I was commissioned by Chargebee to create a video that could help shatter some of the stereotypes about Chennai. The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. Hope you like what we came up with!
Do remember that many of the participants in this video are from Chennai. Also, for the first few minutes, they are just guessing what Google suggests, and not sharing their own opinion.
Visit https://chennaibeyondstereotypes.com/yt3ms to share your views on Chennai as a city to work in.
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The year was 2007. Wow, 11 years already! A semester before graduating from IIT Madras, I got placed in PwC, along with many of my class-mates. PwC had (and still has) offices across India. We were asked to share our city of choice with the HR. Almost nobody opted for Chennai. I don’t remember my options now, but it was probably Mumbai. Others asked for Delhi and Hyderabad and Bangalore. But guess what, I and another friend actually got Chennai. There was nothing much we could do about it.
We easily found a flat in T. Nagar without a broker. We loved T. Nagar because there were lot of party places nearby (and the office in Nungambakkam was not too far). Chennai suddenly felt alright. 😀 I had my friends outside of campus and suddenly there was no need to say good bye to them. I had a theatre scene going on (I was acting and all that) and the office was chill. It was a pleasure to not get my hair cut at the boring IIT salon anymore! 🙂
But then, in like less than 2 months, I got a project that took me for a year to Bhubaneswar and eventually I never got to return to Chennai for work. I never thought much about it. Over the last ten years, I have been visiting the city regularly – my work takes me there quite often, and because of my background with Chennai, I never thought much about these stereotypes. So making this video, was very interesting for me. And I totally understand why someone in Delhi or Mumbai would feel ok to move to Bangalore but think 100 times before moving to Chennai – most of it, is in the head for sure! 🙂 Except the heat! 😀 CHENNAI IS HOT!
