The Morning Life in Chennai

Sitting around at afternoon tea yesterday with a colleague (one who strangely has ties to both Chicago and Kingsport) he told me that since he's been in Chennai he's basically stopped drinking at bars. He drinks mostly duty free spirits and bootlegged booze (wines and such from places that know how to make them). I asked him about Chennai's nightlife. He said there really isn't any such thing. The only murmurings I've even heard about a night life are from expat communities and I don't know how to break into that market. I'm not exactly here to be in that market, but if someone's throwing a party where English is spoken and good beer is served, I'd certainly like to be invited.

He told me, "In Chennai people have a morning life." This sounds very confusing to me, but then I reconsidered the facts of what he was saying. People really do wake up at amazing hours to start doing things. The other "night" when I returned at nearly 5AM someone just a block away was blaring music and I think there was dancing happening. Just before I left for my brief vacation I was looking at concert schedules. The earliest concert began at 6:30 AM! This also seemed to be a daily occurence. Well, I'll tell you. I'm not into going to 6:30 AM concerts, no way, no how. This very morning I awoke to bug bites and a cat howling madly at just after 4AM. Before I got back to sleep another party was just starting up. Although I hesitate to truly call it a party. What I believe is really happening are rituals and religious ceremonies of the Hindus. Many special ceremonies start before sunrise. Since in Chennai we're close enough to the equator days are between 11 and 13 hours all year round. The sun comes up at about 5:30-6:00 AM everyday. Everyday! In order to get your ceremonies going before that you'd better get going at 4:30. All in all I'm not sure about this "morning life" thing. It's probably not for me. I much prefer being on a schedule in which I go to sleep late, wake up late, eat late, and leave work late. I have not yet fully abandoned my hope of some night life, but in the last two months the latest I've stayed out was on Christmas night and that was because I went to midnight mass...