In MADras!

I am back in MADras and life here for people who come from places like Delhi and surroundings revolves around office, Hindi-speaking folks, gym partners, people you find at very few eateries that dish out North Indian meals/dishes, internet (the trusted friend), few friends who are unlucky enough to be slogging out in MADras like you, the cell phone and such trivial stuff!

Some of my friends believe that the locals here maintain a convenient distance between themselves (Tamils) and us (non-Tamils). Its not that we are being handed out a bad treatment but the feeling of belonging is missing. I am sure it will be a long time before we start thinking of Chennai as our city, if at all that ever happens and I dare say that life in Amsterdam or Chennai pretty much means the same to me. Language, food and personal behaviors will trouble you at both places no ends. And, its so natural to feel that way.

Anybody coming from Delhi will tell you that he often feels like having an ice cream at 12 in the night, he would want to go out and treat himself to the best international cuisines available, he would want to go out for the newest English movies, he would want to go out for a stroll in the tree-lined European style parks, he would want to indulge himself in road-side eating once in a while and what not. But sadly MADras, despite being one of the largest cities in the country, offers none in ample amounts. It doesn’t have enough of that entrepreneurial spirit which is so evident in people who come from my part of the country (read Delhi). People here like to play it safe. Very safe indeed. And that is why youngsters/bachelors from Delhi are the worst possible tenants to have! Think of mindless generalization of a very rare phenomenon and here it is.

Some things I like about Chennai include the public transport here, both local trains and buses, which are quite efficient by any standards. Almost everybody here knows English and so I have survived here without knowing a thing about Tamil. The power situation is not as bad as it was in Delhi this summer. In fact, power cuts are very rare. The traffic jams, here, are nowhere as long and time guzzling as they could be in Delhi. This city, I‘ve heard, is safer for woman and I hope it is. Last - with many more to be discovered in near future. This city offers tremendous job and career growth potential.

JAVA/J2EE J, State Politics and Tamil movies seem to be the favorites of people here. Everybody here knows one thing or the other about these three. Imagine my plight here. I am not at all, not at all, absolutely positively not at all interested in any of these!

Nevertheless, I am enjoying my stay here. The friends, the home, the office all inspire me to excitingly look ahead to the next day J

So far so good!

I will keep posting about my efforts to find my roots here. I hope I will find out some nice things to write about Madras. I will keep publishing on this in time to come.

Cheers!