Its strong presence in both the old and the emerging knowledge-based economies has made Chennai a vibrant hub in the region. From automobiles to software, from dotcoms to retailing, it's all happening in Chennai. And the mood of optimism on the business front has filtered its way through to the Chennaite's lifestyle, which has undergone an unbelievable transformation.

What makes Chennai one of the most preferred destinations today?

Except for the weather, most people seem to agree that things are improving in the city; in terms of civic amenities and infrastructure (what with the 9 flyovers, privatised collection and disposal of garbage and improved street lighting)."We have the most developed infrastructure, as compared to other cities in India. Chennai is the natural gateway to the world.", says S.Mahalingam, Executive Vice-President, TCS.

Chennai Telephones is the largest revenue earner for the Department of Telecom (DoT) in India. Telephone connectivity has touched one million in 2000. All the exchanges have become electronic and all pending applications have been cleared.

More than a dozen international flights cover Chennai. The existing capacity at the international airport is 0.9 million a year. International traffic is projected to grow at 15.6% per annum. Exports through Chennai by air in 1991-92 was Rs 1,193 crore. This touched Rs 3,978 crore in 1999-00.

Exports through Chennai by sea in 1991-92 was Rs 3,343 crore. This touched Rs 12,320 crore in 1999-00.

The Ford Motor Company decided to put up its plant in Chennai clearly because, when it came to the practical issues of ports, electricity supply, water and other services that were required, Chennai ranked ahead of other cities.

Tamil Nadu churns out 32,000 engineering graduates every year, including 15,000 in computer science and software engineering. Institutional infrastructure and quality of manpower has become world class, particularly in IT and Biotechnology. According to S.Mahalingam, Executive Vice-President, TCS, " Chennai is the home of Institutions and traditionally has been a great learning place". Chennai and suburbs have about 29 engineering colleges including IIT, MIT and Anna University.

Investments are coming in because of the availability of a highly talented workforce. When asked about why Ford chose to put up its plant in Chennai, Phil Spender, MD, Ford India had this to say, "Because we could find and attract a very good work force here. Tamil Nadu has very talented people. Very capable and enthusiastic".

Chennai has the largest number of software professionals in the country. The number of software firms has increased from 34 in 1996 to 596 in 2000. Software exports has risen from Rs 37 crore to Rs 1,890 crore during the same period, with a targeted software export of Rs 8,000 crore and hardware export of Rs 5,000 crore. It has about 1 lakh internet connections, 4 lakh net users and the largest number of cybercafes, 600 at last count.

The Rs 338 crore Tidel Park, is the largest Information Technology park in Asia, with a built-up space of 1.28 million square feet. The Government has also recognised IT as a thrust area and is cooperating with the industry for further growth and development.

According to B.K.Anand, Associate Vice-President, Jainsons, "Chennai is the Retail King of India. The retail market is heavily concentrated in Chennai. As far as the consumer durables market is concerned all changes take off from Chennai. Customers here take informed decisions. They do a lot of survey and analysis before buying a product".

Most experts put this sudden surge of retail in Chennai to the easy availability of commercial space and transparency in real-estate transactions. According to Pradipta K. Mohapatra (RPG), the man who gave momentum to the retail revolution in Chennai with Food World, Music World, Health & Glow and other such mass-retailing models, "Any retail revolution is driven by the middle class". With most members of this class getting into careers in the new economy, purchasing power has improved.

The average Chennaite was usually happy to invest his disposable income in fixed deposits and watch his bank balances grow. But even as he comes of age in choosing a profession, which belongs to the booming knowledge-based sector, he has more disposable income in hand and his spending habits have changed drastically. Once labeled 'price-sensitive', the Chennai customer is today being referred to as 'value conscious'.

Also the cultural hot seat in India, Chennai is not only mass producing young Carnatic musicians, its also becoming open to contemporary forms of art, as witnessed during the recently held "The Other Festival".

The booming retail scene along with the shopping complexes, coffee pubs, exclusive clubs, bowling alleys, golf courses, pool parlours, discotheques, beach resorts and theme parks have redefined the concept of entertainment in the city.

Thanks to the rise in the number of MNCs that have come into Chennai (Ford, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Matsushita, Caltex, St Gobain, Henkel, HLL, ST CMS, Alsthom, PSEG, Unocol, Chevron, Alcatel, Visteon, Caterpillar, Van Melle), there is a sudden surge in expats from Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, US, Australia, UK and Europe. This in turn has given rise to a number of multi-cuisine restaurants and speciality cuisine restaurants, providing the bored middle class with multiple options, apart from the usual movies and of course the Marina beach. MNC food outlets and concepts like restaurant-cum-boutique/art gallery (Annalakshmi, Whistle-stop-cafe, Earth Bazaar, Pizza Hut, Marry Brown and Qwiky's) are finding increasing acceptance. Pizza Corner has successfully blown away the myth that the Chennaite's taste-buds were not ready for change.

And though Chennai may not be on par with Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore when it comes to fashion, there is a growing awareness of the latest trends. According to Althea and Jyotsna of Sunita's Design Studio, " People are a lot more figure-conscious than they were before. They have dropped their inhibitions and are more eager to try out new styles". Several beauty clinics, gyms and fitness institutes like VLCC and Pivot Point, have enthused not only the younger generation, but also the conservative kutchery-going housewife. And people are now willing to throw open their wallets to alternative fitness solutions like Reiki, Transcendental Meditation and Yoga.

Another impetus for the changing lifestyle is the the awareness created by the numerous Television channels - 10 regional channels at last count; the maximum for any state in the country. We even have a Tamil version of Cartoon Network programmes, and on the cards is a Tamil version of the popular Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC).

Chennai is renowned for its state-of-the-art hospitals and for some of the most famous doctors in the country. Standing examples are the Madras Medical Mission (headed by one of the best cardiac surgeons in the world - Dr K M Cherian), Apollo Hospitals (that has the country's "who's who" list of Medical experts on board), Shankar Netralaya (the first eye hospital in Asia to receive the ISO-9002 certification) and M. V. Diabetes Specialities Centre (again the first ISO-9002 certified Diabetes Centre).

Overall, there is what they call "a feel-good-factor" about Chennai, as a happening place. But as Jayaram Krishnan and Ramkumar of Kaashyap Radiant put it: "We (Chennai) have been steady and stable in our growth. But we are lagging behind in marketing ourselves properly. We are not matching up when it comes to hype".

Throw in the hype, and Chennai will, in all probability, give the rest a run for their money.