Chennai to Bangalore ...

Just finished packing up my stuff for B. Dad insisted that I clean the toxic junkyard that is also my room before I scoot. Mission accomplished in 8 hours flat. Yup, It took me 8 hours to undo the damage inflicted over a period of 9 years. That’s less than 1 hour for every year, eh!
The good thing about cleaning up wholesale is that it allows you to get unemotional about stuff. You tend to view things as junk and non-junk. No more staring wistfully at the farewell card given by your colleagues in the organization before last. Especially not at 1:00 am, when you have been slogging away for the past 6 hours. You know it is junk and there it goes.
Now that I am all set to bid farewell to the city that has been my home for quarter of a century (and man, why do I suddenly feel old), what is it that I will miss –
1) Masala kadalai & Milaga Bhajji by the beach – my definition of paradise.
2) The beach itself – nothing like sitting on the beach all by yourself n just watching the waves.
3) My colleagues in St.Gobain. The guys were clever… very clever and a joy to work with.
4) The public transport system. The MTC buses for all their faults are thoroughly dependable and cheap. I will feel the pinch in B, as it does not have any public transport worth mentioning.
5) Watching English movies dubbed in Tamil on Vijay TV. Wholesome entertainment. Where else would you see “Holy shit” get transformed to “Hey, Kadavulae”(Oh My God!!) or get Jackie Chan to sing that immortal classic – “Raakamma Kaiya Thattu”.
6) The heat of Chennai. People visiting Chennai do crib quite a bit about the climate or the lack of it. For me though, give me Chennai’s heat and it’s occasional rainy spells on any day.

Going on to what I definitely will not miss –
1) The company bus – the driver who is other wise a very nice person, becomes Schumi’s guru when he sits on the drivers seat. The bus suddenly transforms itself into a F1 truck and the race begins. The company bus is a menace on the roads and I am only too glad not to be riding it. The fact that I am alive today only goes to show that miracles happen even in lives of people who call God all sorts of names.
2) Spending 3 hours everyday in a bus commuting to and from the place of work is idiocy.
3) Autowallas of Chennai – they fleece, period. This from a guy who has been in the city for quite some time. God help anyone who does not know Tamil/Chennai and lands up in their clutches. And about their notorious road habits, the lesser said the better. While we are on the topic, scientists may want to study the unique fuel used by these 3 wheeled chariots and patent the same. I just cannot get myself to believe that driving skill alone could result in such acrobatics on the road.
4) Cooum - You see some, you hear some and then in case of dear Cooum, you smell some. The once proud river is now an open drain. Sporadic attempts have been made to set things right, but to no avail.
5) CAS – Chennai is the only place where Conditional Access System has been implemented. That means we are asked to pay for watching TV. And why is it that i am glad to escape CAS?
a) We Indians hate to pay for things. Guess, it's a part of the national conscience and there is nothing we can do about it.
b) It sucks even more when the entire nation is getting the stuff for free, while you alone are asked to pay.
c) It sucks biggest when that country cousin of yours living in a God forsaken part of Tamland walks in and gives you the latest dope on the your one time fav show on STAR World.
Going off on a tangent - Free tip to any political party that wants to romp home in the 14 assembly constituencies of Chennai - Promise to remove CAS and thou shall rule (at least in Chennai).

So, that’s that for now. Leaving for B tomorrow. This is my last post from Chennai for the next 2 years. So long Chennai … I will miss you.