Backwaters

Like the Chennai Central or the LIC Building, this bridge is a movie star, too. Unlike them, this did not establish a location, or even indicate that it is part of any city. It was a location of choice for jumping into the river/sea; at low tide, the waters are shallow enough to allow people to walk - if you know the path, of course.

A long time ago, the Tamil Nadu Tourism department showed quite a bit of foresight in setting up a boathouse here. It was fun to take a spin in the backwaters, going up towards the Bay of Bengal and then ducking back under the bridge. It appeared to be a secret, known to only a few people, for the vast majority would rush over the bridge, intent on getting to Mamallapuram or Kovalam, or wherever it is they were going, hardly sparing a glance to the boathouse on their right.

Not any more. There are always vehicles milling around the north end of the bridge, as tourists try to get the best parking spots while they go down for a boat ride. The possiblity of accidents, which were earlier much higher in the water - and there were quite a few fatal ones - are now loaded towards the land. Thankfully, they'd just end up with a few bumps and dings, rather than being life threatening!