Madras Madness: Part 4 – A night not to be forgotten

Let me begin this article with a note of gratitude to all those readers who took their time off their busy schedule just to go through my last post. I highly appreciate it, as your constant support and constructive feedback makes me write more such articles or to put it in a fancy way, to share more of my memories with you J

So, getting into our new post right away, the following event that is to unfold is yet another memory out of my hippocampus. Well it is almost a decade now since it happened and to be more precise, from the late evening of Dec 31^st 2009 to the dawn of Jan 1^st 2010.

Hence, with the above dates mentioned, I am sure that you would have got a clue as to what the rest of the post might be all about. Well your guess is absolutely right, as it was our (me & my buddies) first New Year celebration out of our college hostel. In the last two years, we were totally confined in that so called “hostel” of Sri SaiRam Engineering College, which was of course one of the top-ranked colleges in Tamil Nadu, but was even more known for its insane rules & regulations imposed upon students. And so staying at such a place we weren’t even given the complete freedom of celebrating New Year. Amidst the stupid rules we still had our fair share of happiness and small-small celebrations happening occasionally, and which now brings me to think of putting a separate post on it.

So, right after the end of the fourth semester exams, we all had stepped out of the college hostel and had rented a small house in Chrompet. And the highlight of moving out was that all our parents had unanimously agreed to our decision of moving out of the hostel and they were totally against the cruel treatment of the college authorities. This made our decision easier to implement than what we had initially thought off.

Getting back to our story, on the 31^st evening, ultimately the plan was to head to Marina beach where one could find the best New Year celebration happening. Back then we didn’t have vehicle with us and so our only mode of transportation was the city bus. Aravindh, who popularly goes by the name “Mama”, had also turned up at our place for the night out. So, with the dusk approaching we took the bus “21G” to our first destination, the City Center Mall and from where we shall later be heading to the beach. The mall was just 2 kilometers from the beach and so spending the rest of the night at the mall and having our dinner over there was the best option to us.

As it was New Year eve, the roads were heavily packed and so it took a considerable amount of time to reach the mall. So, as planned we had our dinner over there, spent few hours at the roof top view point enjoying the cool sea breeze hitting our faces while we got an amazing view of the seashore.

With half-an-hour left for the clock to stuck 12, we made our way to the beach. It was unusually crowded with the air filled with excitement and people of all classes had gathered over there to share their happiness with the rest. Finally the clock ticked midnight and amount of fireworks display organized at the beach was amazing. People who had brought cakes with them started sharing it around with any stranger that they met over there. And the best part was you get randomly hugged by innumerable strangers on a single night, all wishing and exchanging their happiness with you. This was a new experience for all of us.

With the clock at half past midnight, people gathered there were made to disperse by the law enforcement department and we too made our way to the closest bus station, not being aware that we might be surprised right on the first day of the year. As we reached the bus station, the bus station supervisor informed us that the first bus to start from there was around 5 am only and that we were also not allowed to stay there until then.

WTF!!!

We were little confused and worried, since we had totally ignored the mode of returning home while drafting out our plan. Also, as we were students, we did not carry enough cash to even hire a taxi back home.

Since Aravindh had a considerable amount of experience being in the city, he suggested on checking out at the closest MRTS station for any night service train that might take us somewhere close to Chrompet. But, as we enquired over there, the station master disappointed us again by saying that there were no night service on that day and the first train in the morning was by half past four. Now, both the option of public transport was ruled out. However, looking at our plight, the station master informed us of a night service MTC bus available at the DMS (Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Service) bus stop.

Though it was a long walk from the Lighthouse station to DMS, we decided to take it still, as we were left out with no other option. As we made our walk there was total excitement filled in the air, all through the way and that made our walk even more entertaining. And every now and then we grouped up for a selfie or just find random spots to relax our tiring feet. The St. George’s church on the Cathedral rode had arranged for a special mass and it was so refreshing to hear in that hour of the day. Refreshing ourselves for quite a while, we further made our move towards the DMS bus stop.

The bus stop was deserted and we were the only ones making noise over there, well apart from the vehicles that were passing by the Anna Saalai. Say after twenty minutes or more, a bus made its approach near the bus stop.

Oh fuck, was our reaction looking at it!

The bus was jam packed with people clutching dangerously even on the tiny foot board and totally no room for anyone to even set a foot inside. It was such a terrible scene and we had no interest to put our own life at risk and board the bus. So now even the last hope of us getting back home was also lost. Sitting alone at a deserted bus stop at the early hours of the day, we never felt unsecured or dangerous, as Madras was by far considered to be one of the safest cities in the country.

So, for the first few minutes we were lazing around the bus stop, but after sometime we decided to move ahead as we were getting bored of staying at the same spot. Once again it was Aravindh who came up with a brilliant idea. He suggested us walking to the T.Nagar bus depot and by the time we reach there, we shall be able to comfortably take the first bus departing out of there. His idea did sound right and moreover we guys had nothing much to do, rather than stare at the deserted Anna Saalai. Our route map was to take the Mount Road and then turn right onto the Pondy Bazaar road. And on reaching the Panagal Park junction, we take the North Usman road until we reach the bus depot.

The route was pretty interesting to take and we marched all the way down the Mount Road. Once we entered the Pondy Bazaar area, it was such a rare scene to see the ever crowded road with no activity happening at all. We felt as if we owned the entire stretch of the road.

And one such interesting moment worth sharing here is that on the front yard of one of the houses, we found a strange rangoli put up for the New Year. A rangoli is not strange a sight at the entrance of the South Indian homes, but this rangoli had a strange message on it, which instantly grabbed our attentions. The message was “HAPPY NEW YEAR 20010”.

All of us burst out laughing looking at it and I still remember Sreeni trying his best to erase the extra 0 from it. It was so funny to think how crazy people become in the zest for celebration. So, walking further down the busy shopping lane of the city, we finally reached the T.Nagar Bus Depot and by the time we reached it, it was already dawn. The local tea shops around the depot had opened up for a fresh year of business. Gulping down some tea and biscuits, we saw the first bus getting ready to take us back home.

As we got down at Chrompet and made our way back to the room, we knew that the entire country had woken up to begin a fresh start into their life and here we lazy asses were so tired that we bounced straight onto our beds, later waking up by mid-day.

Wow!!! What a start for the year it was…