Marina Beach

A brief anecdote

Hello everyone! How are you now?

Suddenly Tbilisi became cold and windy, and I took my coffee and went to my terrace to have a sip when I felt the intense wind pushing me back and forth.

While enjoying this experience I realized that this was not the first time I felt something like this. That made me dig in my old memories when I first found this place.

As you can read in the topic it was the "Marina beach". There was an interesting story which took place in my school days that came to my mind.

It was was the first day at school after summer holidays and my teacher wanted to know how did we spend our holidays. Every one started telling their stories, when this girl who studied with me stood up as it was her turn.

Before telling the name of the place she started telling that they all traveled in a plane, where free food was served and that it had been a great experience. My teacher was also very eager to know about the place she was talking about. The girl then kept telling that her father had been planning their trip and the expenses for more than two months, including flight tickets, which ended up costing about 130. 000 INR.

When she finished talking about such a huge amount, my teacher was stunned and asked her for the name of the place. Believe me when I say, she quickly replied Marina Beach.

The whole class burst out into laughter, even the teacher, but after some time my teacher realized that this funny girl was mocking on her badly, so she became angry and furiously she questioned the girl: "Marina beach is 6 miles from here, and you all reached there by plane spending around one Lakh and a half? "

The girl then realized that she confused the name of the place, so she said: "Sorry teacher, I misspelled the name due to the anxiety of speaking before the class. It was Marina Bay in Singapore and not Marina Beach".

The teacher then laughed and continued with the next student and ever since that day my teacher called her Marina!

Source

About Marina Beach

The Marina Beach is one of the beaches located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and the beach is a part of the Bay Of Bengal in the Indian Ocean. The beach is a continuation of the shores of the Taj Coramandel coast and goes up to Besant Nagar, where the Elliot's beach starts. The beach runs along a distance of 13 kilometer and it's sandy. Despite being very short, the Marina is the longest beach in India.

I have this book in Chennai which was titled the "Madarasa Pattinam". It was a very old book which I found on my dad's shelf. The book had printed a lot of pictures about the old Marina and I was shocked that there was nothing in it except a big beach and a very thin strip of muddy land. Today I can see a lot of buildings, vehicles and other things. It was a clear change. The Marina which I remember when I grew up was far more different than the present beach and the past one before I was born.

To help people decide to visit Marina I will now tell you the new additions. I went home from Tbilisi for my summer vacation on July 21st, and on August 15th, the Independence day, I went to the Marina beach to witness the Air show that happened to be a part of the Independence day celebration. I proudly say that this is the tenth time I witness the air show and each time they're astonishing. Marina will be busy with vehicles during that entire day.

Most people are attracted to it for two reasons:

• Morning jogging and exercises.
• Evening fun and games.

In the morning one can witness the Marina full of people running along the joggers track, walking, and small kids learning to swim in the two large swimming pools named "Marina" swimming pool and "Anna" swimming pool. I learnt how to swim a bit at the Anna Swimming pool, despite the fact that Marina swimming pool is longer and wider.

Sunrise looks awesome, it is a must watch.

In the evenings, you will witness two sorts of people:

• Those at the early evening.
• Those at the late evening.

People who comes to Marina early in the evening are usually boys who come to play cricket and families. The games close at night as there's no light. The late evening people will love Marina for the climate, the peace and the sound of the tides, it is seriously heart melting.

I have been at Marina at all times of the day!

On the roadside you can have a glance of the buildings of some important government sectors and you might get the feeling of being in an ancient British colony because all those buildings look like traditional British buildings, although they are still in very good condition and working.

Some of the buildings are:

• M. A. Chidhambaram Cricket Stadium. one of the biggest stadiums of Tamil Nadu, recently renovated.
• Madras University, Chepauk.
• Public Works Department Office.
• Presidency college.
• Vivekanandar Illam, where Vivekananda stood all his life, there's now a museum with all the things used by Swamy Vivekananda and they even sell a book of good moral values including those written by Vivekananda.
• Light house.
• Arignar Anna Samadhi.
• M. G. Ramachandran (M. G. R) Samadhi, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
• Lady Wellington school.
• Queens Mary's college.
• Police headquarters
• A. I. R. : All India Radio office.
• Marina's ground for cricket practice.
• St.George fort.
• Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Thorana Vayil(entrance).
• Parakkum Rail Station.
• Mayor Ramanathan Chettiyar Kalyana Mandapam(M. R. C. ).
• Santhome Church.

In fact if your flight descends down in the Chennai Airport you can have a majestic view of the Marina shore. The Anna Samadhi and M. G. R Samadhi also draw a tremendous tourist attraction. The entrance of both buildings is very architectural, particularly the one with the Lotus-like roof. Another remarkable thing about the M. G. R. Samadhi is that, there is a lamp which is always lit and will never go off even when it rains.

There are many statues installed on the way:

• The statue of Robert Caldwell.
• The statue of Kambar.
• The statue of Annie Besant.
• The statue of Avvaiyar.
• The statue of Subash Chandra Bose.
• The statue of Ilangovadigal.
• The statue of Swamy Vivekanandar.
• The statue of Kannagi, which was replaced.
• The statue of Subramanya Bharathiyar.
• The statue of Karma Veerar Kamarajar.
• The statue of Thanthai Periyaar.
• The statue of Labourers.
• The statue of Nadigar Thilagam Shivaji Ganesan.

And many more, not included here.

Despite being very near to the marina beach i have never had the previlage of going there with my dad as he is always busy and he did not show much intrests in these places, but those days I used to be very angry on him because my relatives will take me there except him. But later I realised that he had to work so much for us (our family) that he cannot waste a secong and more over (not all) most of the people who love each other will do crazy stuff and behave idiotic that no one can go and sit there with family, this was all wheni was a kid but now a days the police go on a continuous rounds and these stupid things are rarely occuring incidents. More over unlike the olden days police men collect fine for literring, spitting or dirtying the beach. the government has took so many initiatives and has renewed the beach few years back depicting the picture of Cultural development and Traditions of Tamil nadu, and has also declared the whole length of Marina beach as Litter free, plastic free zone.

The marina beach was completely shattered during the Tsunami of december 26, 2004 which was terrific and since at that time my house was very near to the beach and from my terrace I visibly saw the tides rising about 25 metres high ann people running away from there and i was shocked and for a second I felt the fear of dealth when drops of water drizzled on my face. My mom was scared much and dad was in his office almost a couple of yards from the shore. When my dad returned home his dress was all drenched and we left the place and went to my grandmothers house which was far from sea. That was the first day when I heard a term called Tsunami and After which my mother too disliked going to the Marina considering it was dangerous. After a day of Tsunami We all went on that road where I witnessed heaps and heaps of human bodies and since most of the bodies were unidentified they were all burnt on together. Many lost their life and their Kith and Kins in the incident. The terrific scene of heap of corpse still stays in my heart and it flashes all of a sudden when I see the beach while crossing that road. May all their souls rest in peace.

On the evenings there will be a lot of food stalls, and games like shooting, skating, kite flying etc. Swimming is strictly prohibited in the Marina due to frequent accidents and unpredictable sea currents. The food stalls will include, Chat item stall where you can buy pani poori, bhel poori, samosa, vada, bajji, sundal, all-mix, molaga bhaji (fried chilly dumplings) and other items. Sea food lovers will have a good time in the stalls available for fresh sea food. You can also eat ice creams, tea and chips sold on the way.

Later in a particular place you will have a lot of shops where they will sell sea shells. Articles, ornaments and all the other things made of sea shells can e bought here as a sweet memory of Madras.

You can reach The Marina

• By train : both from Egmore and from Chennai Central railway station it is easy to reach Marina by a auto (Pre-paid autos are more preferred)
• By bus : Almost most of the busses reach the "Anna square" bus terminus through beach. But the proble is you have get down a little before and walk for a minute to the beach (very small distance)
• By Parakkum Rail: You can also reach it easily via the open metro. The direct station is Tiruvallikeni right opposite to the beach.
• By Auto: The fares usualy change and the proce may be anywhere from 100 to 350 INR depending upon your distance from Marina, But please do bargain and dont blindly trust Auto drivers, Be careful while travelling alone or with family

There are a lot of hotels which provides accomodations, and one can select the hotels according to their budget. There are large hotels and lodges who offer accomodation which are 10 minutes walk or two stops far in bus in the road opposit to the Kannagi Statue. These hotels also have food corners and some classy hotels on the nearby locality.

So guys that is all about My MARINA and do visit and the expirience will be awesome. You can also Have good fun with your kids as most of the kids love water Feel free to post your comments and your questions below. You suggestions are always welcome. So take care guys and see you soon with another article. Tata bye byee !