chennai: where the heat is real and the directions are... somewhere

so i'm here in chennai, or madras as they used to call it before they decided to change names like i change my mind about what to eat for breakfast. it's hot. like, really hot. i just checked and it's...28.73 degrees there right now, feels like 31.02, hope you like that kind of thing. the humidity is making my hair frizz like i've stuck my finger in an electrical socket.

the city is flat, like really flat. like someone took a pancake and built a city on top of it. the highest point is only 60 meters, which means there's no excuse for being out of breath when climbing stairs. the rivers cooum and adyar flow through here, and there's this canal called buckingham that runs parallel to the coast. someone told me that the water isn't exactly swimming quality, so i've been sticking to the beaches instead.

if you get bored, bangalore is just a short drive away, about 345 kilometers to the west. that's good to know because sometimes you just need a break from the endless concrete and heat. the chennai metropolitan area covers five districts, which is a lot of ground to cover when you're trying to avoid getting lost.

marina beach is apparently a big deal here - it's 13 kilometers long. that's longer than my attention span during a meeting. someone told me that it's artificial, which explains why the sand feels a bit too perfect. there are also elliot's beach and besant nagar beach, but honestly, at this point, any beach with a bit of shade is my best friend.

the city has this maritime history, being one of the largest ports in india. someone told me that it used to be a vital trading hub back in the colonial days. which is funny because now it seems like the only thing being traded is sweat and desperation to find air conditioning.

the greater chennai corporation, incorporated in 1688, is apparently the oldest municipal corporation in india. that means they've been dealing with traffic and complaining citizens for a really long time. chennai is india's fourth-largest metropolitan city and has the fifth-largest urban economy. which is impressive until you realize most of that economy probably comes from selling water bottles and air conditioners.

the climate here is tropical, which is just a fancy way of saying it's hot and humid all the time. the city gets an average of 150-240 centimeters of rain, which doesn't help with the humidity situation. the soil is mostly clay, shale, and sandstone, which means the ground probably turns into a mud pit whenever it actually rains.

i'm not sure what i was expecting, but chennai is definitely... something. it's chaotic and overwhelming and hot, but there's a certain charm to the organized chaos. maybe it's the fact that despite everything, people are just going about their day, sweating through their shirts but still managing to smile.

or maybe it's just the heat affecting my brain. who knows. all i know is that my next stop will definitely have better air conditioning.

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