Salem! This’s my place. This’s where I was born, this’s where I’ve lived all my life. This’s where I belong. I assume, you know that Salem is a tier-2 city in Tamil Nadu. (If you don’t, remember Salem steel plant? It must have been there! In some corner of you eighth grade geography book.)
Here is a gist of my place, As I see it.
A typical convo!
-Coffee day? Barista?
-Naa.
-Oh! Alright, surely there’s gotta be a pizza hut.
-Nope. There’s a pizza corner though.
-Oh damn! This sucks! Rural area, probably.
-:o!!
Let’s face it. Salem is no metro. It’s not the coolest place around. It’s no Bangalore. It’s not even close to where you’d place Cbe.
If you ever visit Salem, which you surely should, there is one thing you just shouldn’t let pass. I’m talking about what we call the ‘Settu kadai’. It’s a roadside mobile eatery that serves some awesome food (U got it? thinking of ‘set dosa’? You’ve no idea what I’m talking about, quit guessing.) At close to seven in the evening, get outta where you stay (on a bike, I suggest). You might have to hang about a bit before you spot the guy. Nevertheless, you wouldn’t lament it, it’s surely worth it. You would certainly find it nowhere else. That’s a bike ride, awesome food and easy on the pocket as well!
So, unless you’re a hygiene freak or the kind who refuses to eat from the road-side hawkers, this is surely SOMETHING!
Yercaud! Li’l Ooty! A forty minute drive to awesomeness! Get outta bed and into our car, drive uphill with the windows down, turn up the music, loud and intense, feel the morning chill as the wind hits your face and makes your eyes watery. Look all around, see the beauty, listen to it, feel it, experience it. Reach the place, sip some hot tea to feel the warmth as it descends down your throat. Spend the day chilling out. The drive downhill, it’s something you ought not miss. The top view of Salem, the countless street lights in a backdrop of black, dark silence is a breathtaking site. In all, I promise you a beautiful day.
Bangalore and Chennai have too many things, which Salem is short of, traffic as well. :P That’s one thing that’s cool about Salem. You don’t spend half your day swearing at the red that never turns green here. Small town, lesser population, insignificant traffic, distances are way shorter and travelling is not a piss off. It’s fun in fact.
In spite of the many times when I got bored of the eateries, when I was fed up of riding through the same roads, when I couldn’t think of any new place to hang out, there’ s something about the place that I miss when I’m not in town. It’s just that it’s home, I guess. =)
Stop over sometime, to see Salem as you see it. =)
