Haters gonna hate – Why do so many North Indians hate Chennai?
I’ve had enough. I see a lot of North Indians making snide remarks about Chennai everywhere – work, Facebook, Twitter, food courts, shopping malls, trains. And today I will try to drill some sense into their heads. There is always a “Oh wait a minute, I forgot you live in Chennai!”. The next time I hear that, I will hunt that person down and kill him/her and set his/her house on fire.
I have a huge bunch of North Indian friends – many of them who live with me in Chennai, and have come to love the city. I have had countless hours of discussions with them; about why people hate us and our dear city so much. I will discuss everything they had to share – the good and the bad, here.
A wise man once said – “If you’re gonna whine about a problem, better have a solution for it!”
The weather is so hot!
Well, Geography is the problem here. The weather is just hot in Chennai — not much we can do about it!
Solution – If you can’t get used to the heat, move.
Nobody speaks Hindi!
That is because nobody knows Hindi! If you’re going to pull the “but Hindi is the national language” card, I will have to respectfully ask you to get your damn facts right. Hindi is NOT the national language; in fact, India does not have a national language – it has officially recognized 23 languages – and endorses the state governments to pick their official language.
Solution – Try communicating in English. Also, learning a few Tamil words for getting around certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Chennai isn’t a very happening place
Chennai is one of the most conservative cities in the country; however, that has considerably changed in the past few years. We have a good number of pubs and bars (though not as many as Bengaluru), and a lot of malls too. And to boot, we have lovely beaches!
Solution – You’ve heard wrong. Come over and check it out!
The food is horrible
Idlies, dosas, pongal & idiyappams – if you hate these, it is because you’re used to your naan, poori, aloo paratha & dal. Frankly, I love north Indian food – and a good number of my north Indian friends love sambhar & rasam. If you’re someone who loves experimenting with your food and trying out different food, you’d love it here!
Solution – Try our food at the right place, you might fall in love with it. If you still don’t like it – look for north Indian restaurants (there a great number of those all over the city), or even better, learn to cook!
People are so rude & uptight!
Wrong. Chennai is full of warm and loving people. Sure, people would often look at you disapprovingly if you walk around hand-in-hand with your girlfriend who’s wearing shorts a size smaller than your boxers. That is simply because most of us here, do not do that. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not against girls in shorts. In fact, I’m all for it 
However, there’s such a thing as local customs. Nothing should stop you from doing that, but at the same time, it makes sense to keep the societal norms in mind. Another common complaint that I often hear is Tamilians at work are so introverted. This again is mostly a cultural thing. However, be nice and soon enough, your Chennai colleague will warm up to you.
Solution – Try to read the people a little bit more carefully. Most of the time, it might just be a cultural thing.
“Daaru achi nahi hai”
I feel you, brethren. Ever since the government took over the alcohol business, the availability of good quality (original) beverages has hit an all-time low. Also, it is extremely difficult to get your hands on draught beer. I, on behalf of all of Tamilnadu, am truly sorry for this grievous inconvenience.
Solution – Pondicherry is all but a hundred kilometres away from Chennai. Plan a weekend trip!
The girls aren’t good looking
I recently had an argument with a bunch of my friends about this point – some of them felt this is true for Chennai. I digress – given; the ratio of good-looking girls to the whole female population is much lesser than a lot of other major cities. However, if you know where to look, Chennai is heaven. Some north Indians I know also feel that the women here are of an ‘exotic’ variety – with their long hair and dusky complexion and demure mannerisms. WIN!
What makes Chennai special
If you’ve read all this and still whining, let me try telling you all the great things about Chennai.
- Great connectivity – the entire city is extremely well connected by road and rail.
- Beaches – we’ve got the spanking new Marina, Elliott’s (Besant Nagar) which is known for great-looking girls and tons of other small & less crowded beaches.
- ECR – ’nuff said!
- Multiplexes and malls – Gone are the days when Spencer’s was the only mall in the city. Now we have a great number of malls and multiplexes, with most of them within the city limits and all easily accessible.
- Medical facilities & hospitals – Chennai has some of the best medical facilities in the world. Many of my friends bring their parents from all over India for treatment here – it’s good, and it’s cheap.
- IT companies – After Bengaluru, Chennai has the most number of IT companies and tech parks. If you’re a north Indian in Chennai, you’d most probably be working in one of these
Well written my dear friend. You are a proper chennai guy and you love your city. Very good! Chennai is indeed a great place to live.
But my question is why should others make all the above mentioned COMPROMISES when there are opportunities in cities like Bengaluru and Pune. So others don’t love it even if many don’t hate it.
Exactly! Why live in Chennai, then? But if there are no options and if a person does end up here, the least they can do is be respectful. How would you feel if a person walks into your house and keeps telling you all day that his house is bigger & better? Most get offended. I’m just really annoyed.
good one this,,,why we take the time to write this?,,,cos’ we are nice people,,pls leave the attitude at your home town especially if u have come for work,,,Chennai is a great place and we do not have to convince every Tom, Dick& Harry to fall in love with it. do not like it,,stay away plssss!
Alright dude, well written. You covered almost all aspects. Well, you could be a little less astute on the language front though. I am staying in Chennai and I belong to a different state. But, back there, people make an effort to speak in English/Hindi upon encounter with outsiders. Around here, nobody even tries. It’s not like they don’t know. It’s more like they choose not to speak. You just have to trust me on this. And somebody out there has to tell the women that the flowers that they wear in their hair till they rot and the hair oil they use, together produce a lethal smell. Common after effects are nausea and puking (for people around them of course)! So not cool. But as you said, it goes with the cultural values. I guess, no use whining about it.
If you didnt read the article well, let me help you. Common People don’t make an attempt to speak in Hindi/english only because they don’t know it.
Instead why don’t you try to pick up a few words in Tamil. Asking one man to read Tamil is easier than asking an entire population to read Hindi
Let me add another allegation most nothies make;
buses here don’t have the destinations written in English…
in the past 10 years buses have their destinations written in Tamil as well as English.
Let me tell u this, in Pune, get me one bus with its name board written in English…or at least Hindi. I hardly found one
.
And a very common or rather a descending allegation i have been hearing for ages now, People here deliberately never speak Hindi or English. OMG i find this situation analogous to the scene in “Chak de” movies; a punjabi player asking an innocent fellow player to learn punjabi.
My friends, please have little change in your attitude if isn’t well yet.
Nice retort man!!!If somebody does not like chennai, then why move there in the first place…they need the money chennai offers thru their employment with whatsoever co…but they keep whining about things…I have been to some places and experienced so many bitter things…no place to unwind, utter disregard for road discipline, no neighbourliness, no work ethic, lack of connectivity…people who lived in metros with very good connectivity find it difficult to adjust…if someone cant respect, enjoy the regional things then better stay put at ur home and town…suckers……………
Chennai is not a place to be lived In. Need to have fun & enjoy life at it’s best, please move to North or even at Gujarat or Mumbai. Would have better way to commute in a more people-friendly society. No need to compromise on any thing. It’s our country & our way to live.
Also, the constitution of India, thru article 343(1) states that “The Official Language of the Union republic of India shall be Hindi in Devanagari script.”
Well, that is your opinion. And here’s mine – I have lots of north Indian friends that have so much fun here in Chennai. It really depends on how you look at it.
And sure, Hindi is the official language. But it is not the national language. There’s a huge difference between the two. Look it up.
/*Need to have fun & enjoy life at it’s best, please move to North or even at Gujarat or Mumbai.*/
I know wat fun u ppl are talking abt… There is one important difference btwn chennai & north which is not mentioned here. Ask ur girl friend to walk alone in the streets or in remote places (even in day time). U vl come to know… Mumbai is second highest next to delhi in R*PING last year. One has to agree tat u north is a better place for F**king other’s property
Good article .. you can check following links also
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ghana/travel-tips-and-articles/9782
http://goindia.about.com/gi/pages/poll.htm?linkback=http%3A%2F%2Fgoindia.about.com%2Fb%2F2009%2F10%2F14%2Fchennai-most-hated-indian-city.htm&poll_id=5521346468&poll=1
Thanks for the links. Do note that I’m not talking about tourists. This was for non-natives living in Chennai!
They have come to believe that cribbing about chennai is fashionable. So much so that look at comments on the article yesterday on ToI on the cyclone. Instead of talking of the cyclone most started bitching about why they hate chennai people. Bah… we Indians are rascist I tell you.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/opinions/11286933.cms
Wonderful post man!
Ah, thanks for the link! That is the exact type of comment that drove me to write this!
I have been living outside Tamil Nadu for a while and never once complained that people do not talk Tamil/ English. Come on… how can u expect an auto driver to speak in English (But auto drivers in Chennai do understand and speak a little bit of English…) And Tamilians always travel inside the train not on its roof (cant control myself from bringing this point.. hehe)
The problem with us, Tamils is that we give too much bhaav to what all these haters think and talk about us . See, we write a blog to explain the haters why we are not that bad after all. No one takes such pain .
Solution : Life is not fair . People should learn to live with it . And if Amit_123s want to make a living in Chennai , they better improve their social skills ( not the FB ones ) and adapt themselves to Chennai culture rather than expecting the locals to do all the favour . And if the haters can take one effort on their part , the locals surely will reciprocate in tens