CHENNAI

#Chennai seem to be a better city over the past decade. Chennai has renovated both international and domestic terminals and the airport has now become a central hub in India. With lots of improvements with regards to roadways, flyovers, foot over bridges, Chennai looks awesome. Despite being hit by #Vardha cyclone in 2016, the city looks Green and the entire credit goes to those people who have an intent to plant trees. The number of shopping malls, the big restaurants, good acoustic cinema halls are attracting tourists every now and then. The demonetization has greatly affected every vendor and the public over the last 3 months and it has now been driven into a good shape. with #ProtestForJallikattu, Chennai's #Marina has seen the largest crowd ever and the protest made Jallikattu happen. I personally feel proud being a Chennaite. More about Chennai in my next post!

Aadukalam Movie Review

Vetrimaran is a man of commendable commitment towards his subject. Watching Aadukalam reminded us of the saying, read somewhere, that the genius of an oeuvre is measured by the breadth of its message. Aadukalam is a sprawling, multilayered drama that oozes of earthy inventiveness native only to the region Vetrimaran chooses for his story. He employs rooster fight, to bring the movie its narrative strength and builds the movie further, slowly departing from the concept and delving into the depth of the many characters he fleshes out with his mighty sword of a pen.

Reading between the movie’s finely crafted lines, the beautifully etched out message becomes visible. The roosters fight and die for the sake of human beings and their bloated egos (or to bloat their egos further), all the while without knowing who they are dying for. In the same manner, when ego blinds human beings they know very little of what they do. Or the consequences their actions will bring about.

Dhanush and Kishore are the unswerving aides to Pettaikaarar (a role done to marvelous perfection by Jayabalan despite a borrowed voice; more about that later), whose business is to rear roosters for fights. He rules the fights, commanding impressive success rates. Rathinam, the cop, is his rival in the fights. As the movie revolves around these characters and their lives, Dhanush almost accidentally wins a fight against Rathinam’s gang, although Jayabalan advises him against fighting for fear of losing. Dhanush goes on to win a huge cash prize, much to the chagrin of Jayabalan’s clandestine ego.

This is where the movie moves away from the rooster fight scenario and thickens into a delicious plot of twists and turns of unpredicted events, setting its tone. A brilliantly written screenplay and immaculate research about the rooster fight in detail has helped Vetrimaran execute the movie perfectly. Another aspect that shows Vetrimaran’s painstaking effort is the casting. For instance, the roles of Dhanush, Jayabalan, Kishore and Tapasee could just not have been performed by anyone else to the same effect. It is Vetrimaran’s success even to bring us to think so.

It wouldn’t be a cliché to say that Aadukalam is another landmark in Dhanush’s career. He suffuses life into the Karuppu character and never once during the course of the entire movie does the actor Dhanush peeps out of the character Karuppu even furtively. That is the success of the character, and the actor. Next in line is the noted Sri Lankan Tamil poet Jayabalan, who is nothing sort of a revelation. He underplays the emotions subtly and gives you the goosebumps quite often. Although it was Radharavi’s voice his character uses, it never comes across jarringly. Tapasee couldn’t have had a better debut in Tamil. As an Anglo Indian girl, she proves that she can emote and adapt to the prerequisites of her character. But then that could be Vetrimaran’s ability to bring her to that level of precision. Kishore is another actor whose role as a brother like figure in Karuppu’s life is unnerving at times.

Faithful representation of romantic sequences between Dhanush and Tapasee are delightful and enable the first half to fly in a jiffy. G V Prakash proves that he has come of age with his unsettling background score and the selection of singers for the songs ‘Ayyayyo’ and ‘Yathe Yathe’.

Everything about the movie is inventive, except for the tacky rooster fight sequences in graphics that Vetrimaran could not pull off with real roosters owing to the limitations drawn by the Animal Welfare Board. Also, the movie becomes a little too self-indulgent during the first half. Not to mention, it has a very unconventional, non-conclusive climax that is left to the viewer’s discretion. But those downsides are paltry. Aadukalam is a saga and a brilliant study of human emotions portrayed magnificently with the able help of Vetrimaran’s deftly written screenplay.

The South Indian DOSA

Breakfast is the mark of civilization, but it has become the most ill-served of meals. It deserves a leisurely journey, not the grab and run to which it is subjected. Think of the full English breakfast and then think Egg McMuffin. And if you prefer the latter you deserve to be given the bamboo, put in a steamer and turned into a puttu. Not only has it missed the bus, in the bid to catch it every morning, breakfast has been bypassed in all the to-ing and fro-ing of food fashions. When brunch became the next big thing, you would have imagined that it would have slipped back into our life with the ease - and entitlement - of a sausage in a skillet. But it was not to be. The 'unch' overwhelmed the 'br'. Overwhelmed by the handis, no wonder the bacon curls up and dies on restaurant buffets.

Only the aficionados save the day. In every city, there exists a small band of valiant fighters crying 'Poha/ upma/ sanna/ aloo parantha is my birthright, and I will have it.' Setting out at break of day, they sniff out the alleys where the real McCoy isn't coy about its true place in the culinary sun. They make little notes in the Glutton's Guide to the Galaxy of steamed, stir-fried and sizzled local breakfasts - and sometimes even write pretentious essays on the subject. Forget the impostor indices of knowing how many strands of saffron are too many or getting into a dill se discussion on the sea bass. The real differentiator of those who truly know their onions is their attitude towards the perfect akuri. How far they will go for it, how long they will wait for it, and how fiercely they will defend the fact that said onions in said ambrosia must be sliced, never chopped.

Every region of India has its divine breakfasts, and to search and try them out is to get a taste of heaven. For starters, early morning is the best time for an adventure as urban as culinary. The pollution hasn't yet overpowered the mist, fumes haven't overwhelmed the aromas, the city is still stirring not stomping and shouting. The sun is still cradled in gentleness. Even a sharp chill eggs you on as you set out for hot jalebis dipped in scalding brass tumblers of milk or paranthas sizzling as a hearty dhabawalla strikes his tawa with all the ceremony of a butler sounding the dinner gong.

The CAVE Restaurant

Last Sunday, I was been to The CAVE restaurant with my college friends. The ambiance was so good that I felt it really awesome. It was like we were eating inside a cave. The food was very tasty and the starters were beyond words. More than everything, it was full of fun and frolic. After quite a long time, I was out of my tensions and we guys really enjoyed the evening. Sweet of you guys.

Chennai's Public Transportation

Most of Chennai's intra-city transport requirements are met by an extensive public transport system. The bus service, which is run by the government-owned Metropolitan Transport Corporation covers the city and its suburbs extensively.Bus services are generally considered efficient, but buses on some routes can get very crowded at times. The bus service, which plies about 2773 buses on 375 routes, moves an estimated 4.2 million passengers each day.

In addition to the bus service, private metered call taxis, fixed rate tourist taxis and metered autos are extensively used. In the case of autos though, drivers often demand flat rates especially for short distances(say 1-2 km). Vans which are run like bus services and popularly called "Maxi Cabs" also ply on many routes in the city. The suburban areas of the city are also served by private mini bus company services as well as government bus transport corporations of neighboring districts.

Despite a sharp increase in the number of four wheelers in the city many private vehicles are motorcycles, mopeds or scooters, all of which are preferred to cars for their lower prices,fuel efficiency, maneuverability, and ease of parking.

Sir Thiyagaraya Nagar

T.Nagar residents are an unusual mix of the traditional and the modern and this is reflected in the way the neighbourhood has been growing. Several new eateries have come up while at the same time, traditional restaurants are also packed. With the city extending its bed-time more every year, the locality has acquired a reputation of always being in the fast lane. The grand textile showrooms close very late at night, and their hoarding boards constantly illuminate the roads. Early in the morning, joggers and walkers take full advantage of the empty roads, with the fresh air that's so hard to come by in this area at all other times of the day. Panagal Park, Natesan Park and Jeeva Park all have their regular crowd and their walkers' associations are extremely active.T.Nagar is also a place of musical intellects.Lot of sabhas are very active during the December month.

In addition, T.Nagar is easily accessible from most parts of the city by bus. The T.Nagar bus terminus off Usman Road is a hub for services operating via the commercial district, including routes to Mylapore, Kodambakkam, Tiruvanmiyur, Ambattur, Pattabiram, Annanagar and Tiruvallur. There are also routes to various places in neighboring Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts. Other important bus stops in T.Nagar are Panagal Park, Pondy Bazaar, Power House, and Vani Mahal.

Transportation in Chennai

Chennai's economic development has been closely tied to its port and transport infrastructure.
The city and metropolitan area are served by major arterial roads that run either in an east-west or north-south direction . Anna Salai or Mount Road as its more popularly called is the city's most famous road. It traverses most of central and south Chennai and leads on to the Great Southern Trunk Road (NH 45) to Thiruchirapalli. The Road runs in a north east to south west direction. Other arterial include Kamaraj Salai, Poonamalee High Road (east-west), Broadway, Radhakrishnan Salai and Sardar Patel Road. Chennai is also served by two ring roads namely the Inner Ring Road and Outer Ring Road that circle the metropolitan area. Most of the arterial roads lead to the National Highways and State Highways. Even, the goods can be easily transferred from one place to another. Dependable Auto Shippers provide special offers and are ready to transfer the goods across the nation. They assure you a delivery service guarantee too.

In the city, the important radial roads are connected to each other by the two ring roads, the Inner Ring Road and Outer Ring Road. A major problem facing Chennai is urban sprawl. When the Inner Ring Road was built in the early 1980s, it used to effectively bypass the city and was valuable for rapid freight movement between the southwest NH 45 and the northwest NH 5. The city grew subsequently and subsumed the road as part of itself. The Outer Ring Road was built through the late 1990s to provide a better bypass. It currently links NH 45 with NH 4, and a second stage linking NH 4 with NH 5 is planned. Elevated roadways are also being built along several sections of existing roadway to reduce travel time. The Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) was opened in 2001 in Koyambedu in western Chennai. The CMBT is the largest bus station in South Asia, and serves as the terminus for all intercity buses from Chennai. The CMBT is located on the Inner Ring Road, replacing the older terminus on the Esplanade in the city centre. State transport and private bus services to all major cities and towns in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states start from here.

* My disclosure.