The First Look : Chennai
28th December 2012.
It has been three days in Chennai.
Right now (@1 pm) I am lying down in a hotel room at Greams Road, waiting for my parents to return from the renowned Apollo Hospital. A long pending agenda, convincing my very obstinate and disobedient parents for a thorough check-up, seems to be finally over.
My parents are obviously not happy at the amount of money spent. Parents in India, somehow, manage to grow the belief that they are super humans, and nothing wrong can happen to them if their children are fine. And all the money they have saved throughout their lifetime is meant to be spent only on their children. Angels they are!
However, I, being an equally obstinate offspring of my dear parents, generally get my way. Thus here we are!
Apollo Hospital is a pilgrimage in itself. The first day I walked in through the lobby, I was awe-inspired. A magnanimous enterprise constituted of hundreds of departments, thousands of staff and lakhs of patients and their companions from all over India and the neighbouring countries – all functioning together in sync like clockwork. You can feel the presence of a very strong central management body. Of course there are hiccups, but on the whole, the organization is quite good. This - if you see it as a business unit.
I have never been particularly fond of hospitals, because as soon as I enter one, I begin to feel nauseated. But this time, there was no getting away. My parents, by now being on a check-up spree, very slyly pulled me into the programme and had the last laugh. So there I was on the second day, waiting in a long line for endoscopy and colonoscopy. If you have never undergone these tests, you will never be able to understand the amount of pain one has to go through. And the worst part is Colonoscopy is literally the quintessential “GMD” with a camera fitted to the “D”!
Dear God! I had to live to see this day!
~
Chennai is a place about which I have heard many tales.
About the hot weather, which is true since the ceiling fan is always in full swing here while the rest of India is dying in cold.
About the infamous “Auto Raj” which is also supposedly true. The entire city is well-connected by autos, but the fares are exorbitant and dynamic. May be we are receiving this treatment because we are tourists. Or, maybe it is the norm here. People who have stayed in Chennai before will be able to validate. There are buses too. But they are of not much help to newbies like us who don’t know the local language and the bus routes.
But there are many similarities between Chennai and Kolkata. Starting from the Central Station which looks like Howrah station to the mohallas , the never-ending traffic, the city layout, the filth, the abundant advertisements of the Misses Chief Ministers. The differences that are evident are the wideness of the roads, the many flyovers, the much flexible traffic rules which allow you to ride a bike without a helmet and with your earphones on without getting heavily fined, unlike in Kolkata, the enormous sized fruits and vegetables (the longest green chilli ever without an ounce of hotness!), and of course the sky-rocketing prices of things in general.
And yes, the sea too! It is more raging in Chennai than around Kolkata.
To be honest, Marina Beach is one of the filthiest beaches I have been to. Come afternoon and hordes of people throng the vast shore which remains congested by various shops. It is like a fair every afternoon. Small shops selling sea-shells, ornaments, banana chips, fish, ornaments, gift items – imagine the amount of littering and filth! Be it any state, we Indians are so alike when it comes to leaving our trash behind. The sea is a great sight. But the crowd gives you no relief.
There is a new memorial adjacent to the beach. The MGR and Periragambar Anna Memorial erected by the current Chief Minister of Tamilnadu. A sprawling marble complex, still under construction and no entry fee. Another free space for the crowds to throng and litter.
Two hundred bucks and you can reach the shopping complex of T. Nagar. If you take your mom or aunts here, they are bound to go berserk on seeing the collection of stainless steel utensils here. My advice - don’t see your pocket and sulk, but take part in the shopping and enjoy. If you choose the utensils for them and reduce the job of the salesman, you may even end up with a job offer there!
Back at the hotel, my dad is hard at his Tamil lessons from a newly bought “Learn Tamil in 30 days”. Hope he leaves me out of this!
