Nomad in a tea cup?

I'm back in Chennai. I don't know whether I should be happy or not. I like Chennai as it gives me a scope for my Tamil side. The first day I picked up Kalachuvadu, a literary Tamil magazine circulated perhaps less than 1000 copies all over Tamilnadu. I went to a Tamil theatre, Koothupattarai. I watched a few Tamil movies I would like to forget. I like Chennai for renovating a dying -and wanting to die soon- tamilian in me.

I hate Chennai for everything else. The place I live in Chennai is crowder, dirtier, and unsophisticated. My house in Chennai is about half the size of my house in Hyderabad. I lived in arguably the best colony in Bangalore. I lived in a quieter and a very spacious place in Hyderabad. I know that 1200 sqft. house for a single man is a crime in Indian standards. I didn't care. Chennai is hotter. And not many of my friends live in Chennai now.

Still I have no complaints. I know the new Chennai will have a different experience to offer me. I can look forward to exciting possibilities and they'll come my way. Though the tamilian in me wanted to dither away, I kept in touch. I was on top of things with political and social happenings in Tamilnadu. Not as much as a normal tamilian does. Nevertheless, I had no complaints. I can make new friends. As I have been doing for the past ten years. I must have made more friends in my six month stint in DigitalThink than my father did in his whole life. The nomad in me is more active than ever. He wants to roam. He wants to meet new people. Learn new things because lots of things have stopped exciting him.

I loved Bangalore. I always wanted to go back and live there. I still do. I liked Hyderabad. Rather Hyderabad liked me. Mysore liked me. Chennai accomodated me. But as I write this, I feel, I've reached a stage where the cities have stopped influencing me. It's more like what I have to offer to the cities. Not the other way. The last such powerful influence I had was in Bangalore. Getting down in Central Station, I missed Hyderabad for approximately 12 seconds. Five years on, I still miss Bangalore at nights.