April A-Z Challenge: A Tale of Four Cities [A]

Blog Entry #1 - The Very First.

April A to Z Challenge

(More like a 'finally start a blog' challenge for me!)

Inspiration: Viyoma R

http://vyoworld.blogspot.com/

@Viyoma, not only did I enjoy reading your posts as usual, but it also gave me the boost to start one such challenge on my own, with the cities Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore.

Mumbai - Childhood, Schooling
Hyderabad - 4 years of engineering
Chennai - Job and now settled here after marriage
Bangalore - parents shifted here a few years ago

Aamchi Mumbai | Anamata | Akhilesh and Amazon | Adjustments

'Aamchi Mumbai'
Growing up in Mumbai - the land of dreams, the city that never sleeps, the best city in the world (wrt a lot of factors), and other innumerable names - Aamchi Mumbai (which means 'Our Mumbai' in Marathi) is a phrase used by us Mumbaikars to symbolise the love we have for this wondrous city!
"Oh street food? Khao Galli, Pani Puri, Pav Bhaji, Dabeli - It's the best here. Aamchi Mumbai"
"Public transport? On-time trains, great connectivity for buses, trains, metro - Aamchi Mumbai"
"Bandstand, Palm Beach, Marine Drive, Gateway of India - so picturesque! Aamchi Mumbai"

Anamaata
Although my mother tongue is Telugu, we speak a dialect different from the Telugu you hear in Hyderabad. During my four years, apart from academics, learning 'Andhra Telugu' - as my family called it to differentiate from the Telugu we spoke at home - was one of the things I focused on as I found the language very interesting. Anamaata was one such word I liked and caught on to. It’s used at the end of sentences, and roughly translates to "it’s like that" or "it seems that way". E.g. "vaaLu alaa chesaaru anamaata", meaning "they did it that way it seems".

Akhilesh and Amazon (like there could be anything else!)
Once I moved to Chennai for my internship with Amazon, and subsequently job, I met the love of my life in the recreation room, while playing foosball and table tennis. This section was the hardest to write amongst the four, simply because I wanted to go on an on for another hundred thousand words! So I’ll probably just say - among other reasons, such as similar weather to Mumbai, friendly people, and great food, this is one of the biggest reasons I love Chennai! :)

Adjustments
Moving from a city where you’re completely pampered and you live a fast-moving life to a city where people act leisurely and sometimes uninterested to get things done, took a toll on us initially. But my parents get to visit my Aunt and my maternal grandparents very often, and I can say it’s also been mutually beneficial. Moreover, with me now in Chennai, it’s a lot closer for me to visit them and vice-versa from Bangalore.
So I guess every cloud has a silver lining, after all!

Image courtesy: Google ©