Chennai - Turning into another Bangalore

Last night I was reading an article in Hindu about "Chennai is a good city for anyone to settle in" and it gave many reasons for the same. There were few comments from different people too about how good this city is. Another point which is being highly highlighted these days is the number of IT companies, which are moving to Chennai to open up the operations. There is Infy, Wipro, TCS, Patni, Xansa, CTS, HCL and soon the likes of Accenture would be opening up centre out here. In fact after Bangalore, Infy has the biggest centre in Chennai and Accenture would be opening its biggest centre out here. As for other companies they are too having quite a huge numbers of employees here at Chennai Development centre. So if you are in IT, the place to be is Chennai right now.

Ok, enough of that, lets face some truth out here. I have been staying in Chennai for 1 year now. So, how has been my stay like? Well, work kept me busy. Maybe that’s why the year went like a whirlwind. But apart from that, I won’t say it was ok kind of yr....in fact to put it in simple way, it was one bad year. I know people who like Chennai or anyone who has been born and brought up here would hate me after reading next few lines. Let’s start with:

Things I like about Chennai:-
Beach and Sea
Good restaurants
Culturally very strong……….
Good retail chain of shops like foodworld, Subhiksha….etc.
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Yeah nothing more to write about. I have tried a lot to love something out here but somehow or the other my experiences here never let me do it. This city can really test your patience. I have been to many places all across India but haven’t seen such a water problem anywhere. For drinking you have to use bottled water only and it’s a big business out here...totally in hands of politicians, maybe that’s why this problem is continuing for ages. It’s a big cash cow for the politicians out here and instead of doing something; they are always having arguments within themselves over it. The water from which you take bath is hard and salty resulting into loss of hair and taking all the softness out of it. In a recent report in The Hindu last month, it was reported that Sea water has entered and mixed with the ground water, making it more hard and salty. Talking about weather, better not to say anything. There are three kinds of climate here “Hot-Hotter- Hottest”. There is hardly any entertainment options, just one multiplex ( for Hindi and English) which is poor cousin of Adlabs or PVRs....no places to shop unless you fancy Pallika bazar type Spencer Plaza or 5 story high saree shops of T. Nagar.

I wont be including Food and Language into it because every city and state has its own identity and these two (food and lang.) are integral part of it. Of course for someone who is coming from North India, it’s a big problem but that’s not what I am discussing out here. Though it’s tough, I agree.

But what irritates me most is the unprofessional nature of the city. Few instances of that:

It takes around 7 days and 5 people to put up an internet cable connection at your home which is 2 hour job anywhere.

Cable people don’t work after 6, so if everyone at your home is working and your cable stops working on Monday, then better wait till next weekend to get it alright.

These are small things but with instances like these, who would like to settle down here. Traveling in local buses is nightmare and watching movie is one hell of job out here and roads are so small that 70% of roads and flyovers here are one lane only.

So, why companies are shifting here?

1) The decision makers: People are from Tamilnadu, atleast Infy, Wipro are like that.

2) Man power: lots of engineers, there is Engg. College in every nook and corner for city. In fact its tough to get admission in normal grad courses rather than Engg. Quality of manpower : average kind but what works out here is that people don’t leave job easily. So, low attrition rate, that’s the key factor. They are happy with anything. I see people working 15 hours without complaining out here and they just want to code, nothing else. Imagine the quality of work force by this only that one of the PM asking my friend, did u take admission in IIM after passing 12th.

3) Proximity to Bangalore.

What ever companies say that better infrastructure, cheap land and so many work forces is all hogwash. If u will open up your office 20-30 kms out of city, u will surely get land cheap.

Anyway I just want to say that if the infrastructure problems are not taken care of then it will turn into another Bangalore. Already there is so much dense traffic, Chennai is not built up for that. It is almost a unplanned city totally. There is a need to move out from the city and develop something on the lines of Navi Mumbai, Noida and Gurgaon. But the eternal problem is water scarcity…….. What will happen to that ?????

PS: This is blog entry is about Chennai as a city and nothing else. So please dont read in between the lines from it.