chennai

A South-Indian Classical Music Fan Speaks

1 month ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under chennai, culture

Dilli Babu, for as long as I have known him, swore by classical music. “In the cruel summer nights, when walking around the house butt naked and taking a shower every 7 minutes also didn’t help, I listen to this composition in Jagan Kalyan. And, I sleep like a baby post that!” He said, wiping the foam off the corners of his mouth.

He was visibly upset by the recent fracas over South Indian sensibilities. “What do these guys know? They are not qualified to critique I say!” He screamed at me, as he hiked his Lungi up. “If Bangalore is South India, going by what they wrote, Nochhu kuppam is Thailand!” He added, tossing a Cheedai in the air and catching it with his mouth.

“So there’s no truth in More...

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Rosy

7 months ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under chennai, childhood, chittoor, stories
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The Legend of Elikunji

9 months ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under chennai, childhood, chittoor, india, stories

Mothers spoke about him in hushed whispers. When they fed their babies. “If you don’t finish your lunch, Elikunji will take you away.” We debated “Does he exist? Or is it just a maternal conspiracy to make the babies eat?” But, somewhere in the dark corners of our minds, a nagging question kept us on tenterhooks: what if he is for real?

There were too many small stories, snippets, trivia that contributed to the larger-than-life outlaw called Elikunji. First, the name: Elikunji in Tamil meant ‘baby rat or rat’s penis’ depending on how you look at it. Conversations with old men on Pagadamanu street confirmed my doubts. Elikunji was vertically challenged. He is only 3 ft tall, said some old men. The deaf Iyer next door had a different take. “He is as elusive as a rat,” he said More...

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The end of Suren as we know him?

1 year ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under chennai, culture, stories

For all you guys that know Suren, here’s some breaking news. The rum-loving, party animal who terrorized unsuspecting victims with his ruthless one-liners has been branded. Yeah, that’s what samarshanam means. They brand you with red-hot Sanku and Chakra emblems. What this entails is that Suren is not supposed to drink, smoke, and eat (even veg food) from outside. How long can he hold on? Is this the end of the monster Suren? Time will tell.

I’d like end this with Suren’s popular quote: “Sappunaa Saaklaitu. Nakkuna Nakslaitu.”

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Aandal Part 2

3 years ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under chennai, childhood, stories

Read the first part

It was a Sunday afternoon and Aandal was squatting outside our grand ma’s. She was telling my granny about this mentally challenged kid in one of the homes on Alwarpet street. She was talking about how that kid was always screaming for food. “Maami andha payyan eppo paaru bun kaapi bun kaapi nu Katheenu irukkum” (that kid screams bun n coffee bun n coffee all the time). So Suren started imitating her and she lost her temper. “Ayyy chinnadhu, Koluppaa? Pichi puduven!” (something to the effect hey you small one watch it!).

Now in all the years and all the maids that passed through our home no one has ever dared to mock us. It was us! Suren and I! Whatever hesitation we had about ragging Aandal was blown away and we stretched More...

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Aandal

3 years ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under chennai, childhood, stories

You knew Aandal was in the vicinity when the atrocious stench of her chewing tobacco (called Panneer Pugailai in Tamil) assaulted your nose. It’d normally be early in the morning, around eight, when she would turn up to perform her duties as our maid. No one really knew how she ended up in the neighbourhood. When we moved to Chennai, mom was on the lookout for a maid and she hired the services of Aandal who was already working in our grand ma’s. When I first saw Aandal I was petrified. She looked like the vampire version of Miss Grundy. A million wrinkles creased her face and that nose protruded at a right angle to her face. And, her teeth, whatever little that was left of them I mean, were a deep, dark brown. The most petrifying thing More...

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Chennai Vs Bangalore Debate

3 years ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under bangalore, chennai, culture, india

I wrote this post as a response to SelAm’s post. First things first, I am a Chennai boy that lived in Andhra Pradesh for 20 years. I moved back to Chennai in 1993 and quit the city in 2001. I moved to Bangalore about five years back. I have lived in Pune and Indore. When I say lived, I mean lived there for at least six months.

I visited Bangalore first in 1996. I was deputed to Tata Yellow Pages’s Bangalore office. I spent a couple of months there. As I was a salesman, I had to go around the city and thus was well acquainted with the city and its culture in a short time.

I don’t know if one is predisposed to be biased about his home town, but I thought Chennai was better More...

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The Historic Test’s Last Day

3 years ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under chennai

One of the images that will stay with me for a long time is that of the lady from the cleaning staff of the MAC stadium in Chennai, running up to Sachin Tendular, shaking his hand, and blushing and running back. I was not planning to watch the match in the stadium. One of my friends asked if I would be interested and I said ‘Yes’. When we walked into the stadium Dravid was already gone. Gambir and Sachin were at the crease. ‘Same old story!’ I thought but I was wrong.

Let me assure you that being there with the crowd is a fantastic experience. If you want to understand and experience the Indian Cricket Mania, go watch it in the stadium. I saw old men, with packed lunches, sharing their wisdom with strangers. “Now, he will bring More...

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More Birds of Chennai

3 years ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under chennai

Went birding in Adyar Poonga again and I am still amazed that I found such a rich variety of birds, bang in the middle of the city. Rose Ringed Parakeet

Shikra

See more pics from Adyra Poonga

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Here we go again Chennai!

4 years ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under chennai, culture

This time is it is the outfit that Mallika Sherawat wore during the release of Dasavatharam’s music. It seems some self-proclaimed guardians of the so called Tamil culture tried lodging a complaint against Mallika. But the cops refused to accept the complaint saying it is impossible to enforce a dress-code. Oh really? Ask the students of Anna University sirs. Also see the FrontLine piece. Scary!

Now the cynic in me tells me that the cops are doing this because the Chief Minister too shared the stage with Mallika.

Let us, for a moment, think that the guardians of Tamil morality are right… then, they need to burn all the weekly Tamil magazines. I kid you not, but every magazine that’s worth its name carries pictures of skimpily clad actors. Every week!

Strange but More...

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