The city you live in is as interesting as you are. If you are the kind who knows little about your city other than the route from home to office and back, then Bangalore is no different from Bhopal and Guntur is no different from Chennai.
Comparisons begin only when you look for life outside the daily trajectory, and for a long time Chennai fared poorly compared to other metros when it came to recreation. “Oh, Chennai is hardly a happening city that way,” was the refrain you heard from young residents and visitors alike. Really, how long could you take visiting friends to — or spend your own evenings at — the Marina or the Bessie beach?
I am not even talking of a time long ago: I moved to Chennai as recently as in 2001 — when the inauguration of its first full-fledged pub was still a few months away; when eating out largely meant a hearty Punjabi meal at Dhaba Express; when Sathyam Cinemas had just about begun renovating; when you could still spot celebrities at the Marina (I once saw Harris Jayaraj: he had just been propelled to stardom after composing the songs of Minnale ).
Today, as far as recreation is concerned, I feel rather proud of Chennai. Even as it retains its charm and cultural identity, it is more cosmopolitan than ever and offers nearly everything to its citizens that other big cities have to offer theirs. A large number of Chennaiites today eat pasta with the ease that Italians would, choose their wines as Chileans would, and buy movie tickets as Parisians would.There are several eateries now where, while having breakfast, you would forget you are in India, leave alone in Chennai. Khader Nawaz Khan Road, where the rich and famous once had their boutiques and coffee shops, suddenly resembles a fashionable street somewhere in Europe. Yet the air is so Chennai.
What’s more: the city now has several air-conditioned liquor shops, offering some of the best brands that you until recently shopped for in Bangalore or Pondicherry. Life has been never so good, really — and I speak from experience. Three cheers, then, to Chennai.
