The Chennai I kno(e)w

Hi folks, back frm a 3 week vacation to Chennai, couldn’t keep the blog going due to various reasons namely connectivity, lack of time etc etc and I realised I was yet to become a blogaholic at least one holic I am yet to become….rather than boring u with You-know-what-I-did-this-summer types I thought I’ll put down some snippets on my trip. Some sights and sounds and my experiences this summer. I was caught quoting , ‘when I was younger’ and ‘in those days’ more often than required...signs of ageing I suppose or is it that, the changes are happening faster back home??? The gen next looked beyond reach and repair…

Nikes, MP3’s and Kancheepuram Sarees!!!

If I asked u to pick the odd one out, u wld hit Kancheepuram sarees immediately, well unfortunately I realised that it was not. Gud ol mamis of Besant Nagar where burning their calories to keep their Chol and Diab levels in check by walking up and down the beach, but were doing it in real style…with the right tools one should say. Proper branded walking shoes, MP3’s tucked away in their ‘madisars’ listening probably to Suprabatham or Thyagaraja Keerthanais, I guess Im wrong here, it might have even been Sweet Child of Mine by Guns ‘n Roses...The sweet child who probably sent her all this from the US…

The L’s and C’s of Real Estate in Chennai.

The real estate affordability in Chennai and me seem to be separated by just an alphabet when people were talking about L, my affordability was in the K’s, when I was finally ready for the L things have moved into the C’s, wish it was the roman numeral C unfortunately it is the C as in CRORES… so u see, by the time I try and make that elusive C before I retire, it wud have moved to CC that’s an hundred crores...God save me. However I wish to put down an interesting anecdote I heard from a real estate agent during one of my land hunts… I saw a huge area of land between Velachery and Medavakkam (2 places in Chennai for those not familiar with Chennai). There were lotta developments around this, but none on this. I was curious, the real estate agent revealed a trivia apparently familiar to the locals of the area. The land belonged to the Ettayappan family, Ettayappan was Veerapandi Kattaboman’s confidante who betrayed him and revealed his whereabouts to the Brits and incidentally this was part of the land gifted by the Brits to Ettayappan as betrayal fee to him. Hence this piece of land was branded a Traitors Land but I was told that there were a lot of JV’s signed to develop this land with the Ettayappan family. The real estate value in Chennai definitely overshadowed the curse of a traitors land! Readers to verify independently the authenticity of this info.

You better insure your homes or else…

As soon as I entered the ICICI bank in Chennai I was confronted with a notice almost every where I turned. It mentioned a Technical study conducted by Anna University and Geological Survey of India on the condition of the soil in and around the area I lived and confirmed the earth quake proneness of the area etc etc… scary stuff .. Right next to it was a table showing rate per lakh per month to insure your homes. Some marketing this…

Night life in Chennai…

A couple of friends and me decided to check out the night life in Chennai during this visit, and wanted to desperately check out Zaras a pub in the erstwhile Alwarpet area of Chennai. We were bounced from there since we were not wearing the right attire... can u imagine a dress code in Chennai for simply having a beer???
Dressed for the occasion & venue we once again ventured into Zaras on a Sat night and we were bounced again, Reason: no reservations and moreover we were single men looking for a drink. Just before this while I was waiting for my friend I realised I might be a lil outta place for this pub, cos the majority of people entering were all women/girls hardly past their teens with a ciggi in one hand and the other wrapped around the designer briefs poping out of the low waist jeans of their funny looking partners who had equally funny looking hairdos and tufts of hair on the face which I presumed were beards. Here I was, a father of 2 daughters contemplating an hour back to return to Chennai for good to inculcate gud ol Chennai values in my daughters was giving my thought a second chance.
Soon after my friend arrived we hit another pub in town, Bikes and Barrels, since we were stags we were guided to another level from were we could see the couples and single women thro a NET, yeah man a net…a level below us. The place was not definitely worth our presence (or atleast that’s how we consoled ourselves). Since kids half our age were happily drinking beer at Rs270 a bottle with utter disdain….while my friend a Senior level executive in an MNC and me a NRI were finding it a lil too expensive to hang around for a second drink…. some consumerism this…My friend & I finally ended up at a club in which my friend was a member and we realised that this is why one should have a membership in clubs after 35

The Hindu’s finally got competition…

On the drive from the airport I found a series of signboards advertising THE HINDU, a newspaper I grew up reading and the one paper which was simply a generic in this city when it came to newspapers, the Indian Express was a distant second, The adverts were obvious signs of the usually laid back The Hindu being elbowed by the new kids on the bloc The Times of India Chennai edition, Deccan Herald and the revamped and new look New Indian Express. I was told The Hindu even fell prey to the price war and had reduced their prices…I did check out the others but my heart rules over my mind and still beats for The Hindu...though clearly the gen next prefer the new comers…