Life is easy in Chennai. Perhaps it is also a function of where I live-TNagar-centrally located, less than a km away from Mount Road, the 400-year old artery of Chennai. Anything and everything is pretty much a 20-25min drive away- pubs/bars, movie halls, theaters, malls, boutique stores, gym, yoga studio, fav cafes, Madras Club & Boat Blub, bakeries and delis, temples I like to visit, Ramakrishna Mission, beach, all my fav saree stores and of course all good restaurants! What more can one ask for especially in a country like India where big cities are synonymous with congested roads, and hour long traffic-jams.
Of course Chennai itself is quite a small city compared to other metros in India-nothing within the city limits is really that far away. I could perhaps go from Anna Nagar in the north to Besant Nagar in the south in less than an hour-which is saying a lot by Indian standards!!
I have been writing for a while on my experiences in Chennai. Many people have asked me whether the journey for the past two years has really been that smooth-a pertinent doubt given that I am not an insider in the city and Chennai is not known to be particularly friendly or welcoming to outsiders; or at least that is the perception ‘outside’.
The answer is-no, the experience has not always been that enjoyable. There were initial obstacles for sure. For instance, communicating with the Fast Track cab driver every morning on my way to office or communicating with the maids, trying not to get fleeced by the auto drivers despite the fact that I sure don’t sound like a local, getting used to wearing salwar-kameezes while traveling by public transport-not just because this is a conservative society per se, but this I guess is a good practice anywhere in India these days and is hardly a major ‘sacrifice’, getting habituated to the heat and humidity especially coming from Northern California, not being able to go on long walks given the lack of proper side walks almost anywhere in the city and of course given the weather-here 8am can feel like mid-afternoon, ignoring the fact that every time one boards a local cab, one would only get to listen to Tamil songs and nothing else (perhaps also because FM radio stations here hardly ever play anything else!), and of course the biggest downside being, not knowing anyone in the city to begin with.
Yes initially I used to feel frustrated. Coming directly from California and trying to live in Chennai was far from easy. I had my share of unpleasant days too, as I guess was expected. However very quickly I realized none of the above so-called obstacles is really that crucial when it comes to enjoying a good life. Once I got determined to discover Chennai in my own ways and on my own terms, without letting any sort of prejudice influence my judgment and more importantly, once I decided not to judge Chennai at all, but just to soak it in and find out what it is all about, all the above obstacles gradually stopped appearing insurmountable.
A few tweaks here and there and in a few months, I was all set to start my explorations around the city. Learning to communicate with the cab drivers/local vegetable vendors and flower sellers/plumber/electrician/auto drivers in broken English interspersed with a few Tamil words (like akka-sister thambi/anna-brother, pakatlema-nearby, appron-after, illai-no, amam-yes, vandi-car, nandri-thank you, nalai-tomorrow etc), helped carry on a basic conversation and was good enough for my daily requirements (it helps when local people get the feeling that at least you are trying!), replacing Tamil-speaking maids with a Hindi speaking one who also cooks non-vegetarian items including yummy chicken biriyani and fish fry masala (that was a bonus!), enlisting the help of the Hindi-speaking watchman to communicate with the water-supplier, the gardener or the guy I would sell my big pile of newspapers to, avoiding venturing out too much during daytime when the humidity can be quite oppressive and taking utmost advantage of one of the best technological innovations of all times-the A/C machine-at home, office and cabs, going to the yoga studio/gym only in the evenings when it is much more pleasant, joining expat/NRI groups to meet more people and make friends as well as hanging out with a few colleagues from work to gradually expand the social circle starting from scratch, putting earphones on inside cabs or better still, learning to appreciate Tamil music, and so on.
Chennai can be a foodie’s delight (as I have already documented several times in this space), it can offer a truly enriching experience to those with a cultural inclination (with its sabhas, dance recitals, year long theater scene etc) and it can be a shopper’s paradise! I have lost count of the number of times I have gone shopping for those gorgeous silk sarees and beautiful Kanjeevarams in Kumaran/Nalli/Sundari silk stores strewn all over the city, visited the perennially crowded Saravana Store or Pothy’s in TNagar and wondered how the shoppers actually survive inside, explored the 5-storeyed buildings dedicated to nothing but jewellery like Joyalukkas and GRT Jewelers-a concept entirely new to me (despite the fact that Bengalis in Calcutta love their gold too!), at the other end of the spectrum visited local boutique stores like Sarangi, Brass Tacks and Shilpi and attended one-of-a-kind clothing and jewellery exhibitions at Amethyst. And I have even gone around with jasmine flowers in my hair-an integral part of the local woman’s attire in Chennai and have loved every bit of it!
Above all, what perhaps helped the most was the fact that I learnt to accept instead of resisting at every step of the way. I accepted Chennai as a city and everything that comes with it. That helped me quite early on, to get rid of my pre-conceived notions and to start on a clean slate. Since then, I have been all over the city-the posh, green neighborhoods of Gopalapuram and Poes Garden, the crowded streets of Parry’s corner including the port (yes I have been there too!) and Saidapet, the temples and saree stores of Mylapore, the endless stretch of shops in TNagar, the ‘very Indian’ beaches of Besant Nagar and Marina, residential colonies of Kilpauk, Chetpet, Adyar and Thiruvanmiyur, cafes and restaurants from OMR in the south to Anna Nagar in the north, swanky malls in Royapettah and Velacherry, yoga studios, delis and bakeries in Nungambakkam and Alwarpet, 5-star hotels in MRC Nagar, Anna Salai, Guindy and Egmore, the fish markets of Kodambakkam and bus termini of Vadapalani and Koyambedu—the list goes on!
In fact, it is possible that I know the streets and roads of Chennai better than I know those of Calcutta-my hometown, perhaps because I have never really explored Calcutta on my own with precisely that objective in mind and have always relied on other people to find my way around. Needless to say, the more I ventured out on my own in Chennai, the more I learnt ways to cope in a city that at first had seemed so alien to me. Till I guess a point came, when the city took me in as well and somewhere down the line I stopped feeling like a stranger or an outsider.
It has not been that long since the day I first arrived in Chennai and moved into our service apartment on Kothari road in Nungambakkam, but now I can confidently say, when I finally leave Chennai, I shall miss it-a lot. Two years ago, I had never thought one day I would say this.
I have to admit though I still have not seen a Rajanikanth movie neither have I watched Chennai Express 😉
From California to Chennai 
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