I had lived for seven long years in Bombay, had made a really good set of friends and had started loving the life there when my father got a transfer order to Madras! To be honest, the kind of impression that we were fed with there about Madrasis (and to be occasionally referred to as one! ) was not all that encouraging! So it would not be very correct to say that I was looking forward to my days at Chennai!
But I came to Chennai on 22 Oct 2000. From that day to this, this city has managed to invoke a variety of emotions in me! The city has different faces, different moods and is constantly changing! The Chennai that I live in today is outwardly no where close to the one where I landed in 2000, but inwardly it remains the same that it has been for the last hundreds of years!
So exactly what is it that keeps this city going?
Not one, but many things. Right in the middle of it lies the rich tradition and cultural heritage untampered by any serious war or infiltrations, unlike our Northern cities. This has resulted in an unadulterated evolution over the generations.
Secondly, its the patronage to arts. Historically, patronising arts and developing them was the role of the rulers. Partly because of the cultural inclination of its people and partly because of the non-interference from other kingdom, Madras has always been the centre of excellence for so many art forms. These include music, dance, theatrical art forms and most recently movies! Madras was undoubtedly the centrestage of both Tamil and Malayalam film industry until the recent past. The very fact that most of the Malayalam movie stars and musicians still reside in Chennai bears testimony to this fact. This has definitely contributed to the development and prosperity of Chennai!
Thirdly, it is a kind of learning and knowledge evolution over the last few decades. Chennaites have patronised learning and education as much as arts, and as a result there are so many of its representatives in the Silicon valley and other significant places across the globe as brand ambassadors of Chennai.
Overall, the traditions, culture, arts and learning are the pillars that have held Chennai up over the times and responsible for its growth and prosperity.
Whats unique about Chennaites?
For the last ten years, I have constantly been interacting with Chennaites and there is this one common thing in them that amazes me! The competitive spirit and killing instinct! Here everyone is fed on competition, right from the criss-cross driving commuter stuck on the road in the Anna Salai traffic to the young students at TRS classes aspiring for a seat in IIT!
It is this crave for achievement (and being able envy a few neighbors and cast a ´good impression´ and attain a ´good reputation´ in the society) that drives the people here! However I must clarify here that by no means are they any unfriendly. It is just that these competitive insttincts are ingrained in their DNAs and its the way of life!
Many of my friends from the North say that they find Madrasis not so open and outgoing as their North Indian brethren. I wish to oppose that allegation with an explanation that the definition of ´openness´ and ´outgoing´ is a little tweaked here, probably because of the unadulterated flow of culture that I was mentioning.
Discos and night life are alien to this place (to an extent) because everyone goes home in the night. Its a routine! Not many foreigners frequent here as they do in Goa or Bombay. Not many diplomats or dignitaries visit this place as they do in Delhi! Not many people from outside the state come here in search of jobs as they do in Bombay! So where is there an opportunity for changing the Chennai way of life? And hence it should not be a surprise that Chennaites have different mentality when compared to a person from Bombay or Delhi!
Whats lacking here?
Lack of awareness and illiteracy are two things that are holding back this city from reaching greater heights. While I told about the city´s patronage to learning, I must clearly mention here about the emerging (social-)class struggle in this place.
The affluent middle and upper class that has family links in America, enjoys Carnatic music as much as rock and jazz , and spends an average Rs.1000 on weekends with family in 3 or 4 star restaurants and malls (so many of them coming up in the last few years! ) present a completely different image as that painted by the average and lower class led by auto and taxi drivers who altercate with the upper classes in pucca Chennai Tamizh (copyrighted by the city and its residents, not to be found anywhere else! )for Rs. 50 and 60. These people do not understand IIT, cant differentiate between NIT and NIIT, do not believe India exists beyond Delhi!
The consequence? Hero worship and blind faith! They would burn themselves to death if a political leader of their faith is arrested. They would burn effigies if a hero of their faith is pointed fingers at by someone. They would vote and elect anyone who has shown caliber in show biz to the highest offices in the government because he/she belongs to their faith. In this way, they place their faith in a religion of their own where Rajnikant, Kamal Hasan, Vijaykant, Sachin Tendulkar (not Amitabh Bachchan! ), AR Rahman, SPBalasubramaiam (not Kishore Kumar or Lata Mangeshkar!) etc done the role of Gods!
This has to go! Basic education and exposure to the outside world is utmost necessary for the upliftment of this class. It is required to show them cities like London and Paris, built on similar foundations, and emphasise on the different aspects like cleanliness, civic responsibilites of citizens and embracing outsiders (which Chennai is not particularly known for esp when people concerned are coming beyond Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh) to mix with them like the sugar in milk in building the city!
No wonder theres a long way to go and this city that is now my home, has the capability of going that extra two miles! And I dream of the time when Chennai becomes one of the best cities to live in this world!
WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADRAS!
(I still prefer Madras over Chennai when it comes to a personal level! )
But I came to Chennai on 22 Oct 2000. From that day to this, this city has managed to invoke a variety of emotions in me! The city has different faces, different moods and is constantly changing! The Chennai that I live in today is outwardly no where close to the one where I landed in 2000, but inwardly it remains the same that it has been for the last hundreds of years!
So exactly what is it that keeps this city going?
Not one, but many things. Right in the middle of it lies the rich tradition and cultural heritage untampered by any serious war or infiltrations, unlike our Northern cities. This has resulted in an unadulterated evolution over the generations.
Secondly, its the patronage to arts. Historically, patronising arts and developing them was the role of the rulers. Partly because of the cultural inclination of its people and partly because of the non-interference from other kingdom, Madras has always been the centre of excellence for so many art forms. These include music, dance, theatrical art forms and most recently movies! Madras was undoubtedly the centrestage of both Tamil and Malayalam film industry until the recent past. The very fact that most of the Malayalam movie stars and musicians still reside in Chennai bears testimony to this fact. This has definitely contributed to the development and prosperity of Chennai!
Thirdly, it is a kind of learning and knowledge evolution over the last few decades. Chennaites have patronised learning and education as much as arts, and as a result there are so many of its representatives in the Silicon valley and other significant places across the globe as brand ambassadors of Chennai.
Overall, the traditions, culture, arts and learning are the pillars that have held Chennai up over the times and responsible for its growth and prosperity.
Whats unique about Chennaites?
For the last ten years, I have constantly been interacting with Chennaites and there is this one common thing in them that amazes me! The competitive spirit and killing instinct! Here everyone is fed on competition, right from the criss-cross driving commuter stuck on the road in the Anna Salai traffic to the young students at TRS classes aspiring for a seat in IIT!
It is this crave for achievement (and being able envy a few neighbors and cast a ´good impression´ and attain a ´good reputation´ in the society) that drives the people here! However I must clarify here that by no means are they any unfriendly. It is just that these competitive insttincts are ingrained in their DNAs and its the way of life!
Many of my friends from the North say that they find Madrasis not so open and outgoing as their North Indian brethren. I wish to oppose that allegation with an explanation that the definition of ´openness´ and ´outgoing´ is a little tweaked here, probably because of the unadulterated flow of culture that I was mentioning.
Discos and night life are alien to this place (to an extent) because everyone goes home in the night. Its a routine! Not many foreigners frequent here as they do in Goa or Bombay. Not many diplomats or dignitaries visit this place as they do in Delhi! Not many people from outside the state come here in search of jobs as they do in Bombay! So where is there an opportunity for changing the Chennai way of life? And hence it should not be a surprise that Chennaites have different mentality when compared to a person from Bombay or Delhi!
Whats lacking here?
Lack of awareness and illiteracy are two things that are holding back this city from reaching greater heights. While I told about the city´s patronage to learning, I must clearly mention here about the emerging (social-)class struggle in this place.
The affluent middle and upper class that has family links in America, enjoys Carnatic music as much as rock and jazz , and spends an average Rs.1000 on weekends with family in 3 or 4 star restaurants and malls (so many of them coming up in the last few years! ) present a completely different image as that painted by the average and lower class led by auto and taxi drivers who altercate with the upper classes in pucca Chennai Tamizh (copyrighted by the city and its residents, not to be found anywhere else! )for Rs. 50 and 60. These people do not understand IIT, cant differentiate between NIT and NIIT, do not believe India exists beyond Delhi!
The consequence? Hero worship and blind faith! They would burn themselves to death if a political leader of their faith is arrested. They would burn effigies if a hero of their faith is pointed fingers at by someone. They would vote and elect anyone who has shown caliber in show biz to the highest offices in the government because he/she belongs to their faith. In this way, they place their faith in a religion of their own where Rajnikant, Kamal Hasan, Vijaykant, Sachin Tendulkar (not Amitabh Bachchan! ), AR Rahman, SPBalasubramaiam (not Kishore Kumar or Lata Mangeshkar!) etc done the role of Gods!
This has to go! Basic education and exposure to the outside world is utmost necessary for the upliftment of this class. It is required to show them cities like London and Paris, built on similar foundations, and emphasise on the different aspects like cleanliness, civic responsibilites of citizens and embracing outsiders (which Chennai is not particularly known for esp when people concerned are coming beyond Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh) to mix with them like the sugar in milk in building the city!
No wonder theres a long way to go and this city that is now my home, has the capability of going that extra two miles! And I dream of the time when Chennai becomes one of the best cities to live in this world!
WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADRAS!
(I still prefer Madras over Chennai when it comes to a personal level! )
I have tried to completely capture Chennai city and an average Chennaite´s mind! It has caused the blogpost a little too long, but I am sure you will enjoy reading it! Thanks!
ReplyDeletewell written da..Even if we can't educate the autowallahs, we can atleast provide facilities for his children to study. Over a period of time, literacy will increase.
ReplyDeletePS: still we find Idly kadai owner's child making to IIMs and Housemaid's daughter getting state first.
@vinod- equally important is awareness, which is lacking! i see a lot of educated ppl who have very little awareness! these are the ppl bogged down by conventions and superstitions!
ReplyDeleteAs far as chennai..Wat i'm is bcos of the city,the best place for me on earth :)
ReplyDelete@vinod- Its been my home for the last ten years! I like the place very much, just that there is a lot that can be done here! :)
ReplyDeleteWell written! I don't know if you have captured all that could be said for Chennai, but some of the things you have mentioned are very good. Like the northie perception of "Chennai-ites are not open/ don't know how to enjoy!"...
ReplyDeleteAnyway among the things I find good about CHennai are low-cost timepass mechanisms (a.k.a beach) and availablity of stuff at prices which cater to both ends of the spectrum (esply if u compare with prices in other Indian cities!)
Bad climate is another thing u didn't mention , though it is too common a complaint!
@suchitra- very true! in fact chennai == bessy beach for many ppl in adayar area! and these days citi centre also! :)
ReplyDeleteMy home. Always.:-)
ReplyDelete@rachit- time to make a choice between Trivandrum and Chennai? :P thnx to reading!
ReplyDeleteNice one :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Sujay!
ReplyDeletenicely written blog.
ReplyDeleteFew comments thou: Being a patriotic chennaite i agree to most of your points.
But some of the views about the 'negative' side of chennai needs to impressed upon. Like for examle chennai is the automobile hub of asia, so we do get lot of people from across the country to live in chennai. Also there are places in north madras where the population mainly consists of marwadis.
I feel that no matter what happens chennaites will never disco like bangaloreans/aamchi-mumbaikars. Its both good and bad :)
Also its not wrong to be crazy about rajnikant and co :) there are people in secondary cities like trichy/madurai who make a living out of being in the fan association of actors and actresses. Infact i would say that tamilians are good in making a living out of anything and everything:)
and finally 'CHENNAI is the best city to live in the world, how much i wish my office was in chennai)
I agree with shanky. I feel Chennai is one of the places where anyone can make a living out of anything.
ReplyDeleteThe city has poor infrastructure, but that i guess is common for all Indian cities. I can only wish that it would become the next New York. Sigh!
Thanks Algates and Shanky for your opinions!
ReplyDelete@shanky- settlers like marwadis are different cuz they have become a part of the mainstream. their next generations speak tamil and they have friends from here. but for ppl who ve come in the recent past, although they are able to sustain, they are never part of the mainstream. they live happily in their small group consisting mainly of ppl of their own places! i see many of such ppl in my office!
@algates n shanky- making a living out of anything i doubt if there can b a better example than bombay! probably the first city in india to truly understand the concept of money value for every activity, every thing including waste! although chennai is also becoming at par with it. but i wonder if fan associations (the non-welfare activities) is worth encouraging, even though they provide a living for ppl!
I don't agree on that part. Fan associations for making a living is nonsense.
ReplyDeleteFor a Mumbaikar like me who has been forced to live in Chennai, this was a good read! I totally agree with you. But the nightlife in Chennai has improved a lot, I must say! Pasha is crowded even during weekdays :)
ReplyDelete@Rohini- Totally agree! I have myself change it over the last ten years! there was just one spencers when i came here.
ReplyDelete@alagappan ya it is nonsense but it does happen, right from the time of MGR to Jeyalalitha and rajini now and most probably someone like vijay/simbu tomo. people do make a life out of the stardom of these stars!! unfortunately this has only grown with time. But the good thing is we dont have another rajni in the very near future!!
ReplyDelete@shyam & Rohini agreed!! totally!! I am also a proud mumbaikar :) but here i am not comparing mumbai with Chennai. What i mean to say here is that people come to chennai in search of quality jobs like in the various Tyre and car manufacturing companies in chennai. Whereas mumbai is totally different. Majority of the people going to mumbai are in search of second level jobs!!
good post!
ReplyDeletewhat I loved the most? the last line :-) . I can't say "Chennai" on my own.
My views - Madras was what had the tradition, art forms, culture and etc etc. I see (almost) nothing of it in places like Anna Nagar or so. (all those Chennai minus Madras regions).
I came down south pretty much the same time as you.
visible differences -
* closed people, I hardly know my neighbours. they are all work and home type...
* narrow minded, acceptance of something is very hard to come by, or very hard to push through.
* politically rotten, I speak no more.
* little respect to/of other languages, people or culture. others may say "what rubbish" etc... but I have been in enough places to know that madrasis (or "chennaiites") are wayyyy below the mark when it comes to respecting others... in line with the hardcore people of bombay (not the trend in the whole of maharashtra, I can give you live report about that)
* in comparison, less hospitable than the north indians
* "chennai" people are very self satisfied
* they are very proud of themselves, to be a lifelong madrasi... people never want to go away from madras, and are ready to sacrifice their education, their career and their family for this. pride matters indeed.
* there are a few good centers in madras (mind you, not chennai, but in madras) which keep the art forms alive - kalakshetra, dakshin ganga, chettinaadu vidhyaashram... thats where the pride of tamil nadu is brought forth to the city people for them to pick the dying art forms, and save them from extinction.
* there are some scenic beauties in and around madras, some natural, some man-made.
I can say that, if you were to "visit" the city, there is enough to entertain you... but to live here, its difficult for a newbie to like it any sooner, especially for someone like me coming from much better places to name, not big in $$$ and infrastructure, but bigger in heart, serenity and peace of mind.
Thanks Bagrat! Thats a very well constructed comment that brings in so many new dimensions with it! Thanks a lot!
ReplyDeletePersonally I agree with most of it. Although a little harsh on Chennaites, it is plain truth. But these days I see a lot of change in terms of people coming over and living in this place. They adopt this home for the peaceful and composed life that most of the Indian cities fail to deliver these days.
About the closed door way of life, I have never been able to reason it out! Obviously it is some of insecurity resulting in a tacit agreement of mutual non-interference in each others privacy. But why/how this trend evolved, I am yet to figure out!
nice one kanna :)
ReplyDeleteI might be unqualified to say this, but the "what's lacking" section of your post is something that even I strongly felt during my time at Trichy.
ReplyDeleteNice stuff, Shyam! :D
Thanks Manish and Anurag! :)
ReplyDelete@SJ- Thank you for the encouragement sir. It carries a special value since it comes from an accepted wartime journalist like you! You are very correct about the class difference and an average Tamilian´s passion and commitment to his beliefs and convictions. I see it everyday around me, and it is sad when these beliefs and convictions defy common sense and logic.
ReplyDeletei must say shyam your writing is extremely fresh and articulates everything in your simple style of writing.well done buddy keep writing and if there is an opportunity in life where you can write on another platform other than the blogging scenario do take it up and i am sure you would excel.take care god bless
ReplyDeleteFinally read this after seeing it in your status for a while. One hell of an awesome post. And so true about the competitive feel. I would only hear about it in X and XII boards with chennai leading the country, but saw it only when I reached trichy. So true.
ReplyDeleteBut there's one thing you missed. The "openness" is covert. I ve seen both delhi and chennai, and let me just tell you, the girls in chennai are fsr more bolder than their delhi counterparts. They dont show PDA but otherwise, they are far more bolder than delhi!
Kudos for the good poost.
cheers
Anshu
Hey Surya here da,
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. I too love Chennai a lot, though I have been here only for 2 years. For a guy who grew up in a small town, Chennai's pace is so refreshing and exciting. ( Now that I have moved to Bangalore, Chennai does not seems as fast, but still ). You are right about competition particularly academic one, being the defining aspect of this city. Chennai will indeed become more cosmopolitan if more IT and media establishments set up shop here, like Bangalore and Hyderabad have become. Till that happens, Chennai will continue to be a conservative city. But that is a nice thing too. That way, Chennai always feels like home.
And yeah, I like Madras better too.
@karthik - thanks a lot dude for those words of encouragement! they mean a lot to me n i hope to live up to your expectations! :)
ReplyDelete@anshu- thanks for dropping by and a ton for appreciating the post! :) i am sure that you would have noticed even in collg that the 0.5 mark 1mark ke liye jhagda is also mainly a chennai phenomenon, something that comes within them!
ReplyDeleteabt the boldness of the chennai girls, ´ve come to realise these days its very true!
@surya- thanks a lot macha! for people all across tamil nadu n kerala chennai has been a wonderland. I feel Chennai can never become another bangalore. it can only become something different, as these classic chennai qualities have remained n shall remain ingrained in its ppl in spite of whatever IT developments or changes in lifestyle that come here! :)
ReplyDeleteNice read :)
ReplyDelete@mradul- thnx dude! :)
ReplyDeleteHI that was a refreshing post on Chennai.
ReplyDeleteI love the way the city operates. Why do we always want the same comfort in every city where we are. If every place in this world is a photocopy of the other, we would be more mechanical than every. If Chennai is closed and traditional, I would be happy to let it that way. Personally, you will never know, what kind of exposure you need.
Education is important, global awareness is lesser, but if u ask an layman in America - the supposedly breeding ground of dumb population, they would not know how Europe and UK are different. But its still the superpower of the world. Japan, has the most traditional way of living, and you would be starved to have a conversation, with anyone, any language, just listen to someone breathe noisily, yet they are the most technically advanced nation.
-I have had the worst of experiences in Bangalore, where walking alone on the road after 7pm, you would have bikes stop near you to ask, indecent stuff.
-Mumbai was so pleasant at two in the night at marine drive.
-Delhi's rigid air and the planned hatred towards south indians, is quiet shocking.
-Calcutta, is one passionate hellhole.
-Kerala, is beautiful, if u have continued service
- Chennai, u see the magic only if u stay.
Let places be places, I know Chennai still has Dublin, Pasha and Sparks to keep the nocturnal happy. The general way and pace of living is slow and responsible. If someone, ignores to entertain you, then you probably deserve it and he has more responsibilities to take care of.
My response, is just not pro-chennai, its pro every city and its originality. In the name of westernization, and modern comforts, lets not push the pace of living and individuality out of the window. Every place is unique, every person is unique.
Thanks Dee! :)
ReplyDelete