Kolu and Deepavali season is when Chennai comes alive. It's that time of the year when setting foot, I mean literally setting foot in the T Nagar-Mambalam area becomes a challenge. It's the festival of lights, but even if lights are not many, clothes rain for more money.
It took my bhabhi and brother two and half hours to manoeuvre their way in and out of Ranganathan Street, for some garden and zoo toys that they needed for their toddler son's school project. I am not surprised.
Andheri's station walk-ways in Mumbai get overly crowded and take a few minutes longer to get you out too. But the crowd their is multi-purpose seeking. You have office-goers, housewives, students, shoppers, businessmen and a whole lot else. Chennai's T Nagar-Mambalam hopping crowd has a sole purpose in life, in the run up to Diwali - Shopping.
I remember one of my own adventures with my cousin some years ago, prior to Diwali. That day, we took a train from Chromepet to alight at Mambalam, only to realise that the stairs connecting the platform to Ranganathan Street were so packed, it took us half an hour to do that one minute distance!
A trip to RMKV Silks this weekend reminded me of that nightmare. Standing near the elevator at the ground floor, I saw the shop's long array readymade garments spread out before me. But not quite. Human heads occupied every inch of space available other than those inches meant for the garments. Families. By families I mean the Thaathaas, Paattis, wives, sisters, cousins, brothers, brothers-in-law, babies, toddlers, school kids, and their shopping bags from the other big silk and garment stores out there in that half a kilometer stretch on North Usman Road. Such a sight makes you gasp. Don't ask me if it's merely for air, wonderment, exasperation, or dismay at such craze!
Human beings love clothes. Human beings in Chennai love silk. They love to wear silk to temples, weddings, birthdays, friends' homes, and even when they're cramped in crowded buses. Despite the sweat and thirst.
Stepping out of the air-conditioned comfort of the silk store on to the very warm and humid air outside, I noticed a family, probably from outside Chennai, bag and baggage, and bold-print covers and bags of clothes from other stores.Sigh! Another family out on a wedding shopping excursion!
A few yards on, is Saravana Store. Yeah, the all famous Saravana Store of the Saravana family, that owns restaurants in so many cities outside of India! Till that moment, I had thought RmKV resembled a vegetable market, all the noise and chaos included. Saravana Store, draped in the IT-firm like glass and metal, was different. With those garish Diwali offer banners, it invited you over to what I'd not call a fish market, but a bee hive. Once in, I bet you'd find it hard to get out before midnight. Such was the crowd! Such was the melee.
It's a store I have wanted to visit for the last few months. The mere sight of that bee-hive I chance-glanced from outside has scared me off. Am not sure if I will visit it for a few weeks more now.
As for the traffic on my way back home, hubby and I had to grumble through Pondy Bazaar's crowd for about half an hour before we finally breathed near Mount Road. To shake off that frustration, we actually headed to Elliots Beach closer home. Guess what! Crowds and more crowds here too. For a minute, I did not miss Juhu Beach of Mumbai. It looked every bit like Juhu Beach, except that this one had more people, but was spread out longer too. Hawkers, ice-cream carts, dogs, fish-fry stalls, beggars, rich and poor, restaurants and stand-by astrologers...
Yeah, I did manage some sea air. And liked it too -- watching the sea shine under white moonlight. Relief.
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