visiting chennai

I was born in Mumbai but spent the first 7 years of my life in the crazy city of madras (was not named Chennai till then). Such is a chance that I am appearing for an exam and my centre is in Chennai. It is a strange feeling coming back to the city after almost 14 years. Not that I remembered anything much about the place. Also I had long ago forgotten whatever little Tamil I had ever learnt. Well started the preparation to go to the city. Trains are all booked up and so I decided to avail the bus service. After a whole lot of roaming around the garden city I finally got a ticket to Chennai in a Volvo bus at a decent enough rate. It was a first hand experience for me travelling in a bus (a so called luxury one at that). The seats were comfortable and A/C was reprieve from the heat. I had been warned of the torture of watching tamil movies played on the TV. There was a tamil movie going on there. As usual a night before the exams I never feel sleepy. So what better to do than watch a movie? It was decent movie overall. Though, the ending was a bit shocking. (Ok I understood all that was going on thanks largely to the English subtitles). Well the aunty that was sleeping beside me was very troublesome and another elderly couple at my back was not comfortable so I could say good bye to my sweet-dreams. So whenever the bus stopped I got down getting some fresh air. It was always a good site to watch a well maintained brightly lighted highway. Anyways I woke up (not that I slept too much) at 5 am and by 5.30 I am at the bus stand and then I called uncle (a former colleague and close friend of my father). He comes up on his motor bike. Well reached his home and freshened up and got ready to go to my exam centre. Aunty prepared some dosa for me. It was really tasty, can’t wonder where I will be able to so tasty chutney. Ummmm… Then uncle takes me to the centre.. It takes almost quarter to an hour to buzz through the busy roads on a scooter. We had great food in lunch and I was just hoping that I wont get sleep after having eaten so much food. Then we went to the examination hall and uncle sat there in the school compound till the exam got over and this entire period he was just watching the school students indulge in a close game of soccer on the school grounds.

Then after the exam I came out and we went and spent some time on the marina beach. My parents used to bring me here every alternate weekend quite some time back and today I come back to the place again. I hardly remember having been here earlier.

We have some snacks and talk a little and then we move back to home. Back though a maddening traffic we squeeze our way out on the scooter. Then we had a photo-session of sorts and had dinner and back to bus stand and going for catch a bus back to the garden city.

My sincere thanks to uncle and aunty for their assistance and hospitality.