Madras For a North Indian

Having spent all my childhood in Agra and my college and post-college days in Modinagar, Noida, Delhi, I had absolutely no interaction with south India. Infact prior to my TAPMI interview (although I got through, but never joined), in UDUPI, the southernmost part of country I had ever been to was Bhopal. Well the story pertaining to my TAPMI visit and experiences later sometime, if ever.

Back to the topic at hand (or on mind); all along our childhood and even later, we north indian kids had heard and identified all south indians, whether from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh or Kerala, being referred collectively as Madrasis (natives of Madras). The identification though is curently incorrect, can be said to be "Colonially Correct". Correct because britishers administered the southern region of of India as the Madras Residency, another contradictory byte of info is thte fact that the britishers had abandoned us more tahn 45 years ago.

Although it's a potential topic for an individual blog but as long as we can remember despite being one of the 4 MEtro cities of the nation, Madras somehow had earned itself a notorious reputatiion for treating people from north india. Now having been living in Madras for last 4 and half years, the least I can say is that the feeling is mutual. So it is a matter of concern for individuals as well as for parents when their kids land a job in Chennai or Hyderabad or even in Bangalore. Now although the parents know that Hyderabad si in Andhra Pradesh, Bangalore is in Karnataka and they are different from Madras in Tamil Nadu yet they still refer the people as Madrassi and that brings back the age old feelings of contempt and uncomfort to the fore. The major concerns revolve around the distance from home, availability of north indian food, language and not to forget the weather.

Distance is a concern because for a person living in Hyderabad, bangalore or Madras, any festival or family celebrations translates into a minimum of a week of absence from work. This itself require advance planning of leaves as well as applying for booking railway tickets to be seriously considered and executed well in advance. To make matters worse, the journey (minimum 24 hrs a side) eats most of the week long leave.

Next concern should be the food. This maybe a problem for some and even a deal breaker for people who are suckers for chappattis and paranthas. The situation gets aggravated specially if you despise to include sambhar, idli and dosa in your staple diets. So for people who find themselves on the wrong side of this food spread, the home sick felling kicks in earlier than normal and you tend to be in for a comparatively tougher time during your stay.

Language can be a killer. As in all places, local or foreign, a person found to be unfamiliar with teh local language is not only taken for a ride by local merchants and auto/taxi guys but at times even land up in unexpectedly uncomfortable situations. (I was in a surprise till I realised that the term 'Chumma' which means 'a kiss' in Hindi means 'just like that' in Tamil).

Weather is a concern too in Madras. The high temperatures are as high as in Delhi but the humidity is the icing on the cake. In contrast to the dry summers and dry winters in Delhi, Madras has a constant humid climate owing to its coastal location which is deadly during summers yet bearable during comparatively cooler winters. As the joke common in Madras, 'Madras has only 3 types of weathers: Hot, Hotter and Hottest'.

Living a bachelor life was so very different to this one..i mean the married life. I dont intend to undermine or de-mean the concept of marriage or this is in no way a reflection of my marriage...the only big change i see my marital status has made to my life is the fun I have on my official trips abroad.

I am not a frequent traveller but still travel I do...for months at a stretch...its not that I did wild things in my bachelor-hood but its the feeling of self-restraint rather a lack of it that comes when you are married. Its not that you dont look at gorgeous beauties or you you dont admire looking at them...the crucial things chips-in after you have had your share of eye-tonic...the moment you realise that you are married...yet on the first given chance you are ogling at the soft and sought after curves of the opposite gender humans...this is what makes you feel different...this is when you realise either you shouldnt be here in the first place or you should have had your better half beside you to do the policing rather than your self-conscience.

Life's been a balance of fair and unfair...though honestly, its been rather good to me lately ( that's why my agony board didnt get any posts )...but now since i am writing another post doesnt mean that the life has taken the turn from good to bad or something of the sort...i guess its the simple realisation that the blog hasnt had anything for so long that forced me to type this post.
let me think...life in its own way goes from one corner to another...testing and rewarding you as per the percentile you score...the result is decided then and there but the results surface only at a much later stage...maybe when you tend to take up a similar kind of activity or something...it reminds me of the GMAT exam...yes teh one people appear in for MBA courses for universities abroad...the exam is online...your answer to a question tends to dictate the standard of the next question but you will know whether you answered correctly or not only when you get the result / score...and then accordingly the labor at the time of filling forms of various universities... :)
now i guess i am digressing from the real purpose of the post which was merely to post...and it seems though i digressed, i attained what i aimed at ;)...isnt it great, you aim at nothing...and do something to attain the same old...NOTHING :)

I am not sure what a blog is and what you really do with something like this but it is just one of those things i thought i should do and check out for myself. So here am i just trying my best to make some sense. So one thing that seems sensical to me is to inform all who may stumble upon this place is that there wont be any sense in the contents of this place (as i see). I will just gonna write all and every thing i want to say and at times dont want to say...( see the non-sensical blabber has started ). So take it to be a warning for future and try not to visit this space. As i feel this place will be more of a vent to my frustation and stupity in days to come. So thats all for now. (YEEEH i wrote my first blog)

I am not sure what a blog is and what you really do with something like this but it is just one of those things i thought i should do and check out for myself.
So here am i just trying my best to make some sense.
So one thing that seems sensical to me is to inform all who may stumble upon this place is that there wont be any sense in the contents of this place (as i see).
I will just gonna write all and every thing i want to say and at times dont want to say...( see the non-sensical blabber has started ).
So take it to be a warning for future and try not to visit this space. As i feel this place will be more of a vent to my frustation and stupity in days to come.
So thats all for now.

(YEEEH i wrote my first blog)