Friday, January 4, 2013

Chennai- For me :)

This post is published as a part of the CBC Tablog.CBC, for everybody  is the Chennai Bloggers' Club, which I am honoured to be a part of. Over 35 bloggers from Chennai are taking part in this blog tag- we take turns to write about Chennai and what it means to us.This tag is perceeded by Sowmya Swaminathan, who blogs at myspace-ss.blogspot.in

Chennai is my city and I am proud of it.

I look at the Cooum with disdain. I complain about the sweltering heat in May, but will raise eyebrows if any of the visitors try to do it incessantly. Come on, we are not even close to the equator!

I shamelessly haggle with the overcharging auto-drivers. I turn my heart to stone every time I hand my card over while fuelling my car.

I turn my nose up at the night curfews imposed by the Government. I hide myself when friends from other states complain about the quality of booze in TASMACs.

I squirm when I see Vijayakanth and Rajanikanth catch/chew bullets and spit them out. I wonder who designed costumes for Vijay when he wears yellow-pink-green-blue combinations.

I speak Tanglish.  I tend to embarrass people by going “What de?No ya.Why ya?” in all the inappropriate places. Sometimes I use the S word too in a very un-lady like way, but it’s okay. It usually gets the desired effect.

The roads make my back hurt. There have been days when I long for rains, and then curse it after a five-minute walk down my street.

I keep scouting for fashion; not that I am a big fan of it, but just to keep in pace with the times; there have been times when I have traveled all the way to Bangalore- just to shop.

Chennai seems to be a difficult city, eh? Seems.

A walk along my city’s vast beach lifts many a dying spirit- every passing minute.

I bow down to the mutually-beneficial concept called share autos.

We appear all hep and mod with our list of labels, but we love our collection of pattu sarees equally and never miss an occasion to flaunt it.

I own three pairs of anklets that I shyly guard like a secret. Every girl here does.

We adorn our hair with jasmine- and its unique, intense fragrance.  No  occasion or saree-ensemble is complete without it.

We draw our kolams with mathematical precision. We team it with piping hot filter coffee at 6 am in the morning. There cannot be a more perfect start to the day.

We may lag behind in the cuisine arena, but we most definitely have something for everybody.

You might be able to count the number of decent pubs my city has on your fingers- but they are definitely safer than anywhere else in the country.

Our men might seem intimidating. But they are can be trusted. They might see. But they will never touch. Only one, in say, a hundred might cause you any trouble. (Sad to quote this as a proud statistic at this juncture, still)

Our mamaas are reasonable. They hear you out. They allow dialogue. They even joke and laugh with/at you at times.

We love springing relations into conversations with strangers. Anna, Akka, Amma, Appa- does wonders.

Our trains are never crowded. We love the yellow metal like crazy. We do the dappan-kuthu EVERYTIME we get a chance.

We can feast dosa-sambar all our life, and we definitely NEED rice, atleast once a day. We have all played kho kho and kabbadi outside, and many a noon has been spent playing pallanguzhi with cousins.

We tend to sway, we tend to be influenced, we tend to be drawn towards so many other things, but- eventually, we all come back to what we call home.

Chennai is my city, and I am proud of it :)

Here I pass the tag to Jefferson Jaikar Anand- who calls himself an incomplete human being who loves f-syllables viz. Food, Fotografy, Fizzix..no, nothing more! ;) He blogs at thotspectrum.wordpress.com

22 comments:

Unknown said...

Loved your post, Gita :) You have brought out all the flavors of Chennai very well :)

I liked these lines especially: "We love springing relations into conversations with strangers. Anna, Akka, Amma, Appa- does wonders." :):)

Chennai, despite all her flaws, is a wonderful place for residents and tourists.

Keep blogging, cheers :)

Unknown said...

Woah. Awe-S-ome.. my craving for chennai has risen exponentially now

Unknown said...

of all the tablogs I READ this as the best !!awesome!! this brought the flavour of chennai the most!awesome!

Kally said...

Sokka eluthi keera ma!!! mass!!

S. Susan Deborah said...

I'm glad that the post came out on the 4th and why not, a well-thought of post like this requires immense time and energy. I am loving this Blog Tag where everyone brings their own unique flavour of Chennai. It was a treat to read this post. As your blog is named, so is this post - Mirth, masala and more!

Joy always,
Susan

Destination Infinity said...

A balanced perspective! I love the food here. I wonder why anyone doesn't? Bglore is one of the worst places ever to eat. I wonder why and how 'no. of pubs' and 'quality of pubs' even became a criterion? Alcohol is a vicious circle. I have seen some hardcore alcohol addicts being thankful to the city because they drink less here. The heat - yes, it kills. Not only in may, even in april, june and beyond! The dabbang-kutthu is a rage even in Mumbai. Once I found a huge group dancing to some Vijay numbers and none of them knew Tamil!!

Destination Infinity

Karen Xavier said...

Neat post, like the part about the anklets... I don't own any, makes me think something is wrong with me.

gitanjali said...

Yayy :)
Soumya- Many thanks, yes I will. New year resolution :D

Prashanth- HA. come come aS Soon aS poSSible! :D

Muthiah Sriram- many thanks :) just an attempt :)

gitanjali said...

@ Ash- hehe, I so agree! And all the pluses, and minuses are what maketh Chennai. it wouldn't be Chennai without it :)

Kally- Danks machi :P

Susan- many thanks :) mighty rich, coming from you. Love. :)

Charan said...

Liked the wrap-up,
"hair with jasmine"? hmmm...quite a rarity these days...!!!

The Pseudonym said...

Super ba. Super City and Super Blogpost.

The Pseudonym said...

Also Please to remove comment moderation it is such a bore. :) Time to move to wordpress perhaps!

Vadapoche said...

Ithu namma Chennai, thought I was crazy when i defended our city to the nay sayers, glad to know that there are so many like me.

Cheers!

Bhushavali said...

Beautiful post... Well written with pointing out the negatives first and then up-ing the spirits with positives!!! :)
Bhusha's TRAVELOGUE
FASHION PANACHE BLOG

Harikrishna said...

Super :) All the points accepted.... Chennai, though there are a few things we dislike, we like the city as a whole... People drastically change their style as per the season here... Dappan-kuthu is always our specialty.. I recently went to Goa and there was DJ going on in a boat cruise.. They played a song from Ghilli as the last. But its response was huge. Almost all danced for it such is its power...

gitanjali said...

@Destination Infinity- Oh yes. And bangalore is such a pain in the pocket! Number of pubs and quality is always a criterion for those who want to harp at Chennai :( No booze after 11 pm, that too. Still. we love it, and always will :)

@Karen- lol, need we any more excuses? shop, shop, shop!!! :D

gitanjali said...

@Charan- I know ya. Still. People make a living out of it na it is not wholly extinct methinks.

@The Pseudonym- Thanks :) welcome here! and about the move- yes, I guess. Need to mirror it all. Ill ping you, I might need help :)

@Clement- Chance ae ille. You are not single man army :P

gitanjali said...

@Bhushavali- thanks Bhusha :)

@Hari- Appadi Podu? :D Vijay did so many, many songs after that but nothing has ever broken this one's popularity I feel :) Yayy :D

gitanjali said...

@Bhushavali- thanks Bhusha :)

@Hari- Appadi Podu? :D Vijay did so many, many songs after that but nothing has ever broken this one's popularity I feel :) Yayy :D

Ni... said...

Gitu ayou have truly portrayed namma chennai and you have spoken like a true chennaite!!

deepthi said...

So true! sharing it. :)

Kappu said...

Just just loved your post! The essence of Chennai just dripsssss!

Do visit my post "Oblivion"! Would love to see you by! *cheers*