The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Nowadays they call it a day late at night

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Tuesday, Jul 31, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Nowadays they call it a day late at night

City Bureau

Most of Chennaiites have become a nocturnal lot, loading hours with job-related and other activities

— Photo: M. Vedhan

UNABATED ALWAYS: It is almost night time; but not for the road traffic. A scene on the Nugambakkam High Road near the Anna flyover.

CHENNAI: “Good night!” — more and more Chennaiites are saying this later than they used to. A drive around the city at late hours showed that a considerable population of the city does not consider that time of the day as being late anymore. Why is Chennai going to bed late these days?

For many like S. Manoj, a BPO employee, their jobs make them stay awake almost the whole night, as they work according to work timings in other countries. He has been in the call centre industry for two years now and cannot remember the last time he had a good night’s sleep. “I sleep during the day, from about 6.a.m. till noon. It is difficult to sleep well amidst the noise,” he says.

In a lifestyle change that is becoming evident, a sound eight-hour sleep may, well, be on its way to extinction. This is true not just for professionals working late but also for several others including children.

Mother of a school-going teenager Revathy Bharath says her daughter prefers to study at night. “When we were students, it was more common to get up early and study. But now, my daughter and most of her friends stay up all night to study.”

Even if it is about catching a new film, nights are increasingly being considered suitable. Says a doctor practising in a leading private hospital: “We find night shows very convenient because that is the only time the entire family is free.”

Tan Ngoranga of Satyam Cinemas, however, is not sure if night shows are drawing a larger crowd. But, he adds that late evening shows that end at about 10.30 p.m. are popular. “The 7 p.m. show is the favourite of audiences. I think most people come here straight from office,” he says.

Traffic at night

A change in timing of traffic signals was necessitated five months ago, following a significant rise in number of vehicles plying at night.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sunil Kumar says the automatic signals at Koyambedu, Grand Southern Trunk Road, Anna Salai, Kamarajar Salai and Poonamallee High Road function till 11 p.m. and again from 5 a.m.

“Between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., traffic policemen are present at marked points to monitor the vehicle movements,” he adds. Vehicles picking up or dropping employees of software firms and BPOs contribute to the steady flow of vehicles at that time.

It is also not uncommon to find many of the IT company vehicles being rashly driven on residential colony roads, posing safety hazards and often taking other road-users by surprise.

Labouring at night

As the city expands rapidly, development work, coming up on tight deadlines, demands the employment of manual labour at night. Labourers could be seen working at the Kathipara and Padi junctions to complete projects of the Highways Department.

R. Geetha of the Unorganised Workers Federation says: “There is definitely an increase in people working through the night. Child labour is also employed. Issues of safety, lighting and protection are not always taken into account.”

Addressing hunger pangs

Besides the 24-hour coffee shops at star hotels that make heavy demands on the purse, more cost-effective options are also available to soothe those midnight hunger pangs of the nocturnal lot.

Gopalan, a student of a city college, relies on these. “It is always possible to find some piping hot chai and other necessities for staying awake if one has a two-wheeler and a little persistence,” he adds. The one loca ted opposite to Spencer’s Plaza on Club House Road is his favourite spot. Barring the tea shops, most hotels close by 11 p.m. making many go to bed with an empty stomach. Though some road eateries are open, the quality of food that they serve is a suspect.

A.Sridhar of Korrukkupet sells tea outside the Government General Hospital between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. “I have been selling hot beverages at night for the past two decades to avoid stiff competition from other tea vendors during the day,” says the 60-year-old.

Most petty shops on Anna Salai shut at around 2 a.m. Hotel Crescent in Nungambakkam is open late and is therefore popular among IT professionals. Its management has observed an upswing in the number of customers in the past eight years, as the IT segment boomed.

Hostels

Wardens of working women’s hostels acknowledge the increase in the number of women working on night shifts. “Most call centres and IT companies provide transport,” said a warden. However, some of them do not accommodate women working late and opting to get back in their own vehicle.

Safety and access

D. Rajasekaran, a member of the Koyambedu Vegetable Vendors’ Welfare Association, works between 2 a.m. and 7.30 a.m. “I live in Perambur. Until a few years ago, I used to leave home at 9.30 p.m. and sleep in the market because transport was not available later. But now, things have changed drastically,” he says.

With buses and share-autos plying during his work hours, the challenge is not so much in finding transport to work as in finding time to sleep the following day. “However, buses stop at the Koyambedu mofussil bus terminus. Reaching the market from there at 2 a.m. remains a challenge,” he adds. During nights, there is only a skeleton public transport service in the city.

N. Selva Kumar, who travels from Teynampet to his home in Ambattur, prefers to drive after 10.30 p.m. when the traffic is relatively less. Given the heavy flow of traffic on the Inner Ring Road, the travel time is an hour and a quarter in the morning. “But, at night I reach in 45 minutes,” he said.

A positive feature of the nocturnal Chennai is that the roads, which get clogged by the day, seems to be greatly relieved at night, thanks to the relatively less traffic and more space.

But for those travelling in the night, it also means staying alert at all times to tackle unexpected situations, including a potential attack by stray dogs, people walking in an inebriated state, rashly driven vehicles and not to forget the anti-social elements.

(With inputs from R. Sujatha, J. Malarvizhi, L. Srikrishna, K. Lakshmi and Meera Srinivasan.)

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