Why Chennai, man? Of all places why do you choose to live in Chennai? It's so hot there! It's not happening man. You mean you're not from there and you still choose to live there? And you don't even speak Tamil? How do you manage yaar?
I get one or more of these questions every once in a way from very well-meaning friends in Bangalore and Bombay and Delhi. I thought it would be useful for me to collect my reasons for why I live in Chennai (and not in Bangalore, or Bombay or Delhi) and set them out in one place for them to look up, the next time they want to know.
Bangalore
I grew up in Kottayam (a small town in Kerala) and the first "big city" that I lived in was Bangalore. Of course, the Bangalore of 1999 bears little or no resemblance to today's Bangalore. When I moved to Bangalore it was still a sleepy cantonment town with great weather, some nice pubs, and not a single flyover (Bangalore's first flyover opened in late '99). I've had the dubious privilege of witnessing that Bangalore transform to the Bengaluru of today with nary a reminder of its (admittedly modest) history, and with more chaos and gridlock than any city outside of Bombay. In its frightening rush to emulate the characterless global metropolis, it's extinguished every last hint of charm and soul that used to make it special. The Victoria Hotel is gone, Plaza cinema is gone, Gangaram's is shutting down, and most of the lovely old garden houses of Fraser Town and Cox Town have given way to 'modern' high-rises. There are malls aplenty, and Bengaluru is the first port of call in India for many international brands. It also has the best nightspots in South India (although the 11 pm curfew does put a dampener on things somewhat). It is Bangalore's lack of history, heritage and culture that are, in my eyes, its chief failings. Add to that the incredible chaos of its traffic and public infrastructure and the enormous amounts of time it takes to get anywhere, and it's rendered pretty much unlivable for me.
Bombay
After five years in Bangalore I moved to Bombay and I very quickly fell in love with the city. I stayed in the YMCA in Colaba and worked in Nariman Point and I was intoxicated by all the history around me. The architecture and the museums and the art galleries all held me in their thrall for the year and a half that I spent there. I stayed in the best part of the city and had no need to take the local trains. The pace, the glamour and the purpose all around were thrilling.
Recent visits have systematically smashed my rose-tinted spectacles to tiny little pieces. I stayed in Goregaon (West) when I last visited. It took me one hour by taxi to reach the neighbouring suburb of Andheri (West). I took some local trains and had the life squeezed out of me. The only options to get anywhere in Bombay are to either spend several hours on the road, or spend much less time in the torturous confines of a local train. At one point I stood at Dadar station looking at the ocean of people around me all striding purposefully towards I don't know what, and I realised that I'd outgrown Bombay. The pace and purpose that seduced the 22 year old me repelled and bewildered the 29 year old me. "Town" is still beautiful, but I couldn't afford to live there until I was 55, and living anywhere else in Bombay would present to you that beautiful choice between hours on the road and murder by train. No thank you!
Delhi/Gurgaon
Unlike Bombay, I took an instant dislike to Gurgaon (and by association Delhi). The lack of public transport, the hours of powercuts, the shocking road behaviour, and the aggression all around acontributed to my dislike of the place. Add to this the old maxim that the only culture that Delhi possesses is agriculture, and you had right there my nightmare city. Ridiculously unsafe, murderously hot and dusty in the winter and bone-chillingly cold in the winter, I really couldn't catch a break anywhere. Malls, multiplexes and fancy brands couldn't compensate for the mess all around. It was with enormous and blessed relief that I moved out of Gurgaon (via a three-month stint in Delhi) to Chennai.
But Delhi is the one place that I've grown to like since I left it. On short visits it's evident that the profound improvements in infrastructure, led by the brilliant Delhi Metro and the excellent Terminal 3 of the Delhi Airport, have made the city extremely easy to use for an outsider. With less of a mental block I've managed to enjoy the tremendous history and heritage that Delhi has to offer, and of course the fabulous eating places all around. It's still too alien culturally for me to consider living there, but I do enjoy my visits every now and then.
Chennai
Chennai and I go back a fair way because my cousins used to live in Madras and many summer holidays were spent in the glorious heat of Anna Nagar (East) and those are some of the happiest memories of my childhood. Moving to Chennai in 2007 was still a leap into the unknown because I didn't know the city at all and didn't speak Tamil. It's been almost five years in this hot, humid coastal city and moving here is one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Chennai is a complex pleasure. If Bangalore is a big mac and Mumbai is a sirloin steak, Chennai is a delicately flavoured, 8-course meal with a beguiling array of flavours. It's easier to wolf down a burger or chomp up a steak, and if you're simple enough to be satisfied by those, it's understandable that you wouldn't want to waste the time or effort to appreciate a gourmet meal, but for those with some patience and a sufficient sense of adventure, Chennai holds a fascinating range of delights.
History and Architecture
The architecture, and history, on offer in Chennai is spectacular. From the incredible Madras High Court building (easily the most fascinating historical structure I've had the opportunity to explore), to the most dazzling array of churches and ancient temples in any metropolis in India, Chennai has history by the wagonload and in my five years here I've barely scratched the surface. There is a range of museums including the Government Museum in Egmore (itself housed in a fine example of indo-saracenic architecture), the Fort Museum at Fort St. George, the High Court Museum, and the Regional Rail Museum in Perambur, and structures such as the High Court and the Senate Hall of the Madras University, that have more stories in them than the average museum. (I'd recommend "Madras: The Architectural Heritage" by INTACH to those interested in the vast array of historical structures in Chennai). If you want to go off the beaten track you can take a tour of the Royal Enfield factory where the oldest motorcycle still in production in the world is handcrafted.
In terms of contemporary architecture the city features the iconic secretariat building by Hubert Neinhoff and the only Zaha Hadid building in all of India, as well as the beautiful new terminal of the airport that is set to open in a month or two.
Libraries
While architecturally unremarkable, the Anna Centenary Library in Kotturpuram is the best library in India. With 8 floors and hundreds of thousands of books on every topic under the sun (including more than 25 about the Beatles), set in air-conditioned comfort, there's not much more you could ask for. Of course if you are inclined to explore there are several other very old libraries dotting the city with an incomparable collection of books and ancient manuscripts, including the Connemara Library and the library of the Theosophical Society.
Classical Music and Dance
Chennai is the capital of classical music and dance in India. No other big city in India is so intimately connected with the arts, and the Margazhi season (in December and January) brings the finest exponents of Carnatic music and classical dance (and aficianados from around the world) to Chennai for a very organic and un-corporate festival of incomparable scale and splendour. With tens of concerts and performance happening around the city at any given time, the city throbs with music and dance. You don't even need to be a fan of classical music or dance to feel the "season" in the air. In addition to this, through the year there are performances and chamber concerts at venues across the city including the iconic Kalakshetra and the beautiful "Spaces" on Elliott's Beach.
Theatre and Performing Arts
Venues like Spaces (the house of the late Chandralekha), the Museum Theatre (a century old venue that's the most beautiful and charming performance venue I've seen), the Music Academy and the Sir Mutha hall regularly showcase theatre performances by a number of groups in the city. From the truly inept amateurs to the masters of the craft such as Perch, and Koothu-P-Pattarai, from Shakespeare to local rip-offs of Broadway musicals, there's every flavour of theatre that you'd wish for. Festivals like the exceptional MetroPlus Theatre Festival, Poetry with Prakriti, and the Park's New Festival, all of which are Chennai based but have now traveled to other cities, offer a range of theatre, music, dance and poetry performances.
Food
Chennai is a food lover's paradise. The latest edition of the Miele Guide, the Singapore-based aspiring Michelin Guide of Asia, features no fewer than 23 restaurants in Chennai. Compare that with 13 for Delhi, 12 for Mumbai, and 2 for Bangalore and you get a sense of Chennai's position as a culinary powerhouse. A city that only a decade and a half ago offered a somewhat unimaginative palette of eating options, is booming with a large number of foreign chefs choosing Chennai as their base. The strong Japanese and Korean populations in the city mean you get the finest and most affordable Japanese and Korean food in India in Chennai, in joints such as Dahlia in Nunbambakkam, Kyungbokgong in Nandanam and Akasaka in Thiruvanmiyur. Authentic Iranian food? Check, Authentic Turkish and meditteranean food? Check, Authentic greek cypriot food? Authentic Burmese food? Check, Authentic Italian food? Check (an Italian friend remarked that the pizzas she's had at Tuscana in Wallace Garden are better than the Pizzas she has back home in Italy). Add to this the fantastic local cuisine available from the local Kaiyendhi Bhavans to the ubiquitous Dindigul Thalapakatti Biryani and Nala's Aappakadai chains to the fine dining options at places like Crimson Chakra and the Southern Spice, and you're never short of options for a great meal. Some of the best desserts I've had have been at Ecstasy (by french chef Mickael Besse) and Amadora Gourmet Ice Creams (by local boy Deepak Suresh). (For more detailed info on eating places in Chennai, do check out the Chennai Food Guide facebook group).
Films, Pop, Rock, Jazz, Wold Music
Chennai is the home of the second biggest film industry in the country and some of the best films and music in the country are created in Chennai. India's Oscar and grammy winning sensation, AR Rahman, is known as the Mozart of Madras and his KM Music Conservatory is offering world-class music education (including training in Western classical instruments) to talented Indian students. Another venture that's transforming Chennai's cultural landscape is the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music ("SAM") which is an unprecedented experiment in offering world-class instruction in rock, pop and jazz music right here in India, with instructors from all over the world in residence and offering their talents not just to their students but to the music loving public in the city with their concerts at pubs like Star Rock and Geoffrey's. There are already some superlative young bands in the city like The Family Cheese and ECR, comprising SAM alumni serving up a standard of performance typically unseen in local Indian rock and jazz bands. Chennai is where John McLaughlin recorded his last album, and where the legendary "Shakti" was formed. Chennai is where the grammy winning legend TH "Vikku" Vinayakram and his equally talented sons reside. Throw in the Chennai Global Music Festival, and it's clear that Chennai's is expanding its musical horizons dramatically.
Art
Chennai is the home of the Cholamandal Artists' Village, the oldest and largest artists' commune in India, giving birth to the Madras Movement in Indian art and serving as home for several legendary artists through the decades. More recently, an explosion in galleries and spaces, and a burgeoning interest in the arts has culminated in the annual Art Chennai festival, featuring a tremendous array of exhibitions including (in its last edition) a mammoth display of photographs at the Thiruvanmiyur MRTS station, lectures, residencies, talks and other programmes.
Books and CDs
India's largest bookstore chains, Landmark and Odyssey originated as stores in Chennai. The original Landmark in Nungambakkam (three more have opened in the city since) is still my favourite place to go and buy books and CDs. But for sheer character and that little dash of insanity nothing can beat Giggles, "the biggest little book shop," run by the irrepressible Nalini Chettur (Do read this story by Scott Sherman in the Brooklyn Rail). It truly is the most magical little bookstore in the world. You'll also find a range of small and medium sized bookstores all over this city that loves to read. The city also features the most original and innovative publishing house in India today, Blaft, that publishes everything from crazy graphic novels (Stupid Man Goes to India, Moonward) to translations of vernacular pulp fiction (The Blaft Anthologies of Tamil Pulp Fiction), and everything in between.
Newspapers
Two of India's most well regarded newspapers, The Hindu, and The Indian Express originated in Madras (as it then was). The Hindu still remains possibly the only newspaper in the country with some semblance of seriousness and quality, and it is quintessentially a Chennai newspaper. The Hindu also runs the Asian College of Journalism, which is India's bet regarded journalism school.
Sport
Chepauk is one of the oldest venues for cricket in India, and where India won its first ever test match in 1952. Chepauk is also the home of the all-conquering Chennai Super Kings in the very dodgy Indian Premier League. Chennai hosts the only ATP tournament in the country and has been a regular stop on the calendar for players such as Rafael Nadal, Marian Cilic, Leander Paes and so on. Chennai is the home of India's original tennis legends, Vijay Amritraj and Ramanathan Krishnan. Chennai is the home of world Chess champion, Viswanathan Anand. The converted runway at Sholavaram was the crucible of Indian motorsport where legends such as Indu Chandhok and Akbar Ebrahim grew up. Chennai is also home of the only two Indians to have raced in Formula 1, Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok. There's an enthusiastic following for every sport from football to squash and table tennis and sporting venues dot every locality in this city.
The Sea
I need the sea to be truly happy. Chennai is the only major city in the country with meaningful access to the say (and before anyone pipes up, Girgaum Chowpatty and Juhu beach do not by any stretch of imagination amount to meaningful access to the sea). Whether it is to take in the incredible vastness and colour of Marina Beach, or eating at an authentic Shawarma next to Elliot's Beach or going for an early morning run on the clean and quiet Thiruvanmiyur Beach, there's nowhere else where the sea is as much part of the city's life as it is in Chennai. I live 350 metres from the Bay of Bengal and I do feel sorry for those who have to live in a landlocked city.
Heart
All the facts apart, the thing I love the most about Chennai is its people. There is none of the 'big city' canniness or cynicism that you find in Bombay and increasingly in Bangalore. No one is in a hurry to get anywhere, and everyone's happy to help. Outsiders (i.e. North Indians) often complain that the people don't speak anything but Tamil. I wonder if the same people would go to Shanghai and complain that the people don't speak anything but Mandarin, or whether the same people wonder if the people of New Delhi speak anything but Hindi. I've managed to pick up a little bit of Tamil and that little effort goes a long way in making friends and getting help. Chennai is a lazy, relaxed city that is unpretentious and sure of itself. It's the anti-Bangalore, if you will.
I've already gone on for a fair bit and it doesn't look like I am going to run out of the reasons why I love Chennai any time soon. So I've got to forcibly bring this very very long post to a halt right now. But if you've actually managed to get this far, it should be quite obvious why I choose to live in Chennai and not in Bangalore, or Mumbai or Delhi. It's a city with history and heritage and character and soul and substance and culture and great food and good people. One or more of these attributes may be available elsewhere, but Chennai manages to combine all of this and still be greater than the sum of its parts. Now I have to run and meet someone who makes this city even more alluring by her presence. Ta ta!
I get one or more of these questions every once in a way from very well-meaning friends in Bangalore and Bombay and Delhi. I thought it would be useful for me to collect my reasons for why I live in Chennai (and not in Bangalore, or Bombay or Delhi) and set them out in one place for them to look up, the next time they want to know.
Bangalore
I grew up in Kottayam (a small town in Kerala) and the first "big city" that I lived in was Bangalore. Of course, the Bangalore of 1999 bears little or no resemblance to today's Bangalore. When I moved to Bangalore it was still a sleepy cantonment town with great weather, some nice pubs, and not a single flyover (Bangalore's first flyover opened in late '99). I've had the dubious privilege of witnessing that Bangalore transform to the Bengaluru of today with nary a reminder of its (admittedly modest) history, and with more chaos and gridlock than any city outside of Bombay. In its frightening rush to emulate the characterless global metropolis, it's extinguished every last hint of charm and soul that used to make it special. The Victoria Hotel is gone, Plaza cinema is gone, Gangaram's is shutting down, and most of the lovely old garden houses of Fraser Town and Cox Town have given way to 'modern' high-rises. There are malls aplenty, and Bengaluru is the first port of call in India for many international brands. It also has the best nightspots in South India (although the 11 pm curfew does put a dampener on things somewhat). It is Bangalore's lack of history, heritage and culture that are, in my eyes, its chief failings. Add to that the incredible chaos of its traffic and public infrastructure and the enormous amounts of time it takes to get anywhere, and it's rendered pretty much unlivable for me.
Bombay
After five years in Bangalore I moved to Bombay and I very quickly fell in love with the city. I stayed in the YMCA in Colaba and worked in Nariman Point and I was intoxicated by all the history around me. The architecture and the museums and the art galleries all held me in their thrall for the year and a half that I spent there. I stayed in the best part of the city and had no need to take the local trains. The pace, the glamour and the purpose all around were thrilling.
Recent visits have systematically smashed my rose-tinted spectacles to tiny little pieces. I stayed in Goregaon (West) when I last visited. It took me one hour by taxi to reach the neighbouring suburb of Andheri (West). I took some local trains and had the life squeezed out of me. The only options to get anywhere in Bombay are to either spend several hours on the road, or spend much less time in the torturous confines of a local train. At one point I stood at Dadar station looking at the ocean of people around me all striding purposefully towards I don't know what, and I realised that I'd outgrown Bombay. The pace and purpose that seduced the 22 year old me repelled and bewildered the 29 year old me. "Town" is still beautiful, but I couldn't afford to live there until I was 55, and living anywhere else in Bombay would present to you that beautiful choice between hours on the road and murder by train. No thank you!
Delhi/Gurgaon
Unlike Bombay, I took an instant dislike to Gurgaon (and by association Delhi). The lack of public transport, the hours of powercuts, the shocking road behaviour, and the aggression all around acontributed to my dislike of the place. Add to this the old maxim that the only culture that Delhi possesses is agriculture, and you had right there my nightmare city. Ridiculously unsafe, murderously hot and dusty in the winter and bone-chillingly cold in the winter, I really couldn't catch a break anywhere. Malls, multiplexes and fancy brands couldn't compensate for the mess all around. It was with enormous and blessed relief that I moved out of Gurgaon (via a three-month stint in Delhi) to Chennai.
But Delhi is the one place that I've grown to like since I left it. On short visits it's evident that the profound improvements in infrastructure, led by the brilliant Delhi Metro and the excellent Terminal 3 of the Delhi Airport, have made the city extremely easy to use for an outsider. With less of a mental block I've managed to enjoy the tremendous history and heritage that Delhi has to offer, and of course the fabulous eating places all around. It's still too alien culturally for me to consider living there, but I do enjoy my visits every now and then.
Chennai
Chennai and I go back a fair way because my cousins used to live in Madras and many summer holidays were spent in the glorious heat of Anna Nagar (East) and those are some of the happiest memories of my childhood. Moving to Chennai in 2007 was still a leap into the unknown because I didn't know the city at all and didn't speak Tamil. It's been almost five years in this hot, humid coastal city and moving here is one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Chennai is a complex pleasure. If Bangalore is a big mac and Mumbai is a sirloin steak, Chennai is a delicately flavoured, 8-course meal with a beguiling array of flavours. It's easier to wolf down a burger or chomp up a steak, and if you're simple enough to be satisfied by those, it's understandable that you wouldn't want to waste the time or effort to appreciate a gourmet meal, but for those with some patience and a sufficient sense of adventure, Chennai holds a fascinating range of delights.
History and Architecture
The architecture, and history, on offer in Chennai is spectacular. From the incredible Madras High Court building (easily the most fascinating historical structure I've had the opportunity to explore), to the most dazzling array of churches and ancient temples in any metropolis in India, Chennai has history by the wagonload and in my five years here I've barely scratched the surface. There is a range of museums including the Government Museum in Egmore (itself housed in a fine example of indo-saracenic architecture), the Fort Museum at Fort St. George, the High Court Museum, and the Regional Rail Museum in Perambur, and structures such as the High Court and the Senate Hall of the Madras University, that have more stories in them than the average museum. (I'd recommend "Madras: The Architectural Heritage" by INTACH to those interested in the vast array of historical structures in Chennai). If you want to go off the beaten track you can take a tour of the Royal Enfield factory where the oldest motorcycle still in production in the world is handcrafted.
In terms of contemporary architecture the city features the iconic secretariat building by Hubert Neinhoff and the only Zaha Hadid building in all of India, as well as the beautiful new terminal of the airport that is set to open in a month or two.
Libraries
While architecturally unremarkable, the Anna Centenary Library in Kotturpuram is the best library in India. With 8 floors and hundreds of thousands of books on every topic under the sun (including more than 25 about the Beatles), set in air-conditioned comfort, there's not much more you could ask for. Of course if you are inclined to explore there are several other very old libraries dotting the city with an incomparable collection of books and ancient manuscripts, including the Connemara Library and the library of the Theosophical Society.
Classical Music and Dance
Chennai is the capital of classical music and dance in India. No other big city in India is so intimately connected with the arts, and the Margazhi season (in December and January) brings the finest exponents of Carnatic music and classical dance (and aficianados from around the world) to Chennai for a very organic and un-corporate festival of incomparable scale and splendour. With tens of concerts and performance happening around the city at any given time, the city throbs with music and dance. You don't even need to be a fan of classical music or dance to feel the "season" in the air. In addition to this, through the year there are performances and chamber concerts at venues across the city including the iconic Kalakshetra and the beautiful "Spaces" on Elliott's Beach.
Theatre and Performing Arts
Venues like Spaces (the house of the late Chandralekha), the Museum Theatre (a century old venue that's the most beautiful and charming performance venue I've seen), the Music Academy and the Sir Mutha hall regularly showcase theatre performances by a number of groups in the city. From the truly inept amateurs to the masters of the craft such as Perch, and Koothu-P-Pattarai, from Shakespeare to local rip-offs of Broadway musicals, there's every flavour of theatre that you'd wish for. Festivals like the exceptional MetroPlus Theatre Festival, Poetry with Prakriti, and the Park's New Festival, all of which are Chennai based but have now traveled to other cities, offer a range of theatre, music, dance and poetry performances.
Food
Chennai is a food lover's paradise. The latest edition of the Miele Guide, the Singapore-based aspiring Michelin Guide of Asia, features no fewer than 23 restaurants in Chennai. Compare that with 13 for Delhi, 12 for Mumbai, and 2 for Bangalore and you get a sense of Chennai's position as a culinary powerhouse. A city that only a decade and a half ago offered a somewhat unimaginative palette of eating options, is booming with a large number of foreign chefs choosing Chennai as their base. The strong Japanese and Korean populations in the city mean you get the finest and most affordable Japanese and Korean food in India in Chennai, in joints such as Dahlia in Nunbambakkam, Kyungbokgong in Nandanam and Akasaka in Thiruvanmiyur. Authentic Iranian food? Check, Authentic Turkish and meditteranean food? Check, Authentic greek cypriot food? Authentic Burmese food? Check, Authentic Italian food? Check (an Italian friend remarked that the pizzas she's had at Tuscana in Wallace Garden are better than the Pizzas she has back home in Italy). Add to this the fantastic local cuisine available from the local Kaiyendhi Bhavans to the ubiquitous Dindigul Thalapakatti Biryani and Nala's Aappakadai chains to the fine dining options at places like Crimson Chakra and the Southern Spice, and you're never short of options for a great meal. Some of the best desserts I've had have been at Ecstasy (by french chef Mickael Besse) and Amadora Gourmet Ice Creams (by local boy Deepak Suresh). (For more detailed info on eating places in Chennai, do check out the Chennai Food Guide facebook group).
Films, Pop, Rock, Jazz, Wold Music
Chennai is the home of the second biggest film industry in the country and some of the best films and music in the country are created in Chennai. India's Oscar and grammy winning sensation, AR Rahman, is known as the Mozart of Madras and his KM Music Conservatory is offering world-class music education (including training in Western classical instruments) to talented Indian students. Another venture that's transforming Chennai's cultural landscape is the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music ("SAM") which is an unprecedented experiment in offering world-class instruction in rock, pop and jazz music right here in India, with instructors from all over the world in residence and offering their talents not just to their students but to the music loving public in the city with their concerts at pubs like Star Rock and Geoffrey's. There are already some superlative young bands in the city like The Family Cheese and ECR, comprising SAM alumni serving up a standard of performance typically unseen in local Indian rock and jazz bands. Chennai is where John McLaughlin recorded his last album, and where the legendary "Shakti" was formed. Chennai is where the grammy winning legend TH "Vikku" Vinayakram and his equally talented sons reside. Throw in the Chennai Global Music Festival, and it's clear that Chennai's is expanding its musical horizons dramatically.
Art
Chennai is the home of the Cholamandal Artists' Village, the oldest and largest artists' commune in India, giving birth to the Madras Movement in Indian art and serving as home for several legendary artists through the decades. More recently, an explosion in galleries and spaces, and a burgeoning interest in the arts has culminated in the annual Art Chennai festival, featuring a tremendous array of exhibitions including (in its last edition) a mammoth display of photographs at the Thiruvanmiyur MRTS station, lectures, residencies, talks and other programmes.
Books and CDs
India's largest bookstore chains, Landmark and Odyssey originated as stores in Chennai. The original Landmark in Nungambakkam (three more have opened in the city since) is still my favourite place to go and buy books and CDs. But for sheer character and that little dash of insanity nothing can beat Giggles, "the biggest little book shop," run by the irrepressible Nalini Chettur (Do read this story by Scott Sherman in the Brooklyn Rail). It truly is the most magical little bookstore in the world. You'll also find a range of small and medium sized bookstores all over this city that loves to read. The city also features the most original and innovative publishing house in India today, Blaft, that publishes everything from crazy graphic novels (Stupid Man Goes to India, Moonward) to translations of vernacular pulp fiction (The Blaft Anthologies of Tamil Pulp Fiction), and everything in between.
Newspapers
Two of India's most well regarded newspapers, The Hindu, and The Indian Express originated in Madras (as it then was). The Hindu still remains possibly the only newspaper in the country with some semblance of seriousness and quality, and it is quintessentially a Chennai newspaper. The Hindu also runs the Asian College of Journalism, which is India's bet regarded journalism school.
Sport
Chepauk is one of the oldest venues for cricket in India, and where India won its first ever test match in 1952. Chepauk is also the home of the all-conquering Chennai Super Kings in the very dodgy Indian Premier League. Chennai hosts the only ATP tournament in the country and has been a regular stop on the calendar for players such as Rafael Nadal, Marian Cilic, Leander Paes and so on. Chennai is the home of India's original tennis legends, Vijay Amritraj and Ramanathan Krishnan. Chennai is the home of world Chess champion, Viswanathan Anand. The converted runway at Sholavaram was the crucible of Indian motorsport where legends such as Indu Chandhok and Akbar Ebrahim grew up. Chennai is also home of the only two Indians to have raced in Formula 1, Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok. There's an enthusiastic following for every sport from football to squash and table tennis and sporting venues dot every locality in this city.
The Sea
I need the sea to be truly happy. Chennai is the only major city in the country with meaningful access to the say (and before anyone pipes up, Girgaum Chowpatty and Juhu beach do not by any stretch of imagination amount to meaningful access to the sea). Whether it is to take in the incredible vastness and colour of Marina Beach, or eating at an authentic Shawarma next to Elliot's Beach or going for an early morning run on the clean and quiet Thiruvanmiyur Beach, there's nowhere else where the sea is as much part of the city's life as it is in Chennai. I live 350 metres from the Bay of Bengal and I do feel sorry for those who have to live in a landlocked city.
Heart
All the facts apart, the thing I love the most about Chennai is its people. There is none of the 'big city' canniness or cynicism that you find in Bombay and increasingly in Bangalore. No one is in a hurry to get anywhere, and everyone's happy to help. Outsiders (i.e. North Indians) often complain that the people don't speak anything but Tamil. I wonder if the same people would go to Shanghai and complain that the people don't speak anything but Mandarin, or whether the same people wonder if the people of New Delhi speak anything but Hindi. I've managed to pick up a little bit of Tamil and that little effort goes a long way in making friends and getting help. Chennai is a lazy, relaxed city that is unpretentious and sure of itself. It's the anti-Bangalore, if you will.
I've already gone on for a fair bit and it doesn't look like I am going to run out of the reasons why I love Chennai any time soon. So I've got to forcibly bring this very very long post to a halt right now. But if you've actually managed to get this far, it should be quite obvious why I choose to live in Chennai and not in Bangalore, or Mumbai or Delhi. It's a city with history and heritage and character and soul and substance and culture and great food and good people. One or more of these attributes may be available elsewhere, but Chennai manages to combine all of this and still be greater than the sum of its parts. Now I have to run and meet someone who makes this city even more alluring by her presence. Ta ta!
