My love affair!!!!

Home is where your heart is!!!! I should say this holds good for my love affair with Chennai.2005 June was when it all started, when I came here for joining work and it still continues.... I guess many people would not agree much to what I am saying ;) and I think it has a lot to do with the "tamil" influence and my upbringing being compeltely in Tamilnadu. Well, I agree, there is the heat and the water issues, and not to mention the traffic, but inspite of all this, there is something very seductive about the place.I have been living out of Chennai for the last 6 months (well... yeah.. time flies!!!!) and I can still relate and connect to the sights, sounds and smells of the place.

There is a stark difference to the sights in Chennai - on one end you see endless slums packed with people fighting for water as the tanker approaches - and what a sight it is to watch. There is truly a cacophony of voices (all of them mostly swearing in languages unknown to most of us!!!) and people rushing in with multi-coloured plastic pots (usually flourescent green, pink and yellow). The better offs flaunt their stainless steel pots and there is a mad rush to queue near the tanker and what a sense of accomplishment the ladies have once they have got their due!!!! Truly a battle won!!! Then there are those unending posters and hoardings of smiling politicians which occupy almost every available space on walls and lamp-posts.Traffic signals offer another plethora of activity. Where else can you strike a deal to buy books, ear-buds, safety-pins, coloured balls, the multi-coloured dusters, flowers, miniature versions of the indian-flag ovre a few minutes at the red-signal???? And not to mention the experience of travelling by an auto at the peak hour - especially if you tell the auto-driver that you need to get to a place soon. He immediately transforms into Michael Schumacher and zips and snakes his way through the traffic. You get the best adrenalin-rush of your lifetime.One ride and you are convinced that all the rides that you have had in six-flags in the USA are nothing compared to this one!!!!I cannot but wonder at the number of people who go Ranganathan street for shopping. The street is perpetually packed with people (and with people of all sorts). This one street defys all laws of science. I really don't see any one exiting the street but there is a constant flux of people who go inside!!!

At the other end of the spectrum Chennai offers a crowd of plush posh elite group of people too. There are pockets areas where you can see high-end cars of every possible make with people dressed in pepe and levis. They walk around with Gucci and Aviator sun-glasses. I refer to them as the sweet-smelling group - a whiff of Davidoff, Armani or Dior always follow them!!!! There are places where you can get the best of experiences over a coffee, there are places which can transform you to another part of the world altogether - boutique restaurants offering experience dinners. There are theaters hosting plays. There are plush shopping malls offering all brand options. There are salsa classes and for those interested Golf too!!!

I can go on and on and on ....

It is this electic mix and variance that excites me about the place. Fast paced, yet slow enough for you to take in everything - Chennai has all this and lots more to make you fall in love with the place!!! and I must admit I am truly, madly and deeply in love with the place!!!

Winds of change!!!!

All of us would have been familiar with the saying "There is nothing that is constant but change" - and I truly agree with the above statement. This thought came onto me when someone told me I had changed. For the very short tempered person I was, the immediate thought that came to me was - "So what? Yes I have changed!!!!".On thinking about it a bit deeper, I realized that it was not only me but all people around me who have also changed.For me change is good. There can be absolutely no situation wherein a person is just the same over a very long period of time. Having said that, I also agree that this change is acceptable unless it does not change your core-values. Exposure triggers change.The way we look at things and deal with things changes over a period of time owing to where you are and what kind of people you interact with.This triggers change.When I think of it, over the period of the last 5 years, situations and circumstances have changed me as a person.There is definitely a difference to the way I look at certain things and there is a difference to the way I perceive "right" and "wrong". And I feel its is not wrong to yield to the change process. We all are evolving and change is inevitable. As I said earlier, if the change has not changed you as a person, and deep inside you are the same, and if the people who matter accept you for who you are and not compare you to who you were - Its fine!!!