The sea of people that I see in T.Nagar is really mind boggling. It is impossible to walk freely on Ranganathan Street. Vehicles are prohibited on Ranganathan Street. There is a colloquial expression in Chennai "Cycle Gap" even that is not there in Ranganathan Street.
Inspite of the huzzle buzzle and crowd I choose to walk through the busy Ranganathan Street with my wife and what an experience it turns out to be. There are so many tall buildings which are disproportionate to the street. I was told that the height of the building can be only twice as much as the width of the road. This rule seems to have been given a "go by" in Ranganathan Street. As we walk from the Usman Road end to the Railway station end we take a good 45 minutes to reach the end. While walking back I noticed that there are 8 buildings on the street which is owned by "Saravana Stores". We walk into one of the stores and are amazed by the stock pile and the crowd inside the store. The number of employees and that too most of them being youngsters made me think of the film “Angaaditheru”.
As we keep walking on the street I suddenly realised that there are Electric Poles at every 15 feet on either sides of the road fitted with a ceiling fan. I also noticed Water Cooler and Butter Milk dispensers. I could not believe my eyes and was wondering whether I am in T.Nagar in Chennai or in some other country.
We then walk into Usman Road and find that the platform is very clean and there are no hawkers on the platform. In one stretch I saw the Corporation workers cleaning the platform with soap and bleaching powder.
It was a lovely experience to walk in T.Nagar and do shopping for Textiles, Gold Jewellery and Household Items with clean Platforms, very clean roads, water dispenser, buttermilk dispenser and fans blowing cold air. The only thing that was bothering me was the unmanageable crowd. But for the crowd everything else seemed very pleasant and lovable.
The pleasant walk suddenly ended when the alarm went off in my iPhone to inform me that it is 6.30 a.m. and I am in Dubai. I suddenly felt the chillness in my body and realized that it was a Dream. How I wish it becomes a reality in the near future………
-T.P.Anand, Dubai, U.A.E.
5th August 2011
May your dream come true.
ReplyDeleteIndia doesn't have many megamalls. Places like Ranganathan Street are basically open air megamalls.
I have been to Ranganathan street only two or three times in my entire life. I like peaceful shopping, which is not possible in Ranganathan Street.
Dear Anand, Saravana Stores and to some extent Jayachandra on Ranganathan St - are 'one stop shop' for economically poor people. I have seen some coming with a list and end up buying all that is required for the marriage. Mind that their list includes almost all that is required for starting a new family life.
ReplyDeleteNow with recent promotion of 'Aadi sales' T Nagar is bustling with activity more than ever before. I tumbled to be on that side on a week day, thinking that there would not be much crowd and I had to struggle for getting a place for parking.
Then besides Ranganathan - the bigger Saravana Stores (7 storeyed one opp Panagal Park), Pothys, Chennai Silk were all filled with shoppers who were coming out with 4 or 5 big bags (you know that a purchase of Rs.2000 is entitled for a big bag)
People are shopping and shopping more.
Nice post - Welcome to Chennai and a shopping experience at T Nagar.....
Regards - S. Sampathkumar