Marina Beach

In an earlier post I used the comparison that Chennai was New Jersey to Bangalore's New York. This wounded the hometown pride of several of my friends and coworkers from the Garden State and for that I am truly sorry.

Sorry that I have to do it again that is!
Today we went to the beach as part of a sightseeing tour. It was a both strange and familiar. I'll walk through the li'l adventure and you tell me if it reminds you of the home of Asbury Park.

We wanted to go to Fort George and maybe some shopping nearby. The Fort was kind of a dud. We weren't very interested in the churches and stuff around that our driver Money was trying to show us. But Marina Beach had some livelt interest. Take us back there, please!

Money relectanly drove us toward the beach, taking detours to show us other buildings along the way. At length we arrived, but he drove away from the action. No, no, Money- take us over there by all the vendors and stuff! Money complied but when he dropped us off he gave us a stern warning: "Be careful. Danger. Very Very."

It didn't seem dangerous. Just another beach boardwalk with vendors, families, kids, games and craziness. The game above is the traditional Pop-the-Balloon game. Except that they are using real BB guns and the only prize seemed to be the act of shooting a gun. Below is a giant robot music listening booth. Listen to music from a giant robot, only 10 paisa!

Money's warning disturbed us and we kept a close eye on our wallets and cameras, especially when we started down the crowded corridor of stands on the beach that headed down towards the water. There were enough young men in groups staring at us to make you think about it, but it still seemed fine.

Then we saw the sign that told us that about 1600 people died on the beach every year. Actually, verbatim the sign says:

This sea area is so dangerous. Don't take bath here...This year, more persons lost their lives while taking bath here in the sea. Avoid taking bath here and save your lives.

Then is helpfully breaks down the stats with a chart that tells you the ages and origins of the dead. It was mostly youths from Chennai. Was this what Money was warning us about? Not to swim here? We weren't dressed to swim, but then neither was anyone else here and there was evidence they had been in the water.

We walked down the sandy path, browsing the wares and people watching. A vendor started barking, touting his wares and Val commented he would fit right in in New Jersey. Hmm. There were some strange foods I wanted to try, but in the heat I didn't dare. But I'm curious what Boost Horlicks are.

After the beach we went to a popular shopping plaza and some other stops, but we liked the beach. It's good to go where the locals are going and see a little of how they live. Even if some of it isn't pretty.

So there you have it: a boardwalk, a vague undercurrent of danger and excitement, music, games, food and fun on the seaside and guys who would fit right in in New Jersey. Case closed!