An interesting thing happened this week!
I got to stay in Chennai during this year’s Pongal. This was the first time I've been outside Coimbatore during Pongal. I've never seen Chennai like this before. My roommate and I went to Thiruvanmiyur beach in the morning and spent an hour or two there. The beach was nearly empty, the roads were vacant and the weather was top-notch. It was the complete opposite of how I’ve perceived Chennai so far.
After that, we headed back to a restaurant near our house. It was extremely helpful for people like me to have restaurants open during Pongal, but I do feel sorry for their employees. I hope they’re not exploited and are paid fairly. That said, they seemed pretty happy that day. They wished us well and even served us some Sakkarai Pongal — it was delicious.