. A city, like a recipe, consists of its people as the main ingredients. And they significantly affect the way, a city tastes to them, to outsiders , to everyone.
Two n half years back, we had all those problems while travelling from A to B. All jam packed buses, high fare autos, ignorance about the locations, and not to mention the inability to speak Tamil.
Well, all these things still persist, but its like the city has changed a little and we have changed a little. Thats how it works, isnt it?? We evolve and the city evolves with us. We adapt the city and the city adapts us. Now, we know much more than what we knew then. Now, we know the locations for many places. Now we know, what to catch, from where to catch and where to land. Extension on this local train route near Madhya Kailash, for example, has made our journeys on that route much easier. Now we know, how to bargain with autos. Now we know what to speak in Tamil to get better bargains.Now, we know whom to ask and how to reach.

There are times, when you would say "I hate Chennai, Man!" But surely, there are times, when I say, " I love Chennai". Not everywhere in India, you get to enjoy Murugan Idli or Marina Beach or pleasant winter and many more things. There are times when people dont like the weather. Summers, the HOT summers of Chennai, they are so unbearable, but still I have faced them in both of my summer vacations ( though I live in IIT M campuse which is slightly cooler than outside). We dont feel cold here. Winters are awesome here. Such a pleasant weather it is.
And not to mention the heavy rains. They are simply amazing. It feels great when it rains.

There was a time, when we didnt like idlis n dosas n vadais. But now, I dont have anything like that in mind. I have adapted to Chennai. I love eating idlis n dosas. We used to say, we wouldnt like to get placed in Chennai after IIT. But now I say, It doesnt matter for me...infact I would love to stay here, learn more tamil n njoy this place. Now, I feel the affection ...the attachment with it.....
See how proudly we used relate our spirits when Chennai Super Kings were there in IPL.
We used to crib about tamil movies , songs, etc etc etc. Well, ofcourse they havent changed much, but surely I have accepted all these things as they are. Things are globalised as they say. Thats how a metro is...perhaps a new experience for a person like me ( who didnt get to live in such a big city earlier). People are helpful in general. Things are costly in general. People dont care much about others, in general. All of them are busy in their works, as usual. Well, thats how a city is. Millions of people living together serving each others' needs.
Compared to other cities, say Delhi or Bombay, we have less extravaganza here. Less show off. more conservation. Yeah, that sound a little odd...but thats how it is. They have still preserved those traditions so well. And I really admire those beautifully designed dravidian style temples. Such intricate details in the scriptures simply leaves you jaw dropped.
And not to mention,
One of the most peaceful cities in the country with no terror threats so far.
This is so wonderful, man!
Just like they say Hamari Dilli, Aamchi Mumbai, ...
I feel proud to say NAMMA CHENNAI.
I love chennai. The music, the food, the weather, the people and so many things....

Technically, someone would say, all this affection is the result of my two n half yrs stay at Chennai and it will be same with any other city. Well, in that case, how wonderful it is to realise that wherever you go, you start loving that place. Just like you start loving your new house and after some time you call it HOME.
But I love all this. Things become much simpler as the time continues. The city as adopted us and we have adapted to the city.
I love Chennai.

11 comments:

Leela said...

Nice to see such a change in your viewpoint.

Manu Dev Gupta / Gilly said...

Yeah...even I feel great to have a changed viewpoint

yashashvi said...

Dude, The fact is Chennai still sucks. I accept as time passes by one appreciates/understands the ciry better. But still the negatives of the city remain:
1) Auto Guys.
2) Unhelpful people, who are least willing to talk in any other language other then Tamil.
3) No stud places to chill out, very few good places to eat...so on...

Anyways, Well written. Good publicity for Chennai :P

Chunda.

IvanHoe said...

Very honest post man. Cant put better than this. Ya I do know that the city has its negatives, but it could be the same with many cities. But Chennai is different and u have learned to enjoy it, nice

Manu Dev Gupta / Gilly said...

@yashashvi..
I completely accept ur feedback for first and third point, but I disagree when u say people are not helpful or least willing to talk in any other language than tamil....overall my experience says, if i am able to communicate well, they surely help us. And btw, people's cooperation really the Crux of city's prosperity, as I would say.

@ivan hoe...
u liked my views, thnx for the support yaar....

gunvant jain said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gunvant jain said...

@chunda: i do agree that there are no place for hang outs in chennai, but even u can observe that chennai is getting better day by day.
no. of malls, multiplexes, gaming places, food courts are increasing.

@gilli: only crib is the attitude of the localities towards non outsiders.
and dude change in their attitude will take time, its clear that y MNC's preferred B'lore rather then chennai even though a decade back only this city had international airport, harbor and other basic facilities.

let these changes happn then only
i'll join u to say NAMMA CHENNAI

navneet kaur said...

hello sir this is navneet and this is a fantastic piece of writing

navneet kaur said...

hello sir this is navneet and this is a fantastic piece of writing

HaRy!! said...

Yo dude....sure namma chennai...alwayz it Rockz...adaptin is the best way...whatsover b the city...and chennai rulez in it... good piece of blog!

Manu Dev Gupta / Gilly said...

thnx Hary