I am born and bought up in the most happening commercial heart of this city. Yes, I am a T. Nagarian. Technically I can say “Mambalam rayil nilayam arugil”...The early days of my childhood has been spent roaming around this beautifully crowded place called Ranganathan street, the first ever human escalator according to me. You just stand at one end; people will push you easily to the end of the road (Semma la). Right from those days, I have seen many changes to this place and Chennai as a whole, but one thing I always wonder about this city is its ability to change &embrace new things.

For One and a half decades, I am a radio jockey. Right now, being the breakfast show radio jockey, I can vouch for the evolution of radio in Chennai. It’s with a great belief every radio jockey even now goes on air in this city and can be sure of finding his audience. That shows the magnitude of this city space-wise and heart-wise. 

I remember the days, wherein I keep a city map in my room like an army commander and try to know each area so that while giving a traffic update, I am surer of knowing the place (Romba overaa illa:-p).   Contradictory to the belief of speaking madras baashai, I chose to speak properly phonetically correct Tamil, with proper pronunciations. 

This Madras bashai is a double-edged sword according to me because if you fake it, it will be a mismatch like Biryani with paruppu sambar. Once an auto driver on a ride told me that, every person who speaks madras baashai always would love to listen to a proper Tamil and wants to speak it too. But they don’t get an opportunity, which reminded me of a quote “Under every fat person, a slim person is crying to come out”. I speak this Good Tamil wholeheartedly. I am grateful to that Autodriver anna. (Vera level la)

As a city, we survived floods, and cyclones, still running behind water lorries, survived extreme summers and we will compare the mercurial rise compared to last year, by sitting on the terrace or the beach on a summer evening. Every year, we take a vow that we will relocate within next summer, but still for the love of this city we survive the heat somehow. (Semma romance la)

This is a city, wherein you find people, with whom you can easily enter conversations, who would guide you if you had lost your way, and who would help you if they genuinely found you in need of help. If you haven’t found one such, be one. You will discover such people on your path.

To me, Chennai is constructed like Tamil. Tamil as a language formed with a view that, even after many language words mix with it, Tamil will still grow and remain as semmozhi. Likewise, how much ever people come and settle here from various parts of the country, we remain with an unshakeable identity. (Romba pesitten la)

In short, people who came from their hometown thinking that “anga chancey illa”...Chennai gives them a life and a path makes them exclaim in joy, “What a life I am having..” Chancey illa”!!