Chennai – Changing times
It was a Thursday evening. And was about 7.30pm in the evening. I had finished off all my work. The day was hectic. I just wanted to have a quiet dinner. I didn’t waste a moment. Quicky called up my friend. Decided to head out for dinner. Headed to 601 at The Park. And discover that the place is packed. I didn’t have a reservation caus I never thought I needed one. For heaven’s sake, it is a week day and one wouldn’t normally expect restaurants to be full. The manager of 601 wanted me to wait for 20 minutes, but I didn’t. Headed towards Copper Chimney. They are back. New, improved but at the same old place. And Gosh! This place is full too. Someone told me Palimar has reopened and I must check it out. I said fine. It got opened only a couple of days back. So, I was all charged up. I park my car and walk up the flight of stairs. “Sir, would you like to go for the buffet? The restaurant has a waiting time of 20 minutes?” By now, I have lost it.
Headed straight down Mount Road, saw the Vellore Gyan Vaishnav Dhaba and just headed in. Managed to find a place for two. Had a quick dinner and drove off to ECR.
What has happened to the city? Is this the Chennai I know? The city is bubbling. Restaurants, bars, pubs, shopping malls all are packed throughout the week. Not to mention the Baristas and Coffee Days and Mochas of the world. There is a certain visible metamorphosis that one can see in the city. I don’t know whether all these are for the good or the bad. I just hope that they are for the good and come what may, the city retains its identity and live true to the phrase “Sorgame enralum athu namma madrasa pola varuma”.
Interesting post here Vinod, you are asking the question whether the city will be able to retain its indentity. Well I ask you this is the Tamil language and culture given the respect it deserves by Tamilians. Now a friend of mine has a cousin who has been born and brought up in Chennai however he can’t speak Tamil properly he is a non Tamilian, however I see this as a trend among non Tamilians they don’t learn Tamil while living here. Also Tamilians themselves are losing interest in Tamil don’t you think? I have heard numerous reports that the Tamil language and culture will soon be gone in Chennai do you feel these are accurate statements they are made by teachers and professors.Has Chennai lost its real indentity due to all these migration from other states? Why are Tamilias so worried about learning Hindi and stuff you don’t need it in Chennai and I hope it won’t come to the point where it turns into Hyderabad where Hindi rules over Telugu. I think Annadurai would be shocked if he were alive to see what respect Tamilians give there own language. Why is it only Tamilians who move to other states tend to hate themselves and take on new indentities? We are the oldest civilization in India what have we got to be ashamed off Tamil Nadu is one of the leading states in India. It can survive on its own even if it seperated from India, which I think it should if we are going to be forced to learn Hindi.
Dude, you could have waited at the Park ,instead of roaming around for eatouts !Sure, you would have spent more than 20 mins to get to a place:-(
Weekdays…weekends…doesn’t matter…flash your credit card, eat and drink to the max…and pay in EMI’s !!
On 10th morning by 9AM myself and my mrs. went for breakfast to Polimar at Gemini; by nearing the parking I found the parking was emapy without even a single vehicle, and I wondered; I parked the car and went to the restaurant and I was told by the chinese young girl sitting there that the restaurant works from 11A.M.to
11 P.M only all the seven days. Then we proceed to Palmgrove where all the seats are occupied; Then we had our breakfast at their Buffet, by paying 110/- + Tax per head; Buffet is not opt for us at that time in fact; Instead of waiting and to run to restaurants one by one we finished there I went home.
Its nice to read that Chennai is becoming so busy these days, so many restaurants,pubs, bars, shopping malls etc….
I hope Chennai doesn’t loose its identity and its going in the right direction.
And BTW, instead of driving to so many places and wasting time for hours, you could have waited for 20 min. at 601.
I agree with Rohan on the points he has made Chennai Tamils are all silly fools who think that making the city cosmopolitan is the most important thing on earth. Well its not and if you guys don’t wake up Tamil language and culture will no longer exist in Chennai you bloody foolish Tamilians. I am ashamed to say that I am from Chennai now.
ha pretty much everyone is berating you for leaving, but i know that sometimes waiting is more than i can handle and i would much rather be on and off somewhere else in a moving vehicle. hope there wasnt too much traffic or you would have really lost your brains!
I agree with Rohan’s point I think Tamilians in Chennai are confused about themselves, and there indentity. As I can see people try and ignore this issue as only one person has given any response to this. I know the reason because they have no reply they know all the points made here are true and accurate but I guess the general public isn’t willing to accept it or maybe they are too ashamed to say this is correct. A shame really to see our Tamilian brothers and sisters are so ignorant, they prefer to talk about restaurants instead. Like someone said Tamilians has no self respect this is indeed true, I myself am ashamed by the behaviour or our bretheren.
wow man! has so much changed…its been 5 yrs since i visited my own chennai…yes, born, brought up (incl. education, romancing et al)a total of 25 years.
let me know of some good hangout locations man, i will be visiting chennai during october and wish to take my wife along to all the places in chennai and bring about a big time opinion change in her mind.
she is from bombay and believes bombay is the best and everything else comes next.
Mahesh