Southern Sojourn ....So Hot!!

Interning in Chennai in the summers is not something one looks forward to but then sometimes you got to go with the flow. Anyways I have never really stayed in the southern part of the country and decided to embrace my fate as a new experience which I may never get again(hopefully  ).
Its pretty strange when you get to a new city actually. Its like that time when you were a toddler just absorbing and exploring new things sometimes even pushing the limits.
Obviously the first thing that really hits you when you land in Chennai is the heat, not that Mumbai is near the Alps , but don’t know…the heat here literally pinches you for some reason….anyways the next thing you realize is that you got to have a working knowledge of tamil to get your way through..cos the locals esp. the taxi drivers , auto rickshaw drivers n even shop keepers mostly speak Tamil.
Now being a Tam u realize that atleast you can understand the stuff these folks speak but really driving a bargain in tamil with an auto rickshaw driver is tough. Yes thats true…with no meter running in the rickshaws the rickshaw drivers sometimes ask the moon here(u never know what ridiculous price they may quote!!).I can surely vouch for the fact that that I have really mastered the art of negotiations and the nuances of game theory to drive a bargain with them It was irritating in the beginning but now it seems very interesting, almost addictive . ….in fact an event you almost look forward to as with each journey you learn how far you can push the limits…
Another great asset for me has been my broken and accented Tamil. One of the main impediments to my communication with my realtives..and the scorn of my grandfather.I realized this when I was in a heated negotiation with the auto drivers acting as the translator between my friends and the driver and then suddenly it happened..the miracle!!
As I finalized the fare price with my friends and turned my head towards the rickshaw driver for that final offer that I would give him he gave me a broad smile and infact agreed to our price in Hindi.can u believe it..Hindi!! In fact I soon realized that people thought I was a north Indian or something tryin’ hard to learn and apeak in their language and so people volunteered to speak in even broken Hindia or English.That was really awesomw and eased a loota things on the communication front.
God Bless the soul who invented the A/C ‘cos that’s what saves you from the solar fiesta that you get showered with .Another lesson you realize is that if you have a good group you can even enjoy in hell. Especially when you can visit a pub regularly and even attend the occasional rock show..you know you are in good company 
In fact after sometime the internship looks like a sorry sidekick to the real action that happens on the weekends…but then shouldn’t that be the way life should be??