Monday, March 20, 2006
Trips to Chennai…
… Including one before and one after the deluge…
Dear friends,
This is a small mail to talk to you about just a couple of things:
a) The nice roads (much of it completed, some portions still in the making) between Chennai and Banaglore
b) Mathematics training for kids ages 4-12 that’s very popular in India now!
c) Heavy rains in Chennai at the end of last year
Well, I have visited Chennai 6 times in the past year and a half that we have been back in India. From Bangalore, it’s an overnight train journey (by passenger train – they call it “Madras mail” – stops at all stations, big and small along the way, I think to pick up the post/mail). It’s just about 6-10 hours by road, depending largely on the road condition, and also on weather, traffic and driver :) Distance between the two big cities is a mere 330 km (205 miles). Strecthes of roads are beautiful, like the US highways, in fact!
http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/pocketmaps/chennaibanglore.htm
ASIDE: My last manager at Intel traveled from Bangalore to Chennai every week. His family is still there. People used to do this type of travel and still do I think, between Bangalore and Mysore – daily commute to work! This manager had joined Intel recently and was yet to move the family, which he said he would, when the next school year begins. He’s getting over the shock of real estate and rental prices in Bangalore, which is many times more than in Chennai today. More about “Real Estate Woes” in a separate narrative.
Each of my visits to Chennai had lasted for just 2-4 days. The last and most recent visit was to attend Renganathan’s nephew’s wedding in Feb this year. This was the 3rd wedding in the second generation in his family. One other of his nephew’s got married in Nov 2004. He works in Bangalore, so he is here with his wife.Earlier last year (March 2005) we had been to Chennai for Renganathan’s neice’s wedding. She moved to the Middle East to join her husband.
One of our visits to Chennai was while we were en-route from Mauritius (May 2005), that trip I wrote to you about.
The fourth trip at the end of Sept/beginning of Oct last year, I made exclusively to see some of my old friends and relatives I never got to see during those rushed visits for family weddings. I went with my mother and cousin on this 4th trip.
Another important reason for this fourth trip was for my cousin’s son to take the competitive UC Math National test. What an experience that was! 14,000 children between the ages of 4 and 14! All vigorously doing mental math – 100 sums in 5 min or something like that!! Our nephew won a consolation prize. Maya said that one girl in her school went to Malayasia for the Final rounds at the International level. It was a worth seeing. All these kids – divided up into various age groups and levels of competence. 1000 kids in all at a time and 14 such batches!! The event was held in the huge convention hall close to the Chennai International Airport. Crowds all over – close to a stampede at the entrance to the exam, when the bell rang to get in. And these 14K odd kids were only a sampling. Many more of them are taking this Mental Math progam, somewhat like Kumon. Masses and masses of youngsters, feeding into the next generation of engineers and scientists (of the world?). For info. On UCMAS see:
http://www.ucmas.com/ And the India site off of that link : http://www.ucmasindia.com/
This link : http://www.ucmas.com/news.htm has a photos of a prize winner from Chennai… And this http://www.ucmas.com/gal_comp.htm has a picture of kids in action at one such competition in the world!
We visited Chennai again (our fifth trip) in the beginning of Nov. 2005, to attend another of Rengathan’s nephew’s Engagement ceremony, the one who got married in Feb 2006. By then, the rains had come and receeded.
So, from hot and dry in Sept/Oct 2005 to lots of water in the beginning of Nov 2005 to flooding and the deluge in Nov-Dec. Who would have thought that such heavy rains would come, and it would pour and pour and pour….!!! Chennai saw record rainfalls, such as has not been seen in decades.
From an individual ….http://www.bandan.co.in/myblog/pivot/entry.php?id=20
Bangalore and Karnataka had it’s share of the rains too, like I wrote to you in a previous mail:
http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/26/stories/2005102624230100.htm
Schools were closed for 4 days and Maya’s school held make-up classes on alternate Saturdays to make up for the lost school work.
We knew there would be disease following all that flooding in Chennai… and sure enough there are reports of cholera and typhoid…
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1293127.cms
From another individual…http://arunr26.blogspot.com/2005/10/post-deluge-update.html
They say it’s pretty hot in Chennai now. Final exams are around the corner and then it will be summer vacation. There will be mangoes, lots of it. And then the monsoon will come. I’m looking forward to enjoying both and writing to you about it as well :)
-Sri
Dear friends,
This is a small mail to talk to you about just a couple of things:
a) The nice roads (much of it completed, some portions still in the making) between Chennai and Banaglore
b) Mathematics training for kids ages 4-12 that’s very popular in India now!
c) Heavy rains in Chennai at the end of last year
Well, I have visited Chennai 6 times in the past year and a half that we have been back in India. From Bangalore, it’s an overnight train journey (by passenger train – they call it “Madras mail” – stops at all stations, big and small along the way, I think to pick up the post/mail). It’s just about 6-10 hours by road, depending largely on the road condition, and also on weather, traffic and driver :) Distance between the two big cities is a mere 330 km (205 miles). Strecthes of roads are beautiful, like the US highways, in fact!
http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/pocketmaps/chennaibanglore.htm
ASIDE: My last manager at Intel traveled from Bangalore to Chennai every week. His family is still there. People used to do this type of travel and still do I think, between Bangalore and Mysore – daily commute to work! This manager had joined Intel recently and was yet to move the family, which he said he would, when the next school year begins. He’s getting over the shock of real estate and rental prices in Bangalore, which is many times more than in Chennai today. More about “Real Estate Woes” in a separate narrative.
Each of my visits to Chennai had lasted for just 2-4 days. The last and most recent visit was to attend Renganathan’s nephew’s wedding in Feb this year. This was the 3rd wedding in the second generation in his family. One other of his nephew’s got married in Nov 2004. He works in Bangalore, so he is here with his wife.Earlier last year (March 2005) we had been to Chennai for Renganathan’s neice’s wedding. She moved to the Middle East to join her husband.
One of our visits to Chennai was while we were en-route from Mauritius (May 2005), that trip I wrote to you about.
The fourth trip at the end of Sept/beginning of Oct last year, I made exclusively to see some of my old friends and relatives I never got to see during those rushed visits for family weddings. I went with my mother and cousin on this 4th trip.
Another important reason for this fourth trip was for my cousin’s son to take the competitive UC Math National test. What an experience that was! 14,000 children between the ages of 4 and 14! All vigorously doing mental math – 100 sums in 5 min or something like that!! Our nephew won a consolation prize. Maya said that one girl in her school went to Malayasia for the Final rounds at the International level. It was a worth seeing. All these kids – divided up into various age groups and levels of competence. 1000 kids in all at a time and 14 such batches!! The event was held in the huge convention hall close to the Chennai International Airport. Crowds all over – close to a stampede at the entrance to the exam, when the bell rang to get in. And these 14K odd kids were only a sampling. Many more of them are taking this Mental Math progam, somewhat like Kumon. Masses and masses of youngsters, feeding into the next generation of engineers and scientists (of the world?). For info. On UCMAS see:
http://www.ucmas.com/ And the India site off of that link : http://www.ucmasindia.com/
This link : http://www.ucmas.com/news.htm has a photos of a prize winner from Chennai… And this http://www.ucmas.com/gal_comp.htm has a picture of kids in action at one such competition in the world!
We visited Chennai again (our fifth trip) in the beginning of Nov. 2005, to attend another of Rengathan’s nephew’s Engagement ceremony, the one who got married in Feb 2006. By then, the rains had come and receeded.
So, from hot and dry in Sept/Oct 2005 to lots of water in the beginning of Nov 2005 to flooding and the deluge in Nov-Dec. Who would have thought that such heavy rains would come, and it would pour and pour and pour….!!! Chennai saw record rainfalls, such as has not been seen in decades.
From an individual ….http://www.bandan.co.in/myblog/pivot/entry.php?id=20
Bangalore and Karnataka had it’s share of the rains too, like I wrote to you in a previous mail:
http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/26/stories/2005102624230100.htm
Schools were closed for 4 days and Maya’s school held make-up classes on alternate Saturdays to make up for the lost school work.
We knew there would be disease following all that flooding in Chennai… and sure enough there are reports of cholera and typhoid…
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1293127.cms
From another individual…http://arunr26.blogspot.com/2005/10/post-deluge-update.html
They say it’s pretty hot in Chennai now. Final exams are around the corner and then it will be summer vacation. There will be mangoes, lots of it. And then the monsoon will come. I’m looking forward to enjoying both and writing to you about it as well :)
-Sri
