ECR and me, with not much in between

If there is still something left that ties me to Chennai, other than school of course, it would be ECR (East Coast Road, Chennai). And, it has little to do with partying and the Fisherman’s cove or even just hanging out with friends, for that matter. ECR, to me, has always been a family thing.

The drive on ECR* with that totally beautiful, clear, deep blue sea on the left embraced lovingly by the light sky blue sky (!) with a couple of clouds adorning the spectacle, the wind gushing past hurriedly while still taking time off to my caress my hair, with a treasure trove of Rahman-Maniratnam combo songs going on loop in the car giving company while a brilliantly orangish red ball of fire sets now slowly, now rapidly, on the right! My, my! What a sight!

Being a sea person more than a hills person (not that I am adventurous when in / on / with either, only the ‘sitting back and enjoying’ thingy), the sea has always left me in a trance. Just that, finally, I am out of that fleeting stupor in which the coast revolved around Marine Drive and Goa! They are nice in their own way, but..

The Bay of Bengal is the most beautiful thing on earth!

I still vividly recollect those weekend trips to Prarthana theater, Muttukadu, Kovalam, Mahabalipuram, Pondicherry and Cuddalore! The destination only incidental, the journey on the ECR was always the subject matter of the trip!

It has been almost a decade since then, and I thought I had forgotten ECR, like how I seem to have forgotten the clean roads of Singapore and the biting cold of Kodaikanal (never gone anywhere colder than that yet L)! Yesterday, on a 90 km journey, ECR taught me how grossly wrong I have been all these years! And, no, I was not down memory lane on a nostalgic trip looking back at the fond memories! I was just enjoying ECR like we had never been away from each other for ten odd years, like how when you meet your best friend from school after many years, there is no ‘loss of words’ phenomenon, you just start talking with absolutely no disconnect in sight.

However, unlike other days, this time around, the destination was as much a subject matter as the journey, maybe even more important for a change. I finally, finally managed to go to my first live concert of the King of Music! It was an ARR night! And what a night it was!! Right from Khalbali (Rang De Basanti) to Dil Se Re (Dil Se) to Thamizha Thamizha (Roja) to Fiqrana (Blue), it was such a steal and such a steal with all my favorite songs (as if Rahman had heard my prayers J) that I just could not have asked for more!

The crowd went a little berserk, standing up, standing on chairs, standing on the poled fences, to catch a better glimpse of Him. I too went berserk, much to my Mom’s shock and amusement. Now my friends do I fully understand the total kick in going to a live show and jumping and cheering around with people more fanatic than me as opposed to sitting on my cosy couch in a suave living room and gobbling down shows with just chips and Fanta for company.

My long time dream is fulfilled now; I will go happy and all grinning to the grave!

P.S. Almost the whole of Tamil Nadu was at the venue yesterday. I was nowhere near the Mozart of Madras, the God of Music, to catch a full length, clear picture of him alone, forget taking a picture with him. And no, no autograph either. That is my next and only dream for this lifetime ;) But even otherwise, I will still go happy and grinning to my grave!

* I know it should be ‘the ECR’, but ECR in itself is a brand, a proper noun J