Things i miss - the A to Z of Chennai.

When you move from your home to a new place , there are always thing that you leave behind and things that you miss. The below is a list , from A to Z , of things that i miss from Chennai. The list is mainly influenced by what used to be my work routine - office life, sales calls, public transport, weekend outings and the like. Here is an A to Z of things i miss ..

A – Autorickshaws. I had written an entire blog about them. It is but natural that they are on top of the list.

B – Burma Bazaar DVD shops. 6 movies in one DVD for 30 bucks.. ! Lord of the rings and The matrix for less than one dollar. Long live piracy.

C – Cinema posters on the walls. My daily dose of movies. Chandramukhi is reaching 800 days. Would miss that poster.

D – Dum breaks. Giving company to others during their smoke breaks. The best office gossip and inside information is exchanged during such breaks.

E – ECR . Beaches, restaurants, movies, traffic jam, mamool vangum cops , un- potholed roads.

F – Footboard travel on the Tambaram - Beach local train.

G - Goods trains. Counting the number of wagons in them as they chug past in the next track has been a favourite rail travel pastime from childhood.

H - Hoardings - Huge , life size and colouful. Especially now since, Sivaji hoardings i belive are all over Chennai.

I - Iyers. Their Tamil, their English, their Tamil mixed with English ,their food, their tradition, their navarathri kollu sundal , not to mention the iyer girls.

J - Juice kadais ( shops) which mushroom automatically during the summer months.

K – Kutty samosa at the shop next to office. 4 pieces in one packet . The filler between breakfast and lunch for me and Vinay.

L - Lunch time in MAA office . Veg sappadu , Vetti pechu , veen vambu. ( veg food, idle talk, mischevious banter)

M - Madras Tamil and all those slangs and phrases unique to my city.

N - Nungambakkam High road. 5 star hotels, over priced coffee shops , budget restaurants, branded apparel showrooms, roadside shops, clients etc etc.

O – O.C book reading at crosswords and landmark.

P - Ponnuswamy hotel chicken biryani. There was none better. period.

Q - Right from the days of playing "name -place- animal -things" in school, finding words in Q is a problem for me. The trend continues. You could wonder why i didnt mention Queues, but Queing for everything seems a national pastime here in Sweden.

R - Rendu chakkara vandi ( two wheelers- bikes, mopeds, scooters) . My fav vehicle for travel. It can poondhufy thru any traffic jam.

S – Sales calls. ..tholula pai, kazhuthula tie, vai fulla poi. ( roughly translated as .. a bag hanging from shoulders, a tie around ur neck , mouth full of lies )

T –. Traffic policemen ( fondly called mamas) . You ve gotta give it to them. Tough job it is , to stand in the heat amidst all the noise, pollution and reckless drivers.

U - Uchi veyil . 40 deg heat at 90 percent humidity. Prefer that to snow capped dark winters at -10 deg.

V – Valmiki nagar beach. Sentimental place - not for me - but for the one in my gang who had the all important car. So the only beach we go to

W - Water packets. Chilled water for 1 rupee. Best used for washing your face before stepping into a clients office.

X - Oh come on ! You expect me to come up with something in X when i cant find one in Q.

Y - Yelai pottu sappadu..... banana leaves as plates for serving food .especially the ones at Murugan idlys and Saravana bhavan. It enhances the taste of the food, i tell you.

Z – Zara . Pub un-cultured chennai s stand alone argument.