The beach

remains of mermaid

found in marina

The beach is my favorite hang out location. There are three beaches in Chennai the Marina, Besant Nagar and Palavakkam beach. This post is dedicates to the marina beach that extends from Santhome (Mylapore) to War memorial ( Chepauk). The Marina beach which starts at Mylapore is not only the longest among them but is the longest beaches in the world. The lighthouse at this beach has long served the Chennai port trust for the safe docking of ships. The beach also serves as a great reservoir of discovering extinct marine life forms. Recently oceanographers claim that they found the remains of a mermaid from the beach.

The beach road is a main road that connects key places in Chennai city like mount road, Chennai Central, Mylapore and Adayar. The service lane in the beach road separates the main road and a grass turf. You can find the statutes of important people who have influenced the culture of the south Indian people like Kanagi, mahatma Ghandi, Sivaji and Periyar placed at equal intervals as you walk along the service lane. The beach road ends at the Anna and MGR memorial who were great leaders of Tamil Nadu.


To the left of the grass turf there is a small tar road with capacity for light motor vehicle traffic. Once we cross the tar road there is a strip of sand around half a kilo meter wide which directly leads to the sea. On the other side of beach road there are important offices like the Radio Station, TV station, University of Madras (main office) and commissioner’s office. All of them have been strategically located on the beach road because they can be accessed easily from any part of the city.

Early morning is a great time to take a stroll at the beach. The air is clean and the breeze is mild. You will be in the company of chirping birds and fellow joggers. The crimson sunrise is a pleasant sight. As the day progresses the beach road gets lively with traffic. The beach road is an important domestic roadway in the Chennai city. It connects important places like Central Station, Adayar, Mandevelli and Mount Road. The beach is less active during the afternoon and late noon hours. But again in the evening as the sun sets you can find the beach becomes very active. The service lanes will become active with everyone from beggars to peddlers. The inner tar road will serve as the bowling strip for the nation’s passion cricket and the beach sand will serve as the outfield. You can find a lot of young men displaying great talent with the ball, bat and on the field. The dull orange sunset is also a treat to your eyes. The moonrise brings along with it "Love Birds" who flock the beach. You can find young couples at all corners of the beach enjoying in the moon light. I have never been to the beach late at night but I guess its quiet with the sound of waves churning the sea. If you listen carefully you can hear to the sweet music of the great ocean.....Marina is a quiet beach and had always been very friendly to its fisherman and denizens. Recently it has been in the news because of the tsunami scare. It has been very unfortunate that the December 24th tsunami had taken away lives but it has not been able to wash the spirit of the local residence for whom Marina is a part of their daily lives.