Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

GOING NATIVE

‘Chennai’s best is its people’

A NEW world Giovanna Marson

It took Giovanna Marson nearly six months in Chennai to settle down to a routine. It was very hard for her to adjust in the beginning: “Chennai is such a different world from anywhere in the West.”

The Italian is here with her 17-year-old daughter, who studies in Auroville. Giovanna spent most of her life in Milano, although she’s originally from Friuli in north Italy.

She cites examples of people not believing that she’s Italian because she has brown hair (and not blonde), and she doesn’t make pizza in the Italian restaurant where she is the master chef.

Since coming to Chennai, she has tried to understand the regional culinary complexities, and is gaining a ‘vague idea’ of the differences. She says she prefers south Indian food, although it is sometimes very spicy, because it has less gravy than north Indian dishes.

Giovanna is impressed with the number of excellent restaurants in Chennai, but thinks it a shame that they are all tucked away in hotels, which she feels makes them ‘a bit boring’.

Being a ‘walking person’, she finds it difficult to get around in Chennai as she says it’s not really possible to walk freely, and the place can be very stressful. The lack of drainage system is something she finds incomprehensible; as well as the fact that every year nothing is done to deal with the rain. As for the weather, even though temperatures can get up to 45 degrees in Italy as well, Giovanna says you never feel the heat as much as you do here.

The best part about Chennai, for Giovanna, is the people. “They are so warm and gentle, not aggressive (except, perhaps, the auto drivers!).” The transformation of Chennai fascinates her — “it is very interesting to see the speed of the growth here; since I came, I have seen many differences and I wonder what the future will be like here.” Working in the Prego restaurant at the Taj Coromandel, means that she has very little spare time. Since she arrived 18 months ago, she has not visited Italy. She is sure she’ll get a huge shock when she does, eventually.

Text and photo by SEEMA SANGHI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail