It was a
Saturday night. Boring day time and Rajesh suggested that we go somewhere. I
suggested Marina Beach and Rajesh immediately accepted. Since Shyam was in
office and decided to go to a movie with this ‘team mate(s)’, I and Rajesh
walked to the Perungudi station and caught a train to Triplicane.
Rajesh is fairly new to Chennai, so I took the tickets and we reached Triplicane.
We crossed the heavy traffic Marina Beach Road and stepped into the beach
sands. I checked my mobile to see the time and found a call missed.
It was from Rahul Kumar – one of my Pune team-mates. I remembered him calling me earlier that week about going somewhere. He was in Chennai for training for a short period. I completely forgot about that and left without him. So, I called him again and asked him to come to Marina. It was about 5:30 PM in the evening when he called me back and said that he’s going to get an auto. I kept telling him that autos in Chennai are quite expensive - the buses are frequent (even told him the bus numbers) and still he took an auto and the fellow took his time and showed them (Rahul and his friend Asim) most part of the Chennai.
We finally met at around 7 in the evening and until then, what interested me and Rajesh was the giant building sitting just opposite to the Marina Beach. The building was named as “Ezhilagam” and Rajesh asked me what kind of building is this or who works here? I absolutely had no clue and told him it should be something that belonged to our Government of Tamil Nadu. Until Rahul and Asim came, we roamed from the Anna Square bus-stand until the half-part of Marina and asked some people what is that Ezhilagam. Apparently, no one had a clue!
So, it was dark when Rahul and Asim finally showed up and we took some pictures and walked in the beach with all our jeans up above the knee. It was good to catch up with an old friend who’s new and unfamiliar to Chennai. Except me, all the three guys (Asim, Rahul and Rajesh) are Non-Veg. Asim was so eager to taste the ‘fresh fish’ and we stopped at a stall and brought some. They said it was good and we took more snaps. It was almost 8:30 when we decided to go home before it’s too late. I suggested that Rahul and Asim come to our room and from there, they can catch a bus to their guest house.
They accepted and we walked back to the Triplicane station and took a train to Velachery. During the train journey, Rahul showed us some of the pictures that he had taken during his Vizag trip. He was also telling us that he feels good about Chennai! We came to know that he and his friend Asim eats at an Andhra mess and it is famous for its spicy food. Along with all the other curries, they have something called “podi” which you should put in the rice and add some oil/ghee to eat. Rahul said me that when he asked for ‘podi’, everyone around him laughed out loud! He was spelling podi as pOdi (with a long o) and in Tamil, it’s an informal way of telling a girl to get lost! I told him that he should call that as podi (with a short o).
He was also staying in Guindy and he had trouble telling the name to the auto drivers. He said that as Gundy (err… means butt in Tamil) and we all laughed! When we reached Velachery, we offered Rahul and Asim the south-Indian dinner – ‘Kothu Parotta’. Both seemed to like that very much and Rahul kept asking me how to ask for this dish again! We again talked for some more time and it was almost 10 when we realized that the buses from Velachery to Guindy are not that quite often after the peak hours. We tried calling our buddy Shyam who has a bike and can drop them at their guest houses. The place is pretty near to Velachery and before Shyam could reach, we saw a bus and boarded them on it.
I called Rahul and told him the stop name that he should get down and ask the conductor to tell him once the stop comes. We had a long walk towards our room and on the way we saw Shyam and asked us to join at the Baskin Robins ice-cream parlor. Meanwhile Rahul reached Guindy and messaged us that he got into the guest house safely. We eat cones – 2 butter scotch and one vanilla. When we finished eating and the bill came by – Rs. 270. It was a shock that an ice-cream and Baskin Robins costs 90 per head! We then decided that we would never have an ice-cream again at Baskin Robins! Apart from the Ice-cream comedy, the day was wonderful with all the memories back again!
It was from Rahul Kumar – one of my Pune team-mates. I remembered him calling me earlier that week about going somewhere. He was in Chennai for training for a short period. I completely forgot about that and left without him. So, I called him again and asked him to come to Marina. It was about 5:30 PM in the evening when he called me back and said that he’s going to get an auto. I kept telling him that autos in Chennai are quite expensive - the buses are frequent (even told him the bus numbers) and still he took an auto and the fellow took his time and showed them (Rahul and his friend Asim) most part of the Chennai.
We finally met at around 7 in the evening and until then, what interested me and Rajesh was the giant building sitting just opposite to the Marina Beach. The building was named as “Ezhilagam” and Rajesh asked me what kind of building is this or who works here? I absolutely had no clue and told him it should be something that belonged to our Government of Tamil Nadu. Until Rahul and Asim came, we roamed from the Anna Square bus-stand until the half-part of Marina and asked some people what is that Ezhilagam. Apparently, no one had a clue!
So, it was dark when Rahul and Asim finally showed up and we took some pictures and walked in the beach with all our jeans up above the knee. It was good to catch up with an old friend who’s new and unfamiliar to Chennai. Except me, all the three guys (Asim, Rahul and Rajesh) are Non-Veg. Asim was so eager to taste the ‘fresh fish’ and we stopped at a stall and brought some. They said it was good and we took more snaps. It was almost 8:30 when we decided to go home before it’s too late. I suggested that Rahul and Asim come to our room and from there, they can catch a bus to their guest house.
They accepted and we walked back to the Triplicane station and took a train to Velachery. During the train journey, Rahul showed us some of the pictures that he had taken during his Vizag trip. He was also telling us that he feels good about Chennai! We came to know that he and his friend Asim eats at an Andhra mess and it is famous for its spicy food. Along with all the other curries, they have something called “podi” which you should put in the rice and add some oil/ghee to eat. Rahul said me that when he asked for ‘podi’, everyone around him laughed out loud! He was spelling podi as pOdi (with a long o) and in Tamil, it’s an informal way of telling a girl to get lost! I told him that he should call that as podi (with a short o).
He was also staying in Guindy and he had trouble telling the name to the auto drivers. He said that as Gundy (err… means butt in Tamil) and we all laughed! When we reached Velachery, we offered Rahul and Asim the south-Indian dinner – ‘Kothu Parotta’. Both seemed to like that very much and Rahul kept asking me how to ask for this dish again! We again talked for some more time and it was almost 10 when we realized that the buses from Velachery to Guindy are not that quite often after the peak hours. We tried calling our buddy Shyam who has a bike and can drop them at their guest houses. The place is pretty near to Velachery and before Shyam could reach, we saw a bus and boarded them on it.
I called Rahul and told him the stop name that he should get down and ask the conductor to tell him once the stop comes. We had a long walk towards our room and on the way we saw Shyam and asked us to join at the Baskin Robins ice-cream parlor. Meanwhile Rahul reached Guindy and messaged us that he got into the guest house safely. We eat cones – 2 butter scotch and one vanilla. When we finished eating and the bill came by – Rs. 270. It was a shock that an ice-cream and Baskin Robins costs 90 per head! We then decided that we would never have an ice-cream again at Baskin Robins! Apart from the Ice-cream comedy, the day was wonderful with all the memories back again!
