Chennai's Water Woes - Part 1

“Water, water, everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.”

― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

This quote aptly and perfectly summarises the plight and flight of Chennai-ites in the last 15 days. 

There were buses submerged in water under a bridge to go with the boats being used to ferry out people to safety. The sewer mixed with the waterlogging on the roads made the matters even worse. So, what is the point of having so much water surrounding your islandish house/flats and being confined in your own house like a prisoner without electricity, bitten by mosquitoes and unable to venture out to the nearby shops for buying a basic necessity as milk and water if the waters on the roads couldn't have been used effectively?     

What began as a simple low pressure eventually culminated into receiving a vicious 23.5.cm rainfall on one fine extraordinary Sunday - the highest rainfall for a single day since 2005. As a result of the heavy rains that has left the city in a badly battered state, schools and colleges were closed for more than a week across the state and they are still closed even tomorrow (28/11/2015). Early haly yearly holidays for children without studying hard and writing their half yearly exams ! Ramanan is now being revered as the new Rain God - as far as school children and college goers are concerned! The impact of the depression was such that many offices were also closed, of course! with compensation, due to the potential risk to life besides the property that the damaging floods had caused to several parts of the city. Apart from certain areas in and around Mount Road, the rest of the city borne the severe brunt of the rains resulting in extensive and immense waterlogging and flooding thus throwing the city into complete chaos and disrepair.

It was just not only raining cats and dogs or coming down in bucket loads but also raining buffaloes, cows, goats and other domesticated animals along with coming down in jumbo tank loads! Such was the steady intensity and ferocity of the precipitation that it had brought the complete city to a silent standstill. The only sound that was breaking the pin drop silence was the mighty force of the whooshing wind and the pitter patter of the heavy showers due to the incessant cloudburst activity. The unflagging wet weather was really uncommon for a water-starved place like Chennai considering the dubious moniker she has earned for herself because of the scorching and sweltering summers - Hot, Hotter and Hottest. 

With the majority of the rains that the city receives is due to the Northeast monsoon which accounts for 60% of her annual rains during this season, it was extremely surprising to see that Chennai was thoroughly unprepared for the event. Though Chennai is merely 7m above sea level, the natural strategic location of this beautiful landform cannot be considered as one of the chief causes for flooding. It goes beyond that. In fact, this disaster is purely man-made and the sooner we accept the reality the better it will be as it can ensure such situations do not occur in future again.

So, what is it that we have done that has completely thrown this busy city out of gear in such an unabated fashion? It is due to 3 reasons - geography, incompetent, ineffective and inadequate water drainage and finally, the massive urbanization that has been taking place in the city. Geography is something that is God given and naturally formed for centuries. We cannot do much about it. But, drainages and encroachments are directly connected with the city planners and the government. Every action could have been taken with prudent and proper plans to avert this catastrophe of this magnitude. It has come to light that the Pallikaranai marsh, a natural flood control barrier, has dwindled to one-tenth of its original size due to excessive construction activities with the meteoric rise of the IT industry along the OMR stretch. There were 150 water bodies in the city which is significantly reduced to only 27 now. The meaning is loud and clear to everyone. We have been building on these water bodies thus encroaching  them to the level that drains could not be connected to an outlet. The result - internal flooding due to the artificial barriers that have been erected and thus serving as an massive obstruction to the natural flow of the water. Speaking of drains, though 10000 crores have been spent to build the storm water drains in the last 5 years, it seems that the urban planners have failed to take into account the hydrological aspect which is an indispensable and inevitable part for a city layout. Drains are as important as the roads when it comes to a city. It is very evident from the indisputable evidence that even the Harappan civilization had excellent drainage system in place to the likes of which has not been seen in a city like Chennai. It is really sad to see that the government still maintains their stance they cannot do anything beyond rescue and relief when instant proactive measures for short-term and long-term are the need of the hour.

Nature's fury is unpredictable and unstoppable but it can be drastically mitigated to a great extent. What has happened has happened. It is time to look to the future immediately so that the biggest industrial and commercial center in South India can at least ameliorate the lives of millions of residents who have been inhabiting this deeply culture-rich place for ages yet still has the tolerance to accept and accommodate millions of new comers, thus giving them a chance - an opportunity - to earn and grow in the lives. It is now up to the concerned authorities to ensure that the city also grows and develops  in a proper and sustained manner to match this accelerated economic hustle and bustle so that people can lead a safe, secure and prosperous life.

                                                                            X-----to be concluded----X

Rasavid Buffet - A True Value for Money Deal!

It was a toss between Ibis and Rasavid and the latter won the tussle hands down for their claimed sheer spread and cost. Our team of 13 colleagues. despite all odds, confronted the rains heads on and reached the place on an extremely wet and flooded Friday for our team lunch. Though I had already PAID a visit to the Rasavid (opposite to Aravind theatre) several times, this was the first time I was stepping into Rasavid Buffet. Just like the entree offered by Rasavid, there were 7 veg and 6 non-veg members in the group. Needless to say, there were 7 Veg and 6 Non-veg, to be exact, followed the soup. The welcome mint drink was initially served as soon as we had comfortably settled down in our seats. From then onwards, it was a tough fight between the stomach and the food!

The ambience was simple, neat and clean with the service being just above par quality. The starters were brought in as per our preferences. Being a vegetarian, I found the variety of appetizers were adequate and tasty. The main course was satisfactory with Noodles, Biriyani, Dal, 2 side dishes for Naan and our Staple foods - Rice, Rasam, Curd Rice and fryums. But, the desserts were really good especially the mouth-watering and hot Gulab Jamuns with the varieties of ice-creams and cakes. Overall, the food lived up to the name "Rasavid" though it could have been better! The bottomline is that you simply cannot find a quality buffet at such a competitive and affordable price in OMR.  A killer buffet @ Rs.450 for Veg and Rs.550 for Non-Veg minus the taxes. The smorgasbord was worth every rupee spent.

A special mention to Priyadharshini who was not only friendly but also very helpful and cooperative when it came to reserving and arranging the seats to make it one of our memorable team lunches.   

A word of caution - As the name suggests, there is no a la carte available in this restaurant. So, enjoy the unlimited buffet to your heart's content! 

Sigree Global Grill – An extremely delectable and rich experience!

It was more than 6 years ago since I met one of my best friends from my Engineering days. I met him one last time in our verdant campus before he left for his native Tirunelveli. He completed his Masters in Dehradun while I was doing mine in Coimbatore. Though both of us were in the two extreme parts of the country, we still maintained and sustained our friendship through various means - FB, Mails and Calls. I felt the telecom operator would have raked in a fortune because of us during this period! So, when he arrived in Chennai, I was more than excited to him in person after all this while. We decided to meet up in Sigree Global Grill as it was very close my friend's place. Barring the sudden downpour on a pleasant Saturday morning, I braved my way towards Thuraipakkam with my friend. I have heard quite a lot from my friends about this place. Obviously, positive else we wouldn't have chosen this place for our get together. But, there was a kick that was going in at the back of my mind as I knew that this place was always swarming with people and that a reservation is more than a mandate to gain access to this place during the weekends. Fortunately, we were more than well in time before the crowd began to trickle in by throngs!

After occupying our seats comfortably, we were welcomed in with a welcome drink! Then, the servers brought in the barbecues after enquiring our preferences - veg and non-veg. A couple of their working party ensured that the veg delicacies were correctly served to me and non-veg to my friend. I was particularly impressed with the tandoori pineapple. When my friend and I were chewing the cud as well as chewing the food, the starters were steaming in one by one. It took us more than an hour to finish our entree. We were casually engaged and lost ourselves in a trip down the memory lane and at the same time, we were slowly and thoroughly enjoying every last piece of the food - Sweet Potatoes, Paneer and Mushroom Grill, Bread platter and Mineral Water! After having a taste of all the appetizers, we decided that the time was ripe to move on to the main course.

As I was gently strolling towards the main course arena, the Pasta & Pizza counter grabbed my attention as even the most popular and famous Barbecue Nation did not have one! After the initial reconnaissance of all the veg main courses and the dessert spread, I was up for the challenge to have a taste of all the items that were included in our prices excluding the taxes! I do not remember the exact names that were labelled on the steaming vessels but there was Naan, Parsley rice, Tomato veggies, Dal, Salads, Fryums, Paneer Butter Masala, Biriyani and Curd Rice. Like how we used to have pickles, I filled out my entire plate with such a quantity covering all the items. Finally, our main course ended up with the veg spaghetti carefully chosen by my friend. My stomach was literally and metaphorically bursting at the intestines!

Just like the innings break during IPL matches, we were completely reeling under the heavy lunch minus the desserts. We took some selfies to kill the time and also to break down the food in the stomach! It took us more than 15 minutes to even stand up from our seats and proceed towards the mouth-watering dessert section. Gulab Jamuns, Kheer, Ice creams with toppings, Tiramisu, Mousses and Cakes. When all was said and done, it was time for us to bid adieu to each other and also to Sigree Grill after paying our bills. The Sigree squad gave us a warm and polite farewell with the soft and gentle music playing in the background

Epilogue:

The food was indeed worthy of a King & Queen though the prices were on a higher side. If it had been a tad less by Rs. 100 for both veg and non-veg, then I am really sure that the reservations in Sigree would be completely booked in advance for the month.

A Bittersweet Diwali

Dum Dum Dum. Neither the atom bomb nor the hydrogen bomb had caused the loud and penetrative permeative sound on the eve of Diwali. Rather the reverberations were due to the thunderous crash made by the God of Thunder himself! Yes. Chennai, which had been stereotyped for so long as "Hot, Hotter and Hottest", ensured that those people chewed and digested their words through her lashy rains that were widely prevalent across the city since Saturday. It has been very long since Chennai had experienced such a heavy rain of this magnitude. Almost all the roads were completely flooded and cut off thus causing the city to come to a stand still. Surely, the tourists from Venice wouldn't have felt then that they were in a distant place far away from home! But, Varuna God did not show any sign of mercy and persisted with his relentlessness. Power was cut for more than 12 hours in many parts of the city as a result of the strong winds. Schools, colleges and even corporates were given a day off considering the potential threat and perceived risk of the incessant rains. Amidst a damp situation, around 3pm in the afternoon on Monday, the Lord of Rain decided that enough is enough and put the brakes on his super power so that the Chennaites need not have to wait until next year to celebrate Diwali with their family and friends. The festival kicked off, though in a very subdued manner, and the people slowly started to venture out of their homes after 2 days of imprisonment! The city was alive and kicking with rains still looming extremely dangerously on the horizon. Lord Varuna was still having the city in check. The people prayed and hoped that it was not a check mate!  

The happy festive proceeding began in full flow to match the city's floods that the dum dum dum noise was now due to the crackers. Time changes everything in a matter of hours! The sedated yet steady increase in sound and colorful lights culminated into a lively but moisty D-Day. However, the day which used to be punctuated with lots of 'damal dumeel' was rather politely interrupted with the occasional shots on this particular Diwali. The usually over crowded retail outlets were having a gloomy and sad facade on the radiant occasion. The rains were the prime accused for the cracker sales to have nose dived so sharply when compared to the previous years. This was very much evident from the fact that RSPM levels in Triplicane recorded a mere 90 microgram/cubic metre in comparison with 297 microgram/cubic metre from last year. Likewise, T.Nagar and Nungambakkam logged in 131 and 126 microgram/cubic metre this year from 180 microgram/cubic metre in 2014.

Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) are particulate matters with diameters less than or equal to 10 micrometres. As per the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) data, the RSPM levels have significantly plummeted by a mammoth 45.6% from 192.6 in 2014 to 105.6 in 2015. Though, it was still higher than the permissible levels of 100 microgram/cubic centre for a safe dwelling, this was still a positive step in the right direction for the levels of air pollution in the city to lessen during the Diwali time.

Despite all the data pointing out to the fact that the air pollution had considerably dropped, there were no such indications for noise pollution. Besant Nagar, well-known for its calm and peaceful residential surrounding, was the loudest with 83dB up by 10dB from last year. However, the average noise pollution in the city had gone down from 80.4dB in 2014 to 80.2dB in 2015. The facts look very promising for those 'green lovers' but not for the retails outlet owners whose bulky investments outstare them right into their eyes!

Though the Rain God may have played a party pooper on this festive day, the facts clearly indicate that this Diwali was relatively environment friendly to all the living beings and that this gala day was truly celebrated in the spirit of the letter of the festival.

Where are the animals and birds?

Brand New Dresses. Mass Movies. Mouth-watering Sweets. Inviting Savories and plenty of colorful Bang Bang! Yeah. The D-Day, Diwali Day, has surely arrived with a big bang! I am not going to touch upon the bad effects of bursting crackers - air pollution and noise pollution beyond the permissible limits, smog and garbage creation, fire accidents and fire injuries etc. I can very well give statistical data to prove them. Of course, Google will be my search God! In fact, everyone knows it too. So, what is it that I want to cover in this blog? In this blog, I wanted to cover the other important aspect that plagues a beautiful day as Deepavali every year - the animals and birds - who mysteriously disappear from the face of the earth for a brief  24 hour period and have their presence felt on the very next day itself if they are alive! 

My mom used to prepare and keep aside some hot plain rice for the crows on the verandah sill near the kitchen almost everyday before making ready the day's breakfast and lunch. However, when it is Diwali time, it is like everything in the universe has changed topsy-turvy.  She still completes with her cooking on time but there are no cawing crows or the scampering squirrels in the entire vicinity. It appeared as if their existence had suddenly become extinct like the Dodos and Dinosaurs! It's not just the crows and squirrels but also the cows, stray street dogs and other domestic animals, which roamed the roads with a high degree of freedom and independence, were simply not in plain visible sight. Just for a moment, I felt like calling up 100 to investigate the mystery of these disappearing animals and solve the riddle that happens on every Diwali but later realized that a special police team needed to be in place to trace their own men during the festive season!

According to the official records, the Chinese are credited with the invention of fireworks in the 12th century. As the days progressed, the eye-catching and many-hued crackers became a fascination and popular amongst the general population as the people were simply awed by the dazzling display of sparkling lights that lit up the skies. Eventually, it became an obsession for the masses to satisfy their thirst for material happiness. The idea had caught up with the rest of the world by then and almost all the festivals end up with the light and sound of the bursting crackers especially the dawn of every New Year. It was no different in a country like India which was already imbued and permeated with several festivals due to her support and tolerance for many religions.

When the terror demon Narakasura had died, his mother, Bhudevi, requested Lord Krishna to celebrate his death as a day of celebration and rejoice rather than as a day of mourning. This event may or may not have happened but the invention of firecrackers after the 12th century were the ideal boost for our masses to indulge and luxuriate themselves in the pyrotechnics and have continued the tradition as a customary practice on Diwali's day till date. Making and eating sweets, getting a new dress and watching a movie is perfectly fine. But, while you are bursting a cracker and reducing your hard-earned pile of cash to ashes, it creates tremendous problems for all the other living beings around us. Take the dog for example. The hearing range for the dogs is between 40Hz and 60Hz which makes their ears to be very sensitive than human ears. These sounds which may be loud and a source of happiness to us are actually high frequency tones that scares the dogs and puts them in a state of trauma. This makes them to be completely restless and go out of control by showing clear perceptible signs like shaking, trembling and excessive barking thereby driving them to take shelter under the parking cars outside. Unfortunately, they are not even safe there. The misfired rockets travel parallely to the ground and still hit their target like an eagle-eyed Olympic gold medal shooter! It's just not only the dogs but also the birds who fight for their survival during this so-called happy festive occasion. They dare not venture out from their nests during this time lest they want to be a Kentucky-Fried-Whatever bird classification! The smoke emitted by the bursting crackers can cause suffocation to the birds just like asphyxiation to us! Also, the rockets and all the other wonderful air-borne boom-boom can very well hit the cautious and scared resting birds on the trees thus resulting in their premature deaths. The same holds good for cows, squirrels, goats etc. At the end of the day, a life is still a life whether human being or non-human being. But, when I looked for any sign of dogs or cats or birds today, be it on the trees or under the cars, I was unable to find any thus lighting up my Sherlock brains to decode this million dollar conundrum!

I am not saying or advocating that no one should burst crackers. But, if we were to curtail and temper on the unrestrained nature of our violent happiness by showing a little bit of compassion towards other sentient life forms, Deepavali can truly become a joyous and rejoiceful day in the spirit of the letter of the word as requested by Bhudevi and granted by Lord Krishna.

Bridge of Spies - Strongly Built!

You have an extremely versatile and multi-faceted actor who have reprised and excelled many difficult roles with ease and panache even beyond the wildest imaginations of any director where all they can do is gasp and applaud him when he is in full flow. Then, you have a master class director at hand who has given several blockbusters like Jaws, ET, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, AI, Minority Report to the latest award-winning Lincoln. As a part of the audience, I knew for sure that I was in for a treat. Oh wait! They have already joined hands together in their earlier and other highly successful ventures like Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal. So, there were no questions on the quality and outcome of the film. The real question which was racking my brains out was "How different is this film going to stand out for Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks"?

After a breakneck travel from OMR to Velachery, I found myself just in time for the movie and sat comfortably in the plush seats of Luxe. The first scene was more than enough for me to gauge that this is going to be a no-nonsense film. The camera showed a person looking into a mirror who took his brushes and then proceeded to paint his portrait. The subtle  message underlying this scene was phenomenal - everyone has different identities and different roles to play as per the situation demands. It was even more apt for a spy genre! I was marvelling the wonderful thought process that had gone behind this scene when Tom Hanks made his presence felt in his first scene of "Bridge of Spies". As an insurance lawyer, he showcased how a proper negotiation should be carried out and concluded to the t. People used to say that the Bollywood flick "Rocket Singh" is a must watch for a MBA graduate. I felt this movie should also be included in that elite list. Even in the face of fire where Tom Hanks was faced with the daunting challenge to exchange a USSR spy for a USA spy from erstwhile USSR and an economics graduate from East Germany, he showed immense character to hard negotiate, convince and persuade the concerned authorities to exchange 2 persons for a single person. From a sales point of view, that's brilliant! It's like going to a car showroom and telling the sales person "Hey man! I need two cars for this single car". It's highly impossible to pull off such a feat. But, Tom Hanks ensured that the impossible became a possible like a piece of cake. Likewise, he literally grabbed the scene by the throat where he defended Abel in the USA court. There were claps in the theater. But, what really astonished me was the fact that the movie was inspired by true events! For a fleeting moment, I imagined how would it have been for the real Donovan to have experienced it first hand to go one on one with the then powerful USSR and East Germany all by himself.

Although serious, the film had its own lighter moments. I was laughing like anything when Tom Hanks walked into the USSR office and mistook everyone there for another lawyer and ultimately concluded that there was no such person!! It was downright funny even in the climax scene when he gives a jar of marmalade to his wife and his shrewd wife turns the bottle and finds out that he had gotten it for her from the nearby corner shop. The dialogues were also witty and were not overdone.

Overall, this Cold war spy drama turned out to be warm and funny with scintillating performances from Tom Hanks and co. "Bridge of Spies" is yet another feather in the cap for Steven Spielberg. Just like Lincoln and War Horse, there is surely another Oscar nomination for sure! :) 

The Grand Fall & the Big Guffaw (Part 2)

My mom was shouting at the top of her voice that I needed to wake up and get out of bed at that very moment so that the priest does not get delayed for the sacred thread ceremony which was due to start in 30 minutes time. As I was still sleeping like a polar bear, she came hurriedly to use her clever tactic that she had been employing ever since my school days - switch of the fan! It was then I woke up not because my mom switched the fan off but my mom was in a state of shock and screamed feverishly on seeing my injuries. I hadn't woken her up when I came quietly and slept into the room after all the dress ups and injections which the doctor had given me last night. I knew it was Avani Avittam but the intense searing and piercing pain in my arms and legs sufficiently ensured that I could neither sleep nor be ready for the festival. Before my mom could ask me any specifics on the deadly incident, I told her that everything can wait until the sacred thread is over. But, there was a catch here! The doctor had particularly warned me not to take bath for at least couple of days. However, the situation mandated that I should necessarily have a shower to complete the ritual. So, I was patiently waiting for the priest to solve this intricate problem. 

Avani Avittam is a very special event for all the brahmins world wide as the day gives them a ripe and golden opportunity to discard their old sins which they had committed in the last one year and begin afresh a new year with pure intentions and actions when their "poonal" is changed on this highly auspicious day. "Avani" is the tamil month and "Avittam" is one of the 27 stars in Tamil Astrology. Legend has it that the protector of this world, Lord Vishnu had incarnated as Lord Hayagriva - the Lord of Knowledge who restored the Vedas on this divine day. I was remembering whatever my dad had taught me about this important day when the priest arrived with his disciple. 

He was also horrified on seeing my condition and enquired whether I would be in a position to perform the rightful religious rites as ordained by the scriptures. I told him that I was ready but I hadn't taken a bath! Like the many loopholes in our Indian legal system, the priest did some quick thinking and said that as mine was a genuine case, I would be considered as an exception and exempted to take the bath to perform the rituals provided I do the Ganga snanam. So, the priest became a judge instantly and gave his judgement after careful deliberation of the facts and applicable laws to my case!

I was gritting and grinding my teeth to every inch as the pain became more than unbearable when I was asked to sit on the floor in the "chaplangaal" position to execute the rites one by one. After bearing another 30 minutes of excruciating mental torment and physical agony, the "poonal" changing ceremony was completed with the priest's blessings. Soon after the priest and his disciple had departed, it was an extremely volatile time for me then as I was thoroughly inundated with a flood of open question regarding the incident of the accident.

Epilogue:

I had wanted to write this blog as a horror story infused with my own personal experiences. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit in the element of ghost properly and the big guffaw is on me now! 

x-----concluded----x 

PS:

Whether I had intentionally created a ghost character or not and concluded in such a fashion in this blog is solely left to the discretion of the reader... :) :)