i’m off to chennai… the land of my forefathers and the land of my parents. i never grew up there but in pune. i recently read degree coffee by the yard and you might have read my review here. it got me thinking that i didn’t know the history of chennai. so while this trip is a family reunion, it is also about me rediscovering, or rather in my case, discovering chennai.

i have my check-list of what all i want to see. i have my notebook to jot down thoughts, my cap to combat the insane chennai sun and my camera to capture what my memory and notebook miss out on and for some visual memories where words fail me.

i love chennai.  if all wishes could come true, then i would be living there. there is a certain quaintness, a certain small town mindset, a certain simplicity that still flavours the streets of my hometown (i like to call it that). it is a city that not many in india like and i think it’s because they don’t get it. or maybe it’s just the language! 

i was terribly disappointed with the book on chennai (mentioned above) because it didn’t even excite me, a chennai-fan! when i am back in bombay and at this very desk… i hope to be able to take you on a journey through this city and make you like it too!

why should you bother? chennai is on the nytimes list of top 52 cities to visit in 2014 & and the only indian city on that list!