the airhostess on her knees .... personality disorders

                                                     In all my 6 years of flying at 35000 feet only once i have seen an airhostess on her knees .  Nope she wasnt cleaning any spilt orange juice or checking the lights on the walking path . But the poor girl was apologizing to a passenger for a terrible crime she committed . Apparently she failed to hear a request for water and gave it after a few minutes delay . She was berated for a long time for this "crime " by this middle aged lady . I would have not thought about this further had i not seen this lady from the time of check-in . She had quarrelled with the check in person , even a fellow passenger during the walk towards the aircraft . Having been in  professions  of both medical and teaching for more than a decade and years of reading psychology it was a high probability that this lady was having a personality disorder .

Last month on one of the occasions when i boarded a crowded bus in kerala where people where trying their best to adjust to the rush without quarrelling for space . Unfortunately a lady took the back door and entered the bus . She was ok but suddenly there was terror in her eyes . She was berated in front of the entire crowd for taking the back door . This was not saudi arabia with gender codes and religious police but a conductor of the bus shouting at the top of his voice , ridiculing her . In the end she went out of the bus . Again i observed the man the conductor . Instead of becoming calm he was quarrelling with every other passenger for some silly thing . I thought he will go scot free but after an hour i saw the conductor running from the bus . Apparently someone had laid his hand when he reached the front of the bus .

Human behaviour is complex , interesting and sometimes challenging . No wonder  psychology is an interesting subject and those in professions which deal with people a working knowledge of psychology will help a lot .

Coming back to personality disorders , you have seen them all . As long as you have interacted with fellow beings you must have observed that some people are unlike others . They enter into conflict for the silliest of reasons , perpetually blame others and some of them lack empathy for others . It may surprise you that some of these high conflict personalities are having a mental illness called personality disorders . The extremes of this group commit violent crimes like murder but most of them have charming personalities , have a good job and many are married too . But the people who are in contact with them often suffer immensely be it in professional or personal sphere . Since most people do not have a working knowledge of psychology (surprisingly an hour on google will give lots of info) they go through life suffering without knowing . Though psychopaths and Antisocial personality disorder is the extreme form there are personality disorders like Narcissistic personality disorder , Borderline personality disorder which are equally devastating to the people who interact with them . Refer each of them on google and sometimes it could save your life ..

The prevalence of personality disorders is at least 9 percent or more so that at least 1 in 10 have the disorder http://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2007/national-survey-tracks-prevalence-of-personality-disorders-in-us-population.shtml. And unlike other mental illnesses they dont look crazy or may not even look anxious or depressed . But these are real disorders clearly mentioned in medical literature but found among your friends , colleagues , spouses and even parents . And though the origins of these disorders are unknown  it is thought to be  due to a combination of genetics and bad childhood experiences (research is going on  ) often not always their families have some degree of dysfunction .

 http://counsellingresource.com/lib/therapy/self-help/understanding/             has some information regarding this in addition google.com can provide lots of links . This is a complex  topic but am writing this as i have seen in many case people (not only the airhostess) who doesnt have a clue when dealing with such people who though having a known mental illness due to lack of insight doesnt seek treatment . And as in everything from common cold to cancer knowledge always helps in dealing with it ..

PS :    this is not medical or psychological advice . Just my reading and observation and you too the reader can read and observe and send me your comments .                                                  
                                                                       

Sunanda pushkar my three little thoughts

                                                              I am late on blogging about her . Call it limited net access but at least in part it was because of my shock and grief . Though i dont have political affliations i liked Shashi Tharoor inspite of the controversies because i felt he represented the new face of indian politics ...the educated politician . And when the guy loved and later married Sunanda pushkar i was happy .Somehow i liked the couple very much and took it as a public symbol of romance and its culmination . I was not following the tweets but suddenly one day the news of her death and that too in a particular unnatural manner came when i visited mumbai . Only they (the Tharoors ) , not even her brother or son knows whether their romance was alive at the time of her death . For a person who read Napoleons letters to Josephine and the british king who gave up his kingdom for the sake of love the end of a romance in this manner was indeed causing grief .

But more importantly the amateur psychologist/philosopher  in me was worried due to some things . Sunanda Pushkar was known as a social butterfly and the life of parties . The last two days prior to her death she was literally confined to a 7 star hotel with no visitors ( CCTV records ) and not having food . Obviously she was depressed . What is the use of being a social butterfly if during your hour of emotional need you have nobody . ?  Of course there may be personality factors as well as the hypocrisies of high soceity which is responsible but still its a striking contrast when you have 100+ "friends " but still have nobody at the time of emotional crisis .  And here the amateur psychologist in me takes over and says that this paradox has been played out in lives of numerous celebrities as well as many common people . And the only solution is being true to yourself and cultivating and maintaining close confiding relationships which are separate from the "friends " you have just to chill out . Also taking care of  "oneself " and realising the limitations of the relationships with others which have varying degrees of conditionality . And lastly as has been the case of a few celebrity examples keep as much as possible the private life away from public life . We still do  not know for certain whether its a suicide or murder but assuming its a suicide , celebrity or non celebrity , we should take care of our mental and emotional health and get help when needed. Having blogged earlier on this topic  and having read on this topic there are lot of myths surrounding this science of suicidology and in this internet age it would be at this juncture would be worthwhile to just learn about this topic from scientific articles on google and prevent as much as possible an important cause of untimely death .

Lastly , the third little thought , is from the forensic interested person within me . Is it a suicide or murder ?
Testimonies of her brother and son etc is of secondary importance only . For two days she was showing classic signs of depression and death was in an environment where no sane person will commit murder .(starting with CCTV footage etc ) . But the injuries on her body and even a bite mark makes the death complicated . Pending the toxicology report i still believe that the cause of death is suicide considering the circumtances and psychological profile of her and the antemortem injuries point to some physical violence which has some bearing on her suicide but not the cause of death . Just my speculation . Awaiting further news .

                                                Be it Jiah Khan(blogged earlier ) or sunanda Pushkar its not the sympathy or public outcry and media speculations that are important . What is truly important is using these paradoxes(from 7 star hotel to autopsy table in hours )   to realise that never dip too much into materialism and the "soceity " but take care of yourself , your emotional health and get help when needed without hesitation . Life is definitely not a fairy tale but such ends are not warranted inspite of breakups in relationships . This blog is dedicated to Sunanda Pushkar at the same time NOT dedicated to suicide which is a preventable malady in most cases .  

overcoming fear

                                                                 

       If you were to ask me to rate myself on a scale of 0-10 on courage i would always rate myself less than 5 . That was years ago when i was a timid teenager . If you wouldnt misunderstand ( you should never ) i was ragged by girl seniors from my predegree college and was so timid when they asked to show me my biceps and give a flying kiss .. And what about when the nurse tried to give me a tetanus toxoid injection i physically ran away from the hospital fearing the pain of injection .
Years later though fearful in some circumstances i am amazed at the progress i made in conquering my fears . It was not a conscious process of "being strong " as told by the society  or all the inspiration drawn out from the inspirational stories read . All that failed in my case . But one technique which worked for me was just the observation of what fear was all about and just realising that "fear " and "reality " was only faintly related .

Starting from the injection episode of childhood as i grew up i realised that injections though painful were not as painful as the "fear " and the anticipation of pain that an injection entailed . Things became so extreme that i remember once i even took an intramuscular injection on myself many years back .(no nurse to run away from )  .  And no wincing with pain on any blood test .

Many years back i took a small canoe and went on my own in the river periyar . It was supposed to be a small 5 minute testing the waters . But i underestimated the strong current and within minutes i was in the  middle of periyar river and no amount of paddling could turn my small canoe around . I would have fainted or screamed but i still remember the moment when my mind and body went on autopilot and i saw myself judging possibilities of reaching any shore downstream or in the worst scenario the sea . I was amazed at myself realising the futility of panicking calmly paddling inspite of being caught in the current . Partly the calm paddling and partly the lack of panic the small canoe turned and i somehow was able to reach the shore that too near where i started . That moment i realised the dictum taught in every emergency " do not panic "  .

Few people must have been caught metres away from indian wild buffalo , gaur to be exact that too at night . I was caught in the midst of a herd a few years back not deliberately but by accident . Here too there were two fears i had to deal with --- the real probability of the 1000 kg animal charging and goring me to death and the fear which made the probability seem like 100 percent . It was a very dangerous situation and simple panic and running would have definitely killed me . But here again i observed my mind and body going into autopilot and carefully retreated without running or provoking an attack by the wild animal .

Shes lucky indeed (dont ask me who is she :) )  . She is the senior i told about in first paragraph . If i was as courageous as i am now she wouldnt have ragged again ..:)  Joking .. I am still afraid of girls :) not wild buffaloes or mighty rivers .  

Rajputs continued ...

There was once a newly wed Rajput king who was asked to go to battle against Aurangazeb . But there was one problem . He was newly wed . And typical of newly weds his mind was with his wife and he reluctantly went to battle . But he wanted a memento to remind him  of his wife . But what he forgot was the tradition of Rajput honor . And he received the severed head of his wife(she asked her aides to kill her and present it to her husband )  as memento so that he never lost his concentration in his battle against the enemy . He won the war and later killed himself to join his wife in the afterlife .

A tale fact or fiction ? I read it long ago in amar chitra katha but it has internet references now in wikipedia and the rani is Hadi Rani  Hadi rani

 And whether fact or fiction this is one group where honor  and hospitality were hand in hand . I had blogged about Chittor fort long back when i visited Udaipur in Rajasthan and the innumerous johars ( self immolation in fire to prevent loss of honour ) by Rajasthani women and the battle to the death by Rajput men keeps this group the Rajputs  a group apart .

I know 3 modern day Rajputs as friends and though i dont know them thoroughly found them quite hospitable . They look just like you and me except that they still have their traditions alive . Four years ago i was shocked when my friend who was shorter than me and who was very pleasant in his manners , extremely hospitable showed me a video in his mobile . It was his ceremony of initiation into an adult and this pleasant youngster was carrying a sword . A goat was just moving about and a crowd was watching . For few minutes the video played both the goat and this young man just looking at the crowd . Suddenly with one stroke he cut the neck of the goat . It was one of the initiation ceremonies of Rajputs carried out to this day just like the masai tradition of killing a lion . (now dont ask me why rajputs dont kill lions )  .

Talking about hospitality i should mention my city palace visit this time to jaipur . For first time in my life i got an audio guide ( a tape which when pressed will tell the historic details ) . What i was not prepared for was the young girl insisting that i put my bag there after explaining twice  how to use the audio guide (idiot as always with gadgets :))  . I asked her again "Can i take my bag in ? "  . She replied that i could definitely but since its heavy it would be good for me if i didnt carry it . The way they were telling it was more out of genuine hospitality than a random comment . And i was just one random tourist in one of the most visited tourist places in india the city palace of jaipur . Having gone to numerous monuments in india such incidents are rare . When many visitors are there you are not given any attention other than the ticket and an unsmiling face . (at other places)

When i came out of the city palace after my 3 hour tour the girl was gone . I returned the audio guide to two rajput men in traditional attire . They asked me "did you fly kite " ? Its kite festival .  I sheepishly told no . I didnt have company on this particular day and had visited the city palace alone . I had already given back my tickets at the exit gate . They took me back inside the palace and up the spiral path to one of the roofs of the palace . And there it was a box of kites completely free and they and their friends helped me and a few others to fly a kite over the jaipur palace . It was a dream come true for me as not only i flew a kite after a decade and that too on kite festival in jaipur and that too over the jaipur palace .

I dont know whether the clang of metals is music to their ears ( but have never seen this much swords as in their museums )  but one thing is sure . They are a hospitable bunch to this day and to the best of my knowledge not "regional "  . When regionalism is raising its ugly head in some parts of india let us look up to the Rajputs who by their hospitality and courage earn their dignity ... the real warriors ( and warrior women ) .

Jaipur saga ... falling in love once again with Rajput culture

Rajputs need no introduction . And for people like me it brings in goosebumps just to think of their history and courage . So if you are a history fan like me , a person who likes palaces or forts or even just want to shop from dupattas (don’t misunderstand that’s just an example J ) to ceramic or metal painted handicrafts Rajasthan is the place to be . And places like jaipur , Udaipur and jaisalmer has its own flavor  .

For the first time in my blogging history I don’t know where to begin so hopefully will write  a series on my jaipur visit . I stayed in jaipur in a hotel right next to a deer park . That itself was really awesome seeing the deer from your balcony window in the morning . Of course unlike the rajputs of yesteryear I had my work to do in the daytime and was free only during the weekends . Everyday on my way to work I was looking for the “pink city “ and couldn’t find anything remotely pink .  Was I in the wrong place ?

All this was over on a Sunday morning when I travelled just one km from my hotel room . Suddenly I was in a royal road looking on both sides to endless buildings of pink . Pink everywhere . Not even a single building was another colour . And the lamp posts in the middle with the painting of the sun god got me transported to another era .. the era of the rajput kings who must have travelled in the same road . The point to note is just 1 km from the modern city of jaipur is the pink city . You can literally walk from your 21 st century abode to history in a morning walk . Isnt it cool .. I was checking at the expressions of the sun god in each lamp post and each was different .

And soon I reached hawa mahal which in my crude hindi translated as palace of the wind .With its height  and beautiful in its architecture it was to get a good view of the city and more importantly for the cool wind which was a necessity and more precious than any gemstone .You must remember rajasthan is a dry hot land for most of the year except the cool winter months . (tourist season ) . Remember the kings ruled here for 365 days and for them hawa mahal was not luxury but a necessity .

Then the sight I saw stopped my heart . Hardly had I passed just two kilometers further suddenly in the distance I saw the imposing hills and more imposingly the forts of jaipur in all its glory . If rajputs doesn’t intimidate you their forts will . You must remember that the rajputs were extremely hospitable people and even to this day they are hospitable . But these intimidating forts with their cannon turrets are for their enemies to fear . For these fearless warriors not only fought to their death (refer google for the final fight ) but their forts are among the largest in the world . Of course the amer fort , jaigarh fort and nargarh fort are not the biggest compared to chittorgarh fort of Udaipur still they are very very big . I got a weeks exercise just by walking its ramparts . There is a beautiful lake filled with fish next to the amer fort and you can either go by vehicle up or walk or … hire an elephant for going up king style .

Going the steep incline in top gear you cannot help but pity the enemy of yesteryear who panting will be greeted with a rain of arrows or gunshots from the fort above depending on the period . Anyway we were greeted by two things . One a bunch of rajasthani people at the entrance . It was a very busy Sunday in peak season and lots of foreigners . But it was a pleasant surprise when these busy entrance ticket checkers had time to exchange pleasantries with us and they became more respectful when I answered I am a doctor . A welcome surprise compared to my home state . These guys give respect and take respect .  Another welcome was the prasadam given free to all passersby from the temple inside the fort  . I don’t have much experience with eating it but they gave enough quantity and variety free that it can even quench hunger for a really hungry person . A great gesture of hospitality when these days we get nothing for free . The huge gates and the courtyard is amazing . The fort is in good state and each section of the fort has a story to tell . I passed by pools , enormous water tanks , underground tunnels , jails with no sunlight entering , ladies quarters ,soldiers quarters etc . All well thought of and made state of the art appropriate for that age . From a military point of view even the angulations of the holes in the fort ramparts showed that it gave great advantage to the rajputs compared to the enemy who helplessly got the firing or the arrows from above . The fort has an impressive collection of guns and I saw huge guns as long as 2 persons which could only be fired tied to a camel(poor camel J )  . Also I saw the cannon ball of the largest cannon in the world a 50 kg cannon ball . Soon it was the cannon itself which was kept on display a huge cannon which had a range of 35 kms in those times . The fort had also a cannon manufacturing unit which I visited and saw the machinery driven by oxen for making bores inside cast iron . Impressive . ,,,,,

If  you liked  this blog on jaipur  please read more when i will be writing more on rajasthan in next few days and share it :) Thanks for reading 

US india relations and Aam aadmi party

                                    Something is terribly wrong with India Inc these days . How could it stand up against the world policeman USA and retaliate by shutting down clubs of US embassy and sending at least one diplomat back . Doesnt it know that diplomacy means sucking it up and smiling when the world policeman diregards its own laws . Anyway are we foolish to look back in the eye on US when for decades most nations except a few like libya stood against it . Why a  neutral country like india is standing its ground ? Is it because it thinks there is greater support these days for real men and real women who stands up against hypocrisy  .. I am really proud of india these days not only because its my country but its standing up in the face of the mightiest and saying NO .

And of course the same newspapers carry news of the corrupt nation (at least we are not hypocrites we acknowledge there is corruption  )  taking steps to address its corruption issues . Being a huge developing nation which has been looted by foreign powers and where the percentage of illiteracy and a large population is a  real problem its great to find that there are positive steps being taken to address corruption issue . For that the aam aadmi party needs kudos for the anti-corruption helpline and the positive steps taken .

                                                                          We are indeed living in changing times . Not only India inc this is indeed the era or time to take a decision to stand up for yourself and assert your rights against any bully in your life . And believe me without aggression there are ways for firmly asserting your stance which few bullies can resist .. Try it and see  .. And of course read morning newspaper for inspiration .. India is shining  ..

stag entry .. at jaipur

I dont have horns .. thats for sure . Then why am i called a stag ? And how did they know i am single . Why they let me in ... As usual it was my innocence .. :)

I was in jaipur after a long day at work . And the hotel i stayed had a cafe coffee day , a deer park nearby (yes with live deer )  and a 100 percent rock lounge and pub . Not being an alcohol fan but hearing the heavy bass rock music coming from there at 930 pm i went there to hear music . What i hadnt expected was the set of black cats called bouncers  . Stag entry 700 rs . Of course i can eat food more than any deer around but i was there to hear music and for listening to music 700 bucks ,... hmmm no . I was about to turn back but then one of them told i can go in because i am hotel guest . So the "stag " got a seal of 100 percent rock and off i went inside . Beautiful place filled with photographs of Curt Cobain , Janis Joplin ,Jemi Hendrix .. And 10000 + watts of music . And it was a welcome sight to see lot of young people just like in mumbai .

Being a foodie i am in the wrong place and i am a stag .And the bouncers had told clearly dont stare at rajasthani girls .. So what can the stag do ? Listened to the rock music , read the menus . Each menu page had extensive histories of the rock stars ( i love history of music and western music ) and luckily they had an assortment of non vegeterian starters . So contrary to the real stags right next door (my hotel had a deer park right next to it  where could see deer from the room balcony )  i had nice non vegeterian food in the pub .
Forgot to tell about the staring . The bouncers were outside and me in pure innocence had to see the rajasthani young people . Its boring to stare at starters for too long . So without staring i observed modern day prithviraj chauhans and rani roopavathis . All the while munching at chicken drumsticks (tasty ones ) .

As i have been warned by my friend not to stare too much and not being an alcoholic i said goodbye to janis joplin and curt cobain in about an hour . With the puzzled look on the bartender who saw this mallu stag not honoring his buy one get one free on drinks and still tipping him after having nice food .

I am back to my room still the 10000 watts is ringing my ears and the bed is rocking . Not literally but actually cos i can hear that music outside till my room . And see the real stags in the darkness in the deer park nearby . Jaipur is rocking :)

the end of innocence

                                                             I am still innocent :) Believe it or not . But when i think back on my childhood and teenage years i still remember the boundaries which signalled the end of innocence . And yes like for everybody that was girls . Dont get me wrong being a registered bookworm for a long period in an all boys school the boundary jumping was subtle .

And in all these my companion were bicycles . An avid cyclist from my childhood days i still remember endless hours of cycling in our large family house . But when  i got my BSA SLR at 15 years cycling remained the same . But there was a difference . The cycling was getting timed even without my awareness. I still remember the girl with specs who used to study in my sisters school nearby . And no amount of calculation or probability theory helped me to time my cycling with the time when  she left her home walking to her school . No it was not teenage love .. I still dont even know her name except for the glances we had in passing by .

Next year companion remained the same . The bicycle of course . School got over . Again (not my fault ) in endless hours of cycling i saw everyday one girl walking to tuition class . She stayed a kilometre from my house . Being a bookworm never focussed on anything other than the road while cycling . But one day the cycle stopped by itself and to my surprise to an even more surprised girl asked her name . Thats it ..In conservative kerala during that time no girl tells her name to a stranger . Call it sixth sense or maybe she thought whats in a name ,, she told her name . I cycled away . Bookworms can enquire and it was surprising that she was daughter of a doctor and that too my dads friends daughter . I didnt know that when i talked to her .  End of story . For days i was scared that she would have told her dad of this stranger boy who asked her name in middle of the road .

Those who know me during that time can tell that i was never a villain during those years (even now :) ) . One afternoon i was busy scratching away trying to erase my name from the back bench where my name and the prettiest girl in the class name was written together .My classmates were playing a prank and they had written the names together .  I was embarassed to say the least . Suddenly a teacher who was sleeping in that empty class smilingly woke up and asked why i am trying to erase it . He told me dont mind all these . He is a famous quiz master  and tv comperer now . My only crime was having a crush on the girl like all the boys in my class ..

Years have passed and these days except for cycling i dont ask girls names or glance at them . But thinking back i think those were the days which marked end of my innocence ..... the narrow boundary from childhood to teenage ..

language learning

I love learning languages . As of now knows with varying degree of proficiency around 7 languages . But thinking back languages was my achilles heel always . Especially i struggled with hindi when i was 10 years old and the male and female versions of non living things really confused me . I still dont know whether milk is male or female and tea whether it is male or female in hindi . And with a "mallu " accent my hindi accent still makes my colleagues and strangers smile . (grammar is equally pathetic ) .

But still i love learning languages and still learning as a pastime . Recently my cousin asked what is the hidden reason for learning german . Frankly there is no hidden reason . I learnt a few basic phrases when i visited germany out of curiosity and now thought why not learn more . I have a few friends in germany including germans but they speak very good english .

But arabic is a different story . Having worked in an arab country where the common man spoke arabic and had little english knowledge i was initially wanting to learn it for survival . Think about getting stranded in middle of a desert and you dont know arabic word for "water " . So that was one of the first words i learnt . Then with the help of arabic-mallu and arabic-english books learnt some more words . I had some arabic friends and i tried my little arabic with them and also with some of my patients ( being in radiology could easily get by with minimum vocabulary ) . Then came the challenge . One day sitting with a pile of xrays to report the prettiest of the staff an arab girl came to me . She knew basic english but after sometime we became friends . But she was soon asking in arabic something related to heart palpitations . Of course she was not sick but how to ask her further questions ... "do you have rising heart beat when you climb stairs " ?
" Do you get it often " ?  etc etc . Whats the arabic word for stairs ? I still dont know .  Believe me but that day i stopped learning arabic ... Its a complicated language :)

Marathi learning was even more disastrous . Fresh in mumbai as usual i wanted to learn the local language . Most marathis know good english and hindi also fluently . But "local language " especially when you have friends in mumbai . I should learn . But i chose the wrong teacher . My young cousin who was learning it in school .  The initial vocabulary he taught included the word for a female dog . I still remember the look on my friends face when i uttered the word in all innocence . Luckily she asked who taught me this and forgave me .

I still havent stopped learning languages . I heard even french has this male and female words . But i will learn it too one day just for the sake of it . 

Chennai in winter

My connection with chennai is very long  .... very very long  ... I am a malayali but my early years was in chennai i think 1-3 yrs .Call it childhood alzheimers i dont remember it at all . But what i do remember is the time i came to this city to write my plab exam long ago and my first mall visit to spencers plaza in chennai , my first five star experience of grand dinner at park sheraton etc ..

But recently having visited this city many times i am as much a tamilian as a malayali . I am at home here especially since i find the tamilian humble manners very very attractive . Knowing enough tamil to easily get by and thrilled by their culture as well as drinking sambar and rasam by the litre this city is my second home .

But recently i went in winter to this city . Those who knows chennai for its notorious weather knows why i stress "winter " . Its not chilly but the weather is superb far away from the scorching heat of may chennai weather when even the air conditioners think why they are working .

No visit to chennai is complete without visiting the famous beach Marina beach of chennai .  Its countrys longest natural urban beach and worlds second longest . Beaches are exciting anywhere in the world and near new year the atmosphere was festive to say the least . From the distance you can see the ships at the port and being high tide time there was even a horse police (thats also historic for chennai ) was asking people to be careful in the beach . We had some snaps taken of the horses backs as we were unprepared for the "horse police patrol " on the beach a relic of the colonial era .

God or food next . Of course God first . Chennai is home to its on set of famous temples and vadapalani muruga temple is one of the beautiful serene temples within the city .And since my work took me to hospitals i was curious to see that all hospitals had a proper temple within  even with some architecture included . Impressive .  Though there was some debate whether tamilians humility was because they were more religious i still believe this presence of God around them may be one reason for their humility .

Film studios AVM as well as vijaya studios where the yesteryears actors like MGRs footsteps must have fallen is still thrilling for me as one of the places is a hospital now . So for me its both official as well as a pilgrimage as i am a mivie buff and MGR fan ..And when i talk about filmstars for the first time saw Ms Jayalalitha the cheif minister and also an actress of yesteryear . Cool  to even think about it  ..

Food there is only one word .... awesome .. Be it the authentic tamilian vegeterian fare including the dosa , the sambar and all varieties of chutneys to the medicinal rasam to the non vegeterian delights of tamil nadu like kaaraikudi restaurant dishes the culinary fest is superb . And being winter the appetite was on high gear .
And if you thought "conservative "chennai had only tamilian food joints think again .. I had superb thai at Grand Siam this time just making one more spot in my food adventure map of chennai which includes japanese restaurants also . And try the kozi dajaj at the arabic restaurant zaitoon ... I found it even better than in gulf .

And lastly on the jasmine clad tamilian girls ... Oh god ... this is a blog on chennai in winter i forgot  .. The last sentence was a typo :) happy new year