Chennai

Hmm...well...i cant say its perfect,its far from that,but you have to admit,chennai is awesome. You can feel things here that you can't possibly even if you go to the other end of the world. Cruising through the streets on a rickety old bike, watch out for the pits! The sweet alluring smell when you pass roadside stalls. Steaming hot vadas dunked in spicy sambhar as you're cramped into a table at the far end of a hotel. How sometimes(strangely) the idlies in certain hotesl vary so much that they could either be petal soft or can be used as a knockout weapon against the person who sits next to you yapping away on his/her cellphone. Whcih brings me to another really strange aspect of chennai-Everyone's got a cellphone. The guy who sells you tea in the trademark cinema style cups,the lady who goes door to door selling flowers or even the lady at the end of the street who has a blanket spread out and bananas of different sizes..All of them,including my little niece Maya owns phones.I guess thats a sign of development?

And going around in an auto is another outta the world experience. Everything, starting from the heated debate about how much you pay him, to the dusty breeze that messes up your so labouriously styled tresses and you end up getting out of the auto looking like you've been lifted off your feet by a tornado.

First stop...Adyar bakery. Uh no you're not actually going to enter the bakery,its the side stall that you wanna go to. They sell the world's most delicious cutlets and steaming hot punjabi samosas. And it ain't a fancy restaurant. You gotta grab your order,put it on a magazine page artfully wrapped up like a fancy fragrant christmas present and (if you're hungry) rip it open and start eating. I don't know about the tourists or anyone who would happen to be visiting but my theory is that all the chennai-ites are immune to any kind of sickness that might accompany it.

Next stop, Krishna sweets. They sell basically the best south indian food ever. You also get the strangest but somehow tempting variety of sweets there. The sweets...ah now they're something out of this world. They start with a strange variety of colours-green pink,white etc. but pop one in and you'll know pure ecstasy,i have no idea how they do it each and every time.Squeeze into one of the tables nearby and the humid air that hangs about the place usually doesnt get in a person's way of enjoying the food much but still.

Oh by the way you may not wanna check out the pro bikers showroom nearby,bajaj bikes only(bleh)

And to sit on the beach,feasting on a plastic packet of sundal(tomatoes,chopped onions,green chillies and groundnuts) with the strong breeze [again] messing up you're intricately chopped/styled locks, with your best friend cracking jokes is an experience outta this world!

Next stop,odyssey adyar, as you walk in,you get hit by a blast of cold air which is something welcoming if you've stepped out of the heat. You can choose to either find a corner and sit reading a book, go up the stairs,sit by the DVD section and bob you're head to the music on the listening area complete with a view of the entire road or you can choose to head back near the entrance and listen to the worldspace satellite radio there,you can choose your channel or you can get gaming with the Xbox 360 gaming controller and 35 inch lcd monitor right near the iPods and mp3 players. Beware-after about 10 minutes of messing up on the Xbox (cuz of the stupid highly sensitive controller) get ready to get a lot of tips from the sales people nearby on drifting,racing or even keeping the car crash-free.

(Now really,i'd throw in a note about city centre,spencer's plaza,landmark etc but they're everywhere and theres not much special about them)