Madrasa suthi paarka porein...
Marina vil veeda katta porein...
Light House il eri nikka porein...
etc etc etc.
For all those folks who don't understand the above lines, its a Rahman Tamil song that talks about visiting places around Madras!
First, the confessions.. I was born and brought up in Singara Chennai. We lived in the heart of the city T.Nagar, a stone's throwaway from Ranganathan Street and Mambalam Railway station. About the only place I know properly in Chennai is South Usman Road and its umpteen galli's ;). If you were to ever get lost in all that maze of shopping in those places, I could possibly be the person who could help you out :D. Wicked!!
But the other side of the truth is that I hardly know the city.With working parents and a demanding school life ;), we hardly ventured out much..a visit to thatha-patti's place on the otherside of the station at West Mambalam was the only constant outing!
So my visit this last weekend was an experience in more ways than one! I boarded the Shatapti to Chennai at 6 AM on Saturday. On my way to my chittappa's place, I was surprised to see multiple photos of Sai Ram on the pre-paid auto(has to be pre-paid ma in Chennai). I always believe that Baba has a quirky way of telling me that a visit was due :). I casually asked the auto fella where the mandir is and he suggested Mylapore.
At home, we decided I needed to complete some bit of shopping before catching up on a dear friend. Off I was to Globus in Pondy Bazaar near my alma mater where I did my standard swiping the card routine ;). Then went to my friend's place and reminisced about all those wonderful days of BITS and life thereafter!
I was back home at 7 and chithi suggested she will take me down to Mylapore to see Baba and also check out the Kapaleeshwar temple which I'd never seen before. The temple, one of the landmarks of Chennai was some place I had never visited :(. When I managed to go there later that night, I was filled with some kind of peace. There is something about old temples with their vast space and the sense of serenity. It is very difficult to feel that peace in any of the newer structures. Thoroughly loved it :).
Sunday, after lunch was shopping time! My mom, who did all her shopping in Bombay when we lived in Chennai now does all her shopping in Chennai (at T.Nagar, mind you!!) while we live in Bangalore!! She had gently hinted when I left Blore that I pick up some sarees for her. So off we went (Chithi and I) to Nalli's :). Now, I know Nalli's is a brand name which women all over India seem to know is the place to shop for sarees, I once had a friend's sister suggesting that there is a Nalli in Hyderabad. But for all that brand name, Nalli's can be real real confusing! They have 3 floors, umpteen counters and hazaar varieties...I wonder how any tourist would know what to shop around here! And mind you, this is just one shop.. they have about 3 shops on the same road!
Anyway, we picked some sarees for my mom. Now, I can't be left behind.. can I ;). I wanted to check out the designer silk sarees which meant we spent some more time looking around. If we've come so far.. must check out RMKV silks nearby also na.. ;). So after a marathon 3 hours of shopping, we landed home at 3 in the afternoon! Chithi's afternoon nap gone for a toss!
Now, we had to go to beach also ;), the government has spent crores beautifying the runway around the beach ;).. I must visit it..right ;) So, off we were to the crowded Marina beach and spent close to 45 mins standing in the cool waters :). Bliss!!
Later,Dinner at Mathura's where I realised that my childhood restaurant is no match to the ambience and food of Hyd's restaurants, I even got onto a PTC bus (:D) to finally reach home!
Monday, boarded Shatapti at 6 AM to get back to home, office and life as usual :)
Well, there goes my Madras travel diary ;).
B
