The results of our study regarding knowledge of the participants are similar to Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES‑9) study[13] which also reflects the poor knowledge and awareness about diabetes among the Chennai population. There was a misconception among 72% of our study participants that all bitter substances can treat diabetes against 53% which was seen in a study done by Shah et al. in Saurashtra.[8] Eighty‑two percent knew the methods to diagnose diabetes mellitus which was slightly different from findings in a study done by Gupta et al.[14] where 90% of the study population in the rural area knew about accurate methods to diagnose diabetes.Again, knowledge regarding complications of diabetes was also poor, which was also similar to CURES study.[13] Only 30% of the participants knew that diabetes can cause ophthalmic problems against 15% of the participants in CURES study. Even more, worse was their knowledge on diabetes causing neuropathy and skin infections. The results obtained in our study regarding the knowledge on complications were different from the results obtained by Mehta et al.,[15] who observed that 82% of his study subjects had knowledge about the disease and its complications.It was observed that mean composite knowledge score was better in the 30–49 years age group, being a professional and belonging to upper class. This finding is similar to the one done by Adibe et al.[16] with respect to the age group who also found that younger the age group, better the knowledge. It was also seen that those with