These are the lines from a popular Tamil movie song, almost a decade back. This blogger has strong liking for tamilians, when you travel around Tamil Nadu you see so much hope so much potential. Tamil nadu is a place where anything is possible!!. Amazing people, mostly loud but very passionate about things, they have that sturdy primal energy. It is the cradle of the Dravidian culture. India’s future is very much through Tamil Nadu. Despite the fact that politicians of Tamil Nadu are viciously divided sometimes even taking things at personal level it need be noted that whether it is DMK or AIADMK they have taken care of the infrastructure particularly roads. Having traveled on the road all around the country this blogger want to congratulate the Government of Tamil nadu- those who have rule
d the state for last decade or so, they have done an excellent job. You can see the difference as you enter from Karnataka or Kerala. There is so much of space, labor and infrastructure in the State that one wonders why these big buildings are constructed only in cities?. Of course Tamil Nadu particularly northern part has some extremely poor population, some of the sights are quite painful. The reason probably that cuisine of southern Tamil Nadu are richer and varied, also immigrants to east Asia are mostly from this region, the prominent being the chettis of chetinadu (karaikudi is a ghost town with huge empty palatial houses, it is one of the kind place). Despite pockets of poverty Tamil Nadu is a colorful place (probably after Rajasthan) the kind of kitsch art you will not find anywhere despite profusion of vinyl posters (even these are oversized!!). It is a place of exaggeration, take it or leave it. Period!!.
After the college when most guys were moving out to different cities I probably was the only person to move towards Madras (now thankfully Chennai). Impulsiveness was predominant character trait those days, so the reason for choosing Madras was equally incredible: Madras had long beaches and I loved to hang along the sea!!. That probably was my first step towards career building!!! (Great start dude!!). Expectedly Madras was very tough on me, it was quite a struggle and I shuffled jobs almost every month and quite incredibly each job was entirely different from other!!. It still beats me, things I did. Few days back I was in Chennai and dropped in for sunset at Marina beach. I couldn’t help smile, the same place I sat so many years back as a pensive, seriously stressed youngster. It is a full circle and been quite an experience (the kind of things one comes across while traveling is amazing). It is great to be me!!.
Music academy I used to visit quite regularly since the stretch from Stella Maris to US consulate was the place we generally used to be. The place has become quite congested with a fly over (I must say most aesthetically done by MRF, this fly over is an example that could be emulated) and huge hoardings- this blogger is very much against these hoardings it is unaesthetic and a sore sight, there should be a law against these. There used to be kactheris on regular basis in Music academy. Incidentally I have almost one year of Carnatic music training, so I do have a fine ear for this form. I also met Kamal hassan here with his two daughters, he is an amazing guy and an excellent actor. He interacted with us since he knew one of the guys at personal level. Madras taught me the influence of visual medium and the power it holds on people, it is astounding. Madras also taught the need to be consistent in what one does. It was only much later that I thought of taking writing and reading seriously, and also taking up full time traveling (there is so much to see in India that every time it is new!!).
I recall there used to be an automatic dosa maker (it was kind of a robot) at central railway station, although it tasted quite awful I used to drop in to see how it is made atleast once in a week, and there always was a small crowd!!. While walking on the Mount road I came across TVS showroom&garage, and boy boy boy I suddenly recalled haven’t I worked here briefly!!. I almost forgot about it….well it was forgettable!!. There was some written test later the top guy of Dept told me to join as a trainee Engineer for few days before he can consider, I went for 4 or 5 days (it was quite a physical job from 9-5, and absolutely hate grease) around this time there was science fiction movie festival at US consulate (which was half a Km away, they had theatre at the basement) for a week, so managed to sneak in and forgot about the job!!. Since I had got free accommodation, a small room on top of Government building, I didn’t have to worry about rent and so was quite footloose. Being at Fort St George I used to see the then CM Jayalalitha quite regularly, quite enigmatic that lady (was called Amma or Purachi Thalaivai), people just prostrated before her, it was quite a sight, for a guy fresh from Kerala (where people don’t gave undue importance to politicians or filmstars) it was unbelievable.
Marina beach we used to come most Sunday mornings to play cricket/football (shockingly the same time the Tsunami struck few years back, few hundred people died here. I very vaguely recall some faces…hope they escaped). There also used to be bunch of ‘dupe artists’ who used to practice stunts as preparation for movies, it was amazing. Henceforth I cultivated an interest for watching technicality of stunts, now it has gone hitech. The beach though has become cluttered with unplanned shops. I came across this interesting elderly man who had a contraption that could read your hand and predict future for 10Rs!!. I really got inquisitive on this one. He dusted my hand with black sand and deftly took the imprint of my palm on a white paper. The paper was then fed in
to a computer and presto the hand print came on the screen and he pressed a key, the print out of my future came out!!. It was an amazing idea and he was doing brisk business. There are so many innovative ways to make money, and yes he deserved that 10 Rs!! (though I have no liking for ‘future reading’….present is interesting enough!!). I ended my day by taking a photo with Thalaivar Rajnikanth!!. Even posing with his cut out is an honor for most people here. He is having a magical hold over people for last three decades, it is a miracle.
d the state for last decade or so, they have done an excellent job. You can see the difference as you enter from Karnataka or Kerala. There is so much of space, labor and infrastructure in the State that one wonders why these big buildings are constructed only in cities?. Of course Tamil Nadu particularly northern part has some extremely poor population, some of the sights are quite painful. The reason probably that cuisine of southern Tamil Nadu are richer and varied, also immigrants to east Asia are mostly from this region, the prominent being the chettis of chetinadu (karaikudi is a ghost town with huge empty palatial houses, it is one of the kind place). Despite pockets of poverty Tamil Nadu is a colorful place (probably after Rajasthan) the kind of kitsch art you will not find anywhere despite profusion of vinyl posters (even these are oversized!!). It is a place of exaggeration, take it or leave it. Period!!.After the college when most guys were moving out to different cities I probably was the only person to move towards Madras (now thankfully Chennai). Impulsiveness was predominant character trait those days, so the reason for choosing Madras was equally incredible: Madras had long beaches and I loved to hang along the sea!!. That probably was my first step towards career building!!! (Great start dude!!). Expectedly Madras was very tough on me, it was quite a struggle and I shuffled jobs almost every month and quite incredibly each job was entirely different from other!!. It still beats me, things I did. Few days back I was in Chennai and dropped in for sunset at Marina beach. I couldn’t help smile, the same place I sat so many years back as a pensive, seriously stressed youngster. It is a full circle and been quite an experience (the kind of things one comes across while traveling is amazing). It is great to be me!!.
Chennai too has changed there are more buildings like the Raheja towers at mount road, it seems to be implanted from so
me Hollywood movie set!! (Spencer’s was hang out place, so was Sathyam theatre). The roads are still able to handle traffic unlike the pathetic scenes in “silicon valley” Bangalore. At one point I knew so many people at Chennai, one job I distinctly remember was working in some Channel related group, making programs and so on. Most guys were youngsters and from very affluent background they were doing the job for fun. It was mostly partying around. I recall very vaguely one fellow I met, he got a small role in Mani Ratnam movie “Bombay”, his was if-you-don’t-look-carefully-you-might-miss-it role. He was supposed to be with the main lead actress (don’t recall her name) while they searched the body of children in the mortuary, he was part of young friends of main protagonist. The fellow when I met him at music academy insisted I should see the movie.
me Hollywood movie set!! (Spencer’s was hang out place, so was Sathyam theatre). The roads are still able to handle traffic unlike the pathetic scenes in “silicon valley” Bangalore. At one point I knew so many people at Chennai, one job I distinctly remember was working in some Channel related group, making programs and so on. Most guys were youngsters and from very affluent background they were doing the job for fun. It was mostly partying around. I recall very vaguely one fellow I met, he got a small role in Mani Ratnam movie “Bombay”, his was if-you-don’t-look-carefully-you-might-miss-it role. He was supposed to be with the main lead actress (don’t recall her name) while they searched the body of children in the mortuary, he was part of young friends of main protagonist. The fellow when I met him at music academy insisted I should see the movie.Music academy I used to visit quite regularly since the stretch from Stella Maris to US consulate was the place we generally used to be. The place has become quite congested with a fly over (I must say most aesthetically done by MRF, this fly over is an example that could be emulated) and huge hoardings- this blogger is very much against these hoardings it is unaesthetic and a sore sight, there should be a law against these. There used to be kactheris on regular basis in Music academy. Incidentally I have almost one year of Carnatic music training, so I do have a fine ear for this form. I also met Kamal hassan here with his two daughters, he is an amazing guy and an excellent actor. He interacted with us since he knew one of the guys at personal level. Madras taught me the influence of visual medium and the power it holds on people, it is astounding. Madras also taught the need to be consistent in what one does. It was only much later that I thought of taking writing and reading seriously, and also taking up full time traveling (there is so much to see in India that every time it is new!!).
I recall there used to be an automatic dosa maker (it was kind of a robot) at central railway station, although it tasted quite awful I used to drop in to see how it is made atleast once in a week, and there always was a small crowd!!. While walking on the Mount road I came across TVS showroom&garage, and boy boy boy I suddenly recalled haven’t I worked here briefly!!. I almost forgot about it….well it was forgettable!!. There was some written test later the top guy of Dept told me to join as a trainee Engineer for few days before he can consider, I went for 4 or 5 days (it was quite a physical job from 9-5, and absolutely hate grease) around this time there was science fiction movie festival at US consulate (which was half a Km away, they had theatre at the basement) for a week, so managed to sneak in and forgot about the job!!. Since I had got free accommodation, a small room on top of Government building, I didn’t have to worry about rent and so was quite footloose. Being at Fort St George I used to see the then CM Jayalalitha quite regularly, quite enigmatic that lady (was called Amma or Purachi Thalaivai), people just prostrated before her, it was quite a sight, for a guy fresh from Kerala (where people don’t gave undue importance to politicians or filmstars) it was unbelievable.
Marina beach we used to come most Sunday mornings to play cricket/football (shockingly the same time the Tsunami struck few years back, few hundred people died here. I very vaguely recall some faces…hope they escaped). There also used to be bunch of ‘dupe artists’ who used to practice stunts as preparation for movies, it was amazing. Henceforth I cultivated an interest for watching technicality of stunts, now it has gone hitech. The beach though has become cluttered with unplanned shops. I came across this interesting elderly man who had a contraption that could read your hand and predict future for 10Rs!!. I really got inquisitive on this one. He dusted my hand with black sand and deftly took the imprint of my palm on a white paper. The paper was then fed in
to a computer and presto the hand print came on the screen and he pressed a key, the print out of my future came out!!. It was an amazing idea and he was doing brisk business. There are so many innovative ways to make money, and yes he deserved that 10 Rs!! (though I have no liking for ‘future reading’….present is interesting enough!!). I ended my day by taking a photo with Thalaivar Rajnikanth!!. Even posing with his cut out is an honor for most people here. He is having a magical hold over people for last three decades, it is a miracle.
