Southern Sojourn

Quite a few years ago, in Mumbai, I had heard a PJ on why they had changed the name of Madras to Chennai. Apparently, everyone in Madras wore lungis' and not regular trousers' or jeans' and hence, in Marathi, "Chain" (or Zip) "nahi" (not there) - thus arriving at Chennai!! 

Ok, I do realize that the above PJ was too pathetic even for my standards, but last month when I was in Chennai, for a couple of days, what I experienced was so very different from the typical lungi and kanchivaram yielding, rasam drinking image that the people up north have of Tamil Nadu's capital city.

I landed there at about 8am in the morning and the heat and moisture was the first thing that hit me even as I disembarked from my flight. In some 20 minutes, I was out of the airport in my pre-paid air conditioned taxi and what I saw was a very typical early morning hustle and bustle that one can easily associate with any metro city in India - wide roads, traffic congestion, non-stop honking, people hanging out from public transport buses and the omnipresent colourful autorikshaws that surround you from all sides. As if that was not enough, the roads were marred by the continuous 'Chennai Metro' construction work that served as a definite harbinger of developmental progress that India is striving to achieve.

As we moved from the airport and were about to reach the university town of Guindy, the driver gestured to me, in his broken English, to call the lady in the guest house so he can get the exact address from her. I obliged and some 2 minutes after talking on my phone I heard him say satisfactorily, "Seri Seri" which meant he understood where I was headed.

"No worry sir. I know address now", he told me as he returned my phone.
"Ok. I wasn't aware that I was supposed to be worried till now!", I thought to myself.

As we ventured further, our vehicle was suddenly cut by another guy in his Ambassador and this incident really angered my driver.  He swerved off the lane slightly and once he recovered he sped towards the Amby, overtook it from the left and started to swear at the other driver. At this point of time, he had forgotten that he was actually driving an A/C car, and in his rage started to abuse him with the windows' still down! It took him a few seconds to realize that he was shouting at a piece of glass, but he was quick to rectify his mistake and once again got back to abuse him left and right. Even if I knew Tamil very clearly, I doubt I would have mentioned what was said between them in this blog....

We kept moving and as the other car disappeared out of sight, this guy seemed to clam down and soon got busy with another activity. He started to fiddle around with the two phones he had and I could see him frantically making calls to  someone. Every now and then he would shout, "Soloongaa saar...." very loudly and soon I realized that he was actually trying to arrange his next pick-up from the place where he was supposed to drop me - Nangumbukkam.

Eventually, he got an sms of his next customer whom he right fully called to confirm the pickup spot and time.
"Yes sir....coming to Imperial Hotel......Where to drop? .....Where to going saar?......ok ok. Reaching in 20 minutes"

I was happy to hear that, because if he was supposed to pick up the next person in 20 minutes, he would probably drop me, to my guest house, in 15. Right on cue, some 10 minutes later we pulled into the Cathedral Garden road and a few minutes later, he pulled up right in front on my eventual destination. As I was about to alight, he asked me, "You come for US stamping?"
"Yes." I replied.
"Ok sir. Enjoy"

Enjoy I did. I walked around for an hour, enjoyed some sumptuous Dindigul Biryani, Turkey roast and Chettinaad style fish curry and rice. And the next day, when I heard the golden words "Approved", I couldn't help but think that this visit was one that would cherish for a long long time to come.
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Arranged Marraige

This week began with my very dear cousin giving me the best news of the year that he has decided to get married. It all started a few months back. First the families met, which was followed by a few more meetings between the boy and the girl and finally they decided to tie the knot. My cousin is a gem of a person and a true gentleman. My ‘gonna-be-bhabhi’ is a real lucky lady. After all the congratulations, my mind shifted to the scary fact that I would be next in line for the coveted throne called ‘Marriage’. My thoughts go out to my poor ‘gonna-be-wife’. If you happen to read this anytime, I must say sorry in advance. “Arranged Marriage” – Now here is a word that has been redefined with changing times, here in India. Bollywood movies give a guy his very first impression of ‘seeing a girl’. The meeting takes place in the girls’ home. The guy has to sit there with his entire family and first only speak to the girls’ parents and relatives. That’s where they judge if the guy is capable ...
Read more

Ebbanad - II

(This is a continuation from Ebbanad - I. Please read that before continuing here) Our next destination was the forest shack where we were to camp that night. It was a 30 minute downhill trek and we were welcomed there with gracious helpings of veg pulao and curd rice. After rejuvenating ourselves, we began the main part of the trek – through the forests. Ever since our guide had joined us, he had kept telling us stories about their encounters with elephants and tigers. It had raised our hopes of catching a glimpse of a few along the way. But the important thing to remember was that the experience of the guides had been accumulated over decades of years and by calculating the average it was obvious that our chances of seeing any animal in one day was very bleak. Yet a walk through the forest was enough inspiration for me to pick up my stuff and start trekking. The entire trek lasted around 3 - 4 hrs. In the process we walked through thick jungle completely surrounded on both sides by s...
Read more

A Fairytale....

It was the 4th of July, I was in Mumbai looking forward to what was probably the most important day of my life. It was also the day that the Rain gods showered the might of the rains, on this island city. Little did they know that the rains were the last thing to stop me from meeting the most important girl I had ever known and to express my feelings for her. It had been raining all morning and I had kept my fingers crossed that it would eventually stop. I delayed my departure from my home for an hour in that hope, but at 11am I simply put on my jacket and left. I told her that I would be reaching at around 12:30pm, considering all the delays in the train……and it was real heartening to see her concern for me, as she made sure that I call her multiple times during my train journey from Tilaknagar to Vile-Parle . It took me well over an hour to reach my destination. I know, I know…I choose train station to meet my loved one. Most unromantic…...that too considering that I was half soaked...
Read more