Hi all
Its been very long time that I had written a review on MS. From last year onwards I had been travelling a lot specially to the southern parts of India. I am born and brought in mumbai( Bombay ), So if a mumbaikar( Bombaite ) is asked which is one of best city in the world. Well no prizes for guessing , it has to be mumbai. Eventually every city in the world has pro’s and con’s.
Last one year I had been to 3 different cities. Chennai, Bangalore and Pune.
Chennai ( Capital city of Tamil Nadu State in Southern India )
Chennai , it was initially known as Madras, just like mumbai(Bombay) Madras was renamed as Chennai.I had travelled to Chennai during June, just hoping that it might be raining. As it normally does in remaining parts of the country during Monsoon’s in India. Well I understood later that in Tamil Nadu, it rains during Winter’s( October to January ).
About the weather its damn hot and humid in this costal city. The main language’s are local language Tamil and universal language English. If you know either of them then you can survive in the city. Even in remote parts of the state, you can communicate in broken english. But be Aware please dont expect people to communicate in Hindi ( Indian National Langague ). Even though people do understand Hindi but they wont even attempt to utter a single word in Hindi. Eventually I understood that few years back Hindi movies were banned in Chennai. I guess some old tussle between hindi speaking people and tamilians.
The people here are really warm and co-operative. South Indians have a legacy of rich culture and diet, predominately diet consists of dishes made up of rice. As rice is one of the main farming product in the state. So for a person like me who eats Roti, Chappati(Wheat Bread) and very less quantity of rice has to face some problems. Roti’s are avaliable but not much as compared to food made of rice.Also it is one of the less expensive cities in India.
Chennai has whole lot of Places of Interest’s.
Marina Beach: World’s longest beach is nice place to spend evenings, Besant Nagar Beach. Also you can see lot of temples and places of worship. Chennai does have few malls and multiplexes. Ofcourse these cant be compared with that back in mumbai. But still something is better than nothing at all. They do show Hindi and English movies. Satyam Theater and Spencer Plaza were my favourite hang out places. Ofcourse dont forget to buy those traditional silk saree’s for mom, wife or some one in the family.
Also if you can do visit Pondicherry about 2-3 hrs drive from chennai. It has amazing beaches, ARUBINDO Ashram and AURUVILLE. A true holiday destination for entire family. The best part was Auruville, its around 10 KM’s from Pondicherry on the Chennai-Pondy Highway. Auruville is located in the middle of the jungle. It is said that this particular land doesnt belong any Country or Individual , it is maintained by the people, who had come from all around the world. They make their own living and undertakes lot of social work in the neighbouring villages.
The best part of Auruville is the meditation center, it is one of the most peaceful places I had ever seen to. The meditation chamber is a huge chamber painted in white, covered with gold plates on the outside and a crystal at the center of the chamber with few beams focused on the crystal. The light refracted or refelexed from the crsytal makes it more soothing and beautiful.
No one is allowed to speak or disturb once inside the chamber. The tranquility inside and outside the meditation chamber is something one needs to feel and it cannot be expressed in words. Do visit the Auro beach, it is one of the most virgin beachs in and around Pondy. The water and beaches are clean. Its worth it.
Another destination is Mahabalipuram, which is just 1-2 hrs from Chennai, infact it falls on the Chennai -Pondy Highway. It is a small town with lot of prehistoric caves and temples. The town is very small and all the caves are situated pretty close to each other, you can just stroll around them.So no need to hire cabs or autoricksaw. Just visit the Tourism office near the bus stand and collect the entire mahabalipuram map free of cost.
On the mahabalipuram beach, there’s a temple with sleeping statue of GOD VISHU, which is one of the rare temples that one would find in India. Ofcourse the beaches are equally good and clean.
You will find various hotels and resorts in an around all the above mentioned destianation.
And also dont doze off on the way, The ECR( East Coast Road ) or Chennai- Pondy Highway has something to offer. You can witness the scenic beauty, and the huge waves and clean beaches which will sure drive you crazy while you are driving.
So guys what are you waiting for, Just keep on moving !!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)
PS: Please be aware of the Autoricksaw drivers in Chennai.
Cheers
Rahul