Namma Chennai !! நம்ம சென்னை!!

Since June 2, 2015, from my Facebook wall:

Disclaimer: This is no religious or political post.

Walk down memory lane in Chennai.

I was just analyzing Chennai's landscape, specially South Chennai.

I just my journey from Tambaram towards Guindy by road or rail, alight at Guindy and exit by foot towards Raj Bhavan.

On my left is the SPIC tower, on my right is the new palatial ITC Chola Hotel, wow, what a vivid infrastructure, with all modern Swargapuri inside with the vast rooms for guests from every nook and corner of the world; convention halls and what not on earth?

Just look past the Guindy Industrial Estate on the left as well (a little away on the road is the St. Anthony (or whatever name) Church. What a place it was 30 years ago popularly known as Chinnamalai.

Courtesy the new Metro Rail Network and the on-going works, Guindy's landscape has really changed.

I don't fail to notice the new Ashok Leyland Tower, once it was an empty ground for a long time, before that what was there, at least, I have no clue. I know that place as an empty ground, I am not sure if the Facit Asia (Typewriter Company), by chance, Did I dream vividly having seen Facit Asia in that place? God knows. But I equally remember visiting on a consulting / auditing assignment trip to their Hosur Plant during 80s.

I take right with a target to cover entire route upto Adyar Bridge, if possible, the Lattice Bridge Road (if time permits), not sure, at this minute, as that's the territorial jurisdiction ofJayaraman Raghunathan . I better play down here, with due respect to the local veteran who has lived past several decades, where I have always been a visitor far far away at Avvai Nagar, Ganesh Nagar ad Rajaji Nagar (Thiruvanmiyur).

When I turn right at Sardar Patel Road, I don't miss Alexander Square, once a popular landmark, that has been overtaken by Ashok Leyland Tower opposite and the new ITC Chola, so literally speaking, Alexander gave way to Chola & Leyland.

I see the TNPL tower and the even more palatial Raj Bhavan. (I just casually overlooked the Velachery junction leading upto Tharamani on the far far right towards Southern corridor).

Due to the one way from Guindy towards Adyar taking you all the way upto Chinnnamalai and turn towards Raj Bhavan junction, you also tend to ignore the silent residential colony namely Srinagar Colony (what a quiet area to live in amidst an almost industrial belt), a posh locality deep within Guindy / Saidapet / Chinnamalai segment.

Just walk past Raj Bhavan (no-entry to common man though), what a green and lavish gardens out there, taken over by British Raj during our colonial past, only to be converted to Memorials, Children's Park and a vast IITM on the right and equally vast Anna University on the left. Having such two great institutions in the academic arena, our very own University of Madras had its little share too.

Then comes the illustrious memorials of some of the great souls who gave their life in our freedom fight, viz. Mahatma Gandhi, Chakravarthi Rajaji and our very own Kamaraj (does he have one memorial, or, is it L B Shastri, forgot really, I am too old to memorized my route, only to have passed that segment, just as recent as 2012 on a daily drive towards my workplace on OMR).

The doyen of modern day IT veterans for sure must have had their taste of Computing and Programming at our very own Tamil Nadu's pride Ramco is out there on your right. Opposite the Kendri Vidyalaya campus.

You just walk a bit and take a break and take a little bite of snacks and hot filter coffee @ Hot Chips and get ready to continue your journey.

Once a wide-looking Madhya Kailash Temple is now having a shrimph look rather shrink look paving way to Rajiv Gandhi Road (OMR) allowing commuters a free ride towards Raj Bhavan.

Here comes the Parakkum Rail (Kasturba Nagar and Indira Nagar Stations), on the OMR stretch, and Gandhi Nagar a bit further on the left.

If you have time, go deep interior towards Gandhi Nagar (behind the bus-terminal @ Adyar), where you would find several evangelical educational academies and premier (?) institutions in St. Michael Academy, and a few more.

Here comes JR's zone, lesser said is better to save my .... worth.

I don't recall any old landmarks there except the Adyar Gandhi Nagar Terminal on the left, couple of restaurants on the LB Road junction, some Koronet (Kerala restaurant if I remember right) and the A2B headquarters a bit further.

Oof, how can I miss the educational institutions within Adyar / Gandhi Nagar predominantly run by Karaikudi Chettiyar family or group of academic interests, it is their territory (Rani Meyyammai School chain).

I guess Sri Vidhya Mandir and Kendriya Vidyalaya somehow found their place, as against popular veterans and evangelical counterparts over there.

Don't forget the Kotturpuram bridge and the hutments, leading to Adyar and Thiru Mayilai in a way, you will find Shri Shirdi Sai Mandir if you drive past through the gullies and by-lanes of Kottupuram.

If you walk past, the infamous Aavin junction leading you towards Besant Nagar and Avvai Home region and the vast Sastri Nagar and Thiruvanmiyur on the other side of the spectrum.

I just think in a different dimension here. our first PM Jawaharlal Nehru was stopped at Guindy who once had his statue as a popular landmark when you enter the city from Airport, only to be forgotten and be sidelined near the Hindustan Engineering College old headquarters.

Nehru's kith and kin found their place predominantly once popularly known in his political Guru's name (Gandhi Nagar Kasturba Nagar area). Raj Bhavan is just a silent spectator giving room for its inmates every five or six years with their penultimate innings in life (sort of retirement benefit for popular veterans out there in New Delhi).

Somehow accommodating Shri Padmanabha, the big-brother, and the Madhya Kailash, Lord Kabaleeswar and Goddess Karpagambal are giving a sir-casting smile distancing themselves from these political or Geo-political takeover only to be supported by the academicians and Evangelical pastors.

The most commonly linking lifeline here is Sardar Patel Road.

Once not-so-popular industrial houses were there on that OMR stretch (how can we forget Rane Madras, Dynora factory and the the vast industrial factory near Thoraipakkam Karappakkam area (forgot that Anglo Name). This has lately been conquered by Information Technology giants (Ascendas Tharamani), all the way from Madhya Kailash upto Kelambakkam

Whenever passing through that OMR stretch, I used to wonder what happened to that factory (it was a PSU entity, it has faced the same fate as IIT Bangalore, Hindustan Photo-films, Ooty

Chennai is a typical example of New Delhi within Chennai in this Guindy-Adyar-Thiruvanmiyur region. The power-center is just far away on the Marina Beach corridor all the way upto Parry's corner on the distant far

South Chennai also resembles Kanyakumari-Trivandrum-Tuticorin segment to some extent.