Memories w.r.t OMR

‘The OMR has become a part of my work life’. I thought when I rested that night.
When I leave from home every morning or from office every evening, my only hope would be to catch the 19B AC bus. I commute from T-Nagar to SIPCOT and back on the OMR, every working day. Though this has been happening for the past 9 months, I never felt the journey monotonous (journey of minimum 1 hour 1 way). Specifically, travelling in my favourite seat – the last seat close to the window end, behind the driver, which would be elevated when compared to the other seats, always added more fun to the trip. Not many people prefer this seat, especially girls.
Once the bus is out of the terminus, the doors would be closed; the AC and FM would be switched on. It would be so much pleasure to travel with the RJs and MJs as they play all-time-hit songs and it would add more flavour to the journey.
When the bus takes the right to the Saidapet Main road, there comes a wish in the form of an institute on the left, named ‘Aloha India’. I had always thought that ‘Aloha’ meant a Hello or a Hi. It is actually a very generalized term, which refers to any kind of greeting.
Moving ahead, there comes the new ‘Audi Chennai’ and the ‘Hyundai’ showrooms. These cars indeed look very majestic and posh reminding us of their cost. Then the bus moves into the Saidapet Bus stop, wherein the remaining empty seats will be occupied. Mostly the bus would run full from here.
The bus crosses two Ganesh temples, one on the right and one on the left, goes under the Saidapet Walk-Head-Over Bridge and then takes the left towards Madhya Kailash. On the opposite walls, we can see beautiful paintings of falls, temple and power plant and a few incomplete. Almost all the students would have travelled this road because; the Anna University and IIT Madras campuses are present here. Few people do get down here; I envy their capability to study in these universities. Opposite to the Anna University we can see the Gandhi Mandapam. If the bus goes on the flyover we will be missing the ‘Adyar Cancer Institute’ and the IIT Campus on the right. Else we also see The Children’s Park - which would have been visited by all the kids and recently, may be, by all the lovers. If it were a Tuesday, we can for sure find a few people standing out, as the Park stays closed on that day.
Down the flyover on the right, we see a differently named shopping place, which has just 3 symbols – “$&£” – meaning Dollars and Pounds. Close by there is another shop, which has remained shut till date but the Graffiti art on the shutter is amazing. Then comes the Hot Chips restaurant followed by few others. We see a board reading “Residency Regency Regalia”. These words will look like they were sorted in descending order of their length and centre aligned.
On the left, close to the CLRI bus stop, we see a board with an arrow pointing to the right, which reads, ‘SIPCOT IT PARK, 20 KMs’.
This area is Madhya Kailash and from here, begins the straight road, which is named the OMR – Old Mahabalipuram Road or ‘Rajiv Gandhi Salai’ – the recent real estate sensation. Just after the bus takes a right turn, we see the ‘Anandha Vinayakar Temple’. Many people board here and so the bus will be jam-packed, majority being IT Professionals, dressed up in formals with Identity Cards around their neck.
On the OMR, First we see the Tidal Park on the left. Close to it is a new upcoming centre – Ramanujan IT City. The National Institute of Fashion Technology building looks trendy with its walls are painted in saffron, blue and maroon. The trains at the Thiruvanmiyur MRTC remind me of the ‘Metros’, don’t know why. The ‘YMCA hostel’ comes on the right; close to the hostel is a big plain land and recently here was a trade fair named Taj Mahal.
In front of the ‘Lifeline hospital’, we see a big Ganesh Idol. This idol is a really big one and looks very matured, compared to others, which we saw on the way. There would be a lot of movement in and out of the bus close to the Jain College Stop as the Chennai-1 TCS office is walk able distance from here. Following the ASV Sun Tech Park, AKDR Golf village is a completely different view because all the coconut trees would be bent at the top...!
What comes next is my favourite place on the OMR – Dominos. I have had Pizza here only once, but it was really a very memorable experience. When we cross the Okkiyam Maduvu (water body), on the bridge, it is really a great view. We can either see ducks or at least buffaloes in the water. This place has a scenic view completely different from the rest of the OMR. Just then, on the opposite side we find the Riverside Mall – South India’s First River Side Mall, coming up. The RTSC TCS office comes on the other side of the road, the office in which I feared I would be posted when I was transferred to Chennai.
Then, ‘Nalas Aapakadai’. This place has a special mention because; I got to eat Aapam for the first time in my lifetime, two weeks back. Close by is ‘Brown Tree’ shop, in which I have been waiting to feast since day one I saw it. Opposite to these two feasting points in the ‘Arvind theatre’, which actually doesn’t look like one.
We cross the Infy and Accenture campus, Vestas technologies and Orchid pharmaceuticals before we reach the Sholinganallur Junction. This signal is always heavily loaded with traffic. If you were caught here, it would take a minimum of 15 minutes to move ahead. But, from this point, it is indeed a great lane for a fast bike ride, on a cool drizzling day (provided there is no traffic). The Sholinganallur TCS office is built very environment friendly manner and is supposed to be supporting the most difficult Mainframe projects. Just ahead, there is a hotel named ‘Kensington’. I have never been there but this building reminds me of my Mumbai TCS office, which was located in Kensington building, B Wing at Powai.
Just opposite to the hotel is the Sathyabama College of Engineering and Technology, which is painted white completely. This college campus was supposed to be the farthest location a few years back but it is one of the closest on the OMR right now. If I had not studied at PSG Tech, I would have joined Software Engineering here, after paying a lump sum of Rs. One Lakh as donation. When we cross this location, it smells of detergent, don’t know why.
On the left, we will find a board directing to ‘The Farm’. I have been to this place twice; the locality and the food are amazing. The ‘Coromandel Plaza’, is still under construction. The theatres alone have been recently opened for public usage. The AGS cinema screens are at the fifth level and the OMR view from there is really mind blowing. Close to it is the ETA HCL office campus, which has a beautiful entrance, which looks, like a pillared semi circle.
When we enter Navalur, the first thing that strikes our eye is the ‘Olympia Panache’, a new residential apartment that is coming up. We can see the Sabari Classic Hotel, the hotel that sponsored a reward of Rs. 50,000 for the best performer in ‘Airtel Super Singer’.
‘Hiranandani Upscale’ is the closest to the SIPCOT IT Park and these builders were the minds behind the construction of my Mumbai Office Campus, which was actually built as a replica of London. When we look ahead, we can see the Toll Plaza, indicating the end of the IT Highway.

Oh, yeah… This is the stop at which I have to get down. ‘Siruseri SIPCOT IT Park’. I opened my eyes; ready to get down - wondered why it was all dark.


“Sleep. It is late.” I heard my mom’s voice.
‘Memories w.r.t OMR…’ I smiled. ‘Looking forward for another day…’