I had wanted to go to my sister’s place in Chennai for quite some time now. The Janmashtami holiday on Thursday, 2nd of Sep seemed to fit bill just nicely. Apply for leave on the 3rd and voila what do I get? Four days of freedom. With my project undergoing a lean phase, there was every chance of my manager approving the leave and little probability of getting recalled due to production issues or the likes. Absolute bliss! What more could a techie ask for? So off I went to Singara Chennai. [Beautiful Chennai, I know...what a joke... :)]
Day 1:
Arrived dead tired at my sister’s, after having travelled in local trains and
standing in the wrong bus stop for almost 30 minutes before realizing that the bus stop has been shifted! The usual Indian-family-reunion-emotional drama ensued. With my mother having come over from my place there was no dearth of affection. Add two cute little kids to this potent mix and I was in an exalted state for the most part of the morning. The late morning and the whole afternoon went mostly as it does for me when I am on vacation...deep slumber... :) It was in the evening that all the action started. An array of games was on display and we were not sure which one to play. My nephew was hankering for Business (Monopoly), my mother was for Chinese checkers and my 2 yr old niece wanted us to do colouring along with her! Finally, we settled for a couple of games of Chinese checkers.
Day 2:
I managed to find my way to Wipro Sholliganallur Office. What took me back was the ticket fare. No, it wasn’t because the fare was exorbitant. In fact it was the other way around. I stared at the conductor in total disbelief when he issued a 4 rupee ticket. Did he hear me wrong? In Bangalore the same journey would have easily cost anywhere between Rs.11 to Rs.13 [Depending on the conductor’s mood and at ease with which you speak Kannada.]
Met loads of my friends in CDC and played catch up. Returned home with a box of cookies for the kids...they couldn’t have asked for a better mama, could they?
Day 3:
My friend Balaji and I had decided that we would allocate a day for hanging out in some mall. Since I hadn’t been to Spencers Mall (a crime by Chennaites standards), we decided that we would spend the day there. After having a sumptuous meal at a nearby restaurant I entered the vast unknown territory called Spencers. We probably spent an hour there. The mall was a great let down after all the hype I received/heard from my friends and family. We moved on to next place on our itinerary which was the newly built swanky Express Avenue mall.
The mall was quite big or at least much bigger than Bangalore’s Forum Mall. We were sauntering in and out of shops and our throats were parched in no time. We went in search of a watering hole and found a Cafe Coffee Day outlet. I reluctantly browsed the menu card for some cheap drink only to find one in the low 100s! There was a greater shock waiting for me when the deceiving cashier spit out the bill amount. It came to close 340 for just two drinks. He had added the some silly toppings to the drinks. Given my scorched state, I was in no mood to protest. Moral of the story, always have water bottles filled up to the brim before stepping out of your home.
Another notable incident was when I spotted an old friend of mine in Odyssey. I really wanted to go and connect with her but my silly inhibitions prevented me. Good going dude, with this attitude and at this rate your glorious list of girl-friends [which currently stands at 0] is going to skyrocket!
After having purchased some books and window shopped to our heart’s content, we came to the entrance of the mall and stuck into small talk. It was during this time that I realized that my friend Balaji was really perturbed by something. He was quite concerned about the dressing sense of some of the women there. I was having a gala time though, feasting my eyes on the fairer sex... :) Why do we always see women as the sole custodians of morality and culture?
Day 4:
Woke up only in the afternoon. More games, food and then it was off to Bangalore again.
