A day in chennai…
Today something interesting happened, i discovered a few old lost habits of mine. Back when i was in 4th standard or so, i used to take out my bi cycle and just keep driving into no where.No thoughts, just looking into nothingness as i drive along and hum to music. I did that today again with a twist..
I happened to come down to chennai to attend a marriage which takes place tomorrow (01-17-10), thinking of this as an opportunity to catch up with lost contacts, i visited four different people in different parts of the city, where the time i had last met them varied between 8 years to 1 year..
My friend shyam, whose home i am staying at gave me his scooty and i set forth into a journey on the wild roads of chennai on a pongal day! Strict police checking brought back memories of me driving when i didn’t use to have a license, and instinctively i did try to dodge a few of them. Finding the routes was the funniest part, i got to speak tamil as that is the only mode of survival and to my surprise people understood what i wanted to know and replied as well, only problem remaining i couldn’t follow most of it. A typical conversation would be like this:
Me sitting on my scooty(to an autowallah parked near the roadside):
Anna, spencers plaza ponum.
Big Brother i want to go to spencers plaza.
Autowallah (first turning in other direction and then spitting, turning back to me and bowing his head out:
auto le ya?
Do you want an auto?
Me(wondering on his commensense, as why would i want an auto when i am already on a vehicle):
illa anna, route teriyade.. eppadi ponum?
No bro i don’t know the route, how do i get there?
Autowallah:
Ippdey neerey poyeta, signel le left adi, kunjam front le poyal right adita
(After hearing a left left right exercise, i shifted to hearing mode from listening mode)
some more directions in tamil, talking about a temple and a known shop
finally i hear him say
oru bridge varum, adikkey mailey ponda, left le polam..
.
What he said in total was that.. Keep going straight and take left from signal, and then go a bit front and you will find a right turn..Then i go blank and in the end he said a bridge will come don’t go on top of it instead take a left and you will reach..
Now I had similar conversations with autowallas at different situations, like while waiting at the signal, or when both of us are running at 60kmph, or he is parked along side.. I will appreciate the dedication with which they told me the route and coincidentally all of them mentioned a Bridge on my way, which NEVER came! Still it was fun to get lost on the way and then take U turns all the way and then like a dumb guy ask for it again.. However
The sea breeze in full flow, sexy smooth roads (anna salai).. Driving through unknown roads in complete darkness and unexpected cracker bursts and signal stops on the roads, it was fun to jostel around the traffic and meander through it..
I met my school mate after good 4 years, and look at the way time flies.. He is staring a company of his own! WE guys had an awesome talk while having yummy masala dosa at Murgan’s idli shop in t-nagar. (Bloody hell, parking is a huge pain even for 2 wheelers).. talking to him i realized there are engineers beyond the realm of computer science too..
Then i moved to chennai city centre where i saw the movie “have you heard of the morgans”, a simple sick movie with expected plot.. It really matters who you have as a company, and take my words, taking an old friend to a movie with whom you have had estranged relationship in the past isn’t a great choice at all..There’s nothing to talk, no vibes at all, it is as if you are being dragged to go through the gruelsome exercise, and top it up with some one who is interested in self redemption mode doesn’t help one bit.. So being bored by the company i decided to call it a day and moved to meet my old family friends, whom i had last met around 6-7 years ago. It was a small fun filled visit, with aunty more concerned to get me married, i however got a chance to revive an old contact of a friend whom i had met around 8 years ago, interestingly she’s getting married later this year, which set my thoughts to focus on the topic of marriage.
I thought hard and hard but realized it is not yet the right time to think about marriage, as it is a life long commitment, its better to think about when the right time comes up, currently is the time to discover myself and develop a sense of self satisfaction.
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