The rains came and terrorised everyone in the city. The prayers of the majority bore fruit and the monsoons left after giving us only a portion of their promised bounty. For people like The Man from Madras Musings who rejoice in the rain, this was a disappointment. And now Chennai has settled down to its winter, which is around one week of mild weather followed by a couple of months of a reasonable climate.

But the average Chennai-ite, or so MMM realises, takes his cold weather seriously. How else do you explain this proliferation of monkey caps, mufflers, shawls and, above all, earmuffs inspired by wildlife? All of these and more the average Chennai-ite has taken to sporting and MMM will not be surprised if many wear thick woolly underclothing or flannel. It may not be long before houses in Chennai have a fireplace or two.

The weather may not be cold, but most of Chennai appears to have caught the affliction that goes by the same name. All around the city you hear nothing but sniffles, coughs and sneezes. And when you are in a music concert, you hear all of these around you, in addition to the main musician who, too, invariably has a sore throat owing to over-exposure and strain, what with having to sing multiple concerts in the season.

The Chennai-ite is also proud of his winter. Try making fun of it by stating that it is nothing but mild weather  and he springs to its defence. The temperature, says the affronted Chennai-ite, dipped to 24 degrees Celsius or some such freezing point and if that is not winter, the Chennai-ite would like to know what can be called cold weather. Moreover, they say by way of additional proof, the air conditioner had to be switched off. Is that even remotely possible in Chennai? And so, MMM concludes, we are heading for a winter of discontent.

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