The first thing I feel after arriving at the beach is boredom. There is no breeze. There is an old lady selling cigarettes. I light up. People are lying on the warm sand; many of them have already slept. Some are trying to. Four people are squatting on the sand laughing in drunken stupor. Luckily for them, there are no cops close by.
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As I set out for the Boat Club early this morning, the bank of clouds moving in from the east provided a spectacular sight! Unfortunately I did not have my trusty camera with me, so all I could do was drink it in without going off the road or causing anyone any harm. Grey clouds they were, one piled upon the other, with gold and silver edges from beyond which the sun’s rays shone upwards in a fan of rays!
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Poet and novelist Salma was on Friday awarded the Amudan Adigal Literary Award at a simple function in New College in the city. Ms Salma, who won the award for her contribution to Tamil literature that includes a collection of feminist poems, a novel and a few short stories, said her writings were mostly based on her own experiences. She said her experiences were not hers alone but that of each and every woman.
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Geeta Padmanabhan, who, besides writing for the Hindu Metroplus, blogs about Chennai, stories and many other stuff at Grandma’s Tales. She writes:

One of the things I fail to understand in life is why people want to build structures to “beautify” a place. Especially beaches. To me keeping a place absolutely clean, litter-free, is keeping it beautiful. Fewer the structures, all those tasteless brick squares, the better. A grove of shady trees, grass underfoot, a river gurgling by, and a hazy mountain in the distance, that’s “beauty” for me. What is it for you?
A beach is beautiful because it has sand. It has a walkable waterfront. From a distance you can see the frothing or calm water, see its colour change with the season, watch the distant ships. You enjoy the breeze. I don’t know how anyone can make the beach beautiful or “convenient” for the elderly by adding concrete structures to the stand.

Apparently, the Chennai Corporation is planning to improve the sandy stretch. Their plans include a mini auditorium, walkways, gardens and the like.
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I know what I am ordering. Waiters in Barista, Cafe Coffee Day, Amethyst, Brio - Please note. It has been my experience that whenever an Espresso is ordered, the waiter has a shocked look, and explains “Sir, it is black coffee, are you sure?”. Some concerned ones go even further and educate me, “Sir, it is freshly brewed coffee with no milk, no sugar. Are you sure?”.

I thought may be it was only me with my rustic looks. But I observed the same thing happen with others too. The coffee bars in Chennai seem to think that the citizens are not yet ready for the Espresso. Horror of horrors, even after you order, they come back and ask, “Sir, do you want hot water along with the coffee to dilute it?”.

I have been a romantic all my life, and Valentine’s Day has always appealed to me. So I have always celebrated Valentine’s Day in a befitting manner: roses, candle lit dinner et al, both as a bachelor, and now with my wife. However, as Pavithra notes, Valentine’s Day has now truly been embraced by a large segment of the populace, young and old alike, in recent years. Cynics can argue that it’s one more example of Indians blindly aping the West, but I really think there’s much more afoot.
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Seems to be the catch-word, these days. On the one hand you have clutches of seasoned Gen Xs (or is it Y?) hanging about the super-elite haunts, clutching enormously expensive trinkets that the average Chennaiite even shudders to look at - and then you have impossibly dreamy-eyed youngsters who recite long and hopelessly romantic passages about lasting love. TV Channels have endlessly repeating loops of phone-in shows where dippy twenty-somethings drawl about the “love songs” they’re dedicating to so-and-so (mostly without their parents knowledge, they say.). Colleges run rampant with mass-bunkings. Or at least, talk about mass-bunks. Whether X or Y really does possess enough gumption to stroll around hand in hand with their partner is debatable (more so, when the partner is the same sex.). Still, there’s the fun of doing something you think you’re forbidden to do, on other days.
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You know you’ve been to too many book-reads and launches when you can predict what’s going to happen at one with alarming regularity: there is a guest and there is the audience; one speaks about the greatness of the author in question, the other nods in comprehension, and after a few passages from a text and minutes of strained formality it is over and done with. It’s the author’s style and fame that decide, to a great extent, the success or downfall of such sessions. Not to mention the style of presentation.
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Here is another perspective on the small shop owners and how they reacted 2 weeks before. Sorry for the delay in making the post.

Why did the small shop owners protest?
Why was there a delay in the protest by shop owners?
What is it for the Public?

Click on the image to have larger version

Front view of the Notice

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No, make that a Bay of Bengal change. Actually this change is not about what is happening within Chennai but rather what is happening towards Chennai. Looks like I am still talking in riddles :-). Well, this is about what I see and overhear these days on the relocation to Chennai, by people not just from the US or elsewhere but also from other metros of India, particularly those who owe some allegiance to the city either thru familial bonds or by virtue of some connection(s) that gave them the needed fillip to get started in their lives. I have been in interviews where the person sitting on the opposite chair wanted to somehow come (back) to Chennai, especially so if they were from the nearest big-city, otherwise known as the “Silicon Valley of India”. The reasons cited could be anything and range from “my two year old son has terrible allergies due to the high pollution” and “living there has become very expensive” to “traffic is chaotic and commute is stressful” and “same or more job opportunities are available in Chennai these days”. Things like the just-concluded Bandh aren’t helping the ca(u)se of that city either.
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