The Olden Golden Madras

The other day, after a refreshing dinner of typical South Indian vathal kozhambu and cabbage poriyal and paruppu chaadam, when the whole family sat down for a relaxing post-dinner chat, the topic turned to the Madras of yore and what made it so special and cosy than what it is today!

Talking old times tale is one favourite past time of ours! There never is anything more interesting than looking back at the pages of the past, smelling the old scents of long-lost time and with a dazed look, landing back to the mundane existence of today...with a bitter-sweet feeling!

After bringing alive the 14 transfers that my Thatha had to undertake in his job under the Electricity Board, our conversation moved over to his life in Egmore and appa,thatha and paatti began to relate anecdotes from it.

They remembered nambeeshan kadai butter and his happiness when the butter rates were raised from 10 paisa! They also fondly spoke of the Panchami Complex on Egmore High Road where they bought their provisions and Balan's brother-in-law Narayanan from whom they got their vegetables! Elcose Cloth shop was still vivid in their memory.

Amma remembered how, as a young newly-wed, she went to see Malayalam movies in Sapphire Theatre(near Gemini Flyover). 'Iyer the great','CBI Diary kurippu','Number 20, Madras Mail' and many other Malayalam classics were witnessed there by my entire family!

How times change! The past always seems so golden! Madras seems more close to the heart than the clinical Chennai! People and places of the past have become so insignificant, and yet, at some nostalgic hour are remembered so affectionately!

Alwar kadai in Mylapore is still there,but in a de-glorified form! I remembered my own childhood favourites- Hanaha stores Bilal, who always had a pleasant smile and from whose shop I bought a notebook with a painting of a lovely lady with a horse. I still have the book. That was the last Item I bought before the shop closed down. It was a big shop with everything from tennis racquets to biscuits in it! I used to be fascinated and look around in awe every once I went there!

There also was Siva stores near school-now replaced by a watch shop. Siva had the most yummiest Kadalai urundais(groundnut cakes) in the locality! They were garnished with grated coconut! Siva was a very good friend to our family and he came home with his kid Aarthi and wife before he closed shop!

Who knows where these people are and what they are doing! Do they remember their shop-flockers as fondly as we remember their shops? Do others still pause, rewind and play again, the good old days and reminisce about the people of the past like we do?

Life's become so fast that we just don't have the time to communicate and keep in touch with every person we come across in the journey! But well... on some relaxed day, over a cup of coffee or after a hearty meal, it still feels nice to think of everyone whom we came across!