Archive for the 'Chennai' Category

It is raining Chai

Published by Karthick Raghavan on September 15, 2009 in Chennai, food and pastime. 6 Comments Tags: beverage, family.

I rented a car (practicing driving) on Saturday and was out to a local Starbucks here in Burbank with my room mate. I ordered my favorite Cafe Latte and he ordered some type of Chai (Tea) which brought back memories of my dad. He used to try different recipes of tea on Sunday evenings. He picked up the recipes from local dailies or magazines. Most Sundays you can see him with a bit paper cutting and he will ask everyone in the household to try his new tea. As a coffee drinker, I was reluctant in taking tea. I did not want to be the lab rat. I tried (in fact forced to) it once and believe me, it was really good. I started liking his tea and waited for his next experiment. I think he can make tea with most spices.

I used to make fun of him by saying ” If you ever lose job, start a tea shop and we can make money”. I miss the tea and the fun now.

If I go back to India and tell him tea costs $3 here, he will make the conversion calculation and ask how can people drink tea for Rs.~~150~~ 145. I think most Indian parents think that way. I don’t blame them. I like it in a way.

it is raining chai in my memories.

P.S.:- This post is for the real tea master – my dad.

6 Comments

Salaam Namaste

Published by Karthick Raghavan on October 20, 2006 in Chennai and people. 2 Comments

A couple of months back, I was on my way to home (Ambattur) from office (Tambaram Sanatorium) after first shift. I boarded a TN state government transport corporation bus at Sanatorium. It was on its way to Koyambedu from Villupuram. As it was afternoon time, there was not much of a crowd and I managed to get a seat. As always, I bought a Rs.5 ticket to Koyambedu. I noticed that there was a man (will refer him as X for the rest of the story) who boarded the bus along side me and was sitting cool without bothering to buy a ticket. When the conductor enquired about his ticket, X saluted the conductor and told him that he was a PC (Police Constable) and he will not buy the ticket. X had a neat and clean police hair-cut and was clad in khaki trousers and a casual shirt. There started the argument between the two. The conductor clearly told him that he cannot ride free as it is not a MTC (Metropolitan Transport Corporation) bus and whoever travels should buy a ticket. X did not accept it and flashed his id card. The conductor was very polite and he wanted X to either step down at the next bus stop or buy the ticket. X was angry and shouted at the conductor that he had been travelling free all these days and no one bothered to ask him for tickets. The polite conductor was annoyed and whistled the driver to stop the bus and asked X to get down. X was in a shock and stepped down without a word. When everyone is scared of police, it was truly a courageous act by the conductor.
This incident raises a few questions in my mind. As always, I am trying to find answers.

Why a few people like X abuse the facilities and try to gain favor of their job position?

Should not PCs pay for their ticket and ride like the rest of the passengers?

Anyway, I am happy and feel proud of the conductor.

Salute!

வணக்கம் தலைவா

सलाम नमस्ते

2 Comments

A Guide to Satyam Cinema’s online Ticket booking

Published by Karthick Raghavan on May 4, 2006 in Chennai, how to, movies and places to go. 10 Comments

I thought I could write up a user guide for booking tickets online in Satyam cinemas Chennai. The easy steps are listed below.

Open up Satyam cinemas’ online booking site.
Select number of tickets, day, the name of the movie and the price according to the class.
click book tickets
Login with the member account if you have one. If not you can create one in a few steps.
After logging in, use your credit card to purchase the tickets.
Note down the order number or print out the order page.
You are done with the online booking part. As a matter of fact, Satyam charges Rs.5 extra for tickets booked online. When comparing to the hassles of booking tickets by standing in a queue, that too in Chennai’s heat, it should not be a issue.
On the day of the show, you can collect the tickets from the theatre half an hour before the show timings. There is a separate section for internet booking tickets.

Happy booking!

10 Comments