Shopping Mania

T.Nagar – The shopping paradise of Chennai was no different this year. With hardly 10 days away from Diwali, you can see fleetness among the crowd, busy with their shopping. With huge stores attracting the crowd, T.Nagar easily becomes the most happening place in Chennai. The traffic strategy adopted by the Chennai traffic police was pretty handy and helped the mobility of the crowd to some extent. The construction of flyover in Usman road added to the traffic policemen’s headache. Despite all these hurdles, crowd was continuously pouring in and infact, there was a significant increase in the number of people visiting T.Nagar this year.

The shopping style of the consumers has undergone a sea change over the years. Even though the shopping malls prove to be a major crowd-puller especially for youth, T.Nagar stands tall with its ever-growing popularity! There are in fact certain drawbacks like lack of parking space (driving in T.Nagar during these days, a night mare and finding a parking place is even bigger) etc., but it has been the major destination for shopping. However, people who don’t mind spending more prefer other big outlets, rather than gasping amidst the fleeting crowd. But, most people say T.Nagar gives them the real shopping experience! ( I suppose all gals would agree with me)

Today (28th October), Chennai experienced some heavy down-pour that continued since overnight and lashed quite heavily at times. Driven by curiosity, me and my uncle took the car and drove to T.Nagar to see how rain has affected the business. As expected, the traffic was not terrific in pondy bazaar and near panagal park, the roads looked relatively void (as per its previous standards). But, all the crowd were seen inside the shops! Unable to come out in the rain, people who were inside the shops were standing at the entrance with umbrellas in their hands. You usually get to see only heads in panagal park, but this time, it looked different. Instead of heads, umbrellas were seen! Take a look at the pictures which I managed to take sitting inside the moving car… You can see a lot of people holding umbrellas and standing at the entrance of Saravana Stores.

Seems like nothing can stop people from shopping! The consumer market in this part of the country has grown like anything and has caught the attention of all big players in business. It has been said that about 70-80% of the gold sold in Chennai is from this region. Buyer’s potential has shot up significantly compared to the last decade and the emergence of hyper markets and shopping malls and the kind of business they make prove it right.

Crowd in T.Nagar lights up the festive mood in Chennai. Diwali is underway and by
this time, lot of people would have already burnt a hole in their purses and for people those who are waiting for the 1st of November to arrive and yet to go for diwali shopping, get ready for a big one!

Wishes for a happy, colorful and safe diwali...!

Cheers!!!

வாழ்க தமிழ்!

"எனக்கு தமிழ் தெரியாது" - இன்றைய தலைமுறையினர் இப்படி சொல்லிக்கொள்வதில் பெருமை பட்டுக்கொள்கிறார்கள்...! இதில் வேதனையான விஷயம் என்னவெனில், பிள்ளைகள் இப்படிக் கூறுவதில் பெற்றோர்களும் பெருமை அடைவதே! பள்ளிகளில் ஆங்கிலத்தைத் தவிர இரெண்டாவது மொழியாக தமிழை தேர்ந்தெடுப்பதை விடுத்து மற்ற மொழிகளை தேர்ந்தெடுக்க பெற்றோர்களே ஊக்குவிக்கிறார்கள். மற்ற மொழிகளில் மதிப்பெண்கள் அதிகம் பெறலாம் என்கிற சப்பைக்கட்டு வேறு! ஃபிரெஞ்ச், ஹிந்தி போன்ற மொழிகள் நமக்கு என்னதான் அந்நிய மொழிகளாக இருந்தாலும், அவற்றை கற்க காட்டும் ஆர்வத்தில் பாதி கூட தமிழ் கற்கக் காட்ட மறுக்கின்றனர். இதற்கு பெற்றோர்களே முக்கிய காரணம். தமிழ்ப் பாடம் கற்பது கடினம் என்று கூறுபவர்கள், ஃபிரெஞ்ச் போன்ற மொழிகளை மட்டும் சிரமமின்றி கற்பது எப்படி? கணக்குப் பாடம் கஷ்டமாக இருக்கிறது என்று, அதை புறக்கணிக்க முடியுமா? தமிழிற்கு மட்டும் ஏன் இந்த ஓரவஞ்சனை?

தமிழ்நாட்டில் இருந்து கொண்டு, தமிழ் கற்பது கேவலம் என்று நினைப்பவர்களை என்ன சொல்வது? கர்நாடகம் எவ்வளவு முன்னேறியிருந்தாலும், பெங்களூர் என்னதான் மென்பொருள் துறையின் பிரதான இடமாக இருந்தாலும், அங்கு கன்னடதிற்கு முக்கியத்துவம் அளிக்கப்படுகிறது. நீங்கள் வேறு கிரகத்தை சேர்ந்தவர்களாக இருந்தாலும், அங்குள்ள பள்ளிகளில் உங்கள் பிள்ளைகளை சேர்க்க விரும்பினால், அவர்கள் கன்னடம் கட்டாயமாகக் கற்க வேண்டும். வேறு வழியே கிடையாது! அங்கு வசிக்கும் மக்கள், தங்கள் தாய்மொழியை கற்பதை கேவலமாக நினைப்பதில்லை. அந்த அவலம் தமிழகதிற்கு மட்டும் தான்!

இதே போன்று, தமிழ் புத்தகங்களைப் படிப்பது, தமிழ் இசை கேட்பது, தமிழ் படங்களை பார்ப்பது இவை அனைத்தையும் கௌரவப் பிரச்சனையாகக் கருதுகின்றனர். இந்த நிலை மாற வேண்டும். குழந்தைப் பருவத்திலிருந்தே தமிழ் கற்கும் ஆர்வத்தை ஊட்ட வேண்டும். A,B,C சொல்லிக் கொடுக்கும் போதே, அ,ஆ,இ சொல்லிக்கொடுக்க வேண்டும்.

தமிழை வளர்க்கிறோம் பேர்வழி என்று, "அனைத்திலும் தமிழ்" என்று கோஷம் போட்டுக்கொண்டு அலையும் அரசியல்வாதிகள், வாகனங்களின் எண் பலகையை தமிழில் தான் எழுத வேண்டும் போன்ற பயனற்ற கோரிக்கைகள் எழுப்புவதை நிறுத்திவிட்டு இத்தகைய விழிப்புணர்வை மக்களிடையே ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டும்.

உண்மையில், தமிழ்நாட்டில் இருந்து கொண்டு, தமிழ் தெரியாது என்று சொல்வதே வெட்கக் கேடு!

பி.கு :- அரசியல்வாதிகளைப் போல், நான் ஆங்கிலத்தை எதிர்க்கவில்லை. ஆனால், தமிழை புறக்கணிப்பது தவறு என்பதை சுட்டிக்காட்டுவதே என் நோக்கம்.

Witnessing the spoilsport, yet again!

29th September 2007 - Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore – It was all set for Bangalore to host a superb one-day match between Australia and India. Expectations ran high among the fans as India stunned everyone by winning the World Twenty20 tournament which was concluded recently. I traveled all the way to Bangalore from Chennai to watch this match. I could manage only a couple of tickets for me and my friend, who has a great reputation of carrying the rain with him wherever he goes. Yes! I’ve watched quite a few matches with him, but 4 out of 5 matches that I watched with him were rain-affected.

The first one being the fifth day of the test match between India and Australia, which was affected by rain, which forced a draw. The second one is a ODI match between India and South Africa, which was abandoned due to rain, without a ball being bowled. Third is the India vs Sri Lanka test match and the fourth one is the challenger series final match which was played between India A and India B. The only match that was not rain-affected being the India vs West Indies ODI, which we lost!

My friends warned me about taking this risk, but I was very confident that it’ll not happen again. But, we decided to take the risk of challenging our luck since both of us knew about the passion both of us have towards the game. With white clouds all around, it appeared to be a perfect day for cricket that morning. The match was scheduled to start at 2.30pm, but as usual we were present at the stadium at 11.30am. There were some tedious security procedures which I had to undergo before entering the stadium. The policemen at the gates snatched the newspaper that I had and checked my pockets. I was irritated as I could not take the newspaper inside. People who have watched a cricket match in Chennai will know the importance of carrying a newspaper inside the stadium. You can’t really imagine sitting on the chairs without cleaning it with a newspaper. Most of the times, people used to put the newspapers on the chairs and sit on them.

After the first level security check was done, I entered the stadium which was unlike the Chennai stadium, properly maintained and I was even more pleasantly shocked when I saw a barcode scanner which was used to scan the tickets. Another security check was there, this time it was more serious as two guys were around me, with one checking with the metal detector and the other one, checking my pant pockets. Third round of checking was even more horrible as the police guy who checked my pockets again, threatened to squeeze my balls as he was vigorously doing the searching process. He checked my socks, my wallet and I was asked to unlock the keypad of my cell phone and show the display to him!!

Huh…. After undergoing the tedious security checks, we managed to get inside and find seats for us. Thank God, there was no need for the newspapers as the chairs were pretty clean. We had the liberty of choosing our seats as there was not much crowd there at that time. It was a beautiful ground, a bit small when compared to the Chennai ground with the electronic advertisement boards and a good electronic score board. After sometime, the players walked in for net practice with a huge roar in the crowd. We enjoyed the atmosphere there as the crowd were pouring in and the excitement was building. India lost the toss and bowled first. There were a lot to cheer about when the first four wickets fell quickly, but since then we could not but appreciate Michael Clarke and Haddin’s beautiful stroke play.

After 50 overs, the Australians amassed 307 runs, which appeared to be quite a big total to chase under the conditions, but since we Indians live on hopes, we hoped that our batsmen could do it, just as we hope every time. When Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir (Gambhir opened the innings as Ganguly was injured) walked in, the crowd was on their feet. It was absolutely electric. It started to drizzle in the first over and it got heavier as time went on. To add to the misery of the spectators, Sachin was dismissed by Mitchell Johnson. It was a pin-drop silence in the stadium and Pathan walked in at number 3. Gambhir managed to score a couple of boundaries in the next over off Brett Lee but then, the rain got heavier and the covers came on. Alas!!! It happened again….

It is the worst feeling to wait inside the stadium, hoping for the rain to stop. After a continuous heavy downpour for one hour, it stopped. Huge cheer from the crowd again!! The India vs Pakistan Twenty20 finals was put on the screen when rain interrupted play, which entertained the crowd a little bit. The ground staff worked hard to make play possible. The super zoppers were busy sucking water all over the ground. It was announced that play might be extended to one hour if needed and also, the equation of the Duckworth-Lewis method. We were really happy that we could at least witness a twenty over game. India’s target was 165 in 20 overs in the DL equation. We firmly believed that India chase the target, considering their present Twenty20 form.

Two and a half hours passed by and the umpires made their way to inspect the pitch. Both the umpires were discussing seriously and nothing came out. Our patience was tested. Finally, it was announced that match was abandoned due to wet outfield. We got totally pissed off and stated cursing ourselves for having come all the way to watch rain play spoilsport. It is a terrible feeling to experience this again and again. India vs Pakistan test match is coming up this December at Bangalore, but I am seriously re-thinking about going to Bangalore to watch it.