Life in Chennai
Asia
Sharing with you few pics I took during my recent visit to Chennai. Of course I acted lazy and didn’t venture out of home much.Chennai is huge offering lots and it would have been difficult for me bring it all to you…but tried capturing life in Chennai to the best I could. So here goes…
The sunrise….
At the break of the first light ladies of the house clean their courtyards and decorate with Rangolis (patterns on the floor) made with rice powder. The idea behind the rice powder is that they want to start their day by doing a good deed of feeding the ants and the insects early in the morning! During their annual festival that is Pongal the ladies of the house take extra pain to make intricate and colorful rangolis. What you see here is a basic design made in day-to-day life…
People love oiling there hair and adorning it with nice smelling Jasmine flowers. I love them…the flowers I mean 🙂 They also use orange flowers to deck their hair, name of which I dont know. You will find vendors all across the city selling the flowers all stringed up.
When people like me are probably sleeping there are religious lots who visit temples to pay respect to the almighty. Its unbelievable the number of temples this city has! Sometimes you will find 4-5 temples in radius of 1 km! There is one thing I have noticed though. I feel the power, the positive energy the most when I am in temples in South India. The temples in the North India miss that…that btw is purely based on my experience.
You are lucky if you are staying in an apartment for you would not get to know of the water challenges posed by the city. The tanker comes and fills up the community tank and tada! you have water. My heart goes out for the people staying in independent houses. For them the only option is to carry water from the water tanker to your respective houses. Here have a look!
The heat was brutal and the wells were dry and people are not too sure how much to to pray for rains… look at the pics below and you will know why. That is Chennai rains for you in Year 2008!
So what does Chennai look like on a weekend? Unlike Kochi, the streets are more crowded than ever. And of all the beach is the most sought after destination for the locals. Now that surprises me….
This is my favorite part from the beach besides the ocean ofcourse! I simply love the neatly carved raw mangoes…and oh how much i love munching on those peanuts watching the ocean provided its less crowded!
Mangoes, mangoes and more mangoes.…just check out the variety..phew!
Thanks to the the fruit vendor who let me take so many pictures inside his shop including the ones above
The local snack bar
Besides the ever favorite local and age old joints like Sarvana Bhavan, there are various food courts cropping up across the city and are quite popular
The impeccable transport system – rail and road
Away from the scampering city life is a quaint pond enclosed by a walkway which serves as the walkers paradise. This place in Pammal is busy with activity by the joggers and walkers morning and evening. What better than taking a walk in the natural surrounding.Ah! miss it in Kochi.
Finally, the sunset and the traffic in Chennai. One thing I must share with you. People in Chennai drive / ride as if they own the road. Right in the middle of the street and no amount of honking helps. Also you have got to learn their style of driving if you plan to survive in the city.
Btw even the cows on the road are used to the honking…they actually give you dirty looks. Thankfully the cows are restricted to some parts of the city….hehehe
That’s all for now.
Look forward to your comments…. cheers!
if you are receiving my article as an email and have a comment to share, please visit my site to post the same. thanks!
At the break of the first light ladies of the house clean their courtyards and decorate with Rangolis (patterns on the floor) made with rice powder. The idea behind the rice powder is that they want to start their day by doing a good deed of feeding the ants and the insects early in the morning! During their annual festival that is Pongal the ladies of the house take extra pain to make intricate and colorful rangolis. What you see here is a basic design made in day-to-day life…
People love oiling there hair and adorning it with nice smelling Jasmine flowers. I love them…the flowers I mean 🙂 They also use orange flowers to deck their hair, name of which I dont know. You will find vendors all across the city selling the flowers all stringed up.
When people like me are probably sleeping there are religious lots who visit temples to pay respect to the almighty. Its unbelievable the number of temples this city has! Sometimes you will find 4-5 temples in radius of 1 km! There is one thing I have noticed though. I feel the power, the positive energy the most when I am in temples in South India. The temples in the North India miss that…that btw is purely based on my experience.
You are lucky if you are staying in an apartment for you would not get to know of the water challenges posed by the city. The tanker comes and fills up the community tank and tada! you have water. My heart goes out for the people staying in independent houses. For them the only option is to carry water from the water tanker to your respective houses. Here have a look!
The heat was brutal and the wells were dry and people are not too sure how much to to pray for rains… look at the pics below and you will know why. That is Chennai rains for you in Year 2008!
So what does Chennai look like on a weekend? Unlike Kochi, the streets are more crowded than ever. And of all the beach is the most sought after destination for the locals. Now that surprises me….
This is my favorite part from the beach besides the ocean ofcourse! I simply love the neatly carved raw mangoes…and oh how much i love munching on those peanuts watching the ocean provided its less crowded!
Mangoes, mangoes and more mangoes.…just check out the variety..phew!
Thanks to the the fruit vendor who let me take so many pictures inside his shop including the ones above
The local snack bar
Besides the ever favorite local and age old joints like Sarvana Bhavan, there are various food courts cropping up across the city and are quite popular
The impeccable transport system – rail and road
Away from the scampering city life is a quaint pond enclosed by a walkway which serves as the walkers paradise. This place in Pammal is busy with activity by the joggers and walkers morning and evening. What better than taking a walk in the natural surrounding.Ah! miss it in Kochi.
Finally, the sunset and the traffic in Chennai. One thing I must share with you. People in Chennai drive / ride as if they own the road. Right in the middle of the street and no amount of honking helps. Also you have got to learn their style of driving if you plan to survive in the city.
Btw even the cows on the road are used to the honking…they actually give you dirty looks. Thankfully the cows are restricted to some parts of the city….hehehe
That’s all for now.
Look forward to your comments…. cheers!
if you are receiving my article as an email and have a comment to share, please visit my site to post the same. thanks!