I spent the last weekend in Channai with Hari and his parents. It was a pleasant surprise to be there. I had visited Chennai last year as part of a project I was working but it had been a get in, dive into meetings and get out kind of trip. Since we were there for 3 full days this time around, I was more awake and had a chance to see things around me. So a rush of memories came back to me...
My grandparents have lived in Chennai for a long time now. As a kid, I used to visit them religiously every summer to dutifully tan in the Chennai heat. But sometimes, my sis and I would also visit for Deepavali (the Hindu festival of lights occurring in the winter). My grandad would order a humungous amount of firecrackers for all the grandchildren (we were about 7-10 of us on average on any trip). He would then equitably split it amonst all of us. Of course, my sis and I would form a cartel and bragain for more sparlers in return for loud 'bombs' with our male cousins.
Those were the days..:-)
Chennai had some nice sights and smells this time around. Bundles of jasmine strings for the hair, cool sea breeze from the Marina beach, elegant compact bungalows with traditionally artistic doors and gates.
Oh lets face it, Hari and I (like I had mentioned in the Amsterdam post long ago) are house voyeurs. That was what we liked most in Chennai. Especially since we are in the market for one now....in Bombay though....!
Ok, as a dampener to our trip was Indias premier low cost airline DECCAN which was brilliantly late and dis-organised on the way to and back from Chennai. No matter what time our flight was, we reached our destination only at midnight!!##$!
-Maya
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