Chennai - My list of 5 places that define the city (Part II)

Mount Road

Those days whenever 'Madras' was introduced in movies, it would open with the inimitable LIC building which was a 16 storied pride and wonder.  Besides the LIC building that Mount Road boasts, it was also a glitzy place with all the cinema halls, buildings that had elevators, uppish restaurants with chandeliers,  dim lighting & table linen (Yamuna and Maurya were popular for family dining) and hi-end outlets that had decked up mannequins behind glass facades.  People came all the way to Poppat Jamal to pick up crockery. Poompuhar, VTI and a lot of other Art Emporiums dotted the road on both sides where most of the customers were foreigners and things were hence priced at 'Dollar Rates'.  Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan with its famous assortment  of Khadi fabric,  sandalwood and papier mache figurines, semi precious gems and jewelry,  to a lot of packaged foods from co operative society groups attracted its set of strong loyalists. I still go after the Khadi Golu bommais every year for Navratri as they have very well etched features as opposed to the flashy blob-like alternatives that seem to be more popular these days.

For the book lovers, there is Higginbothams, British Council Library, American Counsel and Library, Connemara library (attached to Egmore Museum)  and I gather that the more recent Devaneya Pavanar library also has a good collection. The Orient Longman building and The Hindu office received awed glances from passing admirers - not for the building but for intellectual capital inside it. Some other famous landmarks are -Parsan Manere, the flyover, YMCA, Thousand lights mosque, Church Park (Presentation Convent) - one of the stylish schools where girls spoke lilting English and wore skirts that hardly reached their knees (the maamis' eyes would open wide in disbelief and dismissal), Spencers (not a mall then)  - an international department store with hi end household appliances, the Addison building, Simpsons, Gymkhana, Island Grounds - how can one forget the exhibitions that we so looked forward to! I still remember screaming my guts out the first time on the Giant Wheel much to my parents' embarrassment and the king sized masala papad that I could hardly finish by myself!

Oh, and the Taj Connemara. A middle class family didn't dream of ever dining at a 5 star restaurant unless they were invited as guests to some function. Conjuring vivid images of a plush interior, so resplendent and opulent was my favourite diversion while passing by. I had always wanted to peek in to check what it was like. It reminds me of the book, 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn', where the protagonist Francie dreams of going on the new Brooklyn-NY bridge and finally when she does she is disappointed as it is not half as dramatic as what she had imagined it would be.  When I first walked into Taj few years later, I expected something dramatic to happen but as reality would have it, I had to console myself after some waiting and move on as it didn't match the hype that my fertile imagination had painted. I still fondly remember Bombay Halwa House with its mouthwatering, delicious food and the more recent Annalakshmi.  Much later when I was in college, a friend introduced me to a small Irani tea shop on GP road. I wondered how great can tea get, and found out  here. I was amazed to find impeccably dressed white collared execs standing and slurping tea at what seemed to be a dirty roadside tea shop!

Fab India - A friend and I paced up and down the store picking up furnishing material, busy discussing whether this would go with that, oh but I really like this rug... if I want this rug I'll have to change the rest of the decor ...oh I'm so confused ... and so on... The salesman who watched our predicament offered to help and we had to sheepishly confess that we were talking about our dream house and we have just taken up our first job a few months back! The salesman was sweet enough to laugh with us and quipped its always good to have a dream.

The picture wouldn't be complete without mentioning Richie Street - the Dark Alley for electronics, pirated CDs and so on. I knew guys who knew this place like the back of their hand. You have to have the knack of figuring out the quality of the products else you would be taken for a ride here. And last but not the least... the makeshift kiosks that sold second hand books...

This account is limited to my own experiences and knowledge... am sure there are many elements that I have missed out... do add on...
I didn't expect this to spill into part 3 - but well...
The other two places would be covered in part 3 - meanwhile...any guesses?