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 A
grand welcome was accorded to Chennai's very own World No.1 Viswanathan
Anand when he returned home after winning the Chess
Championship in Mexico.
Scores of people and students turned out at the
Chennai domestic airport to receive the World Champion, who has also
broken the ELO 2800 point barrier.
Overwhelmed by the grand reception, Anand described
the moment as "awesome." Traditional music was played at the airport by
two groups - one playing nagaswaram (wind instrument) and another, the
traditional chendamelam (percussion) of Kerala.
The World Champion walked out of the arrival lounge
to a huge round of applause and cheering by the fans.
He was presented bouquets by students and later a 'purnakumbam'
welcome was accorded on him by a couple of Hindu priests.
Anand was then taken on a two-horse chariot from
Adyar to his house in Customs Colony. The chariot was preceded by four
ceremonial guards on horses.
The bespectacled 37-year-old Chennaivasi sent the
crowds into a frenzy when he stood on the chariot and waved the
Tricolour.
As the procession moved from the venue to his house,
hundreds of people thronged the streets to shake hands with him. Many
were seen taking his autograph. The final stage of the ceremony was even
more majestic with over 300 students of the Velammal School here taking
out a march-past, each holding a banner of the champion.
People stopped their vehicles to greet him, some of
them even got out of their vehicles to hail the champion.
Lots of people watched and cheered from their
rooftops and houses. Students who were walking alongside the chariot
waved the Tricolour.
As the chariot reached the World No. 1's residence,
all his neighbours and the schoolchildren gathered around him chanting "Anand,
Anand..." His mother Susheela and his wife Aruna received him at his
residence.
Anand told reporters later that he never expected
such a welcome.
"It is totally out of the world. Awesome... I don't
have words to express my feeling. The whole journey was fantastic," he
said and thanked everyone, especially the schoolchildren, for making it
a memorable day in his life. (Agencies)
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