Essential Tamil phrases

Hello in Tamil, with palms together. Tamil identity is strong here and a genuine attempt at the language is noticed more than in most Indian cities.

Thank you in Tamil. Learn this and vanakkam before anything else — Hindi is much less useful in Chennai than in the north.

Degree coffee, made with a metal filter and served frothed between a tumbler and davara. A genuine institution and an entirely different thing from what that phrase means elsewhere.

Steamed rice cakes with lentil stew — the standard breakfast, eaten daily by most of the city and available on every street.

Old Mahabalipuram Road — the IT corridor running south along the coast, where most technology employment sits. Also called Rajiv Gandhi Salai.

A shared autorickshaw running a fixed route for a few rupees. A genuine local transport layer that most newcomers never work out how to use.

Renamed Chennai in 1996, but still used affectionately, especially in 'Madras Day' and by older residents. Both are understood.

Evening time, when the city comes out — Marina Beach, the temples, the coffee shops. Daytime Chennai in April is for indoors.

The Tamil month spanning mid-December to mid-January, and the world's largest classical music and dance festival — hundreds of concerts across the city.

Elder brother in Tamil, used to address any man of similar or slightly greater age. 'Akka' is the equivalent for women. Using them correctly is basic courtesy here.

Chennai's main rains come in October to December, not the June-to-September south-west monsoon that soaks most of India. This catches people who arrive expecting the national pattern.

112 is the national emergency number. 100 for police and 101 for fire still work and are more widely known.