Chennai and Tamil Nadu in general have a distinct culture that differs from the rest of India. Just like the South, Northeast, Midwest, West regions of the U.S. have their own unique culture, India is much the same in its different parts. The tastes and flavors present in Chennai are unique to this part of India. The food served here is usually more spicy and flavorful. Most of the inhabitants will speak the local language which is Tamil, and of course, English. The entire state is filled with beautiful beaches that run from the East Coast all the way to the Southern tip of India.
Well now, this sounds like the perfect spot for a Las Vegas style casino--a coast line of beautiful beaches, exotic places and foods, and the people can speak English! What more could Steve Wynn want??? Can you answer a couple of questions: Is gaming legal in parts of India? and Why did Madras change its name to Chennai?
ReplyDeleteThis place sounds like a nice place to vacation to! I would love to go to a country like India. Is tourism popular?
ReplyDeleteHaha....that does sound like a perfect place for Steve Wynn to set-up a casino except for one important factor....most of the population aren't very rich. And gambling would go against most their morals. It is illegal to gamble in India, but like most other countries a lot underground gambling does take place. However, considering the very conservative nature of India, legalized gambling and casinos isn't something that will happen soon :-(
ReplyDeleteAs for the name change, a kinda interesting story, basically when the British gained possession of the place in the 17th century, two towns existed at the time. One was called Madraspattinam and the other Chennaipattinam. The British merged the two towns together. They called the new unified town the former, while the locals continued to call it Chennaipattinam. Madras stuck as the offical name after Independence from the British in 1947. Sometime late in 1996, they renamed it to Chennai. This was also the same period where other cities in India were being renamed, like Bombay was renamed to Mumbai, and Calcutta was renamed to Kolkata.
Toursim is quite popular in India, although it is not the leading economy in most states. However, in Goa, it is pretty much solely based on toursim. As a result, anyone from outside the state are treated like royalty and allowed to do pretty much anything! Goa is wonderful but very small state on the Western part of India. It located on the Beach and is home to many Americans during the winter as a tropical beach resort!
that's one heck of a pic you posted..ermm, to whom go the honors?
ReplyDeleteand the renaming history was quite interesting!
another state where tourism is one of the largest sources of income would be kerala, also (as any mal worth his coconut oil will tell you) listed by Nat Geo as one of the 50 Most Beautiful Places on Earth. beaches, backwaters, hillranges, biosphere reserves - you kinda have it all!
Well said! Like Rani said, I would still suggest you to visit Kerala once before you return...It's a wonderful place, especially Munnar and Kumarakom...Trust me, you will simply love it ;)
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