North or West Chennai is Best

I was on a city-hop this week touching a revered spiritual town in the God's Own Country and then going back to the city where I got my heart fixed, before heading to our national capital to witness the Independence Day Parade at Red Fort. The last time I was in these three cities were over 3 years. A good time to compare and contrast, isn't it? 

The argumentative Indians

Be it journeys or conference calls, conversations about weather can often be a good ice-breaker. Given that Chennai was in the lower 30s and humid, it didn't help to break the ice, but rather melted it immediately. A student from Delhi was traveling with me on the train journey to Kerala. He is student at Vellore Institute of Technology and had wonderful things to say about the institute. Very soon the conversation quickly drifted to Chennai, meandered around hot wether, cold and unkind people and ended up berating them for not speaking in Hindi. A clichéd view of Chennaiites from those coming from North.

I halted his words and asked him a fundamental question: what makes India diverse? Isn't it our 26 languages, numerous traditions and cultures? Isn't food is a way to find a place in a man's heart and also explain our diversity?I shared some snacks and savories with him I pointed out how similar the Tamilian mixture is to Namkeen from tHe North and Chivda from the West. And when I handed over a mini-Badhushah from Grand Snacks, I told him how this was not made from khoa unlike the ones made in Delhi. Finally, he agreed that our differences and adaptation makes us culturally rich and similar. 

I wanted to ask him if he was not adequately warned by about Chennaiites and why he didn't take an effort to learn the local language rather than expect the locals to learn his language. With the Central Government recently caught on the wrong foot over Twitter communications in Hindi and UPSC exam row, I decided to stay quiet and instead started writing this blog.

God's own country

Now coming back to my first destination; A few things never change and among those are mother's love, joy of a baby's smile, and adherence to traditions and customs in Kerala, despite apartments and malls mushrooming on the one side. Btw, Kerala weddings are still under 10 mins and I can't comprehend what it would be like if they shrink it further.

I was at the counter outside Guruvayoor temple waiting to deposit my foot wear and the person from behind was in a rush to deposit his and in the process his slippers touched me accidentally. The man at the counter noticed that I was wearing a sacred thread and chided the guy behind to respect Brahmins. I was taken aback that people still had reverence for Brahmins, who were once considered a priestly class in the society and who lived their life guiding the society. Though Kerala is a biggest consumer of beef in India and cows are being killed in hundreds every day, one can still find vegetarian restaurants that proudly announced "Brahmin Food". While today, Brahmins in many parts of India and around the world have forgotten their traditions and were turning omnivores. 

Temple is the only place that is untouched by strikes in Kerala. They still opened at 3.45 am to P.Leela's rendition of Gnanapana. Men and women wore white mundu, generously used coconut oil on their hair, smeared their forehead with sandalwood paste. Despite studies putting Coconut oil in bad light (high cholesterol), people continue to use in their cuisine. Lastly, when you hear parents yelling Jomon, Joby, Nivin, Rejish, etc. or come across these on the chart pasted on side of the bogie, you feel assured that Kerala and Keralites are still routed in tradition. 

My heart beats with gratitude

The overnight train journey from Thrissur to Bangalore was very comfortable. Before I got on the train I managed to pick a packet of ripe banana chips for my friend. That night I travelled on carriages that had bio toilets and which didn't discharge on the tracks and leave a trail of filth behind us. I also went to bed early and managed to wake up at 3.15 am to get off at KR Puram station.

Auto guys in Bangalore aren't as bad as those in Chennai and I was able to convince him for 1.5 times with no extra money. At 3.30 it was a 30mins ride by auto to my friend's place at HSR Layout. During the journey, I remembered the big dig three years back and traffic snarls, and today I traveled on the completed flyovers on Outer ring road all the way until Silk Board and the ride was a breeze. 

A second bed and blanket was ready for my arrival at my friends place and when we woke it was almost 9am. I don't know if I should call it a privilege or a blessing, but he had taken the day off to spend time with me and making it memorable for both of us. His 1BHK apartment was very much identical to my den in Paris, but he stayed on the last floor and had access to a open terrace and also had a roof garden.

He asked me to stay in the kitchen and continue talking to him about my life and stay in Paris, while he chopped cabbage for curry, chopped apples for gojju (his grand mother's recipe) and a typically Andhra sambar. After a nice sumptuous lunch, we napped a bit (in my friend David's parlance "rice comma") before heading out to the theatre to watch Kailasam Keechaka (a character from Mahabaratha). Rangashankara is hot spot for those into theatre. The doors were shut at 7.30 pm sharp and we were strictly instructed to turn off mobiles phones keep them muted until the end. During the 90min show we only heard dialogs, songs, laughs and claps. Yes, Indian audience can be made disciplined. 

Before we headed out, we stopped by the canteen to enjoy a crispy Akki Roti served with spicy tomato chutney. The Garden City is still cool and attracts young and smart minds from across the country, but the green cover is being replaced with concrete cover at a rapid pace. 

A city of attitude and arrogance

My next stop is New Delhi to witness the 68th Independence Day Parade and hear the address of our Prime Minister who was also born after Independence like me. Our PM may call himself Pradhan Sevak (first servant), but most of Delhiites behave like Pradhan Mantri (Prime Minister). 

The ugly side of Delhi is the attitude and arrogance of its people. I must confess that people wear their attitude and temper on their sleeves and as a result their arrogance blinds their brilliance. I have witnessed a few instances and also came across a few of those reported in newspapers during my three day stay. 

Music is a family tradition 

Despite these shortcomings, it was a joy to take my sister and family out for lunch, shop together and teach my nephew third grade English grammar. I even got an opportunity to take him to music class and I remembered the days when I had to accompany my sister to the music class. 35 years later, music still remains a family tradition. While speaking about tradition, I must share the coconut breaking tradition before and after every journey in my family. Not sure if it should be classified as pre-birthday bash, but my mother has a habit of breaking coconut (bribing Ganesha) whenever any of us in the house set out on a journey. And sometimes he gets a coconut whenever she gets anxious. With the 3 city trip, Ganesha had half-a dozen in a week :-)

Delhi Metro shines

It is convenient of getting around the city on the metro train despite overpowering smell of Navaratna hair oil emanating from fellow passengers. I must tell you that the metro stations in Delhi are much cleaner than the ones in Paris. There was no vandalism in the name of graffiti or street art and nobody excuses themselves in the metro station, something quite common in Paris. Another difference between Paris and Delhi metros, people in Delhi are attentive and are not found with ears plugs, deafening music and indifference.

Making memories

Another joyous moment for me was visiting my friends and their families.Though one of them lives outside of India, I managed to visit his parents, sister and niece and also enjoy the home cooked meal at their home and exchange about our changing lives. Within 3 hours I had 3 cups of tea and lots of snacks and fruits to eat. It has been 10 years since we first met, and we've kept in touch through emails, phones calls and periodic visits and today I was capturing the elusive moments together and sharing it with them over Whatsapp. Isn't vacation all about making memories with friends and family?

Home sweet home

And when I did my web check-in on the Delhi-Chennai bound flight, I realized that I had only 7 more days left with my mother who just turned 60 in a city that turned 375. That evening before I boarded the flight from Delhi to Chennai I received a text message from my mother giving me the lunch menu for the following morning. Mother, motherland and friends are always special and every time I take a flight out of Chennai I feel like a woman leaving for her husband's place after marriage. Home sweet home!