Singara Chennai

One week of extremely bad flooding and rains have shown India and the rest of the world what exactly the words - humanity, resilience and self-help mean.

Humanity - India has of late been tagged to be "intolerant" by a lot of people. For them this word might mean isolated incidences of hate crime committed against another religion. For people in TN (not just Chennai) - we do know what humanity is, tolerance is.

We tolerate extreme stupidity such as this one: 

And we are extremely humane:

Resilience and Self-help: Nothing can ever prove our resilience than this one week.  In one week, we have proved that the power of the simple common man CANNOT be under-estimated. In one week, TN has provided more volunteers than you can ever imagine. Ignored by "National Media." Ignored and even abused by the people who think of us only every 5 years - the people of TN have stood up. They have given the FINGER to all of these people and taken care of themselves. 

The hundreds of volunteers, who have stepped out of their houses caring less for their own self and families, the hundreds of fishermen from North Chennai, who plied their boats and trade to help so many souls stuck in Central and South Chennai. 

I am one of those people who had requested help from some of the volunteers to check and rescue some people and I cannot say how happy I am to see so many of them rescued!

Hats off to you guys! 

And a special word of appreciation for some of our stars in the Film and Media industries - specially RJ Balaji, Siddharth, Ashoka Varshini, Chinmayi and Dr. Sumanth Raman! We are deeply amazed and have a lot of gratitude to you. 

And not to be taken for granted - the help and service from our INDIAN ARMY AND NAVY and the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), who have helped rescue thousands of people across Chennai and TN. Thank you and we have no words to even begin appreciating your service. 

Please do not treat this blog post as something that was done to damage someone's image or to boost someone else's image. This post is solely an emotional outburst at my city's condition and how my city has risen to take this challenge head on and come out on top.

WE ARE FUCKING TN AND WE ARE THE BEST FUCKING STATE IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!!

வந்தாரை வாழ வைக்கும் தமிழகம். வாழ்ந்தும் காட்டுவோம்.

- We will let live and we will live on.  

5 Reasons why CHENNAI is way better than any other place on the planet.

I am a very proud INDIAN. Yes, even though I am currently living in the US, I am still Indian and more often than not I calculate weights in kilograms and not in pounds, I calculate speed in kmph and not mph, distances in km and not miles. I am miles away from home and yet, I still do that.

I am also a very proud Chennaite. Yes, that city on the east coast of India, which is home to over 6 Million people. I have seen things happen in Chennai, I have heard of a lot of things as well, but for me to convince anyone about why Chennai is way better than any other place on the planet - I only need 5 reasons.

1. You will always be welcome in Chennai. Whoever you may be - Chennai welcomes everyone with open arms. People from the North east fear Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore for some of the hostile reactions that they get there. Look around you in Ranganathan Street and you will find at least 60% of India's languages spoken.

2. Conservative, yet modern. Chennai is a more tradition oriented city, where people exist across various spectrums. Chennai is home to a lot of madisar mamis and also to a lot of mini-skirt girls. Well, I guess that sums it all up in a nutshell.

3. Marina Beach. The world's second longest beach. Nope, you cannot wear those skimpy bikinis on this beach either, but I can assure you, Marina and Elliots beaches are a lot more cleaner and safer than the beaches in Mumbai and Goa. And yes, you cannot drink on the beach - horseback cops will arrest you - That's why you find the beaches safer.

4. Safety for Women. Well, what can we say - Chennai is one of the safer cities for women in India. There are crimes against women, yes, but you will never come across ineptitude when it comes to preventing crimes against women. People are friendly and will help almost anyone in distress. That does not mean Chennaites are naiive, it means Chennaites care about those around us.

Read this, if you don't believe me: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/03/16/what-delhi-can-learn-from-chennai-on-womens-safety/

5.Intelligent people. Helping nature is one thing, intelligence is another. Chennaites are very knowledgeable about a wide variety of things. Thanks to some amount of street smartness that our ancestors gave us. Every international cricketer who visits Chennai says that Chennai's cricket loving public are extremely knowledgeable and highly sportsmanly about the game. Apart from that, we are also the kind of people who wouldn't encourage cheating in sports or in exams (Hint: BIHAR).

Oh well, I guess, if those reasons don't convince you, I'm not sure anything else will.

- A proud Chennaiite. :D