All,
Having justly received ordinary reviews for my previous post, I write to you once more with a marginally better, but an oft-repeated topic in mind. This topic came to when I was watching a certain movie on the city that I call my hometown. Most certainly, my family comes from Chennai, but my hometown is a metropolitan that I share with 14million relatives. All packed in to a mere 169 sq mi.
It is one of the fastest moving cities in the world, a city that that does not sleep or relax. A city where every day is a race and not your usual morning walk. A city that offers possibly the best public transport system in India in spite of being woefully inadequate for the population that makes daily use of it. A city where traveling in the ladies' compartment requires you to be a ladki but does not need you to be a mard to travel in the general compartment. A city where at times the fastest and safest mode of transportation is walking or cycling. A city where covering 10km can take close to 1hr 30min, a journey that millions take daily to reach their goals, their ambitions, their dreams.
It is a city where your breakfast costs Rs. 5 (vada paav or samosa paav for e.g.), your lunch costs Rs. 10 (masala paav for e.g.) and your dinner costs Rs. 10 (paav bhaajii for e.g.) in spite of the inflation in food prices. A city that offers food that will test the strength of your stomach, while providing you delicacies that can be found in the nookest of corners. A city where hot meals arrive at your doorstep through a network of dabbawalas who, barely literate, use a fool-proof, Harvard-case-studied color combination that is respected by even the Crown Prince of England. A city where even major American fast-food chains such as Subway and McDonalds' deliver food to your homes for free.
It is a city where the stock exchange opened the day after terrorist attacks on it in 1993. A city where close to 900 lost their lives in communal rioting in 1993, but yet the same involved live in peace today. A city where the lifeline AKA local trains was bombed one day and yet resumed its regular timetable the very next morning at 4am. A city that was brought down to its knees in 2008, but yet woke up to resume its daily frenetic pace in defiance to the atrocities committed over the previous three days against amongst its two most prized possessions - Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and The Taj Mahal Palace.
It is a city where every day you meet someone new, but yet is connected to you in some way or the other. A city where you know the bhaaji-wali's entire family history, yet might never know her full-name. A city where your next door neighbor literally lives about 5m away from you, and you can hear pretty much everything that goes on in their house. A city where you know enough about the rickshaw-wala in one ride to agree to exchange cellphone numbers (remember, that guy might have a jazzier phone that yours) in order to arrange for pick-ups and drop-offs everyday.
It is a city where jokes are classified as veg and non-veg. A city where you find more college students at a dhabeli stall than in their classes. A city where you graduate from high-school to junior-college before going to college where the one thing that occupies your mind more than finding chikna items is earning money. A city where the average student spends more on tuitions than he spends on school and college. A city where the average student spends 2hrs daily commuting, but yet finds time to play cricket in a tiny gully behind the 1-BHK apartment complex that he lives in with his parents.
It is a city where if you have lived there once, you can never live anywhere else in the world. A city that physically taxes you but emotionally comforts you daily. A city where one man is revered as God one day and is booed off the next day for poor performance. A city that possesses the Queen's Necklace. A city where the rich live in "town". A city that has everything but yet does not bat an eyelid before giving it all up for its citizens.
This is where I come from.
This is where I shall return.
This is where I shall remain.
Till the very end.
Having justly received ordinary reviews for my previous post, I write to you once more with a marginally better, but an oft-repeated topic in mind. This topic came to when I was watching a certain movie on the city that I call my hometown. Most certainly, my family comes from Chennai, but my hometown is a metropolitan that I share with 14million relatives. All packed in to a mere 169 sq mi.
It is one of the fastest moving cities in the world, a city that that does not sleep or relax. A city where every day is a race and not your usual morning walk. A city that offers possibly the best public transport system in India in spite of being woefully inadequate for the population that makes daily use of it. A city where traveling in the ladies' compartment requires you to be a ladki but does not need you to be a mard to travel in the general compartment. A city where at times the fastest and safest mode of transportation is walking or cycling. A city where covering 10km can take close to 1hr 30min, a journey that millions take daily to reach their goals, their ambitions, their dreams.
It is a city where your breakfast costs Rs. 5 (vada paav or samosa paav for e.g.), your lunch costs Rs. 10 (masala paav for e.g.) and your dinner costs Rs. 10 (paav bhaajii for e.g.) in spite of the inflation in food prices. A city that offers food that will test the strength of your stomach, while providing you delicacies that can be found in the nookest of corners. A city where hot meals arrive at your doorstep through a network of dabbawalas who, barely literate, use a fool-proof, Harvard-case-studied color combination that is respected by even the Crown Prince of England. A city where even major American fast-food chains such as Subway and McDonalds' deliver food to your homes for free.
It is a city where the stock exchange opened the day after terrorist attacks on it in 1993. A city where close to 900 lost their lives in communal rioting in 1993, but yet the same involved live in peace today. A city where the lifeline AKA local trains was bombed one day and yet resumed its regular timetable the very next morning at 4am. A city that was brought down to its knees in 2008, but yet woke up to resume its daily frenetic pace in defiance to the atrocities committed over the previous three days against amongst its two most prized possessions - Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and The Taj Mahal Palace.
It is a city where every day you meet someone new, but yet is connected to you in some way or the other. A city where you know the bhaaji-wali's entire family history, yet might never know her full-name. A city where your next door neighbor literally lives about 5m away from you, and you can hear pretty much everything that goes on in their house. A city where you know enough about the rickshaw-wala in one ride to agree to exchange cellphone numbers (remember, that guy might have a jazzier phone that yours) in order to arrange for pick-ups and drop-offs everyday.
It is a city where jokes are classified as veg and non-veg. A city where you find more college students at a dhabeli stall than in their classes. A city where you graduate from high-school to junior-college before going to college where the one thing that occupies your mind more than finding chikna items is earning money. A city where the average student spends more on tuitions than he spends on school and college. A city where the average student spends 2hrs daily commuting, but yet finds time to play cricket in a tiny gully behind the 1-BHK apartment complex that he lives in with his parents.
It is a city where if you have lived there once, you can never live anywhere else in the world. A city that physically taxes you but emotionally comforts you daily. A city where one man is revered as God one day and is booed off the next day for poor performance. A city that possesses the Queen's Necklace. A city where the rich live in "town". A city that has everything but yet does not bat an eyelid before giving it all up for its citizens.
This is where I come from.
This is where I shall return.
This is where I shall remain.
Till the very end.
