So, I’ve always wondered what the inside of a jewelry store was like. Nah, not the shopping-for-wedding kind of curiosity. There you’re pretty much bombarded by everything they’re trying to throw at you, or gawping so hard at bling so obviously out of your range (for me, that is), that there’s no time to take in anything else. What I mean is what goes on behind scenes, sort of. It isn’t to be expected that you, as a total stranger, will be shown the whole caboodle, but you can ask, right?

I decided that I’d ask the GRT Thangamaligai store people to let me have a peek inside their machinery. After about a dozen phone calls and rescheduling of appointments, it finally did happen. I met the big guys. On their own turf, so to speak.
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It’s been raining non-stop today. Kilpauk and T. Nagar are in ankle-deep water and rising. Chinmaya Nagar/Koyembedu too, from friends who live there.
2005’s flash floods come to mind. One hopes it will not come to this, but it pays to be prepared.

Emergency numbers, in case you need help quick. (From the ol’ Chennai Help blog)
Chennai Corporation
* 25381330
* 25383783
* 25384670

AID Chennai
* AID Chennai office: 044-28350403

*Now that I’ve made this post, chances are the rains will subside.

If you’ve been on the net long enough, and been a little, what shall we say, fond of Madras, you’d have surely come across a thousand websites which describe Madras/Chennai as a “place where tradition and modernity mingle”. While there might be some truth to that easy cliche, this post is not about that.

I am not sure if this is just a fantasy that exists in my brain or actual incidents, but a long time ago, I used to live in Mandavelli. And because there was very little to do on a Saturday evening, the family would pile up on the old Vijay Super scooter and go to the Marina.

Now, here’s where the tradition comes in. All these trips to the beach would not be taken without a steel-tiffin-box filled with either idlis or kozhukattai or some such light snack. Eating out was not an option, much less at the bajji kadais. (I don’t recall if there were many bajji stalls then)

(Mandavelli to Marina is at most 5 minutes of 1980s Madras roads - we packed food from home for such a trip!)

When families swell in size during the annual festivities, the newcomers would most definitely be taken to the Marina. And gifts bought. Rubber balls. Plastic dolls. I remember my father once buying a murukku making machine in the beach.

Sadly these don’t occur anymore. My questions is, what’s your family’s Marina tradition?

Yes, yes, I know. You’re all quite ready to throw brickbats at me for not posting the second part of the …. don’t tell me you’ve forgotten what. Blame a prolonged sickness for my vanishing off the face of the Metblog radar. Anyway … here’s Part 2 of the Salma Chronicles.

Oy, where did I stop off? Ok, got it.

By the way, go here for Part 1.
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Chennai Super Stars captained by Stuart Law lifted the inaugural ICL Twenty Twenty trophy.

From what I observed 99% of Chennai population wasn’t aware or bothered about this :-). May be Chennai will care more about its home team after this victory. Cheers to Chennai Super Stars.

After witnessing the Naval Exercise at Marina this evening, to take the train to Velachery I proceeded to the Light House Railway Station. The Railway Station looked like Chennai Central or Egmore. People were standing in long queue to get the tickets.

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As CC started covering the places photowalked, I decided to cover the people we came across, which in some images include the people who photowalked.

While we were waiting for others to join at the Fort St George Parking Lot, we found a number of teams playing Cricket. Most of those present appeared to be from Sowcarpet area. This image of one such team waiting for their turn to play.
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As some of you reading this will know, the Second Chennai Photowalk was walked. And photographed. 7 of us, this time. A drop from the first walk. But I am hoping that this grows. So, without too much of a rambling intro, here are photos.

We started from the fort, or to be precise, from across the road.

For those not in the know, the fort is in

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I have been mulling over what to write about, to keep the interest and continuity going and I think I found the topic. It is said that there are about 40 - 50 statues of famous event and people that are all around Chennai. I am not aware of where they are, and most of the time, I keep standing and gazing at the statue hoping that it would just start talking and tell me who they are supposed to be. Yep, I am clueless in most cases as to what these statues represent. There is supposed to be a plank that explains it all, but most of these statues are bang in the centre of busy intersections, that i’d be risking my life trying to get to the status to read it.

I thought I’ll risk it for you all. My journey for the next couple of weeks is to go hunt down all the status and landmarks of chennai and post them here. If anyone wants to join, they are more than welcome to.

Here is all starts, with the statue of Kannagi..
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Chennai is a bit of a low-activity place they say. Well, I disagree. If at all, a city is a representation of the energy that is in the people who live there, there is way too much that is hidden and repressed among the citizens of this city.

We hunch a lot. Perhaps its time to stand up straight and celebrate.

Starting this saturday, yep that would be tomorrow, every week at 5pm, we plan on meeting on the beach with a group of percussionists (just about anyone who can play a tabla, bongo, or even pick up two sticks and keep a beat going), for an informal jamming session.

As of now, I have been getting a lot of calls to confirm people’s attendance and I am quite excited about tomorrow. If you do know of friends and such who are on the “outgoing and outrageous” side, this will be a fun activity to be part of, as a city.

Initiated under the banner of community driven initiatives of “I Love chennai”, here’s hoping that those who hunch, hunch not and bring out that vibrancy out, that we know is hiding inside there, and which makes a city great!

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