Well, last evening, I managed to experience the less nice side of Chennai. I was stuck in one of the most dreadful jams I have ever been in. The worst part was that everyone used to tell me that there are no jams in Chennai. And Bangalore is truly bad, so I expected things would be better in Chennai...And the problem with heightened expectations is that when they are not met, you feel a lot worse!
And yesterday it appeared like the whole of Chennai was keen on experiencing gridlock...every street I went on was jammed solid, and this at 10:30 pm! Though I was treated to an awesome display of fireworks at one of the many places where my bus was slowed to the speed of a rather elderly snail.
Now for the second part of my post...now previously, during my travels in traffic jams, I always used to carry a book or two to keep myself entertained. And for some reason, the books always used to be these typical thrillers that are churned out by the Robert Ludlums of the world. I remember reading Dan Brown's books, quite a few Ludlum's, and others of his ilk. They provided a great respite from boredom, and you could always mark the page and resume when you made your next bus journey!
So, every day, during my daily commute in Chennai, I have now resolved to carry appropriately brain-dead reading matter for entertainment...that way, during the next 2.5 hour traffic jam, I have something other than the traffic to curse!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
More on chennai! Economics of food prices?
This weekend, I decided to sample some Food options available in Chennai. This involved visiting 3 places....all of which served South Indian food primarily.
Place 1. Saravana Bhavan --> Standing Room only. Well, without even a place for seating, the prices that were charged were on par with a standard full service resteraunt. Rs. 25 for a Masala Dosa might seem reasonable if one were in a joint in Delhi or Kolkata...but in the heart of Chennai...with you supposed to eat the thing standing. Its Highway robbery!
Place 2. The Idli Place, T Nagar: This was an air conditioned joint (very useful in chennai), situated in the heart of the city's shopping area. Here, I did get a table to sit at, and the quality of food was rather good. Ate rather well, with Pongal, masala dosas, and few vadas, all for the grand price of Rs. 50. Practically the same price as a Saravana Bhavan, where you had to stand and eat, without an AC...with much cheaper real estate prices.
Place 3: Sri Krishna Sweets --> These chaps are known more for their fine sweets rather than their food, but I decided to sample their restaurant. Here, they had this thing called ambiance, with waiters hovering around, and chaps even handing you menus (rare in chennai! :)). They also had north indian dishes, which meant that I had to try it out...and I was pleasantly surprised to find it good as well. Out here, the bill came up to a bit above Rs. 60.
From this (Admittedly small) sample, I have realised that Chennai attaches value only to food...and not to the paraphernalia attached to it. This seems pretty strange, esp. for a chap used to Bangalore, where the rates range from cheap (Great Masala Dosas for Rs. 10) to Uber Expensive (Masala Dosas for Rs. 100). Of course, the Rs. 10 Masala Dosas were eaten standing up, with another chap elbowing you as he had his Vada-Sambar, while the Rs. 100 dosas were accompanied with an array of side dishes and air conditioning, and badly piped music.
So, Chennai is not really that cheap. Sure, at the medium end of the spectrum, it seems cheaper than most cities, but at the value end, where good food is served cheap, Bangalore beats it hands down. If you trip over a stone in Bangalore, you are likely to fall into a roadside eatery that gives you quality food cheap. If you trip over a stone in Chennai, you will just fall on your face!
Place 1. Saravana Bhavan --> Standing Room only. Well, without even a place for seating, the prices that were charged were on par with a standard full service resteraunt. Rs. 25 for a Masala Dosa might seem reasonable if one were in a joint in Delhi or Kolkata...but in the heart of Chennai...with you supposed to eat the thing standing. Its Highway robbery!
Place 2. The Idli Place, T Nagar: This was an air conditioned joint (very useful in chennai), situated in the heart of the city's shopping area. Here, I did get a table to sit at, and the quality of food was rather good. Ate rather well, with Pongal, masala dosas, and few vadas, all for the grand price of Rs. 50. Practically the same price as a Saravana Bhavan, where you had to stand and eat, without an AC...with much cheaper real estate prices.
Place 3: Sri Krishna Sweets --> These chaps are known more for their fine sweets rather than their food, but I decided to sample their restaurant. Here, they had this thing called ambiance, with waiters hovering around, and chaps even handing you menus (rare in chennai! :)). They also had north indian dishes, which meant that I had to try it out...and I was pleasantly surprised to find it good as well. Out here, the bill came up to a bit above Rs. 60.
From this (Admittedly small) sample, I have realised that Chennai attaches value only to food...and not to the paraphernalia attached to it. This seems pretty strange, esp. for a chap used to Bangalore, where the rates range from cheap (Great Masala Dosas for Rs. 10) to Uber Expensive (Masala Dosas for Rs. 100). Of course, the Rs. 10 Masala Dosas were eaten standing up, with another chap elbowing you as he had his Vada-Sambar, while the Rs. 100 dosas were accompanied with an array of side dishes and air conditioning, and badly piped music.
So, Chennai is not really that cheap. Sure, at the medium end of the spectrum, it seems cheaper than most cities, but at the value end, where good food is served cheap, Bangalore beats it hands down. If you trip over a stone in Bangalore, you are likely to fall into a roadside eatery that gives you quality food cheap. If you trip over a stone in Chennai, you will just fall on your face!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
चेन्नई! ऎंड व्ह्य इस मय ब्लॉगर मकिंग एवेर्य्थिंग इन हिंदी?
Lets start with a description of Chennai:
To those of you who have never visited chennai (such as me), it has been described as the worlds largest village. It has a population in excess of 7 million, and wikipedia claims that it is 70 sq miles large. Of course, a search on bangalore claims that Bangalore is 209 sq miles, which is clearly nonsense!
Anyway, back to Chennai. Chennai is a BIG CITY. Those of you who are used to big cities might say...yeah so what? But to a small town chap like me, travelling 20 kilometres every day to work is pretty insane...if you did that in Bangalore, you would be outside the city very quickly!
While a city like Bombay frequently compares itself to New York and lately, aspires to be Shanghai , it would be difficult to imagine Chennai comparing itself with, or wanting to be anything else. A visitor might justifiably think that inside this metropolis is the heart of a small town struggling to get out, but he would be wrong. It is not parochialism that characterizes Chennai; it is self-assurance (source...Wikitravel)
The above statement is actually amazingly true. The first thing you notice about the city is its lack of pretentiousness. Perhaps this self assurance is why the city does not learn other languages! :)
Next, public transport in chennai:
Transport in Chennai is a cinch. Get into bus, pay the ridiculously low fare that they charge, and get off at where you want to go. Almost every area is covered, and the bus and trains systems work brilliantly. Very good indeed!
Movie Mad?
Channai is described as movie mad...and from first sight...guilty as charged. The sheer number of movie advertisements and hoardings is incredible. You cant move ten steps without hitting a cinema hoarding. And each hoarding claims that the movie concerned has broken dozens of box office records.
T-Nagar and Pondy Bazaar: A note on Sarees
This is a shopping district in Chennai which seems to mainly sell sarees. Huge fantastic buildings, each one more garish than the next, all promising to sell you sarees that are special, unique, bridal, and several words which you would not usually associate with clothing. Its the only area in Chennai which has traffic jams. And the sheer number of people buying sarees makes me believe that we must be wearing out sarees at a spectacular rate in order to justify this intake!
Last but not least: The weather.
In three words, "Hot and Humid". But from all those chaps who kept telling me horror stories, I was expecting a lot worse. Its not as bad as people say. There is a sea breeze in the evening, and while the weather is horrible, it is not unlivable! :D
So all in all, a fine and entertaining city. I am sure I have missed out a lot of things, which I will try covering in future editions, but for now, sionara!
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