Namma Pattanam Chennai Pattanam

Endiru dee.. poolaam vaa .. enga pooradhunalum tiffin saptutu poongo... eno kangal un mugame kaetkiradhe .. eno kaalgal un idame varugiradhe ...lukka chuppi bahut huyi saamne aaja naa.. kahan kahan doonda maine .. aiyo cha kosu kadikkaradhe ma ..mmhmm
lav : oye ippo nee endrukka pooraya illaya ??.
me : cha evalo nalla paadinen theriyuma, poodi naan engayum ille
lav : grr grr..
seri finally me got up after a paduthasana this sunday afternoon.
me : Seri enga pooganum nnu sollu lav ,
lav : engayachum poolam vaa indha weekend engayume poolam namma ..
me : hmm seri va polam
Started from valsaravakkam, passed though our school where we had studied for 12 years, things have changed , new buildings .. old ones modified , it looked all different. though it was just an alley behind , it was as though it was years since i saw the place. Was going straight in arcot road, AVM theatre, Vijaya Hospital, Kamala theatre, Vadapalani murugan kovil , vadapalani saravana bhavan... liberty flyover.
me : straight a poota ? ille left a ?
lav :un istam it doesnt matter to me ...
me : signal changes... seri nnu left eduthen ..
Passing by the Mahalingapuram kovil , driving beside the tall walls of Loyalo college , we went straight. Nelson Manikam road lead us to the Poonamalee High Road,
A new multiplex is being constructed , prob the proposed pvr type complex..
Taking right , we passed throug aminjikarai, crowded streets, market place, entirely diff to the Nungambakkam area which we crossed 2 mins ago .. Different people , different lifestyles, ....
Shenoy nagar vandudu, pachaiappa's college entrance , Hey kabaleeshwarar kovil poolama ??
lav: yes good poolam vaa ...
me : okie..
Passing though Ega theatre, Sangam Complex, Kilpauk Hospital , Kilpauk College, egmore area, Park railway station, Rippon building . Idhu thane Central Station paaru !!!

Central Railway station , at our left ,GH with an enirely new look,and MMC next
Straight from Central , took right , Island Grounds .. a big consumer exhibtion was going on , Gaint Wheel etc .. ore gumbal ... Crossing that we reached Marina, Napier's bridge(Iron bridge) , Ayuthu Ezhuthu Suriya flashed in front of my eyes , missed a signal , escape...

Anna samadhi , MGR samadhi & Madras University to my left and right.. Wow Marina is anytime a cool place.. lots of people , lots of families, too many kids... everyone is enjoying life le, the way they like !! Cool breeze , smooth drive on my activa, Queen Mary's College on the right, the beach on the left, we continued our journey across light house , chennai police head quarters ... Santhome church a wonderful piece of architecture marvel , St. Beeds school , passing all that Greenways Road, Malar Hospital we reached adyar ..
lav : hey enna dee adyar vandute , mylapore poolaya ??
me : ille inikku sivarathiri , so mylapore area ve touch panna mudiyadhu kannama , we will go elsewhere .. Astalakshmi kovil poolam enna ok va ? We have never been there le . So finally with a goal we proceeded to Besant Nagar via Gandhi Nagar Adyar , LB Road, thiruvanmayur .. Posh houses , these areas were always one of my favorite places, roaming around besant nagar , stopped to ask a auto wala , and found our way to the temple thro Kalakshetra Colony .
Just next to the lapping waters of the Bay of Bengal, better known as the Elliot’s beach in Adyar, is located Asia’s only Mahalakshmi Mahavishnu temple wherein also reside the eight lakshmi’s – Sri Aadhi lakshmi the Goddess of health, Sri Dhanya lakshmi the Goddess of food, Sri Dhairya lakshmi the Goddess of courage, Sri Gaja lakshmi the Goddess of luck, Sri Santhana Lakshmi the Goddess of children, Sri Dhana lakshmi the Goddess of wealth, Sri Vijaya lakshmi the Goddess of victory and Sri Vidya lakshmi the Goddess of education. The temple was fairly old, traces its history from the year 1976. Going inside , we decided to take the 10 Rs ticket and get to see the lakshmi's earlier than those who have been waiting for an hr or so.. ( I am reminded about my friend's nephew a 5 yr old claiming this as "Cheating" in a similar circumstance) we went ahead and was totally surprised to see the temple built very different . We had to climb 2 floors thro narrow pathways and worship the Goddesses , still bewildered as to why they had chosen such an architecture, we had a good Darshan. A very different temple indeed, sat for a while in the sand and decided to return home !!!
This is Chennai , my good old city .. Chennai Chennai than !!
Back home for the next session of paduthasana with loads of good memories !!!