One day in Mylapore

For those who are unaware, Mylapore is an orthodox (not the orthodox in Christianity sense but more like traditional) neighbourhood in Madras with a historic significance. When I went to India in Jan 2010, I decided to take a trip through the nostalgia lane like every other earning-in-dollars-US-return dude. Though not very related to the topic, can someone answer why such people take pride in dining at "Kai-endhi Bhavan" (street food, especially the ones outside star hotels), ability to argue with autowalas, board a moving bus, ... ? It is my observation that they would not settle for anything less than a Bisleri for water, pay an additional Rs.20 (40cents) to avoid any argument with autowala and dread to board a bus with no vacant seats citing unrelated reasons like timing constraints. Without further digression, let me tell you how I enjoyed my Mylapore day.

Marina Beach


After waking up at 5AM, checking gmail for online friends and other routine morning ablutions, I headed straight to the Light House - the southern end of Marina Beach. The timing was perfect (courtesy: no reply for any of my gchat pings) as the sun was just rising. A slow jog on the footpath along the beach took me past Queen Mary's college, Presidency college and many statues. For a more elaborate list of landmarks on that route check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_beach#Structures. When the sun had completely risen and started shining in its Madras glory, I stopped for a delectable mushroom-soup, cornflakes, sprouts and peanuts breakfast followed by tender cocunut. Alas, I must have gained weight by the end of this exercise :-). Who cares as long as it was an enjoyable experience.

A trip on MRTS to Inox

After a relaxed Hindu news-paper reading session and a heavy brunch, it was time to get back to action. When I mentioned the idea of going to the Kapaleeshwarar temple, my mom dismissed it deeming it inappropriate to go to temples immediately after a meal. A new Aamir Khan movie, 3-idiots, had released just a few weeks back and had very positive reviews. Moreover, it was an adaption of a novel based on IITs which motivated me to give it a try. I took this opportunity to ride on the MRTS (an intra-city rail transport network) to Inox, the most expensive cinema in Madras; costs Rs. 120 or $2.4 (Ok, I am showing off).


Tiffin at Saravana Bhavan
At this point, a small detour is necessary to explain the food habits and timings of an average, relaxed, nothing-much-to-do Mylaporean, a category I fitted in. One has an early morning dose of caffiene and sucrose by means of coffee, followed by a heavy brunch consisting some or all of rice, dal, sambhar, rasam and curd (yogurt) depending on motivation levels of the lady of the house, around 10AM. The next meal (tiffin), which is usually a snack like idli/ dosa, happens at 3PM, typically after a mid-day nap. Finally the dinner is had in the night a couple of hours before bed-time.


When I was finished with the movie, it was already time for tiffin. Mylapore offers a lot of quality options like Karpagambal Mess, Mami's Tiffin place, Saravana Bhavan, Sangeetha, and so on. Though I do not have strong reasons to prefer one over the other, it was Saravana Bhavan that day. It is a restaurant chain which has established quite a reputation and various branches even outside India. My favourites at Saravana Bhavan Idiyappam, sambhar vada and the aromatic coffee (Saravana Bhavan's coffee is probably the only coffee I would not refuse).

Temple Tour
A tour of Mylapore is nowhere close to complete or even claimed to have been done without the temple tour. The first on the list was Kapaleeshwarar temple which is also the oldest one in the locality. Details about this famous temple can be found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapaleeshwarar_temple In addition to everything mentioned on the wiki page, this also serves to be socializing place for the Mylaporeans. One can find old mamis discussing their daughters-in-law and old mamas debating social issues such as the biological, sociological, psychological, economical, .*cal impact of mobile phones. According to a source, the temple also serves to be a meeting place for young lovers. But we are also aware that 96.5% of the information without reference is made up impromptu.


Another such famous temple is the Alwarpet Hanuman temple. Over years, the diety has gained a reputation of a reliable boon giver. In particular, there seems to be a heavy patronage by the students preparing for Chartered Accountancy and apparently Anjaneya is fondly called as CA Anjaneya in their circles. To be honest, I used to visit this temple every Saturday for 2 years during my JEE days.

To finish off my pilgrimage of sorts, I finally visited the Luz Ganesha temple. In order to be understandable to my non-Tamilian readers, I have called it a Ganesha temple which is actually known as Luz Pillayar or Sidhi Vinayagar. This is a small temple located right at the Luz Signal Junction and it is a quick visit. Vinayaka of this temple, as suggested by the name (sidhi vinayagar), is considered to enable you to succeed in your earnest endeavours.

Off Topic Question: Is there a god who is considered powerless and incapable of giving us what we want?

A walk around the Tank and the Mada Streets

A short walk southwards from the Luz Ganesha temple brings you to a huge water pond, known as Tank which is used for the rituals of Kapaleshwarar Temple. The streets around the tank are called the Mada Streets. Of the four Mada Streets, the north and south Mada Streets are the more significant ones, known for the jewellery shops and footpath vegetable shops respectively. This area buzzes with activity during the evening hours, when the working class goes about its daily purchase on the way back from office.
To make my experience, a more authentic one, I bought some vegetables, making futile attempts at bargaining and entertaining my mom in the process. And finally on the way back home, with the left over change, we had paneer soda (soda with rose-water essence), not so much to quench the thirst as to quench simple desire of behaving like a common middle class Mylaporean.