Chennai Woodlands

We are over at No 20 on the Second Line Beach Road. It’s right in Mannady, which is a pretty old part of Chennai. If you’re at the Beach Railway Station, you just look across and there we are. The sea breeze doesn't really reach inside because of all the buildings, but you can feel the salt in the air sometimes. The station brings in a lot of people all day long. It’s a lot of walking and noise outside. Our building has been here a long time. The walls are thick. We spend a lot of our morning just prepping for the office crowd that works around the port and the station. It’s a lot of tea and quick meals. The furniture is heavy wood, a bit old fashioned maybe. We don’t change much. Why bother if it works? The floor is that old stone type that stays cool. Mannady is crowded, so parking is always a headache for people, but they still come. We keep the lights on and the water jugs filled. It’s not a quiet place, especially when the trains come in and everyone rushes out. We just keep the kitchen going. It’s a steady rhythm. The staff has been here for years. We know the regular orders of half the people who walk through the door. It is just how a place like this operates in this part of town.