Made of Chennai
The most common adage you hear when you say Chennai is "Madras is an emotion". The metamorphosis of Madras and it's old world charm to the current Chennai of CSK fame is something that only hard-core Chennaites or if you must Madrasis understand. Growing up in the area Mylapore (South Chennai) that is synonymous with filter coffee, temples, classical music and dance scene , I have always had a part of this city in me.
Something as simple as the Vinayagar Chaturthi celebrations in the Warren road pillayar kovil formed the basis of many friendships and cultural exchanges in my life. While the beach made for a simple outing on Sunday evenings with family where the sand meets the sea and the cool breeze drowns away your worries. The drive in woodlands introduced me to the Bhel puri , Channa Batura and butter naan that did tease the palette from it's traditional south indian fare. It's hard to imagine my childhood without the FDFS( First Day First Show) adrenaline rush of watching a Rajni or Kamal movie that just released. This then graduated to drive in theaters ( Prarthana) and the whole family experience around this including packing and ordering food had it's own process for those who know.
Watching crazy mohan, sv shekar plays and laughing without a care in the world is something you just can't put in words. Playing on the roads in peak summer was a possibility with no frills attached. Admist all this, I do not recollect even once complaining about summer or the heat.The thrill of visiting Chepauk for an India test match is a different feeling and the CSK matches in the same stadium now garner the same feeling of pride. The kapaleeshwar temple festival and shopping for knick knacks after jostling for space to get a view of the aruvathi movaar is something you need to experience to understand the Madras feeling.
As cliche as it seems just entering Nalli had a distinct smell before you drowned into six yards of sheer beauty. While these memories came flooding to me, I realise that I am just getting started of penning down my quintessional Madras experience. The newly christened Chennai avatar or rather simply put as I moved on across different phases in my life, Chennai also started to offer a different perspective. The influx of multiplex theater to food court( notice the singular mention) were not as rampant as the rest of India but that one was good enough. IIT madras Sarang introduced me to rock bands around the country. Zara and now Sera will hold a special place as an almost first restobar if you can discount the afternoon discos of that time. The Hindu theater fest and Evam created a culture of watching english plays that opened up a new world of drama that received a warm welcome from this culturally astute city. The taste palettes also opened up to a variety of different cusines and globalization brought Chennai multicuisine restaurants. The eden a famous vegetarian hotel in Besant nagar is where I came face to face with vegetarian Augratin and corn on toast. With the expansion of the east coast road, plethora of activities have opened up in this city that elevates the weekend experience. Interestingly growing up, VGP seemed like a far off land that required months of planning to visit. Cultures can coexist and December is the perfect time where Christmas parties and mulled wine have their own space alongside season kutcheries and sabha canteens. I can go on about every little place and memory of mine that makes me #madeofchennai .
Let me sum this up and take you down a typical Chennai day.
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