Chennai throbs with art and culture. There are people on the streets, at all times
I was dying to get away from Chennai’s scorching heat and sweltering humidity. And I was excited about heading to Canada to visit my daughter. It was wonderful seeing her with her new family and we have been basking in their warmth and hospitality.
Canada is a beautiful country. The air is pure and unpolluted, the water is sterile enough to drink straight out of a tap, roads are squeaky clean, cars are big and state-of-the-art, homes are spacious and opulent, malls are huge, and people are gracious and friendly. There are lakes and streams everywhere, verdant parks and gardens in the middle of a big city. Every street looks the same and homes are designed to have the same façade. Every city has the same chain of restaurants and coffee shops.
People respect lines and solemnly queue up for everything. Discipline, punctuality, civic sense, dignity of labour and a mutual respect for fellow citizens are qualities imbibed by Indians living here, while also trying to retain the flavour and ethnicity of their home country. Every Indian here has stories about failing the driving test a few times before getting the license. The men help in the kitchen, children help with clearing garbage, women work very hard at the workplace and home, and everyone strives to fit in, in an alien country that they call home now.
Canada is everything that Chennai is not. Yet, I miss Chennai — its heat, humidity, crowds and noise. Chennai throbs with art and culture. There are people on the streets, at all times. Groups of youngsters hang out near tea shops and juice centres all through the day. There are vendors and hawkers on every street, however posh, selling fruits and vegetables. There are roadside eateries doling out just about anything, including ‘panneer butter’ and ‘Andhra style Chinese items’.
We wake up to a cocktail of sights and smells. The smell of food from a neighbour’s kitchen, vehicles plying and honking on the road, M.S. Subbulakshmi chanting from a distance, Ilayaraja blaring from somewhere, cycle bells, the old lady loudly selling ‘keerai’ on the pavement, the fragrance of agarbathi and and the clanging of dishes as the maid cleans them.
I miss the people. The folk criss-crossing roads all day long. Those who are always toiling to make ends meet and yet do not complain. They are grim reminders of how fortunate we are in more ways than one. There is something about home and routine. When we are stuck in it, we long to get away from the madness. When we are away from it, we miss that very same madness.
Keywords: The Sunday Diary column, Chennai city
Nice article. As Ilayaraaja puts it nicely - 'Sorgame endralum adhu
namma oora pola varuma, Athu yennaadu yendralum athu nam naatukkidaa
aguma!'
It is quite true and the feelings rove around your native place and
our culture. As a Globe trotter, i visited many countries and talk to
different walks of people and discussed their habits, their likings.
Most of the people outside India follow simple living, decent
behaviour, courteous, hard working.
India, we find too much crowd and people are not bothered about fellow
citizens and due to dirty politicians, people behave different and we
are loosing ethics. With centuries of heritage and culture, we are
becoming slaves to western culture and thinking. people are not at
peace, leave about heat and difficult situations for survival due to
price rise.
Let Indians do not loose their tradition and culture. we must feel
proud and keep ourselves high on our knowledge and culture.
We need strong team to keep our values intact.
Let us feel proud for our Great India and its traditions.
Jai Bharath!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bonthala Venkateswarrlu
Living in the U.S for the last 6 years away from home, enjoying the luxury that US offers & money but I always feel my heart heavy for being away from my country and missing the innocent people, the century old temples... You can't buy everything in your life and you would realize that when you are away from home for too long...
Studied in a small town in TN and grown up in Chennai, Home is always sweet home no matter it is in Alabama or Chennai!
Nice article.
I have been in the US for the past 2 years. Almost everyday I am reminded of my days in Chennai. A simple example is, when it is about to rain, there is not even the "mann vasanai" (smell of moist sand) in the US which brings the pleasantness back home.
A good coffee table report . Well done Dharu....
Well said. Home sweet home.The love for home is a specisl feeling, cannot be verbalised.
I am about to return to Chennai two months after living in New York and visiting almost all major attractions in the US.I hold the same view as that of the author of this article. I have written about my experiences in the US and have shared the same with my friends.
I am working in the Gulf country but really missing a lot of our native flavours. What ever the life styles and living standards at high level , as a human being and as a social animal I need a peoples around always like our India. But here We missing everything.I fully agreed to the author's view.
I'm from USA and I share exactly the same feelings.
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