Yenna Rascala!!

I had a very very long break from blogging and much has changed since my last post. Lalit Modi is gone, Ravana is a flop, my girlfriend got into a B school and I didn't...you get the general idea. One thing that hasn't changed is we are still pleading with Pakistan to take some action on Hafeez Saeed. I guess, somethings last forever.

Yesterday, I went to Chennai for my US visa interview. I had heard horror stories about Chennai's hostile environment to non localites since I was a kid. So, I was dreading that I would have to be there too. Bangalore had spoiled me totally. The best weather in India, superb city infrastructure, cosmopolitan crowd..I didn't want to leave this place for even a day! But I had to do what I had to do, so on the night of 23rd June, I boarded the Chennai Mail from Bangalore City station. I had my office friend for company, who luckily was a Chennai boy, so I was assured that I wouldn't be lost in the city. The night journey was pretty uneventful except for my petty skirmishes with a gentleman in my compartment over the use of the over head fans. He wanted to switch it off and I wanted it on. Four or five times during the night, he switched it off and I shamelessly turned it on within five minutes. Each time he would mutter some unmentionables to me in his own language but I decided to ignore him. I even offered him my upper berth but he didn't want to change his middle berth seat. Well if he isn't willing to compromise why the hell should I?

We reached Chennai around 5 am in the morning and already you had the feeling of being roasted slowly. Chennai has an awesome local train network and within 20 minutes we were at Saidapet, where my friend's house was located. I felt guilty of waking up his whole family so early in the morning, but apparently they all wake up at this time. Entering my friend's house, I couldn't help being reminded of "Two States" by Chetan Bhagat. A proper,unpretentious, clean house with minimal furniture so unlike what we have in the North. Aunty was already in a saree and Uncle was dressed in.......you guessed it right, a check shirt and a lungi."The Hindu" was lying next to the sofa and I couldn't stop myself chuckling. Filter coffee awaited us, hot and refreshing, and it put us right up and ready for the day ahead.A few idlis later, we were on our way to the US Consulate in Anna Salai.

At this point, I should now mention Chennai's infamous autorickshaw drivers. I thought they were pretty notorious in Bangalore itself, but after meeting their Chennai counterparts, the Bangalore dudes almost seem domesticated. In Chennai, there is no concept of a running meter; the driver will quote his own fare, which might be 2-5 times higher than the normal fare. It is now up to your own negotiable skills to bring that fare down as much as possible. If you succeed, you deserve to teach management classes at an IIM, and if you are a non Chennaite who succeeds, they should put you in the External Affairs ministry and ask you to deal directly with Pakistan's officials.

By 7:30 a.m. we were at Anna Salai, waiting outside the US Consulate in a quenue. It reminded me of the olden days, when people used to stand in front of the ration shops. The only difference being that we were probably better dressed than them. Apart from that, it all seemed pretty similar; the worried faces, the pile of documents in hand, the long suffering wait....And although it was only 7:30, the heat suggested it was closer to noon. My manager had forced me to wear formals for the visa appointment, and the full sleeved, starched nylon shirt made me sweat like a pig. Soon enough, it turned a creamish hue from the once brilliant white that my shirt originally was. Mercifully,we didn't have to wait too much long and by 9 a.m. we were out of the complex.

We returned home and had an awesome lunch,Tamil Nadu style. I don't remember the names of the dishes, but they seriously thrilled me.The best was a brown powder, which was fondly known as "Gun powder", you add it to your rice and sambar and you will realize why exactly it is called that!! I had the second shower of the day and changed into shorts and a tshirt. That was going to be my dress code for the rest of the day. Next on my agenda was getting a laptop charger for Sayantani.That meant a journey to the famous Electronics Market in Chennai, where you get an Apple Iphone for less than a thousand bucks, provided you know the right shop and are ready to fight for a bargain. It took me a good 1.5 hours to reach this place after innumerable bus and auto rides, but once I was there, it was totally worth it. You could literally buy any electronic product at throwaway prices, and I got away with a HP Charger for less than 500 bucks. (The original one costs above Rs 2000). In between, I had to take innumerable glasses of lime soda to keep myself hydrated.

With the whole afternoon ahead of us, I requested my friend to take me to Marina beach. I had visited this beach once around 12 years ago and I was dying to come back here. Thankfully the journey wasn't too long and soon enough we were on the beach. Even in the middle of the afternoon, under the scorching Chennai sun, the beach seemed pretty full. People were pretty oblivious to the heat and it was nice seeing them have so much fun there. The only way to forget the heat was to jump into the water and I didn't need any further invitations. After a good two hours of frolicking, we got very hungry. My friend disappeared to get some "bhajjis" which had fillings of every possible vegetable you get in Chennai. But that wasn't enough for me. I had heard they sold fried sea fish on the beach and soon enough I located a stall selling just that. I decided that I am not going to shift out of that place for the next one hour and I need to finish my year's quota of fish right then and there.Bangalore actually doesn't have a lot of options if you want to have fish and whatever is available is pretty expensive. Here on the beach I was getting the morning catch at 30 bucks per fish (each of around 300-400 gms). I took out a hundred rupee note, gave it to the fish guy, pointed at my mouth and in sign language asked me to feed me as much as he could. For the next half hour, my friend had a look which was a mixture of amazement and disgust, but I actually didn't care. All the heat of Chennai had vanished and it was only me and my fish that seemed to matter. Heaven was being experienced in a tiny stall right near the Marina Beach in Chennai and that too for only a hundred bucks!

We soon returned after my awesome dining experience. There we had the third shower of the day. Aunty had prepared delicious dosas and although I had promised myself that I wouldn't touch any more food,I knew that I would lose the battle. Another heavy meal followed topped up with mangoes and with a night journey ahead of us, I was deeply worried. Still, I always pack for emergencies and after shoving a handful of Pudin Haras in my mouth, I was good to go.I thanked my friend's parents for their wonderful hospitality and promised to return. With such a heavy meal in my stomach, I immediately dozed off in the bus. The next thing I remember was getting up at Bangalore station, with the familiar chill in the morning forcing a grin out of me. I was home finally.

Adios Chennai!! Like the Terminator once said " I WILL BE BACK!"