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Well thats how I landed here...Chennai!
It was not long that I was on the verge of finishing my bond! And as usual..clueless about what to do next! I was wishing hard for a call from Apollo Chennai, a place I always wanted to work in!!! And not having anyone behind you makes ur job a lil difficult..especially in the world of today..where the less deserving get a back door entry coz they come in with a recommendation! And it had happened to me as well..just a couple of months ago! I had applied and these guys said NO citing no vacancies wherein the same evening a collegue with a loaded medico background got a letter of joining from the same institute which had claimed no vacancy in the morning! Well , that did not bob me down. it just told me to work harder and then no matter what you will have your wish come true!
So post diwali as I was on the way to KEMH [ where else could i go!] I got a call from Apollo. and yes, I was asked to report to them! I was hired!!!!!!!! Yipeeeee!
I packed my bags and landed at this new place! Greams road, my new address for the next few yrs!
Auf wiedersehen Mumbai! Leaving all my friends behind.. esp all those wonderful memories!
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NOW, the new boy in town was in that phase when loneliness strikes! But thanks to my wonderful seniors here..this was a second home!Aaahh .. home reminds me of ..searching for a home..to rent and stay!That was an arduous task! Once the brokers know that you are a doc, they metamorphose into blood sucking leeches! I went around with them...and soon realised their modus operandi! they would quote a 18000 ka apartment for 24000! why? cz you are a doctor! Damn it! Didnt I tell you that!Soon Chennai was full of 24k homes!thats when i decided to move on feet and ask every society/apartment around my hospital if they had a room for rent! This proved to be the best solution..coz i ended up with an apartment close to my hospital and at a better price!
Travelling in chennai is fun! The public transport comprises of buses and autos! Sadly the kaali peeli taxis of Mumbai dont ply here! But yup you do ve a lot of private cabs around..ready to swoon you around !The autos therefore ve a monopoly and charge you over the top! Soon I understood.. for any place I asked..the fare quoted would be 50,80 or 100. By walking around the city I realised...
50= walkable distance ,approx 10-15mins
80= 50 plus night charge
100= 2-5kms away
The bus fare similarly is a lil confusing [though its way cheaper than even the buses in mumbai or kolkata].. for there are 3 classes of buses here and they all look the same!
Bus class= Ordinary,Deluxe,Express,Superfast
I think only the conductor realises this!I got into a crowded bus one day..and a lady looked at me and yelled- RANDI! And with that she handed over a ten rupee note in my hand! I was taken aback! Guys from mumbai ll know why! But then i realised that she was innocently asking me to get 2 tickets from the conductor!
1-onne 2- randi 3-mona 4-naara 5-anja
This was taught to me by the sisters in my cticu..and that did help!Also here in Chennai one half of the bus is reserved for ladies..and even if ders a stampede on the other side of the bus and half the ladies seats re empty..they remain unoccupied! A lil orthodox but a new experience!
Here in Chennai you hardly see any gals hanging around with guys as in Mumbai! This was brought to my notice by my First yr dnb resident who keeps crying all day long-
Sir! i will never have a gal to share things here! gals here are just not ready to be friends with me!main delhi mein tha tab 3mths mein hi 4 gf s ban gaye the!Aur yahaan ek saal ho gaya and kisise bat tak nahi hui!
A foodie that this guy was we advised him to concentrate less on gals and more on pongal..and soon he was immersed in it! Seldom have i seen a guy devouring pongal as if he was brought from a famine struck african country!
Chennai is full of beaches and temples and churches! Also the names of the roads/streets re the same as it were during British Raj..Cathedral road, Wheatcroft road, Mount road, Sterling road, Haddows road,Wallace street... and then there are the bakkams n purams during Indian Raj like Nungambakkam, Kodambakkam, Meenambakkam, Ayanambakkam, Mahalingapuram, Trustupuram, Dharmapuram,Sivalingapuram, just to name a few!
Beaches- Marina, Elliot's, Kovalam,Golden shore,etc
Temples- Ashtalakshmi, Anjaneyar, Perumal, Murgan, Iskon,Jagannath, Kapaleeshwar, Sai Baba,etc
Churches-St Thomas, St George, Santhome, Our lady of Velankanni,etc
Also in contrast to what one would expect..there are awesome eateries and bakeries here! I came with the conceived notion that it would just be idlis and sambar..but its much more than that..also they serve food in enermous amounts! have a look at the pic below...and for the labour class there are amma canteens that serve idlis n dosas for two rupees and a wholesome meal for ten bucks! can you beat that!
Professionally the people in my hospital are amongst the BIG names in the field where I work! But still their humble and down to earth attitude is contagious! At the same time their ever helpful nature and warmth touched me!I ve seen worse.. people who know a fraction but behave in such an obnoxious manner, complete megalomaniacs and self declared scholars! And so this was a welcome change for me! And its fun to work with people trained in different countries..USA, UK , Australia, New Zealand.. different ways of doing the same thing and different words for the same thing...like for example -
Cautery[india] becomes Diathermy[uk] and Bovie[usa]
Mosquito [india] becomes Snap[usa]
So initially it takes a lil time to get in the groove, but once you re in..its fun!
Also the stuff that we read in our textbooks and thought that it was only done abroad re done here too..transplants, robotics,ecmos..just to name a few!
Chennai also is the house of sarees! Sri kumaran silks, Nalli..our moms can spend an entire day there[ in fact more!].. and trust me..im not exaggerating facts.. with 9 floors of sarees and seperate buildings for other daily wear.. places like T Nagar re a boon to the fairer sex and a curse to the ones shelling out all the cash!
well thats the story so far.. will update it regularly as it happens! till then its... Vanakkam Chennai!
