Nostalgia

Some call it Madras, some Chennai. To me, it's home. Every time I think of it, I'm flooded with memories good and bad. The first things I noticed upon moving to Madras were the heat, the terrible water, the stench of the Kuvam and the impolite (at first look) people and they did not do much to endear the city to me. But as time passed, the place just grew on me. Having spent nearly a year away from home, I am surprised by how vivid the memories still are. So, permit me to get nostalgic for a moment - these are some of the things that come to mind when I think of Madras.

• 'Working' (vernacular for being engaged in a pointless pursuit) on my computer (aka my pride and joy) in my room with its walls adorned with posters of superheroes. Being suddenly albeit pleasantly jolted back to reality by the delicious aromas emanating from the kitchen and by the sound of my mom's voice sneaking in from the outside world past the wall of heavy metal music.
• The sound of the waves at Bessy/Marina beach, the salty air blowing through my hair with the taste of hot grilled corn, sundal or bajji tickling my tongue - be it in the company of friends or in solitude (the kind you experience when you are a silent spectator to the chaotic mass of humanity that surrounds you).
• Speeding on my Honda Activa on Mount Road - weaving through the wall of traffic, trying to run away from the oppressive heat or enjoying the quietness of the wee hours. Trying not to end up having to grease the pockets of our beloved "uncles" in uniform.
• Spending a lazy afternoon at home with a bunch of friends and watching movies, listening to music, doing silly things (the kind you do to reassure yourself that you're still only 5 years old) until we realized that the afternoon had stretched far into the night and into the next dawn.
• Eating out... trying to decide on one from an endless list of options, each as good as the next.

-The countless street food stalls - podi dosai at T.Nagar's Kaiyendhi Bhavan (our saviour when we were hit by those late night hunger pangs) or roti-channa at the little hole in the wall in Saidapet - sitting on the platform hogging till we could walk no more

- Small & cheap restaurants (who could forget the veg biryani at Delux or the rava dosa at Mylai Karpagambal mess). It would be a sin not to mention the all-you-can-eat buffet at Dhaba Express (yes, the one on Cenotaph Road).

- Coffee pubs a la Barista where we'd chat for hours over a cup of friazzo.

- Pizza joints - only to be considered when there's an all-you-can-eat offer going (I wonder if our visits had anything to do with these offers being closed down the very next day...every time ;) )

- Chaat shops ranging from Gangotree and Shree Mithai to the little places in Saukarpet - tastes to die or even kill for.

- And of course the proper restaurants - Wang's Kitchen, Eden... infinite options to satisfy every palate. (I take this chance to pay tribute to my hero, Mr.Mahadevan...praise him for all his amazing restaurants that introduced many of us to diverse cuisines never before heard of in Madras.)

In the interest of brevity (chuckle!), I choose to elaborate no more on the topic of food in Madras. It would suffice to say that Madras is a foodie's paradise.

• Watching the sky lit up in bright hues on the night of Deepavali. And agonizing over all the pollution the day after.
• Feeling a tide of emotions - joy, sorrow, hope, despair, dreams and aspirations, love & hate - all come rushing back at once when I step into the PSBB KK Nagar campus.
• Rebellion welling up deep within at the very thought of Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, in particular the department of Chemical Engineering - the fascist head of the department Dr.P.V.R.Iyer a man with limitations in every respect save his arrogance. Bun aka R.Parthiban, a man/thing with a vindictive streak as big as his shapeless physical being - a monument to mediocrity.
• Drinking tea from a tiny cup shared among 3 or more people at the pathetic excuse for a canteen at SVCE. Bunking college, jumping the fence and getting home via diverse modes of transport often under dubious conditions of safety (the milk van, the tractor and the brick lorry) when unable to secure passage on one of those moffusil buses stuffed to twice its capacity.
• Sipping sherbet soda or sugarcane juice at that little corner shop on a hot summer afternoon.
• Visiting a friend's house and watching their parents instructing them to follow my example (yes, parents can be THAT myopic!).
• Headbanging till we dropped at gigs at the Unwind center or the IIT-OAT.
• Listening to friends jam.
• Getting together with friends to prepare for an exam and ending up having a lot of fun while still managing to accomplish the goal (a much watered down version of the initially stated one).
• Playing snooker/pool with friends and trying to explain to parents the smell of tobacco smoke permeating one's clothes.
• Watching a movie (often a night show) at one of many cinema halls (including the one and only Sathyam Cinemas), recalling movies that we'd watched sitting in various seats (yes, we watched a lot of movies...yes we were that jobless).
• Celebrating birthdays - mine or a friend's - just another reason to party, really.

Looking back at all those fun years, one thing stands out. Madras is a great place. But alas, he was right who said "The wine doth taste sweeter and the moon doth shine brighter in the company of friends." So I am too close to the truth for my own comfort when I call those the good old days.