2024 feels like the year I embrace Chennai for what it means to me

Krupa Ge

Most of all, I think, it feels much similar Chennai to maine now, arsenic I present the metropolis to my toddler, and spot it done his eyes. I spot however invitingly chaotic the large, caller pavements of Pondy Bazaar are. I ne'er neglect to announcement however galore lights determination are connected those pavements. I’m successful awe astatine the wrath of the waves successful Eliot’s formation and the thousands of “kaakaas” swooping around. There’s the thrill of watching small annas and small akkas larn silambam, nimble with agelong sticks astatine the neighbourhood park. The dense foliage, and the crippled of fell and question the Adyar River plays with america astatine the Urban Forest successful Kotturpuram―which was erstwhile thing but barren onshore but is now, a 1,000-tree beardown location of beauteous birds and butterflies. There’s that stately, towering banyan histrion successful Cholamandal Artists’ Village, littered arsenic it is with bushed small indies and invaluable installations. The sound and humidity of an evening successful Chepauk stadium, and the near-empty amphitheatre of Semmozhi Poonga astatine sunset. Not to hide that saccharine mates that’s making the astir of the near-empty amphitheatre, but halt immoderate they are up to to oblige america and assistance instrumentality a household portrait. The formation of a peacock astatine a friend’s location by the formation connected the East Coast Road, and that rowdy cactus works that’s taller than each of america stacked connected apical of each other. The light-as-air bun food jam astatine Bilal’s from wherever we respect the caller heart-shaped reddish awesome lights, the hundreds of committee books astatine the generously free, ginormous children’s publication conception successful Anna Centenary Library, the barbells astatine Ladies Club wherever I spell to assistance immoderate weights, perceive to bully aged Tamil cinema music, and speech astir missed macromolecule goals.

Allowing myself to admit however overmuch I similar the metropolis conscionable arsenic it is now, besides allows maine to expect the champion from it, for maine and my loved ones. It’s wherever my parents mislaid astir everything successful their location to the floods, it’s wherever I unrecorded sharing a corporate fearfulness of thing rain-related with millions of others. It’s wherever we request small reminder of our ain insignificance successful the ample strategy of the universe. Every different twelvemonth we spot however small powerfulness we person implicit our fates. Now a 1,000 mm rain, past a cyclone that parks itself implicit an ocean, oregon rips done the city, here’s a small flooding, there’s a batch of vigor waves… We definite spot and consciousness a batch retired here. When we spot the AQI flash for different cities, it’s hard to not consciousness a small smug though.

Chennai is wherever I ate poricha parotta (at the Urban Square successful Kathipara) precocious 1 nighttime arsenic I battled some cravings for thing other crunchy and utmost nausea portion pregnant. It’s wherever I became a tense wreck of a parent 2 weeks sooner than I was meant to, it’s wherever I received endless proposal to “cover the baby’s head/ears/legs/hands” from each well-meaning alien arsenic I went haggard, from location to hospital, and back, wondering wherefore helium wasn’t gaining weight. It’s wherever I present conscionable different parents with a kindness I’ve ne'er felt earlier for parents of children of each ages (just telephone maine humbled). It’s wherever I look guardant to galore milestones, for some my lad and me.

And arsenic blessed arsenic I americium to brushwood his Chennai, I besides look guardant to bringing him to the Madras I grew up in. To the taxidermy lion successful MGR’s home, the choppy waters of VGP Golden Beach, the labyrinthine stalls of books astatine the Chennai publication fair, cutlets from that hole-in-the-wall successful Adyar, to Little Folks which utilized to beryllium an amusement park, but is present an Airbnb you tin rent for a poolside party. To my mother’s Madras, and its once-famous Spencer Plaza to spot the histrion decked up connected Christmas. To my grandparents’ Madras, and its crisp dosas astatine Palmgrove. My father’s Madras, wherever helium walked and walked, Mambalam, DMS, Mount Road. And to my brother’s Madras, with its charmingly tiny Raviraj lending library.

Ge is simply a Chennai-based writer