Chennai checklist….

Chennai, India (Photo credit: sjdunphy)

Things to do before you leave chennai… Or checklist for a person to be called “Machha”

1. Have sweat it out winters here
2. Have been to sowcarpet atleast once and tried the thali
3. Tried waking across Marina  beach… Tried
4. Have been to atleast one of the multiplexes and saw a movie for Rs10 … wonly…
5. And speaking of films… have seen atleast one SUPERSTAR film
6. Lived long enough in chennai to see atleast one Rajnikant film release – and then booked a 4am show
7. Walked across Ranganathan street during festivals or first week of the month
8. Tried Murugun, Saravana, Sangeetha, Geetha, A2B and other restaurants only to realize that Idli “toh sab ek jaisa hi hai”….
9. Attended at least one Tamilian mariiage at 7 in the morning
10. Started your diwali celebration at 4am in the morning -after visiting the temple
11. ECR ride… with friends and prospective family
12. started your day with “THE HINDU“… and ended it with songs on Chennai Live
13. Strolled around in the only true multiplex EA, and then went off to Specer’s, Pondy Bazar or your neighbourhood store for purchases…
14. 15th Aug means more than independence day – its Landmark quiz @ Music Academy
15. And while we are on Music Academy – have attended atleast one concert/play there
16. Chennai style buffette – had chennai/andhra meals – with all you can eat rice and “side dishes”
17. Bhajji on the beach – and for the non-veg – grilled fish at besant nagar beach
18. Rode a Royal Enfield – Handcrafted in Chennai
19. TASMAC – hated it to the core, but still….
20. but for the quality/price seekers – got contra from Pondicherry or Bangalore – or better from your “videsh” touring friends
21. ditched the cappucinos of the world for some good “kaapi” – filter coffee
22. Ate rice all day – breakfast to lunch to dinner – idlies – dosa – utthapam – rice meals – evening tiffin – rice cakes – and still not missed the humble roti…
23. Danced to ~Gemini gemini~ or ~Apdi podu~ in clubs…
24. Missed Curd Rice in a 5-star – 7 course all-you-can-eat buffet
25. Learned the art of communicating in sign languages with domestic help (only for non-Tamil speaking junta)
26. Cursed non-tamil speaking junta for their inability to learn the language (for Tamil speaking junta only)
27. went trekking/holidaying atleast once near chennai – tirupati ranges – nilgiri ranges – coorg area – ooty region: realized there is life 120kms beyond the city in any direction (except east maybe)
28. Bought winter wear for your trip to bangalore…
29. Spent a day at Madras Race Track…

The list is endless… feel free to add more here in comments…

also see the Ahmedabad checklist:

How did it happen: Burma Bazaar

 

Pantheon Road, Connamera Hotel, Fort St George, Frazer Road… an endless list of buildings and roads remind us of Chennai’s British history. Chennai, unline other India cities does not have any pre-british historic significance. Like other british port cities (Mumbai, Kolkatta, Colombo), Chennai was established for the port with a fort at its center. Fort St. George was that anchor for Chennai. Two centuries later immigrants helped expand the city to its current shape. Like Kolkata, Chennai too has a sizeable population of trader communities like the Marwaris. Owing to its location, it also had an influx of traders from Andra. The city was a big part of the British regime in India. No wonder the first Governer of Madras was Elihu Yale, after whom Yale University is named. The City expanded beyond the Fort over year.

 

Here’s how it looked in 1921 – with the Fort at center of expansion.

Image via Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The city later expanded to take its current form.

But an interesting part of Chennai goes by the name “Burma Bazar”. While Burma has some British history, the Bazar is in Chennai for a different reason. Apparently when the Japs attacked Burma during WWII, many PIOs in Burma wanted to come back… mostly PTOs (tamil origin). The then GOI allowed them to seek refuge in Chennai where they could sell random stuff from Burma till they make decent money to start other businesses or get employed elsewhere.

Post independence, political landscape in Burma forced many PIOs to seek refuge in Chennai and Burma Bazar grew. The Bazar, which is a series of small shops along the road near beach station, is still buzzing with activity. The shops mainly sell grey market electronic goods, maybe due to its close proximity to the port. So while it is named Burma Bazar, there is nothing Burma-like.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Bazaar

#burmabazaar, #chennai

Wrath of THE chennai rickshaw driver

‘Majboori ka naam Gandhi’

A popular Hindi line… Don’t know its origins …. But it means that sometimes we have are left with the most undesirable options… I finally had to face the deadly Chennai auto drivers. my bro says only two things do not need after sales service – coffins and Chennai auto meters. haven’t seen even a single soul operating on the meter here.

Ask anyone in Chennai, negotiating with an auto is the most difficult part, even for tamilians. And above that, you need to know the exact address. a lane travelled extra attracts additional Rs10 for sure.

but.. but but but….

But interesting part of the day was haggling, no… read it as shouting on autorick driver. And sort of feeling good that I gave him less than what he shouted for. But at the same time am afraid that he will keep an eye on me. His Rick is parked around my gully… need to be careful when i step out tomm…  wish me luck…

And mind you, these are not your ordinary drivers… these are Rajnikanth styled Schumaker Swamy union leaders.

Delhi blasts – recent history

Recent history of delhi blasts:

 

tocuhed eastern india….

visited 17 states (48.5%)

finally touched eastern India, thanks to friend’s wedding. NE, Punjab, J&K, Jharkhand-Orissa-Chattisgarh next on radar…

Create your own visited map of India

where to get info on elections

Assembly elections are round the corner for 4 indian states – TN, KL, WB, ASM and 1 union territory – PY. Here’s a list of sites where you can find details, news, live coverage etc..

Election commission of India sites

• eci.nic.in – eci home page
• eciresults.nic.in – latest election results

Active sites keeping a watch on elections, voting, pro-democracy, anti-corruption

• adrindia – NGO for electoral and political reforms
• myneta.info – has info on election candidates
• election india – info on latest elections
• electionaffairs – info on latest elections
• indian-elections – info on latest elections

News/Portals

• Wiki
• Yahoo portal
• Rediff
• msn
• voteindia
• TOI
• Hindu
• HT
• India Today

Inactive sites

• Google election center – in partnership with NGOs, Google created this awesome control center type site

The list is not exhaustive. drop in your suggestions below.

bloody globalization

Getting gifts from foreign travel was so easy in pre globalization/liberalization age. One could get any simple item from the store nextdoor and satisfy the demands of their desi relatives and friends. t-shirts, university Jersey, shaving foam, RC car, knife, Casio watch… even car duster would do as long as its bought from alien land.
And then comes in globalization with it’s weird concept of liberalization. So called neighborhood stores stock almost everything you could find in firangland.

Foreign visit now calls for visit to some exotic corner in the city where even Columbus wouldn’t dare to venture. Bloody globalization

Dangerous driving

Whom would you rather fear in traffic: a girl on a dio (gearless 2 wheeler) or a guy on a pulsar (commuting bike)??  Or to make the comparison easier, a female or a male in the same car.. say Swift. Now whom would you rather be afraid of in traffic?? Unpolled statistics from unreliable sources show many fear women behind wheels… but the question is, is it so for everyone?? The other day, a friend of mine was stopped by traffic police. But why did the cop stopped her car? In his words “You are a female and these are hilly roads”. Laughter on my part and anger on her’s was ensured for rest of the journey…

So anyways… Is this just an urban myth, or is there some statistical data out there to prove the “Women behind wheels”  logic (let’s call it WBW)… So I pulled over WHO’s data on road accidents. Now pay attention to these facts. (i) Women are allowed to drive in India. (ii) Women are banned from driving in Saudi Arabia. (iii) And they love me. Now barring the last one, there is no dispute on the others. So going by WBW, there should be far more road accidents per capita in India compared to Saudi. But…But… 24.5/lakh in Saudi and 18.1 in India.

Nevertheless, i’ll fear the female behind wheels as well. Cause, when in India, always assume that the driver in front of you is Indian…

Are we voting less??

Baap(u) of all irony

It takes a flamboyant liquor baron to buy the memorials of the man who believed in simplicity, and in whose name liquor is prohibited in India.