Weekend in Chennai

If any of my friends are thinking that this is one of those blogs where I do brag about the dates I had with my girl friends, Please do not read further. This is going to disappoint you hugely.

I had the chance to be in Chennai this weekend, not that I was going there for the first time. I have been to Chennai twice before, but the trips were very short one and were goal oriented. Hence this was, in a way my first Pleasure trip to Chennai.
Well, this time the city stuck a chord in my heart. It's really beautiful. Wide roads, managed traffic, the beach near by. And, moreover it is developing in quite a planned way. The residential and commercial areas are quite separated and have been planned accordingly.

The new bus stand is huge. A auto driver was telling me that it is the biggest bus terminal in India. I am not sure whether this is correct or not, but yeah it is huge. They could do better with the railway station though. It hasn't got the attention it deserves. It is too congested and it looked to be in poor shape. Can't comment on the Airport, didn't get to see it.

One of the sights that amazed me was the 'General Hospital'. I didn't get the chance to see it from inside, but from outside it's quite a feast to the eyes. On the first sight, it looks more of a 3 star Hotel, rather than a Hospital.

Food is quite cheap. Transport is almost equivalent to that of Bangalore, though if you don't know Tamil, the auto-wallahs are surely going to take you for a ride. The bus service is also quite organized, though a little bit too congested.
Another incident which I really loved, happened at Marina beach. I reached the beach as early as 9:30. It was almost deserted, except for the local shopkeepers. And behold, there was a scene which I couldn't believe. All the people present were cleaning the beach. Picking up spent up mineral water bottles, empty cigarette packs, poly bags....and what's more is, people who started coming in, also helped in this chore for 10-15 mins each.

Well, in a nut shell I fell in love with the city. The only problem I faced there was that I couldn't speak Tamil. But Luckily, I always found somebody who could speak English or understand Hindi.
I asked a Guard for the directions of a Theater, and the conversation was quite interesting:-

Me:     Excuse me, Shanti Theatre Ka rasta kahan se hai?
Guard: Huh!!!
Me:    (getting the point that he doesn't know Hindi)
         The Way to Shanti Theater...
Guard: Only English or Tamil....
Me:    (Dazed a little bit now...) Shanti Cinema Hall?
Guard: Don't know Hindi...
Me:    (Trying desperately Last time)
          Shanti multiplex..??
Guard: (With his toothless Grin) Go straight...

I know Chennai's weather is too hot and humid, but yesterday it was too good. Drizzle falling by, negligible humidity and very less of the Apollo. It was a fantastic trip. BTW I watched 'Fantastic 4' in chennai for a cool 50 bucks.