There are many layers to Chennai, the outermost of which is the heat, the effluvium of sewage which is permeating and people who seem to a language which sounds like someone spluttering in the shower. As you peal through these layers, either with patience, in the hope of finding beauty under the veil of ugliness or through compulsion, what you find will be a city which gives you the opportunity to explore its countless facets, provided you don't get thrown off by its obvious lack of outward appeal. Indian's, after all , have a talent for ignoring the obvious. As much as all this may sound like something out of a tourist brochure, I'm speaking from experience. I've found in Chennai what I haven't in Bangalore in my twenty years of living there. The folks here are bare to the bone, with none of the sugar coated artificiality that you may see in Bangalore. I live in one of the oldest areas in Chennai, with two temples(Kapaleeshwarar and Madhava Perumal) which date to antiquity, the Marina beach and a Mall which is filled to the brim on most days. It's fun walking around the gullies, with men in baniyan's and women in nighties chatting or having drunken fights after consuming TASMAC liquor. (I hear that the women take pride in drinking here).
When you ignore the sweltering heat, which is quite a task, bundle all your preconceived notions and throw it out of the window, it is quite a cool place to live in. I'm sad that I'll be leaving pretty soon.