Goodbye Chennai!

We are moving out of Chennai and moving into Ludhiana next week. Dad has been transferred once again. I am not particularly sad about this change but then I will miss some things. Chennai is my native place and wherever we went when the transfers happened, we would come to Chennai once in a year or two. I never thought I would spend one whole year in Chennai, but then I did.

Things that Chennai had offered me are:

• A couple of friends whom I wouldn’t have met if I hadn’t shifted here and one of them has even become a close friend.
• I had gotten to know an old friend better, though we hardly met more than 4-5 times in the whole year.
• I prepared for MBA without much distraction. No matter how much I curse this place, I wouldn’t have got those scores if I had stayed in Mumbai. I would have taken a job in Mumbai and would have had less time to devote to my preparation. Thanks to the stupid job offers I got in Chennai, I stuck to one goal.
• I discovered that I had some talent in teaching by giving tuition to a couple of kids. The meager income still made me feel I earned it.
• I took fish as pets and though I didn’t keep any exotic fish at home, I still learnt a lot about fish, its behavior etc…
• I learnt a bit of yoga during the spare time and I feel great every time I practice it, though I am not very regular.
• It gave a lot of time to myself, to get bored and frustrated, to think and ponder about life, and more importantly it made me realize I am not meant to sit at home. I can’t be idle in life. Though I don’t know what is it for me, I do know what is not and I am ready to work towards it.
• I learnt to swim and though I am not very good at it. I finally did something I wanted to do for a very long time.

Things that I won’t be having when I leave this place:

• The library- Its one of my life lines. In fact, the only one which has kept me sane till now.
• The yoga lessons- unfortunately I won’t be able to take up the advanced course in yoga. I will have to do it if and when time permits again.
• My fish- It’s my baby now. No matter how stupid it sounds, I have grown fond of this fish I have. This is the only gold fish which survived and has been with me for the past 5-6 months. It even keeps coming to the surface and blows bubbles expecting us to feed it every time someone goes near the bowl. Till morning it was up for adoption and then Bhavdeep agreed to take it into his humble abode. Thanks Bhavdeep! And thank God I didn’t name my fish!
• I am going to miss my space, this 9X10 room where I practically lived this whole year. I never had a room of my own till I came to Chennai and I may have to share my room, if I get into some college and live outside.
• I might slightly miss the Tamilians with their wide grins and oily faces and their unbearable opinions about others. After all you find them only here or in US of A!
• Also, the simplicity of the people in Chennai. They may be a pain but they aren’t that bad after all.

All in all, its good bye Chennai. I will keep visiting....