vintage vibes and humid nights in chennai

i just woke up to the sound of my alarm clock buzzing like a dying bee. the room was thick with that humid air that clings to your clothes and makes you question all life choices. i checked the weather and it’s 19.93°C, which honestly feels like someone spilled a bowl of soup over the thermometer. i’m sitting in my old studio apartment, surrounded by vintage shirts that smell like mothballs and regret. my needlework project is half-finished, and i’m wondering if this is the universe’s way of telling me to stop sewing and just lie down.

last night, i wandered into the local market and got lost in a maze of spices and vendors yelling in a language that sounds like a cat fighting a parrot. someone told me that the best way to find the good stuff is to ask a vendor who’s also selling expired mangoes. i did that, and they gave me a bag of curry leaves that were probably from 2015. it’s probably fine. the neighbors are different each day. one old man in a sarong is always playing bhangra music on his phone, and another woman with a headscarf judges my fashion choices from across the alley. if you get bored, mumbai is just a few hours away, but i’m too lazy to leave.

i heard that the old library here has a ghost. not the scary kind, but the kind that lingers in the archives and whispers about colonialism. i haven’t proven it, but i did see a book open to a page about 1920s fashion. maybe that’s the ghost’s way of saying hi. i also saw a review on a tripadvisor page that said the market’s food stalls are unsafe. i don’t know if it’s true, but i didn’t touch the samosas. they looked suspicious.

i took some photos of the market with my old film camera. the first shot was a mess, like someone spilled coffee on it. the second one showed a vendor with a bowl of dal and a face that looked like they’d seen too much. i uploaded them to unsplash, but the quality is probably bad. here they are:

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i asked a traveler about the weather, and they said it’s like living in a sauna that forgot to turn on the heater. i’m not sure if that’s a compliment. the feels_like is 20.3, which sounds like a number from a horror movie. the pressure is 1011, which is probably just the city’s way of saying, ‘we’re not dying, but we’re definitely sweating.’

someone claimed that the best view of the city is from the rooftop of a 100-year-old building. i tried to find it, but the directions were in a language i don’t speak. i ended up following a group of kids with skateboards, which is how most people navigate here. if you want to fit in, learn to walk like you’re trying to avoid a herd of cows.

i’m not sure if this place is supposed to be magical or just exhausting. the last time i checked, the humidity was 89%, which is basically a hug from the air. i wrote this while sipping tea that was probably brewed by a ghost. the neighbors keep passing me notes that say things like ‘don’t trust the street food’ or ‘the market is a trap.’ i think they’re trying to protect me.

i linked to a few sites while writing. tripadvisor has a review about the market’s spice stalls, and yelp mentions the café with the best chai. i also found a local board that talks about the best vintage shops, but it’s in malayalam. i tried translating it, but the words kept turning into nonsense.

the map shows where i am:

. it’s a tiny square with a lot of people. i don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. maybe it’s both.

in the end, i’m not sure if this was a good day. i have a shirt that smells like mildew, a photo that’s probably useless, and a story that makes no sense. but at least i didn’t get lost in the market again. probably.

vintage vibes and humid nights in chennai

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About the author: Lucas Grant

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