Before I go ahead with blogging about the million things I have learnt or experienced since, I'd like to dedicate the following ode to Chennai - a city that's been my home since April 2010 and that I had to leave due to unavoidable circumstances in February 2014 (some wedding business, etc.)
Here's a list of all the weird things or first-time things that happened to me while I was a resident of Chennai:
1. Having been hit by an auto - only my outstretched arm
2. Having a heated verbal argument with an auto driver during my early days here - he spoke in a language I did not know a word of and vice versa, yet we understood each other so well - a philosophical moment when I realized how human emotions transcend the barriers of language - on a side note, I did not pay him a single penny
3. Jumping over a 4.5 feet high wall of a locked public toilet at 4 am in the middle of some random place in Karnataka to heed nature's call, only to realize it was a urinal meant for men - ah what the heck.. used it anyway.. I was desperate!
4. My bed catching fire - another side note, this was purely due to religious reasons - part of an incense stick fell on the mattress
5. Travelling by local trains
6. Preparing Dosa
7. Staying "independently" in a flat
8. Having flatmates - awesome ones
9. Hosting parties
10. Having my own landline and internet connection (it was a biiig moment for me - the time I held my first BSNL landline instrument in my hands - I was misty-eyed I tell you!)
11. Being stalked
12. Having a skin allergy no doctor could diagnose - which incidentally vanished a week after I left Chennai
13. My first ever surprise birthday party
14. Impromptu outstation trips - mostly Pondicherry
15. Walking down the Marina beach at midnight, sitting in the middle of a main road, at midnight (31st Dec, to be honest)
16. Buying my first smart phone - in fact, buying my first mobile device, ever.
Here's a list of all the weird things or first-time things that happened to me while I was a resident of Chennai:
1. Having been hit by an auto - only my outstretched arm
2. Having a heated verbal argument with an auto driver during my early days here - he spoke in a language I did not know a word of and vice versa, yet we understood each other so well - a philosophical moment when I realized how human emotions transcend the barriers of language - on a side note, I did not pay him a single penny
3. Jumping over a 4.5 feet high wall of a locked public toilet at 4 am in the middle of some random place in Karnataka to heed nature's call, only to realize it was a urinal meant for men - ah what the heck.. used it anyway.. I was desperate!
4. My bed catching fire - another side note, this was purely due to religious reasons - part of an incense stick fell on the mattress
5. Travelling by local trains
6. Preparing Dosa
7. Staying "independently" in a flat
8. Having flatmates - awesome ones
9. Hosting parties
10. Having my own landline and internet connection (it was a biiig moment for me - the time I held my first BSNL landline instrument in my hands - I was misty-eyed I tell you!)
11. Being stalked
12. Having a skin allergy no doctor could diagnose - which incidentally vanished a week after I left Chennai
13. My first ever surprise birthday party
14. Impromptu outstation trips - mostly Pondicherry
15. Walking down the Marina beach at midnight, sitting in the middle of a main road, at midnight (31st Dec, to be honest)
16. Buying my first smart phone - in fact, buying my first mobile device, ever.
17. Playing football and frisbee on the beach
18. Attaining higher states of consciousness with the help of herbal remedies.. ahem..
19. Learning to play the violin, my first musical instrument
I shall now commence the ode.. I have not written poetry for almost a decade, so kindly excuse the desperate attempts to make each line rhyme..
I will never really understand why most people judge you so
With you I always felt at home, wherever I would go
They would nod their heads and click their tongues when I'd tell them where I stay
(If they could know what all I was up to, it would blow their mind away) ;)
I agree, you get hot and sultry at times (but then, so does many a city!)
If only these "other cities" had your evening breeze! Man! It's such a pity!
And the many different cyclones that would drench you in rain for days on end,
I loved it! The thunderstorms always seemed to me like they were a Godsend.
My lovely Great Lakes campus - attending every alumni meet,
Pondy, Mahabs and Kalpakkam beaches.. relief in sweltering heat..
Group assignments, enlightening lectures, village visits full of strife,
Learning Tamil and establishing strong bonds of friendships for life!
I miss the pleasant breezy evenings spent with friends on Bessie beach,
Though the frisbee and the football were perennially way out of my reach!
Gorging on burgers and fries from Pupil, not to forget the Nannari Soda drink
The steamed corn, the fried pakoras, the groundnuts and the stick candy (pink)
The numerous times my colleagues came home- dinner, drinks and fun
I still have embarrassing pics and videos of almost every single one!
I had a team that became my surrogate family and gave me my closest friends
Though now I'm far away, I hope the calls and Watsapp exchange never ends!
Attending music concerts, dance recitals and plays in a culture-rich city,
December coming just once a year seems like such a pity!
Possibly the cheapest movie tickets ever - I miss Escape and Sathyam..
Watching a movie alone with caramel popcorn for company.. yum!
Sitting with the best flatmates in my airy room at Rangan Street,
(Said our landlord, "Egg is allowed but absolutely no cooking meat")
Free laughs, near-constant companions and advice when I got horrible hives,
Sharing tea in the balcony, chores, meals and jokes, we shared our very lives :)
The Saravana shopping crowd, the Diwali madness on Usman road,
The Saravana shopping crowd, the Diwali madness on Usman road,
The amazing Anna Centenary library, here one can never get bored!
The annual street food festival, Murugan Idli, Thalapakuttu Dindigul,
MCH, Dario's, 10D, Pasta Bar Venito.. no gastronomic journey was dull...
I came here quite unknowingly, trying to look for a new start,
Posing as just another city, you slowly settled in my heart.
Innumerable memories, unforgettable friends, all this did I find..
I carry Chennai away with me even as I leave it behind :)
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