Madras Vs Chennai
- Face to Face
The article is about a conversational intercourse between Madras and Chennai. Madras is personified as conservative, highly critical and assertive, logical, matured, formal. Chennai is more of the boasting type, a bit illogical and dwelling in the fast paced westernized world, more interested in Entertainment, youthful, bumping with energy and immature.
Madras: Good Evening! This is the first time, I think, we are meeting. But I have heard about you from my colleagues.
Chennai: Nice to meet you. By the Bye, were you waiting for me for a long time.
Madras: Yes, of course. Waiting for an hour.
Chennai: I see? I was extremely busy and I had a very busy schedule. You see? It?s a weekend. This traffic is horrible.
Madras: (Stares at him for not asking a ?Sorry? for the sake of formality.) I too did travel in this traffic. But I was able to make it up in time.
Chennai: Anyway. Lemme tell you about me? My features? My specials? My beauty? I am one of the largest Metropolitans. I have a lot many beautiful buildings. Have you heard about the Tidel Park. A fantastic building, housing thousands of people with cafeterias, bowling centers, food courts? Have you seen the NIFT near Tharamani. A magnificent architecture? Have you been to the Spencer?s plaza at the Mount Road. There are some marvelous hotels- The Park?
Madras: I guess, TIDEL Park is a software park. But what is NIFT?
Chennai: Who cares! The building structure is very different.
Madras: (Smiles) I see. A nice place indeed. (The TIDEL Park ? a place where thousands of IT employees are imprisoned. I heard that man groaning about his work in that bus. Travelling for 3/4 hours daily to work. Horrible place indeed. Spencers- the best place to drain all the money earned in a day. I have seen the people coming there? I to have eyes.)
Chennai: Not just that? You know? I have got amusement parks ? The Kishkintas, the MGMs. Yaah! Of course the fine theatres ? the Mayajals, the Stayams and the Abhiramis?
Madras: (You are yourself really an amusing creature.) A very nice place to spend your weekend. (Kishkintas and MGMs charge 250/- per head per day. Only upper classes can afford such entertainment. Satyam and Mayajal charge 150/- for 2 to 3 hour show. A nice place to spend not your weekend, but your hard earned money).
Chennai: Seen the flats? Vow? Awesome?You should se the Koyambedu Towers. It is a mini village in itself? The Bus terminus there ? CMBT?Shi*?what a place yaar?
Madras: Yes, I have been there. (What a beautiful comparison? Shi* and Marvel. A good combination. I have not only been there but seen the problems. Water Scarcity ? Hundreds of families living in a single plot. Deep bore wells sucking water without proper replenishment. Definitely not a thing to be proud of. The flat system is the culprit.)
Chennai: Flyovers. So many around me. The TTK road flyover is superb.
Madras: What about Gemini?
Chennai: I is old and confuses me. I have to go around to take my route.
Madras: (It is still the best in the city. Without that, you cannot support the traffic at the confluence.)
Chennai: You have heard the MRTS. See in the future, you will just take minutes to reach Thiruvanmiyur from Central.
Madras: I accept. It is a great effort. Anything about schools, colleges?
Chennai: Nearly 50 colleges in and around. Most of them Engineering ones. Venkateshwara, Sathyabhama complexes. The Sathyabhama?s is a beautiful campus. Vast and architectural.
Madras: What about IIT, Anna University, Loyola, Stella?
Chennai: Those are all old ones. Gone are those ages. Not at all attractive.
Madras: (Idiot! A real crack pot! Those are the ones which really provide quality education and facilities for students)
Chennai: Also, these college get nice treats at the Pizza huts and corners. Am I not shining?
Madras: Probably from your angle.
Chennai: What do you mean by that?
Madras: I mean my perspective and yours are entirely different. You see yourself from an entertainment and attractive angle. Mine is more towards Quality and Standards and Activity. You have projected a highly urbanized upper class city. The standard of living is quite high. It Is no miracle that in 10 years, you will be another Mumbai ? a whole mess of problems. Water scarcity.. Large population, poverty and struggling for a living. Pollution and dumping problems. (Takes a deep breath) Definitely not a place to live peacefully.
Chennai: I cannot accept what you blabber. But you have only been criticizing me. You have not told me about you.
Madras: I was waiting for you to settle down to a calm state. When you began, you were too much concerned about yourself. I wanted to prove you wrong. Point out your EMPTINESS.
Chennai: Still you haven?t started?
Madras: My name brings people a nature of peace, calmness, pride and their fond memories. During my times, I was the headquarters in the South. As far as the Entertainment is concerned ? Your first necessity, I had the beautiful historical stone sculptures at Mahabalipuram, the long beaches at the Marina. Later came the VGP Golden beach, which was affordable to the lower classes as well. The marvelous Egmore Museum, the Valluvar Kottam and the gigantic Anna Tower. Don?t forget the beautiful buildings in Egmore, Parrys and of course the Rippon building and the St. George Fort. The Gemini flyover is the pioneer to your concept of flyovers. Remember the Mylapore Kabaleeshwarar temple, the Triplicane Parthasarathy temple. The beach road encompasses a wide spectrum of Government offices, Madras Universty, the Presidency College, the Queen Maris the statues of Kannagi and Uzhaipaligal silai. With regard to Educational facilities, the IIT, the Anna University, the Loyola College were all big names and are still today. Even today, the Central Station and the Gemini flyover are the landmarks of Chennai in films.
Chennai: Stop! Do you mean to say I am an empty pot. Have I not achieved anything?
Madras: Definitely not that way! I don?t mean to say ?I am the best.? I have my own limitations. I was confined to a smaller area, relatively less developed. But my point is you were projecting yourself as a commercial city. You have a lot better infrastructure than your peers ? the sole fact why many IT companies are blooming. You have very big residential areas in Anna Nagar- for all economic classes with a wide variety of schools. You have very accessible suburbs in Ambattur, Avadi, Tambaram, Velacheri, Perambur. The ring roads, the ECRs the Madras- Tiruvalluvar High roads. Big industrial areas in Ambattur, Guindy, Taramani providing a gamut of opportunities in different kinds of fields. Regarding the Medical facilities, you have the Apollo, The Miot, Madras Medical Mission. So many banks facilitating asy access to hard cash. The shopping area in T.Nagar, encompassing jewelers, dresses, bookshops, garlands? Varied supermarkets, Nilgiris?
Chennai: (Smiles)
Madras: But your strengths are your weaknesses. More development means more commercialism. More employment opportunities mean More population. All this mean more pollution, more water, sewage and disposal problems. You may be buzzing with activity all throughout the day and night. People will be struggling hard to earn a living, but will never live. At weekends, going to theme parks and theatres are all fine. But still, the mind keeps telling you ?I am missing something?. That is the Peace of Mind, which I was able to provide.
