Safety and nightlife
Voted as the fourth-safest city in the world, Chennai had yet another reason to rejoice. While Bengaluru and Delhi may have crazy party scenes, the fact that our favourite pubs and clubs are open after midnight is a thing we’re all proud of! And speaking about women’s safety — all we have to say is that idhu Chennai da! You’re assured to find a friendly auto/cab driver even in the wee hours of the morning to get you home safely.
Covelong surf festival
The city’s beaches are its strength, but the days of sitting behind a bajji stall with your girlfriend, are long over. Kovalam, located beyond the first tollgate on East Coast Road, has become a cultural hub for musicians, surfers, party-goers and socialites. The Covelong Surf Festival, an annual event has people coming in from all over India. The primary aim of the festival is to use surfing as a catalyst for positive change and empowering the local fishing community. Apart from surfing championships, a three-day music, yoga and activity festival also happens.
Why this kolaveri di?
Need we say more? Music director Anirudh Ravichander and actor Dhanush’s brainchild, this song went on to become a rage all across the world. It even got translated into Chinese, French, Japanese and other languages. The composer himself doesn’t know till date why it became so popular — he initially thought it would be an utter flop. But guess he was wrong; for it went on to give him an iconic status, and redefined music in Chennai as well.
Share Autos
Even until 15 years ago, namma makkal had to haggle with rude auto drivers to be taken from one point to the other. In a day and age when Ola and Uber didn’t exist, our heroes, the yellow and black share autos made their entry around a decade ago. They’ve become immensely popular — even though most people curse them for their rash driving, residents of Anna Nagar and ECR know what a blessing the share autos really are.
Brown and proud
Long gone are the days when we used to be embarrassed about our skin tone — it’s become the age to flaunt our roots, and proudly at that, no matter where we are! And it’s not just the women, our quintessential ‘tall, dark and handsome’ man is now a total rage as well. All those anti-fairness campaigns did the trick!
Cultural overhaul
Culture and Chennai was always associated with Carnatic music, Bharathanatyam and Margazhi kutcheris in Mylapore. Then, the Internet happened. YouTube become everybody’s best friend and that led to videos like ‘What if Batman Were From Chennai’ and more! Culture in the city these days is a fusion of stand-up comedy, global music festivals, Tamil rock and hiphop music, dance styles like dancehall and much more. Even madisaar mamis are part of metal bands; so next time if anyone asks you about our cultural scenario, you know what to say. Youth theatre groups are also forming a big part of the city’s identity.
CSK and Chennaiyin FC
Sport has always been an integral part of this city. Chennai 600028 was enough to show just how crazy we are about cricket. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that Chennai Super Kings and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have become an identity of Chennai.
But what thrilled us was the fact the Chennaiyin FC became one of the most popular teams of the Indian Super League and are the current reigning champions of the tournament.
Punch dialogues/ unintentional humour
Ennama ippadi pandreengale maaaaa’! Little in her wildest dreams, did the person who said this, imagine it would become such a big deal. But this dialogue has been slapped onto posters, made into a song, printed on T-shirts and made into thousands of memes! Another iconic dialogue associated with Chennai would be ‘Nanben da’ from the movie Boss Engira Baskaran. Can we forget Lingusamy’s ‘motha vithai’? And course, we can always trust our beloved Captain to come up with lines like ‘Thooki adichiruven paathuko’! Attract pandra puli, asathalana puli, attack pandra puli… TR sir! We don’t even know…
Tamil letters on fabric
The trend of Tamil letters being printed on fabric started with designer Masaba Gupta. She used this technique for a collection — and after it was shown on the ramp, stars like Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan and Aditi Rao Hyadri have been seen sporting clothes with Tamil letters on them. The style soon spread even to the gallis of Pondi Bazaar and Sowcarpet, where metres of fabric with these prints on them began selling, for much, much cheaper!
Spirit and oneness
The recent floods are one thing everybody knows about, when it comes to singaara Chennai. But what stood out even during these troubling times, is the way the city and its people fought back, and formed a united front. While our government was commandeering relief material and pasting stickers everywhere, we stood up to bring Madras back on its feet. Till date, tales of the heroes who emerged during the floods are being spoken, proving that selflessness is in every Chennaiite’s blood!
Single screen theatres and multiplexes
We put up a post on a social media site asking people what they liked the most about Chennai — Sathyam theatres’ butter popcorn was a unanimous reply. They were and still are, one of the most loved and visited cinema halls in the city. Over the last ten years, many of Chennai’s age-old stand-alone screens too have undergone massive reforms, making them suitable for family audiences too. But the best thing is how during the release of any big star, the entire theatre transforms into an arena of celebration — paal abishekam, malai mariyadhai, poosinikai aarathi, fireworks and other shenanigans!
(Compiled by Arpitha Rao)
