A plate of home!

CHENNAI: We all love our hometowns, don’t we?  But the real challenge lies in what we do to express our love for the city we have spent our lives in. For 37-year-old Rajesh Ramachandran,  separation with his beloved city ‘Madras’ (as he likes to call it) happened about a decade ago when he moved to the US. But he is still madly in love with the city.After a decade of living abroad, Rajesh still misses Chennai. He says “I do miss my hometown, who doesn’t? I visit Madras almost every year during summer vacations, sometimes even twice a year.” However, his love for Chennai doesn’t stop here, as he goes on to elaborate, “Whenever I make the trip, I make it a point to visit my favourite pub; there’s nothing like partying in one’s own city with folks you’ve known for years. And that’s the kind of fun we miss in the US.”So you must be wondering what sets him apart from the rest of us who love the city. Living miles away from Chennai, Rajesh has an SUV (Acura MDX) and a Volkswagen Jetta, both of which have Madras and Chennai etched on their  number plates, respectively! Now, going into the legal stuff, in the US, vehicle registration and licence plates are handled by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Customisation of number plates in the US does not mean you can alter the color, shape or size of the licence plates — one might have to face serious consequences for tampering with the plates. Customisation only allows the user or owner to use numbers/letters of their choice once it has been approved by the DMV. “I got a plate with the letters to read ‘Madras’ on it about three years ago. Last year, when I bought my second car, I tried for ‘Chennai’ and I got it as well. I ended up having both versions of my hometown’s name. I am just as proud to own these plates as  I am proud to say I am from Madras,” states Rajesh proudly. However, in the US, once a customised plate is issued, it is for the owner to keep. This means that even if  the user changes his car, the person may carry forward the old number plate and place it on to the new car, he adds. Talking about the recent ban on fancy number plates in Chennai, he says “I assume that fancy means colourful, shaped differently or the use of special fonts. I am with the government on this issue of ‘fancy’ plates. There is a good reason why they have been banned. Allowing the owners to have fancy number plates will lead to a loss of credibility in numbers. Tracking stolen vehicles will then become difficult.”prarthna@newindian express.com