Hello Chennai........

I had never been to Chennai… untill I got married. When I decided to move to Chennai... I was not sure what to expect from this city even though I had been to Tamil Nadu for the last two years.  Concerns are many like “language! Conservative people! Food! Etc etc … one of my friends who had been to Chennai warned me “The Chennai weather sucks! It will be hot like hell especially in April and May and yeah of course I came here in a hot summer. (No need to say summer and all as it is always hot here!) I was really struggled to adapt the climate here. And in those days... I had a feeling that yeah Chennai is hot and sultry and it’s humid and its complete turn off for anyone... and I always had a tendency to compare each and everything that I had in Kerala and felt like missing my home town in all aspects!!!

 I’ve been here more than six months now, and I don’t know now I have a feeling that after all those ill feelings, I am started to love this “busy” city!  I like their rich culture and tradition, the busy shopping malls, temple in every nook and corner , their tone of language…… their vegetarian food…( even though I am a pure non vegetarian and feel sad about here I could not find a good non veg  restaurant other than those busy costly shops in Spencer  or in n city center or  Kumarakam, the so called “Kerala food” restaurant   where we had lunch in almost all weekends)  ) especially “curd rice”…  you know something I have started cooking with gingerly oil too.. Thanks to my Tamil colleague who taught me to cook some rice with gingerly oil.  I always feel that there is nothing more invigorating than the smell of freshly brewed filter coffee, which permeates in the streets of village in the morning and evenings.  Now I am waking up to the smell of filter kappi, “suprabhatham song” and the “kolam” than to my phone buzzing. I just love the evening walk in the jasmine or chrysanthemum smelled thoroughfares in our village.

I admired Chennai for allowing all kinds of people to get along and to lead a life that is suited to them. We can meet mal, northi, telgu etc here in one train or bus or whatever.  But I hate Chennai for the crooked auto drivers,( auto’s in Chennai suck, they fleece and cheat people and they are rude to them.. if you know the language, you can blow them down, otherwise the reverse may happen all the time) share autos, irregular buses, lack of distinct bilingual sign boards ( as I always   heard people found difficulty  to read the Tamil script get to the destination as  most of the street signs are in Tamil, except the “speed thrills but kills” kind of stuff) , and yeah of course their  partiality towards the language{(even though I have benefited that I am from Palakkad as they love us, only coz of the a bit Tamil culture we are belong to ) if you know Tamil, you will be benefited here for sure! }

But apart from the wind and wheel there is something in this city that makes us love her very much. This city taught me a lot of things like the language, and most importantly: to love the city where we are supposed to live in, mould me in such a way to love and accept the city and people the way they are.  Now I know it is Chennai only and not Kerala or whatever and Thank god it is not.

Chennai the city which colored the cinema dreams of many, city of karnatic music, called as the city of everything…… but what I feel is yeah nothing is here….  if you see the busy streets in T nagar and the long beach and the Spencer plaza too yes! That is all about Chennai. That is what I feel at the end of the day...

People, including new friends, colleagues, neighbors and sometimes complete strangers, who have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome here. People who have ensured that I have never felt like a stranger and never will…

Thank you all……

And lastly, Chennai I love you for what you are... and I too love myself for what I am when I am with you…….