Monday, September 22, 2014

My Chennai


              A city is said to be humanity’s laboratory, where people flock to dream, create, build, and rebuild. I have visited many cities in the world, some were expensive and bustling, some were compact and boring, and few were beautiful and contemporary. However, there is only one city that stays in heart as home always. And yes it is Chennai for me. A city that brought me up to the society, taught me survival skills and the art of being independent and courageous.  It’s a city which always wins people’s heart in a style when they visit.

Aerial view of Chennai city along the Coast
Chennai formerly known as “Madras” is a capital city of the state Tamil Nadu in India. It is a 375 year old cosmopolitan city playing an important role in the historical, cultural and intellectual development of India, representing still the distinct components of the highest form of Dravidian civilization.  In addition, it holds out an interesting fare of South Indian architecture, music, dance, drama, and sculpture and other arts and crafts with varied mix of cultures and languages. Chennai is also known as cultural gateway of South India. My pride filled city lies on the Coromandel Coast playing with the southern part of the Bay of Bengal in South East India. Coromandel Coast spreads the chillness of the sea breeze during nights. Thundering North east Monsoon; Rumbling cyclones; Roasting Summer are the natural highlights of weather in the city. 
        


       Chennai/Madras was ruled by the Pallava Kings, before the British took over. The growth of the city is significant  and closely linked with the  development of  British  Institutions and administration. In short, Chennai city was the chief centre from which the  British  rule expanded in the sub-continent and it remains a standing monument  of British contribution to  India.



Sunday, September 21, 2014

Charms of Chennai

          Chennai city is well known for the hospitality. Chennai being the Capital city of Tamil Nadu tops well in its never changing hospitality to people who come here. Be it be a visitor from foreign or a newcomer from other states in India, the city always welcomes you in with heart filled friendliness. It’s the place where you would see the unity in diversity.        Chennai  city  acts as an important center of culture and   education  in South  India  and has been the cradle of many movements  which have  played  an  important  role  in  the  history of the  sub-continent.  A  large  number  of  institutions  which  are known in India and abroad are  found  located  in  the city. The  establishment of  professional  colleges like  Medical,  Veterinary,  Law  and  Teaching,  the  location  of  the  Indian Institute  of  Technology and the  establishment of  Central  Leather  Research  Institute have added to the  development of the city. 

Chennai is the base for the Tamil film industry, known as Kollywood. Chennai city enjoys an  eminent position in the country for the film  industry  and Kodambakkam, known  as the Hollywood of Chennai, has a number  of   studios  engaged in the  production of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,  Malayalam,  and Hindi language movies  which are popular in the contribution of Indian Cinema.
Chennai is the main hub for the automobile manufacturing industry in India.  It accounts a major chunk of India’s car manufacturing industry. The city is nick-named as “Detroit of India”. A number of big motor companies have the manufacturing plants along the Automotive Corridor which includes BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Renault-Nissan, Mitsubishi, Caparo Group, Komatsu, Caterpillar, Ashok Leyland, TVS, and others in and around the city.




             Chennai city is the India’s second largest exporter of Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and IT enabled services. The SIPCOT IT Park in Siruseri is the largest Information Technology Park in Asia providing job opportunities to all inspiring minds.  

SIPCOT IT Park in Siruseri
Chennai is also the best for textile shopping. People all over the country; plan their own time to purchase the wide range of desired clothes and accessories. T.Nagar is the best known place in Chennai for it. It is often compared to the Times Square of New York.



Chennai also serves a good base for Art and Culture development. Kalakshetra, made by the theosophical society, is a cultural academy dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in Indian art.
Classical Dance: Bharathanatyam
With all these fascinating stuffs, Chennai is the only Indian city to be rated in the "Forbes-Top 10 Fastest Growing Cities in the World" by Forbes Magazine and the only Indian city on the list of 52 Global tourist destinations by The New York Times. 

References
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/why-chennai-turned-into-detroit-of-india/1233254

http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/07/cities-china-chicago-opinions-columnists-joel-kotkin_slide_11.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-only-Indian-city-on-list-of-global-tourist-destinations/articleshow/28693404.cms

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Prides of Chennai

Organ Donation

 People in Chennai share a special bonding when we are together to support for any cause. No matter what ever problem a life faces, we group together to take our city up in hand and save it. Here is an example that shows our bond to this world. It’s an incident where a heart needs to be transplanted on time from the person donating to the person receiving. The difficult situation arises where the shortest path is the way that runs through the heart of the city. Chennai is one of the metropolitan cities where the traffic is high on peak hours and every Chennaiite loses a heart beat stressed by the traffic.  But nothing is impossible when we are together. Yes, we made it happen we skipped our heart beats in traffic and the heart was successfully transplanted by express delivery.

Express Delivery



Amma Unavagam (Mother’s Restaurant)

Mother's restaurant is another pride of Chennai. It is a restaurant concept introduced to offer good quality food at low price aimed at helping the very poor sections of the society. Food is offered at 1INR, 3INR and 5INR which is 0.016$, 0.05$ and 0.08$ respectively.

Anna centenary library 

Anna centenary library is one of the largest libraries in Asia, built in Chennai. It accommodates 1.2 million books.
                             



Marina beach

Marina beach is one of the prides of Chennai. It’s a natural urban beach in Chennai along the Bay of Bengal, part of Indian Ocean.  It’s the second longest beach in the world.




Auto Rickshaw (Auto)

 Auto Rickshaw (Auto) is pride ride of Chennai. One should definitely travel in Auto to visit places in and around Chennai. It is usually preferred for short distance travel within the city.



Friday, September 19, 2014

Things I have done in Chennai

Evening at the Marina beach

Like every other person of the chennai my weekend evening would be at the beach.Having the second longest beach in the World, we would walk throughout the stretch of the beach with our friends, talking about the moments, sharing the untold stories.


   

Outing with Friends to the Elliot's Beach
Elliot's beach is one of my another favorite beaches. Along with my friends I always come for a refreshing outing to Elliot's beach. We used to eat the city's favorite Frankie whenever we visit Elliot's beach.



Watching first day first show of favorite star’s movie

Its always a pride for every Chennaiite to watch first day first show of their favorite star’s movie. With very less number of seats and huge number of die hard fans, getting a movie ticket for my favorite star Rajinikanth's Movie is a mission impossible.

Shore temple at Mahabalipuram

One of my favorite Art place in Chennai showing the art work of my ancestors. It was also one of my weekend get away where you could spend a whole day enjoying the art and sculpture. Whenever I get there I get a feel that we have the ability to create the next world wonder.



South Indian breakfast – Idly, Sambar, Dosai, Pongal

South Indian breakfast is always the best, healthy and good to taste. I have never been a single day without this food. Its a must to try when you are here in Chennai.



Lunch at Hotel Saravana Bhavan (HSB)

Hotel Saravana Bhavan is a place where South Indian Meals would be at its best taste. From Sambhar to the ultimate curd rice, everything is made to the perfection that you would always want to eat more . I always have my vegan lunch at Hotel Saravana Bhavan when I go out for shopping.
        

Thalapakatti Biryani in Dindugul Thalapakatti Restaurant

One of My favorite restaurant in Chennai which made my taste buds to hit the peak always. Thalapakatti Biryani is the most famous food made with spices, rice and meat. Be it be sadness or madness, my friend and I always order a Biryani which would make us forget everything except its taste .



 Snacks at the Marina beach


Marina is not only known for the beach but also for the hundreds of the snack shops to munch. All the snacks made here are fresh and good to taste. Some of the highlight able snacks are Chilli Bajji, Grilled Corn, boiled Bengal gram, spicy mango. 




A visit to the Phoenix Market City

Phoenix Market City is one of the leading Malls in India and the largest in India. It is one of my favorite window shopping destination with my friends. I used to visit the mall occasionally with my gang of friends for a get together. 



  
Movie in Sathyam Cinemas
Sathyam cinemas is one of the leading theater groups in Chennai with awesome audio/video technology that provides a classy feel of the movies . I have watched most of my favorite movies here with a full bucket of Caramel popcorn melting in my mouth.




Parrot prediction of future

One of the awesome funny future prediction methods where a Parrot is trained to pick the card for the future and most of the times it would be turn true too. 

                    


Shopping in T.Nagar

T.Nagar is the destination for your favorites. It may be clothing, accessories, home appliances or anything you would need every day, T.Nagar has all your favorites at all colors and at a lower price. I never return empty handed whenever I go there. Shopping is fun and exciting here.



 New year celebration in Marina Beach


Marina being one of the favorite destinations for the us Chennaiites, we always spend our new year beginning at the beach with breath taking music from the speakers that are setup all along the beach road. I could never forget the wide range of fireworks that glitter over the sea when the clock beats at 12. 




Travelling Chennai through Train in the Evening
Chennai has several trains that runs through the heart of the city and connects all major places in and around the city. Travelling in train is joy in the evening.



Visiting Vandaloor Zoo

Vandaloor Zoo was one of my favorite places from childhood. It was established in 1855. My parents used to take me to the zoo and show me the wide range of Fauna that are in the zoo. I always enjoy the evening cycles rides through the zoo with my friends and feeding some of the herbivores with fruits .

Listening to RJ Balaji Show

RJ Balaji is a well known Radio Jockey in chennai who is known for his quick witted crazy talks. Most of my leisure time would be spent listening to RJ balaji's show on radio.




Fun ride at East Coast Road (ECR)

ECR - The East Coast Road is one of the favorite places for a weekend get always for all youngsters. The straight road along the coast provides an awesome atmosphere for a tension free ride .  

Queen's Land theme park 

Queen's land is one of the awesome theme parks in Chennai with a wide range of rides that would give you goosebumps. I always go the theme park with my friends to enjoy the thrill of being thrown away through the rides .

Supporting Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

Chennai Super Kings is a Chennai based cricket team that plays in Indian Premier League and Champions League Tournament. For all the Chennaiites, the word CSK runs like blood inside their soul. The Passion and support for our CSK team is incredible.





There are lot more things to do in Chennai and I am still counting on it. Hope you all visit Chennai and carry loads of fascinating experience and memories down the lane.

Here is a "Tribute to Chennai" by the famous Music Composer Anirudh.