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! )
