Saturday, April 18, 2020

The P's of City Connect

A to Z Challenge - My Theme-  City Connect - my connect with....
Aurangabad-Schooling & Junior College / Bombay- Graduation & First job/ Chennai - Marriage & Motherhood

AURANGABAD
PRESIDENT PARKOne of the very few star hotels that Aurangabad hosted. It would be unfair if I dont mention the other 2 popular ones - Ajanta Ambassador & Rama International. President Park carried a unique tag for serving only vegetarian food. A Tiranga Dosa Festival is something I vividly recall - a food fest at President Park,that served Dosas in tricolour.  On other occasion -we were guests to a Ghazal night along the pool side.

BOMBAY
PATIL GULLY- A narrow lane where only 1 car/ auto could pass at a time. To reach our grandparents house we had to pass through this stretch. Patil Gully, started with a  small anchor shop on the left which had everything from toys to stationery. A few steps in & we will find an old lady sitting outside her house- segregating rice husks from rice. Move in further & we take a pause. There is an auto coming from opposite side, & we give way for it to go. Just as we are about to reach New Girish Apartments where our Grandparents stayed, all our senses were treated to a buffalo shed. Must admit, there was nothing more entertaining than watching the routine of the residents living around the buffalo shed.  

CHENNAI
PERUMAAL KOVIL -When cities change- temple connotations also change with it.  The Balaji Mandir of Aurangabad & Bombay became "Perumaal Kovil" in Chennai. And with that I got introduced to a host of temple festivals. Celebrations literally double when there is a big temple in the street you reside. Knowingly - unknowingly temple festivities start becoming a part of your routine, giving you more reasons to celebrate.

3 comments:

Pradeep Nair said...

I guess temples and temple festivals are a prominent feature of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

SG said...

There are so many temples in chennai they become the reference point if someone asks for direction. Go straight and when you see the pullayar Kovil turn right. That is your street. After crossing murugan Kovil, third left is your street.

Srivalli Rekha said...

Temples are an intrinsic part of this land. Your collection of places looks interesting. I'm going to check out the previous blogs of this challenge. :D