Chennai is the new Venice

These photos are from Rangarajapuram, Chennai, where San's aunt lives.

The grandparents home in West Mambalam has water (knee to waist deep) inside the house. Luckiy they got grandpa and grandma out in time.

My dad who is 70+ years old has to wade in waist deep water to get out of the street in Mandaiveli. He tells me that the storm water drains that were installed mandatorily during JJ's time as CM, don't work because those tunnels are being used by cable TV operators as pre laid pipework for their cables!!! After they put the cables in, they apparently seal off the entry point for the the storm drains with concrete.

Sadly now, the rain water has nowhere to go! My dad says they have to get someone to clean the remaining drains that are clogged so that water can drain out faster.

He was consoling me saying "Even if you were here, you will also be wading with me in this water." Somewhere in the back of his mind, my not wading in that water is his way of giving me a better life and he is also so certain that my being there would not change anything! Do not know if it is based on the lack of confidence in his child or the absolute knowledge of a system that is doomed to fail, but that is how he justifies things internally.

For now, we go back to memories of making paper "kappals" and singing "Rain Rain go away"!

Things have a way of complicating themselves.

They also have a way to simplify themselves after reaching a critical oomplexity. Let us hope for that in this case!

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