Rita Reeeeta Rïëeeeta Iscreeeeeaaaaaaammmm !!!

The man, if you could call him that, with his pencil thin moustache and pants that hug his legs to show their bow, would come screaming towards you, pushing a small wooden box with a lid that was covered in an old cloth, with those four letters in big blue lettering, RITA.

This by far, is the best memory of our time at the beach, etched deep into my head.

As a small boy who would visit the Madras Marina beach with his mother, or granfather, the highlights would always be:

1. Eating Rita kuchchi ice (gelato on a stick?)
2. Flying a kaathadi (beach kite, the ones with two sets of boxes and a short triangular tail)
3. Collecting shells on the edge of the waves
4. standing in knee deep water in the waves
5. running around Gandhi statue
6. chasing my brother on the sand
7. watching the horses and camels as they gave rides to people (never rode on them)
8. playing catch with a tennis ball
9. eating soan papdi
10. bringing the beach home with us in our pants, shirts, bags etc. and getting a scolding for spreading sand over the entire house!

Later, we got Kwality ice creams showing up in a shinier plastic/metal box with a well defined lid, an umbrella on top, serving everything from the plain orange or grape to Chocobar and Choconut ice cream. Guess that was the end of Rita!

Anyways, it is time to pinch myself and return to the glorious present day Chennaipattinam. We managed to hit the Marina twice in the 10 days we spent at Madras. The first time, we ended up near the University, and that was not a pleasant experience. The sand is too dirty in this area and there are people throwing half eaten fish on the sand. You cannot walk bare feet in this part of the beach. In our house, we don't even consider that a trip to the beach. Yeah, we are picky. To me, my brother, and sister, the equation simply reads :

Beach = Gandhi statue!

By the time we made it to the waves, the MIL, SIL and her two kids dropped out at a halfway point, and it got dark when we really made it to the water. After a meager 10 minutes in the waves, we had to return because it was too dark. Still not a complete washout, but we blamed it on the call taxi who took forever to get from West Mambalam to the Marina!

The second time, we came to the beach from our house in Mandaveli, in all of 10 minutes. We used to walk/bike to the beach when we were kids and once in a while, use the 21 or 21N buses. Devanathan street, Pumping station, Matriculation School and Santhome, four stops in 10 minutes! (I have no idea if these bus numbers still exist, or if the buses stop at these places, but they do in my head and will do so for a long long time!)

We came early, with my brother and his family in his little Maruti, spent a lot of time on the waves, ran near Gandhi Selai for old times sake, ate Soan Papdi, watched the kids play, and finally made our way back after spending a good two hours at the beach!

Sadly, there was no "Rita" ice cream!

It is no secret that I love beaches and we are so glad that both Jr. and the Little One love the beach as much as daddy, if not more!

Outside of the wedding, this was the best day spent in Madras. I love California beaches because they are clean, but the water is too cold for us to stand in the waves. The Madras Marina, is nowhere as clean as it was when we were little kids, but is still not bad considering how many people live in the city now and how many visit the beach, but the water is just the right temperature for my feet!

And yes, there are pictures!

"Horsies", not the ones that give rides to kids, but we saw many of them!

The kids enjoying a spin on what we called the "ranga raatinam", except these days there are plastic cars and bikes and in those days there were wooden ducks or ponies. This was not on my top ten list because my parents would never let us go on the raatinams!

Jr. walking the little one and her cousin. Of all the people, I miss my nephew the most after returning to the states. Last year he was a six month old boy. This year, he is a two year old toddler! He called me ippa (his speak for Periappa) when I wore pants, and Anna (brother) when I wore shorts.

It was the greatest compliment to a guy who is worried about looking 42 when he is really not yet finished 36! My nephew would also call Sangeetha "aatha", because he heard me call her Sangeetha, and all he could manage was the "aatha" part, which means "mother"! San, my mom, my brother were all upset that I got to enjoy this!

Everytime he would scream "Anna, Anna, Annaaaaah!!" it brought an automatic smile to my lips! I really miss that kid now! Going forward, I plan to wear only shorts at home on future India trips.

Jr. decided to take up a job as "Boat Inspector" for a few minutes, but once she found that the boats smelled "eeewww", she ran back to us.

This beach is really a gift!

Soan Papdi.... mmmmmmmmmmmm... yummy... ate as much as I could and went to instant heaven! Hundreds of thousands of Indians live in California and all they could think of is build temples and have concerts with Amitabh and family! Bah! Someone needs to worry about sprinkling the local beaches with Soan Papdi-walas! Maybe that someone is me?

The little one, is really a beach person, like her dad! Just refused to come out of the waves. Reminded me of, well.. Me!

A mom and daughters moment...

If you happen to live in Chennai, you have no idea how blessed you are! You have the Marina, and living in so called "sunny" California, on the coast, we still envy you!

You have THE Marina!!! Go on, go to the beach and take a bow!

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