Living in chennai...its not that bad...

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“With arms wide open under the sunlight Welcome to this place”

B.Kondal Rao a factory worker in Ambattur came to Chennai around 40 years ago from his hometown of Vijayanagram in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He goes home at least once in four months keeping in touch with his roots, yet He has seen this city grown and change over the last forty years of his relationship with it.

The city of madras patnam the original name of Chennai given by the British is one that has always been deep rooted in culture and tradition. The existence of the arts and basic ways has been an integral part of the cities character and image this is perhaps best explained by the seeing the existence of a temple, dance school and corporate business office in a single row on the same road. The concept of modern way with the traditional lifestyle has been seamlessly absorbed by the people. The fast paced lifestyle that has been created by the modern “work and live” lifestyle very much exists in the city yet we see people attending Caranatic and dance musical recitals every time they take place at places like the music academy and the Naradgan Sabaha. Such institutions have become an integral part of the cities way of life.

“There is very deep rooted existence of a traditional and conservative culture in the city” feels Varun an employee of Accenture who has come from Delhi. He feels that pace of life is relaxed here and that there is a great respect for values and traditions, thanks to such a type of existence there is lot of brotherhood and high respect for family values present here.

The unhurried pace and relaxed ambience of the city is such that if you lose your way, you can be sure someone will be kind enough to take you to the place where you want to go or give you detailed instructions on how to get there. “The people here are very helpful and nice you get homely feeling in the city” feels Jyotirup Chatterjee an IT company employee from Bengal .He has also lived in Delhi and feels that in comparison to the capital ,Chennai is more easy going and much more conservative.

The city has opened its arms to many communities that have come here and become very successful .The Jains, Gujaratis, Malayalees, Muslims, and Kannadigas, live peacefully among the local population. “There is good existence of family values and friendship ties among all the communities” says Mohamed Rafiq Bhat a Kashmiri he is the owner of a carpet store in Spencer plaza.

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Being a vast city the existence of public transport is one that is very necessary. Along with Autos and buses Chennai also offers the MRTS or the metro rail transport system. It is a boon in such a city where almost one lakh vehicles are added to the road system every year. Travel time by using such a system is almost cut to less than half of what it actually takes. “I have been using the railway system for almost a year now it allows us to reach our destinations much quicker and for a lesser price” says Santosh an employee of Satyam who hails from Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh but works here in Chennai. But a city of such size is not without its problems Water and humidity are two major issues here in two years I have very major hair loss due to the hard water here” said an employee at Spencer plaza who wished to remain anonymous. When we work or spend time at home we are in an air-conditioned environment, but when we have to be outside or travel the heat takes a toll on us say Rafiq.

Moving closer to home we see many people who have come from the interiors of the state to work or study here. They feel that even though Chennai is in Tamil Nadu and it’s the capital retaining their old traditions is little difficult and they have become a part of the Chennai lifestyle. “Retaining some of our home traditions like our clothing styles is very hard to follow here so we have given in to modern classical culture that exists here” says Abdul an IT employee who comes from Thanjavur.

The cost of living in Chennai is relatively cheaper in comparison to other metros but for those who come from smaller towns and cities the initial days always seem to spiral out of control when it comes to money “food is my largest expense, for the same amount that I would spend on one meal, back in my university town I would be able to use the same amount of money for at least two days to feed myself”. Says Sheik Mohd Azmal who is studying in Manipal he is currently on a one month Internship with Mudra communications.

Language has always been a barrier here in the state for the many masses that used to come in interaction with locals was always an issue. This is not the case any longer as most of the people now speak the national language as well as English. All the signs and notices are now in English as well as Tamil.

Religion has a very major role here, it is pride and as well as many feel that its their duty to display their religious sentimentalities, but all religions have co existed here for many years very peacefully right from the kapaleewshwar temple in mylapore to the 1000 lights mosque all the way to the santhome church Chennai has stood by a secular way of existence. “The people of this city of all religions live next to each other like brothers in a very secular way” says Mansor Ali Khan a security guard at the Ticel bio park in Taramani.

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The cusine here is one that is reflects the modern age with the classic once again. Along side the traditional idiilis and dosas we get a world class variety of foods. Many of the eateries and hotels have been here for well over half a decade and have seen many generations come and go yet they have retained their classical image. Most feel that the food has a mixed taste of spicy as well as sweet.

It is this kind of unique mélange that has made and given Chennai it’s unique and special image and made it the queen of the south. With arms wide open its has for years welcomed settlers giving them a chance to make it big and achieve success