Tag: chennai

My Perception of 3 Cities


Madas day is happening and I’m proud to be the son of a city which has a great History. But I’ve been thinking how did I feel when i went to 3 other cities and what was my first take about the city. Here goes my perception;

Bangalore: First i visited the city when i was 8 years old and that too for a day. I hardly remember much about that experience. But later I went to this city when i was 17 years old after completing my schooling. My father took me there for vacation. Right from the beginning i got excited;

  • I saw a very clean & planned city.
  • Saw pretty girls who were modernly dressed again unlike Chennai (then, now Chennai is much better than Bangalore :)).
  • Saw couples smooching on public places (Sadly this is controlled these days).
  • Lots of pubs unlike Chennai.
  • A enviable night life.
  • A pleasant climate.
  • Lot of hotels.

All the above were new for me then because Chennai was considered very conservative them. I even considered getting settled in Bangalore. But today Chennai has caught up with all the points i specified & Bangalore has fallen down. Also Bangalore has become a victim of mass urbanization and it has lost its charm. Anyways I consider Bangalore to be my second home town as I’ve a house there and Chennai – Bangalore being very proximate I don’t get the feel that it is a different city.

Madurai: There is nothing much to talk about this City. The day I entered the city it was dirty, unruly & zero entertainment. I felt very lonely for the first three months as I didn’t have any other place other than Cafe Coffee Day. I’ve never intended to stay there as that was not the place for me. But I owe a lot to this City as it helped me to come back from all the pains cause during 2008. Year 2010 has been more happening for this city and there are lots of joints and brands falling in this city & today it gives tough fight with Cities like Chennai or Bangalore. These days i enjoy visiting this city.

Coimbatore: My first visit to this city was 2 years back and I was really carried away. Like Bangalore i got a liking towards this city on first sight. Things excited me;

  • Posh houses & cosmopolitan lifestyle.
  • Pretty Girls but culture abiding.
  • Less traffic.
  • Good Climate.
  • Nice Business environment.

I want to get settled here if this place doesn’t become another Bangalore.

Traveling in Mercedes Benz Multi Axle Bus


Travelling on Mercedes Benz would be a bream for any normal person & I’m no exception to it. Sadly I’ve never travelled in a Benz vehicle.

Yesterday when I went to Parveen Travels website to book my tickets back to Chennai I saw an update telling new mercedes benz multi axle bus from Trivandrum to Chennai. Then after searching for ticket I came to know that bus goes through Madurai. I got thrilled & decided to travel on the bus at any cost.

When I checked the cost it was Rs.700/- only. I paid Rs.685/- for a Volvo multi axle to come to Madurai. But that extra money isn’t an issue as;

  • They are making our dream of travelling on Benz a reality.
  • They gave a paper carry bag with 500 ml water bottle, a Maa mango juice, a biscuit packet & wet tissues. They give us the feel of flying on an aeroplane.

I must thank Parveen Travels to bring elite things to common man. Also they keep innovating new things to attract their customers.

For sure Parveen Travels is going to be no.1 private player when it comes to travel. I’ve changed my loyalty from KPN to Parveen Travels.

Weekend Plans were Screwed


After a long time I’m having a bored weekend at Madurai. After relocating back to Chennai a year back I use to complete my trips during weekdays & return to Chennai to enjoy weekends.

This time I planned to mix my trip with a weekend because planned for a trip to Kuttralam or Kumily.

But all plans were screwed by a friend who spent major part of his previous week at Kodaikanal. Also he never hinted that he is going to screw the plan.

Last 3 days we met for dinner and dispersed. Some spice were missing in our meetings. Even today we went for lunch & had a afternoon nap & they went back home.

Finally I had Major for rescue. Went to Coffee Float, a walk at race course road & a walk in our area. It was a nice 4 hour where we were sharing out personal life experience, some official & some nostalgic discussions.

Some how I passed the weekend & its time to concentrate & finish my visits purpose in next two days.

From Alleppey to Chennai


My original plan after my tour of Alleppey was to get back to Madurai and then return to Chennai. But i was scared of Laxman’s driving and i decided to get back to Chennai directly as i had a company with Rooban. So this is what happened;

  • We had no bus from Alleppey but there was a train by 4 PM. Rooban assumed it would be full and he suggested going to Cochin will give us more options.
  • We boarded a Bus to Cochin with was one and half hour drive from Alleppey.
  • Cochin was hot but was very nice city with was calm & had all attributes of a city.
  • We got down and went to a place called M.G.Road which was a shopping area having lots of Big shopping centers.
  • The same road had offices of many Private bus operators office & all the busses to Chennai were full.
  • Then we took another auto and went to government bus-stand. Here all busses to Chennai have already left. Also bus to Pondycherry was full.
  • Then we took an auto and went to Railway station only to find all trains running full.
  • Then again came back to Government Bus-stop.
  • Only choice was to board a bus to Coimbatore and the choice were a Trivandrum – Coimbatore bus which was about to come by 4.30 & a bus to Coimbatore from Cochin by 5.30.
  • Since it was 3 o clock we had to wait till 4.30 & all bus had route names in malayalam and things were again confusing.
  • Still bus to Coimbatore hasn’t arrived and we decided to board a bus to Tirupur and thought of boarding a bus to Coimbatore from there.
  • When we sat we got an announcement telling Trivandaram – Coimbatore bus has arrived and we were lucky to get a cramped last seat.
  • We had a hectic bumpy journey and we travelled through Tirupur – Palakkad & finally reached Coimbatore by 11 PM.
  • Coimbatore is a place which doesn’t have a night life. Even second show movies starts by 8.30. Hotels gets closed by 10 PM.
  • All bus to Chennai have left & again we had to work on options.
  • We had a choice of leaving to our relatives house and start the next day. But i didn’t want to do that because the hard travel from Alleppey will become useless.
  • We were lucky to get a cramped Mini bus which was overly dumped and no space to even stretch our legs.
  • We had to immediately board the bus and we have no time to have dinner too.
  • Then after 2 hours of drive driver stopped to have some tea and there i had a Maaza and we started again.
  • Finally the bus reached Chennai by 9.30 AM.

Finally reached Chennai after a hectic travel for 21 consecutive hour. All this was possible only because of the the Ayurvedic Massage i had in Alleppey which kept my body cool.

Miranda’s new ad with Asin rocks!!!


Asin once again does some galatta as she takes on Chennai’s famous auto man, Speed Sangar. I really love this ad here is the video for you with has sub-title;

Moment of Pride for Chennaites


This is certainly a moment of pride for Chennaites. CSK Rocks!!!

Score – New Fitness Studio in Chennai


Day before yesterday i got an invite to the launch of a new fitness studio called SCORE. It was one big launch with

  • Full star studded audience & whose who of Chennai.
  • Launch was done by India Cements Srinivasan.
  • Snacks, beverages & food served by a star hotel.
  • High class fitness equipments.
  • On the main road of TTK road.
  • Uniform designed by renowned designer.

No wonder it has such big launch since because it is launched by one big man Mr.Ajith Shetty who was previously with FitnessOne.

I immediately enrolled on the launch day and still i was the 34th member. Hope this place would be happening for couple of days.

Experience in Train


Normally i’m a unplanned person and i never planned my travel ahead. So, most of the time i’m left with no other option than to travel in Bus. Also the distance of Railway station from my house in Chennai and Bangalore made me not to even think of traveling in train.

But in Madurai my house is less than a KM from the Railway station and also my friends say Train travel is much cheaper. Only then i realized Train is 300 – 400 times cheaper to Bus travel.

Then i booked my tickets to Madurai a day before in Tatkal and thankfully my tickets got confirmed. I was such a nerd that i didn’t know any nuances of railway terms and for everything i had to call my friend and disturb him.

Then i got a parcel for my lunch and i boarded my train. It was so crowded that people were standing and traveling and every time i got to stand near the door to stretch my legs i return to see someone sitting in my seat.

Then it was time to befriend fellow passengers and talking to them about their profession, where they belong to etc. Then we exchanged phone numbers and not even a single person has called me ever since.

In eight hours train reached Madurai and the Journey was mixed bag as i didn’t have any like minded fellow passenger. But i enjoyed the experience of traveling alone in a Train.

Trek Polamaa Brochure


Find below the official brochure for our March 6 Trek Polamaa event created by Hari.

We request to forward this to your friends, family and office colleagues. We have attached a JPGs below for easy distribution through email, blogs, forums, facebook, orkut and other online communities.

We want to attract as many interested people as possible to attend this mega event/member meetup/photo exhibition/workshops/trekking gear display/presentations. Preparation is in full swing at this moment, 60+ members responded to our call for volunteers (we are contacting you one by one), 50+ members have contributed financially amounting to 20.000 rupees so far. We still require much more to realize this huge undertaking so please do support us.

GLIM 16th best B-School in India


Great Lakes Institute of Management has been ranked 16th best b-school in India. It is a proud moment for all Great Lakers. I wish Uncle Bala for creating such a great institution within a short period of time…