When Anna Nagar was beyond the outskirts of town! This was in the seventies when the Tower was built and the ‘World Fair’ held to attract people to the area. The Anna Nagar arches were built on Poonamallee High Road for the same reason!. Beyond the arches, the narrow road used to lead through woods and under brush to the round tana!

The entire area was deserted, with 2nd Avenue seemingly stretching to the horizon, leading nowhere. The road itself was a narrow single carriage tarred road, with wide stretches of earth on either side. All the lanes were well marked, with empty plots on either side as far as you could see, with a few early houses in between. The cousin of a friend of mine lived in one of those, and we used to occasionally cycle ‘all the way to Anna Nagar’ to see him!

The area that developed first was near the Chinthamani super market, but beyond that it was filled with empty spaces. In fact, when my father bought me a second hand Jawa for college, I learnt to ride it on 2nd Avenue because there was hardly any traffic! When another friend moved there, we used to frequently haunt the empty roads of Anna Nagar, cycling around, between friends homes. Soon, I knew many people in the area, so it became a second home.

Playing loud music wasn’t a problem then, because the next house was usually some plots away! The first party I ever went to was in Anna Nagar in a close friend’s place. He was a genius when it came to electronics, and had rigged the system in such a way that the special lights set up for the party flashed along with the beat! His music equipment was also awesome for that time, and we all used to converge at his place and hang out listening to our favourites.

Over the years, the empty spaces filled up with individual houses, but no one could have imagined that it would turn into the vibrant mini city that it is today. But I shall always cherish those teenage memories of Anna Nagar that made those years so special. Sadly I have no photographs to share of that time. If anyone can locate old family photos taken of the area in those days it would be wonderful.