Chennai: Dress, Language, Humidity

Dress: In Chennai, women are in salwar/saree. The other place I can think of where everyone is dressed alike is Kandy (Sri Lanka). There, everyone from teens to grannies, is dressed in a skirt but the colors/patterns break the monotony. Chennai disappoints in that count. We need visual stimuli! I missed handsome hunks waltzing past me & Sathya sorely missed lovely girls, who could make heads turn, walking past him. In Kannada we say “kannu thampu” or “aankhon ka sukoon”in Hindi: the cooling effect of watching drop-dead gorgeous faces. It was a dry spell – “Who Saat Din” in Chennai/ECR. Once, when I spotted a guy in shades, outside Express Avenue Mall, I gaped at him. He looked like a ‘celebrity’ in that barren land!

The influx of strikingly good-looking people from all over the country/world has worked in Bangalore’s favor. Here we’ve far more “sightings.” The city is pleasing to the eye (except areas like Peenya, Jalahalli & a few more!!). In Bombay, the girls are casually dressed but the variety has to be seen to be believed. Just watching their accessories & perkiness is a treat. The unusual collection, whether footwear, jewelry, outfits, bags, it’s a joy. Delhi rocks when it comes to stepping out of the house beautifully turned out –their clothes (mostly branded), shades & lovely hair - kya kehna. Hyderabad is great in places – you get to see some really stunning women/men; wander around the 2 famous Hills or Punjagutta/Somajigudda/Begumpet areas.

States in the South esp Kerala are known for their women with lustrous hair & attractive eyes & I expected (wrongly?) the same from Chennai. I was scanning every face but the numbers were too few to be encouraging. Maybe in this case, it really is the villainous weather & the harsh sun. The only colorful chicks I’d spot were these:

And some more in Express Avenue (EA) Mall who would’ve minded had I clicked them :)

Language: We value the thing that is rare. Something that is common, you take it for granted. In Bangalore, people are VERY friendly & go out of their way to help/guide you, speak to you in YOUR language & try to make you feel comfortable & you begin to think it is your birthright. But go to a city like Chennai, whenever someone helps you, you instantly feel blessed, & believe it’s your past life’s “punya” or good karma.

In Kerala, the general public doesn’t like being spoken to in English, more so if you're one of those tourist types in a sleeveless top, high heels & your fancy sunglass perched atop your head/nose. They might be a PhD in English but they’ll respond in Mal or gestures. In Chennai, you get the feeling that they don’t like being spoken to in Hindi. And Kannada. And Gujarati. And Punjabi. And Bengali. And ….

Humidity: The heat & humidity is a huge turn off in Chennai, for sure. But then Hyderabad too has the same problem- it is so hot there, it BURNS your skin. And you tan so bad, you look funny! Just imagine the covered parts of your body in 1 color & the exposed parts (face, neck, arms, back, & feet) 5 shades darker. But the people themselves are nice, & friendly. Having lived there for a year NEVER ONCE did I feel like an outsider.

In Chennai, you feel alienated, within hours, like someone’s telling you, “What are you doing here you pagan? This holy land is only for us”. You can almost hear your mind saying, “I don’t want to stay here because they don’t want me to.” And you can’t help wondering, “Dear Chennai, is it possible, no pressure absolutely, but just… can you make your city a little more likeable? Livable? If I am not wrong, aren’t you part of a larger nation? Or are you a separate country?”

I am no ardent fan of either KFC or McDonalds. I stay within 5-10 minutes’ walk of each of these outlets on New BEL Road in Bangalore. I go there to pick the Happy Meals burger only because Tan loves the toys that come with it! But I must confess: seeing McDonald outlet in Skywalk Mall in Arumbakkam made me feel at home! Like I was in familiar surroundings, in ‘my place’, a place I know & like! Tanvi & I spent more than an hour there, which is so rare I surprised myself. And that’s when I understood why some of my foreign students would always say a KFC/McDonalds/Pizza Hut in a new country makes them feel so much at ease that they can practically live there.