By Lakshmi Narayan | The Gemini Twins Go to Kasi Theatre

Vanakkam da! Seri, ippo Castor–Pollux pathi pesalaam… Chennai tamizh la. Illa, Madras Tamizh la. Unga bus stop slang, tea kadai tone, autospeak attitude la.


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Castor and Pollux — oru celestial bro duo. Appadiye Thiruvanmiyur twins nu sollalaam. One is the elder (Castor), one is the younger (Pollux). But idhu Hollywood brothers illa da, ithu Greek mythology. But Chennai version la, indha rendu perum moonu velaikku oru bus share pannra Annai Velankanni–CMBT commuters. One is mortal, one is immortal. Like one studied in Pachaiyappa’s, the other got seat in MIT—Anna University, not Boston. Thu.

Pollux – immortal. God’s boy. Kinda like that cousin who does yoga in Besant Nagar beach and posts sunrise reels with Rumi captions.

Castor – mortal. He’s the local one. He knows which kadai has the real filter coffee and which auto driver will drop you for meter fare (legend says there’s one). He’s the guy you meet during power cut, standing in the balcony, swatting mosquitoes and spitting philosophy. Thu. Thu.

They’re both sons of Leda, but… with different fathers. Adha ipdi solranga mythology la – one dad is Zeus (converted himself into a swan, idhukku avlo scene), and the other is just a regular human, Tyndareus. Oru pakkam god-level DNA. Vera pakkam ration card queue. Thu. Thu. Thu.

But they’re tight. Soul-level bros. Idhellam vanthu, Kasi theatre la neraya thadavai Baadsha matrum Vanathai Pola pondra padangalai paarthu valandha anbu thambi level bond.




One day, Castor gets into trouble. Mortal, remember? Dies. Pollux is like, “I won’t leave my anna alone da.” So he tells Zeus, “Either let me die too, or make us both half-immortal.”

Zeus is like, “Ok, okay, kandippa sentiment scene. Half the time in heaven, half the time in underworld.” Appadiye, rendu perum become celestial stars. Gemini constellation. May–June kids oda star sign.

In our Madras version, they’re still up there in the sky. But also, they’re the light and dark mode of every sibling pair in Chennai.

One talks like, “Mama, naan IIT-la padikkiren.”
Other replies, “Naan Nanganallur la auto kaaran-a vazhndhaalum, yenakku pudicha maariyana Autokaranatha Varuven, Narasinhavai kothippen, Thalapathiyay maruven, Thalayai (pol) velven. Endrum Vijayakantai pol iruppen.”
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So next time you see Gemini on your horoscope app, just remember:
Rendu pasanga, one divine, one human, but both Chennai boys at heart. One wears veshti in Marina, the other quotes Plato in Alwarpet.

Both say, “Anbu daan mukkiyam.”

Thu. Thu. Thu. Thu.

Subam.


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