Chennai: Take it OR Leave it!

I recently had a mini trip to Chennai on the pretext of a cousin's wedding. Well, the hidden meaning of course was a loud, extravagant reunion of sorts among relatives, family friends and others! Personally, I am an ardent lover of South Indian weddings. I mean I thoroughly enjoy the bling, the glamour and all the gossip behind the screens. However, attending this function was a big concern to me considering my existing "Chennai is yuck" kind of an attitude and "Geee....I'm never going to Chennai" mindset.

Nevertheless, I did make it in one piece to the city and to the function. But as I spend those two days in that frying hell, I couldn't help but notice every little thing that's a part and parcel of Chennai. Starting from the railway station, to the taxi/auto drivers; they are real specimens to observe! Trust me. I still remember rambling myself out of the super crowded Chennai Central station and suddenly found myself surrounded by atleast a million drivers waiting to take me on. "Amma enge ponum?", "Amma taxi venuma?"...when my grey cells managed to understand all these one-liners simultaneously at light speed, I looked up and said with a smirk, "Vandam". However, the minute i asked them directions to the car park, they all fleeted away in a jiffy as though I was a ghost waiting to pig out at them.

And even weirder are the people (only those that I encountered during my stay so ignore the generalization). I mean they take their own sweet little time to scan you upfront when you are introduced. I understand it as a mere expression of "Oh, look at her/him! Where has she/he come from?". Before I start sounding like an absolute complaint box, I have met blokes of this nature everywhere but what sets the Chennaites apart is the funny way they do this act!

Despite the pot boiling heat, the meter-less auto rides, the trying to shoo away cows and buffalos from the middle of the road, the unbeatable and over-filling kalyanam saapadu, the lavish glittery silk sarees and the conveniently uptight veshtis, the not so clean yet loved beaches, the endless idlis, dosas and upmas, Chennai is a unique place after all. I mean for a nothernized Tamil brahmin like me, it turned out to be a pleasant (seriously) surprise and a refreshing outing from the usual metro fun and frolic. At the offset, all those (including me) who often under-estimate this city for obvious reasons, could well be charmed by the warmth and "being loved" feeling that one gets here.