Diary of the Chennai traveller- Day 7

I have completed a weeks' stay here in Chennai. Its been a beautiful week...

Anyways on the 7th day of my visit here... I saw a mall that is spred over 3 floors and all the three floors are equivalent to the Palika Bazaar that we have in Delhi.

This is known as Spencers plaza... and try as much as you like... the chances that you are gonna get lost is 99%... so you wont be able to exit from the gate you entered.

the plaza is made of lot of small and big stores... you have branded names like pantaloons... Levis..etc and then there are khokas..the bargain shops too....

Then towards the evening... we went to the Marina Beach... if the beach is beautiful during the day then its mesmersing in the evening... with the gliterring lights of the docks and various buildings... that spread across the beach. The water has such a calming effect on the mind..body and soul.

And then from there we went to the Kapleshwar Temple. One thing that is great about the temples here in south is the carvings that they have on the math. Its just awesome...and another thing that is popular in here is special entry... for payement of 10 rs for each person...you can get the priest to do spl puja for you.

And now... I am again cuddling back with a book...and waiting for the next morning to come..... Cheers...

Diary of the Chennai Traveller - Day 6

Well... I'll say that it was a day well spent... since I am on a holiday.. it only makes sense to chill up and enjoy, isn't it?

Anyways after a late breakfast...Arushi and I went to a church here. This church is one of the oldest churches in India...and it enjoys a great deal of importance in the Christain community... coz apart from St. Peter's in Vatican and St. John's in Rome... this is the only Church that has been built on the Apostle of Jesus Christ. This church is called St. Thomas Basicila. Its a huge church and they have an underground shrine of St. Thomas. The foundation of the church have been laid on this shrine. This is also an Museum that you can visit... there is a lot of stuff that makes all the conspiracy theorists think...

Well... when you think about South India... you are often mislead about the food... there is a huge variety of south indian food... and Kerelian food...has no dosas and sambhars... its so different and amazingly yum... and for authentic kerala food... you must check out Ente Keralam. Its situated at Arington Road... another small lil restaurant... but great food.

Chennai... doesnt have malls...it doesnt need any... coz most of the single shops are spread over three floors... and the poor mall is very small indeed. Its called the City Center... and has an Inox in it. I went and saw a strictly ok movie - Race... watch it at your own risk. The good part was that the theatre was built very beautifully!

Lets see... if I am able to surf tomo at Marina Beach... Ciao... cheers....

Diary of the Chennai traveller- Day 5

After a very active weekend... I had a very slow start to my week... I got up late and literally had nothing much to do...

Though... I must add that down here in south it is very difficult to find good punjabi food... and the choices limit themselves when it comes to ordering vegetarian food... coz here its just the dosas and idli. A restaurant that defies this all is - Creamy Center. This place is bustling with crowd even on a Monday afternoon... and the food is amazing... the Menu is completely vegetarian and its not south indian. I must add that they have amazing chole bhature... and you must try their special biryani.

The evening was spent in some working out... and yeah... the pics so far are great... I'll post em as soon as am back... 

So now I am gonna snuggle and watch a movie with family... wow what a Day...!!! cheers...

Diary of the Chennai Traveller- Day 3 & Day 4

I have just had dinner... after a long drive back home...

My weekend was spent in a town that was developed by the French when they settled in this part of the world...

Yes, Pondicherry... now known as Puducherry... ( I hate this name changing thingy... ). This li'l town is situated about 3.5 hours away from Chennai.. it's around the East Coast Road.

In between Pondicherry and Chennai - stands another lil settlement called Mahabalipuram. This place is preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India... and trust me - the architecture that you get to see here is unbelievable. Krishna's butter-ball... is a huge stone shaped in a ball... and is balanced on a slope w/o any external help... wondrous, isn't it? And then there is a Shivalinga inside a cave with beautiful figureens carved.

If carvings and temples are not your taste then you can check out the beach that is very well maintained... and if you can shell out a few bucks extra then you can have your own part on the beach by way of the premier resort that is situated at the starting of Mahabalipuram.

Divine is Humanity... more Divine is to serve this humanity... this is the motto that was given by Shri. Aurobindo. One of the disciples of Aurobindo was a french woman who is now known as The Mother. Long after Shri. Aurobindo was dead... she set up a place called Auroville. Auroville is situated 10kms before Pondicherry. This Ashram houses about 2000 people out of which 60% are foreigners... and the rest, Indians. I have never seen so many foreigners working in a remote village and running cottage industries to earn themselves a living. The Ashram is surrounded by a lot of greenery. One of the biggest attraction in Auroville is Maitrimandir. This temple is in the shape of a sphere that is covered by discs made in gold mosiac tiles... over 2 million tiles have been used in making this temple of friendship and all the tiles were made in Auroville. The sphere is surrounded by 12 slopes which has 12 rooms all of different colors named differently- like,light, youth... etc... all the rooms are for meditation purposes. The Mother believed that a person should look within himself to find answers and that can be achieved thru meditation...

The actual temple- inside seems to be a direct pick up from a sci fi flick... its all dimly lit has a spiral stairway leading to a huge spherical room, which has a crystal ball set in the centre that has sunlight from top channeled over it... there are 12 pillars in the room..signifying the teachings of Shri.Aurobindo and The Mother. The whole of inside is made of marble and white carpet... the 15 minutes that I spent inside the meditating room.. were awesome... It was so quite that I could hear the silence. A must visit for everyone.

If this was all about spirituality... then Pondicherry... is for all the people who just love the thought of love. This town is very small... and divided into two towns.. one side is pretty south indian while the other is all white and has streets and avenues like in France and the streets are also named as Rue...!!! Little cafe's on the promenade... and the police band playing in the evening... I was staying in the french part of the town... in an Heritage hotel called Du Parc. Very nice rooms... and lovely decor. And the best hotel in town is called The Promanade... its on the promenade and is sea facing. One of the better restaurants is called the Rendezvous. There is a Museum and the church... not much to shop though... but you'll find a lot of stuff which is organic and natural there...mostly produced by Auroville residents.

Its a beautiful town... and you'll find a lot of french ppl there... so a lot of great faces to look at too... what say?

Diary of the Chennai Traveller - Day 2

One great thing about having a Bua who is rich and has great taste is that you get to stay in the poshest area of Chennai.

I am staying with my Bua in the boat club area.... all the houses are big...and everybody owns big cars... and they have a posh club too... the Madras Club... where i went this morning for a swim. Its a beautiful club... old school types...where you have to wear socks with your shoes to the dining table.



Btw- before I forget... the Boutique that I mentioned yesterday was Aourville... and the actual workhouse i'll let you know once I am back from Pondicherry... where I leave for tomorrow.



Chennai has some great places to eat... last night I went had Lebanese food... in a small lil place called Cedar's... great great food...esp for a first timer who hasn't had lebanese food....ever.
Talking about eating great food... my maid here cooks great South Indian food...which we had for Brunch....
I have a cousin who got married recently and stays in Banglore.... who has come over here to spend the weekend here with us... So.. we went Chennai darshan today later in the afternoon...

The Marina beach... here in Chennai is the second longest coastline in the world after Australia... surprisingly even though its located here in India its pretty well maintained... the marina beach has offices facing the seacost... the Madras university Campus is also opposite the beach..imagine to look at the sea while getting bored in the class... flanked closer to the coast is the Chor Bazaar of the town... well...Since Madras is a major Sea Port here... there is bound to be some smuggling that happens right...
Talking of Madras being a sea port... lets not forget that it was developed by the Brits, and trust me they did a great job... the architecture of the city is wonderful ... most of it belongs to the British era... but the charms is very captivating...
Then there are the memorials on the beach which pay homage to some great people like MGR...

Finally... the resorts... The resorts are towards the outskirts of towns...and the place where we had gone was called MGM... beautiful settings... the drive is called ECR... east coast road...and its beautiful... flanked with greens on both the sides...
And the night... well.. its being spent with a can of beer and and fish fry.... another evening comes to and end....
Another adventure for tomorrow....

Diary of the Chennai traveller- Day 1

So, finally I managed to get myself a welcome holiday.... I am in Chennai...as I write this blog.

I know that I was in Mumbai for a month last year but that was for work... but this trip is complete leisure... Since I am out... I would continue with the Investment Articles once I am back... that is 10 days later.

Till then- here is Chennai for you to visualize...from my point of view. The pics will only come at the end... 'coz I forgot to carry my cable.

Anyways - Day 1 - for all those who like to travel for the fun of it...never take a flight before sunrise...especially if you are traveling domestic... you tend to spoil the whole day 'coz of the fatigue... and if you do plan to take the early flight... then sleep well, the night before.

Jokes apart - I landed in Chennai after taking the 5.35 am Spice Jet flight no. SG 301. The flight was on time and as the doors of the aircraft opened we were greeted by warm sultry air in which you could smell the sea. Unlike Mumbai, where you are greeted by a huge slum on the side of the airport... the view from top is breath taking. It's all green around and for a moment you a taken aback 'coz you hardly get to see so much of greenery staying in Delhi.

The roads here are narrow... the town, a li'l backward... but it does have the largest university of the country which, along with its affiliates, provide education in various fields to 250,000 students all over the country.

The weather here is great and I saw a handicraft boutique here whose place of manufacture will be shown to me on the way to Pondicherry...which I'm gonna visit this weekend.

Right now - we are getting ready for dinner... this day was spent resting... tomorrow, the fun starts...

cheers...

Mumbai Bloggers' Meet

It was great to know that IndiBlogger had planned to organize a bloggers' meet in Mumbai on the 20th of March, 2008. I've been trying to attend one of these meets for a long time now but unfortunately I've always been away. This time, I actually rushed over to Mumbai attend the meet but however, it seems, it's not gonna materialize this time. They still haven't put up the venue on the site. Just my luck, I guess! I was really very eager to attend this one meet up. :-(