the Thinker

By fast life, I do not exactly mean only Mumbai life. Yes, life is fast in the city. But then this particular post is not only about Mumbai. The other day I was talking to one of my friends, who said that I have kind of become-a metro traveler! She is right in a way. Other than Delhi (where I have been only once in my life), I have stayed at all the other three metros of our country. I have no idea how many of you think and ruminate over the city that you have visited or stayed in, for a considerable period. Nevertheless, here is my list of the places I have visited, and the things that I like and dislike about them.

Gujarat: Now it is called 'The Cursed Land.' However, the place did not see a spate of natural and manmade calamities, while I lived there several years back. I was born in that land, and am still very fond of the place. It aches my heart to see that now whenever the mention of 'Gujarat' comes to anyone's mind, it is accompanied by horrifying memories of riots, earthquakes and floods. However, when I sit down to think, I cannot help but remember certain things:

Locale: Gujarat is an arid land, dry and sultry. Feeling hot? Take a cup of buttermilk; it will make you feel nice. Moreover, if you visit a traditional Gujarati household, you are bound to be offered buttermilk (chaas) or limejuice, along with other beverages.

People: Some of my friends find Gujaratis very money-minded and calculative. I would say, there are all shades of people in the world and among all communities. I think of Gujaratis as a colourful and very hard working clan. Very progressive and tactful.

Festivals: Loads are there. They believe in many gods and godesses. (I do not know the names of half of them). However, the one's that I enjoy are Janmashtami and Navratri.

Food: I cannot leave aside this part, being a food maniac myself. One word for Gujarati khana is 'spicy.' Samosas, kachoris, bhujias, khakras, dhoklas, chewda and mumra are only to name a few.

Things that are not so appealing: Well, the only thing that I dislike about the city is the dirt and dust. Cows all over the place, beware during driving.

My rating of the place: 8/10

Kolkata: I did the second half of my schooling in this city. When I got shifted from Gujarat to Kolkata, it appeared like a nightmare to me. The big-city syndrome and all that.... However, over the past 7-8 years, the city has grown over me.

Locale: Hot and humid. Certain areas are fertile agricultural lands that are used for crops. In summers, one needs to bathe at least 3 times a day. Winters are late, and rains unpredictable.

People: 60%-Marwaris and around 40% Bengalis. Bengalis are conservative, intellectual (mostly the urban middle class), and culturally aware. Marwaris-I would better not comment on them. The only thing I would say is-they are the commerce heads of the city.

Festivals: Pujas- I need not mention them, most of you know about them. But not pujas are held not only to deify Goddess Durga; but Kali, Saraswati and Lakshmi as well. Infact, in all the schools of Kolkata, there is a one-month Puja vacation- a privilege that is only enjoyed by students in this city.

Food: If you are a fish-o-holic, then this is the city to be in. Hilsa, Rohu, Koi and loads of other varities. Vegetarians need not grumble. Kolkata's vegetarian preparations are equally delicious. Shukto, Chochori and lal shaag bhaja-to name a few of them.

Things that are not so appealing: One factor that is definitely not appealing to outsiders are 'bandhs.' Kolkata might be the only metro where traffic and life comes to a standstill during bandhs. People decide to sit back in their homes and rest. Children get additional holidays due to bandhs.

My rating of the place: 7/10

Chennai: The city that separated me from my family. Well, I should not be sounding so negative. Had I chosen some other city to pursue higher studies, then I would have said the same thing about that place also. I do not want to disappoint Chennai-ites or other people who like this place. However, this is one of my least favorite places.

Locale: Torrid, hot, dry, scathing summers…okay, okay, I am over-reacting. But as I saw it, it is definitely not a nice weather and locale. But the place boasts of the world’s second largest beach-Marina. There are a few green-spots as well. The city has much recovered from the Tsunami wave recently, one tragic memory added to recent history.

People: Mostly Tamilians, with patches of Teluguites, Kannads and Malayalis as well. Snippets of the ‘Chinkey’ races (could be Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetans etc) are also seen. If I used the word conservative for Bengalis, then I should used the superlative degree of ‘conservative’ for Tamilians in Chennai (Pl, I am only referring to Chennai people and not Tamilians elsewhere). However, they are very culture conscious, very insular and protective about their customs. I will not say that modernity has not found place at all in the city. But people here, retain their tradition in a large manner. Some of them are really nice and helpful.

Festivals: No idea!! Never celebrated any. But Chennai is a city of beautiful temples and architecture.

Food: Most of it is South Indian khana. Idlis, Dosas, Vadas etc. Not that other stuff is not found. Pizza, parantha, biriyanis etc. are also there on the menus.

Things that are not so appealing: Well, I wonder whether I am sounding biased. But as I an outsider, I found two to three things in the city as a major disadvantage-language, rick-drivers and water. Guess what? Both are inter-connected. A place where people hardly speak Hindi is a major drawback. I will not rally sentiments like- Hindi is our national language. I have respects for all other languages-Aryan or Dravidian. However, The anti-Hindi feeling was pretty evident in the city.

Any person who is not a native of the city, should also look out for another thing. Rick drivers. I call them-the bane of Chennai. Foul-mouthed and quarrelsome. I hate to call names like these; but as I mentioned earlier, these guys are the most irritating things around the city.

Another thing that might or might not impact people in the city is the saline water that flows out of the taps. Few of you must have read about all those de-salination projects that are being talked about in Chennai.

My rating of the place: 4/10

Mumbai: Moving on to the ‘commerce capital of India.’ It is a very hectic city. No one has time to pause and breath for a second. People are always on the run.

Locale: Mumbai has a moderate weather. Summers are humid. Winters, I have not seen them yet. Rain-Do I need to say more after all those floods? The city is a concrete jungle, surrounded by buildings on all sides.

People: Helpful, nice and energetic (most of them). Maharashtrians are also protective about their culture, but they do not snigger at others. That is my report of the kind of people I have met or seen. Other than them, the place also has a significant population of Gujjus, Jains, Sindhis and snippets of Goan races.

Festivals: Ganesh Utsav-The most widely celebrated festival of the city. It is escorted with a lot of hype and hooplah. Other than that Dusherra and Navratri is also celebrated with pomp.

Food: Cosmopolitan-shall I say? I did not see anything specifically Marathi other than 'poha'. Restaurants in the city will mostly give you what you want. South Indian, Jain, Punjabi, Continental, Chinese-food is not that much of a problem.

Things that are not so appealing: I need not say it, you all know it-RAINS!!! Heavy and unpredictable. And of course traffic, but that is there is other cities as well.

My rating of the place: 8/10.

As a Chennai-ite, it hurts a bit to see the rating.. but then, you do have a point. Auto drivers and the weather wd easily put ppl off.  

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hi chakra,

i can understand how u felt. but i am sorry, chennai is a place that did not appeal to me so much. some people tell me that kolkata is a place which they do not prefer, i cannot disagree in that case as well coz i did not like the city myself when i first came to this place.  

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Very nice post Amrita..I am wondering how bloggers left this..along ( good tag concept).

I agree with you 100% on Chennai. Though I am from Chennai!

I like Bombay too.!! I'd give it a 8 as well.  

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hi narayanan,

glad to have u back. thanks for ur comments. I do not have anything against chennai personally, but somehow Mumbai appears to me as a city where communication and commuting is far easier.  

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Hola Amrita!!!
WELCOME BACK :)
Loved the post... Very informative!
Helps me deal with the massive amount of diverse ideas I get into my head, whenever I try to picture what living in India would be like...

If you don't mind, I might use your idea to describe the places I've lived at in a future post.  

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okie the weather and the wutodrivers put ppl off, but stating that ppl not knowing hindi is a big disadvantage is not fair, why shud everyone in india know th elangauge? so that a bunch of north indians can migrate?? have u learnt tamil?? if u do then ur one of the few north indians who have taken the trouble to learn it, most north indians students wont learn the langauge and crib about ppl not knowing hindi, why shud an auto guy in far flung chennai know the langauge?

secondly the anti hindi feeling is presistent coz it was thrust down on the tmailians throats, not bypoliticians but by media and ppl, who expect that very corner of india shud spk hindi coz its the national langauge

good analysis though, but i feel ur judgements of chennai lacks objectivity and is very biased (but u never promised to be unbiased so its alrite)  

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hi all,

i am happy to receive such diverse comments on the topic.

hi gonsings, glad to see ur comment after such a long time. how r u? this post is nothing, there are so many other things to visit in this world. i wish to visist all of them and write about them in my blog.

hi vatsan,

I am glad that u have managed to be objective where i have chosen not to be. i have already mentioned in my post that i do not have anything personal against chennai. it differs from person to person. i know some tamilians who hate mumbai because of the language or for that matter delhi as well. well the the question obviously arises-why did u not learn hindi. i will not try to justify myself in any way, i have not learnt tamil and i do not feel the necessity to learn it as of now. if we see on an overall basis, english and hindi are two of the most popular mediums of communication when it comes to India. I have been to andhra as well, and i did not see the bias against hindi there. so i was forced to form the opinion about chennai, which has been expressed in this post. yes, you may say i am biased, and i choose to be so. but anyways, i was glad that u managed to be critical in ur observation. byways, i must admit chennai has a great cultural outlook. i am really facinated by the temples and architectural works in the city.  

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I quite like this post. Though I find your repeated mention of Gujrat as a city a bit annoying and surprising too. And if I do not agree with something, it has to be the bit about Gujrat. I personally feel them annoyingly calculative and very uncivil in many ways. Plus their food is extremely irritating and I cannot even imagine life in any city of Gujrat.

Yet, your review is very balanced and nicely done and I am sure I could not have been equally just in my own analysis.

-- Akshaya  

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A nice blog.. Will have to spare some time to read later...  

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hi akshaya, thanks for pointing out that "bit" about gujarat. I am sorry about that. I have mostly been in Baroda, but I have visited gandhinagar and ahmedabad as well. i will not argue with u on what u think about gujarat, i can very well understand the outlook that some people have on the city. I have a negative outlook on chennai. it differs from person to person.

HI 1.618,
is that ur name by any chance? just kidding! welcome to my blog.  

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Being a Chennaite, it really hurts..but as Chakra had rightly said, its true!..I wud say ur rating is too low for me...but I can understand the problems ppl face!  

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Haven't lived in any of these cities long enough to pass a judgement, but yes your views are consistent enough with what I have heard about people.

Personally, I am the one who generally does not prefer metro. Small cities suite me well. I love Lucknow and Pune.

BTW, Amrita, yours is a nice blog.  

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Well, You can have it that way too... That makes me anonymous???

Actually, I was so inspired about this number that I decided to have it as my alias...

It would be better if you can enable pop-ups for comments as this is the request I place in all the blogs I visit! :D  

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well krish, i am sorry if u felt bad. i have nothing in personal against chennai people. but then i have to say that there are certain things in chennai which may not appeal to outsiders immediately.

Hi manish, welcome to my blog. Yes i too believe that sometimes small cities provide us the much needed relief which metros do not.

HI 1.618,

well, i do not have an option for a pop-up as of now. lets see, will try for it in future.  

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Welcome back!!! hope u post regularly from now on  

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depends on the kind of comments i will get. hahah! just kiddin, i also hope to blog more often now.  

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you've been around, haven't u? i guess only bangalore's left....it hink u'd like the place.....nice post...  

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Hmm...bangalore, even iam curious about the city. Yeah, lets see, maybe i will pay it a visit sometime in life. thanks for the suggestion.  

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hi amrita...ur write up makes interesting reading and i respect ur opinions. Having lived for 2 years in Chennai myself, i understand your frustration with the 'rick-drivers' and water...
but then no city is perfect. And you probably didnt know how to enjoy Chennai (maybe your lack of "Madras-Tamil" skills prevented you)..
Anyway, And I can very well come to the conclusion that you wud have had the same opinion of any city in the world that does not speak Hindi ...

ashok babu  

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hi sriram,

i am sorry if ur feelings were hurt but then its my personal view. as i said, people from chennai do not like it here in mumbai.

hi ashok,

i appreciate ur views and i agree that no city is perfect. that is why i have pointed out the negative aspects of each and every city i have been to. as far as the hindi factor is concerned, it is justified if one goes outside india to a place like bulgaria, japan or france and does not find hindi speaking crowd there. there is no reason to complain in a global scenario. but within india, hindi is the most popular and convenient medium of conversing after english. im maharashtra and gujarat and even in northern areas like Shimla, the most lower category people converse in hindi. if u go to shops, people either use hindi or english to converse with customers who are not from the native state. therefore, it is very commonly expected that whichever place we go to in india, at least people will speak in hindi, if not in english. but that thing was missing in chennai, and not in other southern states. i was more angry on the fact about some people will not speak the language inspite of knowing it purposely. however, its their personal choice, however irritated an outsider gets.  

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amrita, the last part of ur reply is something thats true for the northen part of india as well.. I have been lucky to know hindi but i have seen others (who do not know) suffer when they travel north. Hindi speakers have a fanatical craze and do not communicate in english even wen they know it. Northies take great pleasure to see this ... sorry for sounding crude.but this is the reality.  

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wishing u a great 2006 !  

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hi ashok, happy new year to u!! well, i am afraid thats the reality in south as well.  

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hmm...may be !  

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i went acrosss your city rating. hmm impressed. I had been to almost all corners ( major towns/cities/metros) in four direction of India. I wish i could soon make a trip to chandigarh or some place in punjab and gujarat .

Am Enjoying ,reading your blogs good expressive style of writing  

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ashok, its maybe for me as well. but chuck it. depends on the individual.

Hi known stranger,

glad to have u back. I amnot too familiar with chandigarh. All I have heard about it is that it is a very well planned city.  

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