Forget your email, fall in love with your cell phone.
Ryan Ang gave me this much needed India survival tip on my second day in Chennai.
The extremely helpful Chennai-based centre director (South Asia) of International Enterprise Singapore talked at length about the cell phone or mobile revolution. Sitting with a box full of name cards at his office in Anna Salai, he pulled out the names of several Singaporeans based in Chennai and other parts of India.
Watching how I was painstakingly writing email addresses first, he suggested I get to the cell phone numbers. 'Just call them,' he said.
He was right.
Every city I visited had completely sidetracked the landline and leapt into the realm of the mobile.
A quick call was all it took to set up an interview and newsmakers did not seem to mind hearing their questions on the phone. I got used to talking more than typing.
It was hard to get by without a cell phone in India. Everyone had it. From the guy washing the dishes at the numerous idli, dosa and coffee places to Venkatesh, the tuk tuk (autorickshaw) driver who helped me get around Chennai, when the interviews distances were short.
Getting around was not always always easy though. The distance could be 5 kilometres, the traffic could mean a 30 minute drive.
One night, I found myself stuck in a traffic jam in Chennai’s famous Pondy Bazaar. So as Venkatesh rather impatiently honked along I decided to take a walk along the street lined with glittering gold stores, traditional silk sari shops and several shops offering 'one hour' tailoring packages.
It took me around 30 minutes to cover the distance, Venkatesh got there in 45.
Once he made it to the traffic light, he did what everyone with a cell phone likes to do - call. Under the glistening lights of Pondy Bazaar his Nokia looked a lot better than my borrowed Motorola.
Chennai is often called the Gateway to South India. Established by the British in the 17th century and formerly called Madras, it is the capital city of the state of Tamil Nadu and India’s fourth-largest metropolis. It has a booming arts scene, a rich cultural heritage and almost every venue in town seems to be hosting a dance performance, a classical music performance or a drama.
It is also home to Kollywood, the South Indian film industry and the week I was there provided ample opportunities for star gazing. Superstar Rajnikant’s daughter got married while I was there and the wedding pulled in the best of Kollywood and Bollywood including the Bachchans, to Chennai.
I got my dose of celebrity gossip and viewing a lot more easily. All thanks to one of my interview setting, a state of the art film studio in Nungambakkam.
Along with the interviews, there was the food to be savoured. The full south Indian range including idlis (steamed rice cakes), dosas (a pancake made from a batter of rice flour) and pongal (a mash of rice and lentils boiled together and seasoned with ghee, cashew nuts, pepper and cumin seed).
At what is often called the Michelin star of idlis, the famous Murugan Idli Shop at G.N.Chetty Road in T.Nagar, it took an hour to get to the food. But when you are in idli, dosa and filter coffee heaven, complaining is futile.