Ever Since my Visa extension denied, my friends and colleagues were teasing/threatening me about Chennai. I have only stayed 3 months in Chennai in my life, when i was in bench during initial days of my career. So technically i have never worked in Chennai. Never traveled to office on a daily basis. The major things they mentioned about Chennai is its traffic(though not as bad as Bangalore), and the fact that i have never driven a gear bike in my life, and the recently increasing phone snatching incidents. They told not to take my phone out in public, even if i have to i should be careful and brief etc. Some said that i will know how difficult it is to go somewhere or meet somebody and how i have to plan well in advance for all those things. One of my friend, immediately after hearing that i'm coming to Chennai, uttered the phrase "Sivaji, neenga America-vukey thirumba poidunga, Chennai-lam ungaluku othu varaadhu". Colleagues especially told about offshore work environment, the politics, and once i'm in Chennai i can forget about coming back to USA, as already many people are in line waiting to go to USA. And everyone strictly said "Don't ever go to TASMAC, if you want to drink, go to decent bar or get from elite wine shops".
At the end they also said some good things like "Boss, however it is, that's namma Chennai and you will get used to it and then you will have a good time", "Chennai is the most happening place boss", "You will definitely love hanging out in Cafeteria, tea breaks, etc in office which you don't experience much in Onsite", "Enjoy your rest of the bachelor life" etc.
Once i decided i'm going to Chennai, i told two of my college friends who are still in Chennai and as bachelors, that i will be coming to their room to stay. So few things i took as positives are that
1. i will be staying with my college friends for the remaining bachelor life and i don't have to worry about finding roommates and sharing apartments with strangers etc.
2. I can finally start driving bike and being with college friends would be helpful in that aspect too.
3. However nice life i had in USA, i felt lonely in the last one year, except when i spent time with my GF, so i thought i will be surrounded by people in and out of office and will be a learning experience work wise and personally.
4. I have few friends in Chennai from college, work, school etc and i can visit them and their families finally. I missed attending friends and their families functions etc for very long time.
5. And finally i can go home in the weekends and have my Mom's cooking and relax in home.
Few things i worried about are(other than the things which friends already warned):
1. Its a chance to start driving bike, but will i be able to?
2. I was playing Tennis, volley ball, badminton, cricket etc in the summer in USA. Would i do get to do any physical activity in Chennai ever?
3. I started reading for last one year, and will i get to continue that habit in Chennai?
4. And with the Scorching heat and lack of physical activity, would i grow dark and fat?(My GF worries a lot about this ;) ).
5. I'm going to stay with my college friends which is exciting, but how clean/dirty the room is going to be?
After a week's rest in home, i decided to leave on friday night so i will Chennai on Saturday morning and spend the weekend in Chennai before reporting to office on monday. The main reason for reaching Chennai early is to clean the room. I definitely know my friends would still keep the room as same as how we kept in college. But after living relatively clean in USA, i can't live in a room which is that dirty. So i reached Chennai on saturday morning and had my first Ola ride and reached the room. And it was exactly how i imagined it would be. It was like i time travelled 10 years back to college.
I said 'Hi' to my friends, had tea and some chitchat and they went back to sleep and i immediately started cleaning. I got tired very soon and realized its not possible for me clean(2years of dirt) completely and gave up. But i couldn't even breath in the room. It was suffocating, and wherever i look, its dirt and bathroom floors and tiles were darker and water was not flowing out of drain properly in toilet and the faucet in the toilet was broken. I started thinking if i should really live there. Then we met another friend who came from abroad for vacation and while chitchatting i told my friends(now roommates), that i can't live here with the room in this condition that either we need to clean the room completely or have to look for a PG for me. They said "ok, we'll have some cleaning guys clean the room and if you're still not satisfied, we'll look for a PG for you" and i said 'ok'. Then on Monday we hired a guy for cleaning and he cleaned the bathroom floors, walls, all the floors in all rooms etc with Acid and fixed the drain in toilet, replaced the toilet faucet, painted the toilet floor with white cement and after all that the room didn't look so bad. Yet there were many bags and suitcases in the shelves covered with dusts which we need to clean later. But to start with, the room looked better and i decided to stay here itself.
The first weekend we traveled to few places to meet friends and mostly via Ola and it wasn't so bad, but i was terrified to see the traffic and the way everyone drive in the road. I tried driving my friends bike once and gave up even before going 100 meters. I decided first i should start driving a normal vehicle like scooty or activa and get used to the Chennai crowds, traffic and cows in the roads and then i can try driving a gear bike.
Whenever i walked in road, i couldn't breath. Everywhere the stench of garbages, fish markets, piss, spit etc and i was afraid to breath actually. With my room also very dirty for first few days, i think i actually exhaled air thrice than i inhaled. I was getting worried about how i'm gonna live here and it was a nostalgic feeling like wherever you go new, you get that worry and fear, but later you get used to it. But here i don't want to get used to all these. Sure, i can't clean the roads, but atleast the room i can keep clean and slowly we continued cleaning the shelves, kitchen etc and tidied up the room in one week and the room looks a lot better now. We started cooking too, thanks to Kalaignar's demise which made the shops closed for a day.
And the office, its very new to me. When i first stayed in Chennai for 3 months, i rarely went to office or worked in an ODC,cubicle etc. So looking around and everywhere people and all speaking in Tamil is totally new to me. Cafeteria especially looks like a marriage hall all the time. It was also nice to see so many girls around, i rarely saw any girls in office in USA. I just got the ID and Access cards in the first week and the work is not yet started completely and i getting used to stay in office till 9PM.
Overall, Chennai scares me a lot, but i'm getting used to it. I can see the change in a week itself. But i don't know if what to get used to it completely, because i don't know what my long term plan is. My GF is waiting for me to come back to USA. Even if she comes back to India and we marry next year, we can't settle in Chennai as she doesn't speak Tamil and it will be overwhelming for her. So for now, i'm settling in Chennai temporarily and have to look for other options soon.
So far, i'm not doing any physical work like gym or sports etc and if i maintain that way, i will become fat(ter). I started reading a book and i have to catch up soon with my count of 30 books this year(14 completed so far).
More on my life in Chennai in the coming days.............
At the end they also said some good things like "Boss, however it is, that's namma Chennai and you will get used to it and then you will have a good time", "Chennai is the most happening place boss", "You will definitely love hanging out in Cafeteria, tea breaks, etc in office which you don't experience much in Onsite", "Enjoy your rest of the bachelor life" etc.
Once i decided i'm going to Chennai, i told two of my college friends who are still in Chennai and as bachelors, that i will be coming to their room to stay. So few things i took as positives are that
1. i will be staying with my college friends for the remaining bachelor life and i don't have to worry about finding roommates and sharing apartments with strangers etc.
2. I can finally start driving bike and being with college friends would be helpful in that aspect too.
3. However nice life i had in USA, i felt lonely in the last one year, except when i spent time with my GF, so i thought i will be surrounded by people in and out of office and will be a learning experience work wise and personally.
4. I have few friends in Chennai from college, work, school etc and i can visit them and their families finally. I missed attending friends and their families functions etc for very long time.
5. And finally i can go home in the weekends and have my Mom's cooking and relax in home.
Few things i worried about are(other than the things which friends already warned):
1. Its a chance to start driving bike, but will i be able to?
2. I was playing Tennis, volley ball, badminton, cricket etc in the summer in USA. Would i do get to do any physical activity in Chennai ever?
3. I started reading for last one year, and will i get to continue that habit in Chennai?
4. And with the Scorching heat and lack of physical activity, would i grow dark and fat?(My GF worries a lot about this ;) ).
5. I'm going to stay with my college friends which is exciting, but how clean/dirty the room is going to be?
After a week's rest in home, i decided to leave on friday night so i will Chennai on Saturday morning and spend the weekend in Chennai before reporting to office on monday. The main reason for reaching Chennai early is to clean the room. I definitely know my friends would still keep the room as same as how we kept in college. But after living relatively clean in USA, i can't live in a room which is that dirty. So i reached Chennai on saturday morning and had my first Ola ride and reached the room. And it was exactly how i imagined it would be. It was like i time travelled 10 years back to college.
I said 'Hi' to my friends, had tea and some chitchat and they went back to sleep and i immediately started cleaning. I got tired very soon and realized its not possible for me clean(2years of dirt) completely and gave up. But i couldn't even breath in the room. It was suffocating, and wherever i look, its dirt and bathroom floors and tiles were darker and water was not flowing out of drain properly in toilet and the faucet in the toilet was broken. I started thinking if i should really live there. Then we met another friend who came from abroad for vacation and while chitchatting i told my friends(now roommates), that i can't live here with the room in this condition that either we need to clean the room completely or have to look for a PG for me. They said "ok, we'll have some cleaning guys clean the room and if you're still not satisfied, we'll look for a PG for you" and i said 'ok'. Then on Monday we hired a guy for cleaning and he cleaned the bathroom floors, walls, all the floors in all rooms etc with Acid and fixed the drain in toilet, replaced the toilet faucet, painted the toilet floor with white cement and after all that the room didn't look so bad. Yet there were many bags and suitcases in the shelves covered with dusts which we need to clean later. But to start with, the room looked better and i decided to stay here itself.
The first weekend we traveled to few places to meet friends and mostly via Ola and it wasn't so bad, but i was terrified to see the traffic and the way everyone drive in the road. I tried driving my friends bike once and gave up even before going 100 meters. I decided first i should start driving a normal vehicle like scooty or activa and get used to the Chennai crowds, traffic and cows in the roads and then i can try driving a gear bike.
Whenever i walked in road, i couldn't breath. Everywhere the stench of garbages, fish markets, piss, spit etc and i was afraid to breath actually. With my room also very dirty for first few days, i think i actually exhaled air thrice than i inhaled. I was getting worried about how i'm gonna live here and it was a nostalgic feeling like wherever you go new, you get that worry and fear, but later you get used to it. But here i don't want to get used to all these. Sure, i can't clean the roads, but atleast the room i can keep clean and slowly we continued cleaning the shelves, kitchen etc and tidied up the room in one week and the room looks a lot better now. We started cooking too, thanks to Kalaignar's demise which made the shops closed for a day.
And the office, its very new to me. When i first stayed in Chennai for 3 months, i rarely went to office or worked in an ODC,cubicle etc. So looking around and everywhere people and all speaking in Tamil is totally new to me. Cafeteria especially looks like a marriage hall all the time. It was also nice to see so many girls around, i rarely saw any girls in office in USA. I just got the ID and Access cards in the first week and the work is not yet started completely and i getting used to stay in office till 9PM.
Overall, Chennai scares me a lot, but i'm getting used to it. I can see the change in a week itself. But i don't know if what to get used to it completely, because i don't know what my long term plan is. My GF is waiting for me to come back to USA. Even if she comes back to India and we marry next year, we can't settle in Chennai as she doesn't speak Tamil and it will be overwhelming for her. So for now, i'm settling in Chennai temporarily and have to look for other options soon.
So far, i'm not doing any physical work like gym or sports etc and if i maintain that way, i will become fat(ter). I started reading a book and i have to catch up soon with my count of 30 books this year(14 completed so far).
More on my life in Chennai in the coming days.............
I lived in Chennai for almost 5 years and came to USA, now in East Coast, I feel like Chennai Summer is better than Winter in here.
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