i was at parrys today. no not the french capital, this is the other one in chennai, where everything other than fellow human beings can be bought for a price.
this is probably the third or fourth time i have been there, (and the first time in the night) and i felt as if i was in a different city altogether. the entire area gave me an eerie feeling. it was nowhere near the chennai that i know.
for those who have not been to parrys, relate it to an extended ranganathan street, extended atleast by a few kilometers, the roads are a typical indian bazaar, with hawkers yelling at the top of their voices, customers negotiating even louder and above all policemen appearing once in a while using their lathi on an occasional hawker's cart and generally doing what they do best.
but this was not like a ranganathan street experience, for one the shoves from fellow passerbys were much stronger, more like pushing, the curses were much louder and there was an eternal fear that some one behind is going to pick your pocket.
something just does not feel right. there was a constant voice in my mind that was telling me that i was not in madras anymore. these are not the same vociferous people i know and love. i was only way too pleased when i jumped into the car rolled up the glasses and left thankful that nothing was broken and nothing was was lost.
the feeling was profound and lasted much after i left the place for good. on telling about this to a friend who resides in north chennai, he simply said dude, you finally understood it, chennai is not one, its two cities put together. one is below the cooum and the other, above it. he further told me that the feeling was mutual and exactly similar to what he experiences when i take him to subbaiyas.
is it really that way??
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