Three days in a row I had the opportunity to walk through one of my favorite streets (alleys?) in Chennai. Its no neat street with beautiful houses on either sides with lush green lawns (I've some of those too...but right now will settle for this one). Its a slightly dirty narrow street where two people sitting across two sides of the street can have a conversation without being bothered too much by the traffic (infact they do). Its got no posh houses lining it but a string of small houses with mostly around 2-3 small rooms per house (I can say because most of the time the doors are open and any passer by can look right through the house).
The first day (by no means the first, first simply first due to where I'm starting...) was Friday, 14 January. It was Pongal and having tucked in a lot of sweet pongal in the morning and noon, at sometime around 6 (vilakku vekkira neram or lamp lighting time...which is significant) decided to take a walk to Elliots Beach (not too far from home just under 2.5-3km). The next day returned home from office (at around 8) to find no one home and with no keys with the neighbours, so to spend time till my folks returned took a walk. Sunday's walk had a certain purpose as I was heading to Rajaji Bhavan to buy train tickets and this was late in the morning at around 11.
I usually avoid all the big roads and stick to small alleys and deserted roads which were abundant sometime ago in and around the Kalakshetra area(there are still some left...I'm not telling...). I take the usual left to enter my favorite street. A little walkthrough (sorta like the drivethrough for an F1 lap but not so racy...)
Immediately to the left is a thached home cum ironing shop exactly opposite to which is the side of another house just by the corner of the road. Immediately afterwards the road takes a mild left turn to accomodate a small temple to the right which actually faces the other side so has its back to our road. The temple has its own approach road not quite perpendicular to our road (It can be better visualized as a hangmans knot with the knot and the rope leading out as the road approach to the temple with the temple in the noose area containing the temple facing the knot, with the outer periphery of the rope touching our road (which should have confused any mortal sufficiently...my work here is done :-))). Probably 2 houses are there to the left and then we have a small Potti Kadai (which is just a small store which can sell anything from stationery to groceries). Just opposite to this store is a fenced house follwed by a string of small houses interspersed with narrow internal alleys. Next to the building housing the store the road again takes a small bend to the left where there is a small flat followed by a mechanic shop (which I have never found to be empty of young boys loitering about). There is a very small clearing next to the mechanic shop which serves as their parking. Just next to it is an apartment block with 4 blocks. Exactly opposite to this is a cow shed that houses something like 2 cows and 3 buffaloes. Almost halfway through and we have a small road leading to a dead end to the left. The row of houses to the right continues and there is a hand pump just before the road to the left. Just adjacent to the road to the left is the biggest house in the entire road which has a huge open verandah. The rest of the road has small houses on both sides and the road bend slightly to the right and joins another road.
One of the first things that strike you in that street is the smell of incense from the houses (remember its just little after vilakku vekkira neram plus the incense, flowers and camphor from the temple). A little down the road the mechanic shops smells of petrol and smoke. A little more and the stench of the cow shed and then again the smell of incense picks up like its never left you at all. As you are walking you just have to simply look down to realize that you are walking on a carpet of kolams (since it was Pongal the kolams were unusually large and took up most of the road and some were even pretty colorful). I've been through this road at several times of the day and never found it empty of kids scampering around, or mothers trying coax their young ones into eating something, or threatening them to come inside, or scolding them for making a racket etc.
I've never been able to pin down one good reason as to why I like walking down that road. I've been hooked to taking that road for about 3 years I guess and have never missed an opportunity to walk by that road (I usually take a different route to and fro but still manage to wiggle that road in between my route). I don't know why but walking by that road always gives me a peculiar sense of safety and serenity.
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