Trip down memory lane : Visiting Madras and Bangalore

Part I : Madras
A trip back home after 5 years. I wasn't sure what to expect. Equal parts excitement, curiosity and nostalgia laced with a soupcon of apprehension can best describe my feelings as the flight touched down at madras. My patient dad was waiting for me at the airport, like the countless times before, and I got about 40 minutes of uninterrupted talk time with him as the car wound its way through the quiet (relatively), dusty, dark streets towards home. I have come to associate going back home with being received by my dad.
The next few days were spent settling in. In my family, like most others, this is normally accompanied by eating ones favorite foods, catching up with assorted relatives and generally regressing back to the old roles that we had thought we had grown out of. A few hot words along the way only go on to make things more exciting and spicy.
Visiting Madras in December has the advantage of providing tolerable days. As a result we did not have to restrict ourselves to the evenings to venture out. I was lucky that my sister was visiting at the same time and we were able to go around and explore things together.
The first thing that hits you when you venture out is the horrendous traffic. For those denizens acquainted with Madras, just traversing Sterling road took more than 30 minutes on a weekday (close to 11:00 a.m). This was a road we had to take to get to school and could manage to get across in 10 minutes during peak hour. The state of the roads (mostly deplorable) has not been helped by the undertaking of the massive construction projects. We managed to be impacted by just two of them - the one to the airport and the one near Panagal park.
Panagal park - what old Madrasites would remember as a tree -lined avenue has changed tremendously. The trees have receded into the background. All one remembers after traveling the stretch is the multitude of vehicles. Things can only get worse with the introduction of the Rs. 1 lakh car. Yes, the argument about safety which was the (stated) motivation for developing the car certainly holds true. But i wonder if any NGO/government agency has bothered with an impact analysis. One can certainly see that a multitude of issues - pollution, more traffic, longer commute times- would be need to be addressed. One wonders why there is no push for more comfortable and reliable public transport.
There seems to be a trend in Madras (more evident in bangalore) of developing massive neighborhoods that could certainly qualify as individual townships. The areas surrounding these self-contained, mini-cities harbor the more traditional neighborhoods. From the few people i spoke with, it appears that these mini-towns are self contained and close to work for the majority. Residing in one such can obviate the need to travel to other parts of the city, unless absolutely necessary. The sad outcome though, I feel, is that the middle class becomes more isolated in its prosperity.
From a sleepy city that went to bed early and was up with the temple bells, Madras certainly has become a more happening place. There exists a night life and the energy,is contagious. Hitting Spencer's plaza on Mount Road, the money power of the youth is evident everywhere. It almost appears that the stores here cater primarily to the Gen X and Yers. One does wonder though if thoughts of anything other than unlimited opportunities exist in these young minds.