Selective Amnesia There was a point to this. But I forgot.

Chennai and Lonely Planet

My brother, Seshadri, comments on the post about LP’s rating of Chennai.

I object to LP’s subjective take in rating the city, but I don’t see Chennai faring any better if there were to be an objective rating. You can probably argue that there are african cities in much more deplorable states than what Chennai is in, but while you are doing it, you shouldn’t ignore that we are rating the city as tolerable (comparing it as being better than filthier places), and not welcoming. Aren’t we being defensive? Do we note that we act like schizophrenic paranoids, in attributing a motive to the LP writer and LP?

It is a fairly long, but well reasoned comment. I say this not entirely out of filial love.

But I don’t understand this point of us being defensive. When someone is attacking you, whatever form the attack takes, you have to defend yourself first, and then launch a counter attack. Which’s what the Madras blog world has done. Defensive? Yes. Because that is the first and logical response to an attack.

Secondly, are we attributing a motive to LP?
Yes. We are. Not out of paranoia but out of a careful observation of whatever evidence is presented.
We object to LP’s absolute lack of objectivity in comparing the cities in India. The opening paragraph, to remind you, went like this.

Chennai has neither the cosmopolitan, prosperous air of Mumbai (Bombay), the optimistic buzz of Bengaluru (Bangalore) or the historical drama of Delhi. It’s muggy, polluted, hot as hell and difficult to get around. Traditional tourist attractions are few. Even the movie stars are, as one Chennaiker put it, “not that hot

If those are your benchmarks for rating a city, then you have to apply it equally and without bias to all the cities you are writing about. If, that is, you want to be known as a reputable, credible source of information for travellers.
LP failed to do that. And threw in a random statement that isn’t relevant to the issue at hand.

Historical drama needn’t just be Mughal palaces and Colonial bungalows. (Even if it were that, Madras has enough of them to lay claim to historical drama.) Historical drama isn’t just political rivalry and pitched battles over territory. (Even if it were, Madras has seen both and over long, and different periods of time. The latest being during the formation of Indian states in the 50s.) Historical drama isn’t just a long line of rulers and administrators going back to medieval times. (Even if it were, Madras has had many different sets of people and nationals administer it in many different ways.)
Historical drama needn’t be at-least 500 years old. (Even if it were….) Like I mentioned in Sharanya’s blog, Independent India’s many institutions had their beginnings in Madras. The army, the first Indian owned bank, and many more. Historical drama in India is equally distributed across the country. Be it Delhi or Bombay or Bangalore or Calcutta or Hyderabad or Nagpur or Patiala, no one city can be judged superior to Madras in the history stakes. History is dyed into every strand of the fabric that makes India.
How we treat it is material for another post.

Prosperity? What is prosperity measured with? Wealth? The number of cars on the road? How many people wear Tommy Hilfiger shirts and Gucci shoes? Or is it by the height of the city’s buildings? Or the width of its roads? Even if it were all of the above Madras can easily claim the prize for prosperity. A Saturday evening at the Park or Raintree hotels should give you enough material to fill 20 Page 3 reports on the city’s glitterati. A walk down Nungambakkam high road on any day will give you evidence of people spending money on things that you or I would consider an extreme luxury, and by Indian standards, we (my brother and I) are well above poverty line. Prosperity is when the city’s people have disposable income (and by that I mean money left over after paying for the basics, the necessities). Disposable income needn’t be spent only on Swarovski crystals and Jimmy Choo shoes (By the way, Swarovski, if I recall correct, opened its first Indian outlet in Chennai). They can be spent at GR Thanga Maaligai and Gaitonde. What matters is what the buyer considers utility/luxury.

What Madras’ bloggers have done is provided facts and views that showed Amy Karafin at LP was either ignorant or lying. Neither of which shows LP in a good light. This, our reaction, is how we close the feedback loop, and is essential for any company that wants to develop and perfect their product or service. Whether you want to call us paranoid or reactionary doesn’t change the fact that the company first goofed up and we called their bluff.