Anything Under the Sun!!!

Chennai – Love it or leave it!!!

Chennai – a place outsiders love to hate and I just love.

When I tell people that I lived in Chennai, you get the usual reaction, “Chennai? Isn’t it really dirty? It’s so hot in Chennai. I can never live there”. My usual question in reply would be, “When did you go to Chennai?”, and they would say, “No, I have just heard that” or “I had been there 5-6 years back”.

Hey people, Chennai’s not all that bad. It’s just all the bad publicity it gets. Yes, it’s not a super-clean city but which city in India is? It has its share of dirty lanes but also some nice roads (better than the ones I have seen in Bangalore!).

It has the longest beach in the world, Marina (though little dirty, the sunsets and sunrises are still a sight). It has other wonderful, cleaner beaches too, if you are the beachy type. You can find lot of private beaches if you step out of Chennai towards Mahabalipuram. You could even go to Mahabalipuram for your weekends (just that it would be REALLY crowded).

Then, who doesn’t know about Spencer Plaza (ya, I know that’s the only shopping mall out there but we have more coming up)? You can see the whole of Chennai at Spencers during weekends. and you’ll wonder as always “all these people actually live in Chennai?”…

I better not talk about the auto guys. Non-Chennaiites have a hell of a time with them. They demand their price and you negotiate(if you are wise enough) till you reach a “reasonable” rate (FYI I am NOT WISE!!!). But once you get used to it, it’s all fine because you have buses and share autos (which are irritating in their own way) and you end up owning your own vehicle. So, everything becomes fine!

The people can be either friendly or unfriendly or irritatingly friendly (had to put the 3rd option). Helpful but please don’t mess with them and if you do, be ready to hear all the good things in the world. But otherwise, they are a nice lot.

So, you can love it or leave it… But however it is, I love Chennai!!!