A Recent Article on South Indian Cities

The below is not my creations. I am recollecting what I have read in a in-flight magazine recently.

The article is written by one fine lady who claims to have lived in all four major South Indian cities. She attempts to capture the way of life of people in these cities by comparing the cities to typical female characters.

Hyderabad - She compares this city to a nawab's wife richly clad in her ornaments and costly silks. A city which clasps on to its history and tradition with a firm grip, afraid to let go of tradition. Conservative yet very proud, off limits to visitors.

Bangalore - This one is the typical jeans clad 30 something IT lady, who works her butt off when she has too and parties equally hard on weekends. She cherishes her Independence and is ready to show off her modern outlook and her red carpet life style.

Chennai - The picture she paints on this one is off a salwar clad lady with strings of jasmine on her pleated hair, mounting a kinetic honda. For casual eyes she is a typical village belle who loves tradition and very strong filter coffee. But inside the demur she is fiercely independent, set to pursue her goals and make her own decisions.

Trivandrum - the comparison here is to an old lady, the kasavu mundu clad grand mom in the family resting on an easy chair enjoying her beetle leaves. A city which lives in its past glory. Literally surviving on its tradition and natural beauty that it's been lavishly endowed with.

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Its been a while since I read the article so my personal bias might have gotten into this essay, but I have tried my best to capture the true essence of the original article.

I have spent a fair amount of time myself on at least three of these cities and spent a few days in the fourth. From my experience I must say she has done a pretty decent job of portraying the soul of these cities.

-Prad