Thursday, August 7

Sing in the rain..Im singing in the rain...

Aan aan….for all the kindly souls wondering where I had ran off to, I assure you guys that it certainly wasn’t any sane place. Last month was filled up with ups and downs. The ups being the usual minimal and the downs, dominating the scene (or as my friend describes, it was filled with bumps and lumps!).

So, moving away from the depressing topic, I thought, I would dedicate this post to the one of the lifelines of Chennai. We shall discuss the critical modes of survival using the transport systems of Chennapatnam.

Requirements for getting qualified so as to attempt would be:

1. Patience
2. More Patience and
3. …Did I not mention Patience??? (And yes, it always comes with a capital P)

So, now that you’ve learnt basic mantra, we shall move further on to discuss specific topics. My first suggestion to you guys would be…don’t ever think about trying to ride a four wheeler in Chennai in peace… you would end up cribbing about the insanely bad roads there are or the lovely madras bashai being used by the fellow commuters about the perfectly divine art of driving. Trust me…it is never too late to learn about “Vootla soltu vantiya” type phrases.

Since, I live a bit farther than the actual city; I’ve been blessed with opportunities to try the exotic Suburban trains and the Metropolitan Buses. Though I trust the trains rather than the buses, I would recommend the buses to those who live out of pocket money from the dads. I mean, how else would you be able to travel 25 kms in Chennai with 5rs!! Though it becomes a herculean task to catch one when it is leaning at an angle 60 degrees towards the ground and does not have any safety belt as such. But it’s the one of the best way as long as you can avoid sitting in the driver seat and honking at anything and everything around. Surprisingly, in the recent times, there has been an introduction of news swanky buses to manage the Chennai crowd and I’ve found them rather comfortable and preferable to the suburban trains.

Talking about the trains, there are in total three routes that can be taken to reach various parts of Chennai. The best one and the oldest one is the route that covers south Chennai to the central part of the city- it’s the best one coz Her Highness uses it :P !! Anyways, these trains aren’t like the Mumbai ones, crowd- wise. They are such a pleasure to travel with good entertainment around; what with the hawkers selling yummy one-rupee-samosas, hankies, hairclips etc, and office going women and men singing old movie songs aloud to pass the time, tussles breaking between women as to who gets the window –seat, you get the picture. :). I have spent almost 6 yrs travelling in these trains, and have had some of the best times of my life. This is the best optionsif you want to avoid traffic in Chennai.

After all the above said, I really shouldn’t miss out the life and soul of Chennai- the autowalas. They are such gifted people who have learned the book “How To Drive And Survive On Pot-holed Roads”. The book apparently also offers a supplement which throws light on “Gonna Getcha Manni”! Still, it is worth a try to have an adventure on an auto through the traffic in Chennai, especially, in T.Nagar. But try bargaining in Tamil, else, forget your Manni. Anyways, As the saying goes, there are more Autos in Chennai than its actual population, you are never bound to miss one. And after 8PM, when the moon goes high, so will their targets be. So, beware of hearing the most ludicrous prices that can ever be quoted.

So, now that you kids are well fed with food full of fluff, Please..Please..grace the lovely city of Chennai soon. This information is not provided or sponsored Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation or by the Umbrella in the Logo. Come come…Besant beach ish waiting….

For those who were wondering the link between the title and Post, Go Crack NUTS!!

5 comments:

sansmerci said...

i jus happned to come across ur blog n jus loved it! plzplz let me have the honor of addin u to my blogroll maaami :)

m a tam bram n a chennai fanatic n i brag bout it all over my writing on my blog n i also write reviews on chennai hangouts in chennai.burrp.com..

Pettai Maami said...

@sansmerci- heloo kozhane sans.. Sho shaari for the late reply.. maami is quite honouredu by yuvaru visitu, but is currently living in a jungle which make her access net only for a few minutesu.. will surely get back to you and evryonnu in a short whilu..

tc,
PM

Idling in Top Gear said...

Good luck to me. I was thinking of moving for good and now have second thoughts after reading this post :)

Bikerdude said...

Heh heh good one :)

I also love how the conductor in PTC buses will sit tight in his seat and all the passengers pass money and tickets to and fro from him. Once someone touched the conductor's shoulder to ask him for change. The reply he got was "Yaen ya, aambalai ya nee?" At which point I burst out laughing and got a volley of abuses from both the toucher and the conductor :P

Pettai Maami said...

@idling mama- ada, im tryng to invite ppl here, n ur saying second thoughts?? tch tch....:)

@BD- aah..abuses sometimes sound heavenly..doesnt it.. :P