The Hindu : Front Page : Tidal waves fail to dampen Chennaiites' spirit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 22, 2005

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Tidal waves fail to dampen Chennaiites' spirit

Swahilya

IN BENIGN WATERS: Residents splashing in the `pool' on Marina. — Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

CHENNAI: Barely 24 hours after high tides caused panic in the city, families turned out in large numbers on the Marina beach.

Even as the residents of Annai Sivagami Nagar and other fishing hamlets of Ennore remained apprehensive about the recurrence of the high tidal activity that brought water 50 metres inland, fun-lovers in the city splashed in the very waters that menacingly came inland.

The high tide has thrown up a swimming pool opposite the Vivekanandar Illam. As ice-cream, cotton candy and `sundal' vendors made brisk business, the teeming adults and children threw themselves into the waters, which were deep enough for makeshift rafts to float.

Along the Fishing Harbour at Royapuram, large numbers of youths were having whale of a time, splashing in the waves that crashed on the beach on the northern side. People on scooters, autorickshaws, and cycles went deep into the inlet platform surrounded by the calm Bay of Bengal on one side and the silent waters of the harbour on the other. Others ventured into the waters for a breezy evening walk. The more daring ones climbed on the boulders and the stacked up building materials to get close to the water.

Sunday evening on the Marina proved that neither a tsunami nor a high tidal wave could dampen the spirit of Chennai's holidaying crowds.

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