Change

The first thing that hit me when I came back to settle down in TVM a few years back was the change to the ‘city’. The TVM I grew up in was a large village with one important ‘high street’. If you wanted to purchase anything, the shop to go to had to be on either end of M G Road – either in Palayam or more likely near the Chala end. The main places to go to relax were near LMS (Museum, Kanakakonnu). Trips to ‘far away’ Shankumukham, Kovalam etc. by bus were rarer.

 The biggest change I noticed now was the change to the Plamood – Kesavadasapuram stretch. Today you can get everything from a needle to a car from the shops that dot this stretch.

 Though we get our provisions from the locality we live in, we still miss going to some of the old landmarks – these shops are still there but I wonder whether they are thriving. Some memories from my adolescence –

 

-         Good Morning store at Palayam – this shop probably marked the start of the ‘city centre’!

-         We always used to buy coffee from Shankers at Pulimood – there was a friendly salesman with a quick wit and sharp tongue!

-         School books and stationery religiously purchased at the beginning of the school year from Academic Book House (Pulimoodu)

-         Plastic items from Ibrahims in Chalai. The smells and sounds of Chala had a fun element then. When I ‘revisited’ the place in the 21^st century, the stench was unbearable!

 Question about the last point – has Chala changed or have I? With time and progress is it just the city that has changed or have I also changed? I agree that the physical aspect of the city has changed (development of the Pattom stretch as a case in point) but in the case of Chala – the change is really in me!

 Incidentally Shankumukam seems to have got nearer (just a short drive away)!

 After ranting on about nothing in particular above, I want to end with a nostalgic fun memory – the fondest food memories of TVM are the times my father took the family out for dosas at ‘Dasarataram’ near the Secretariat. If I am correct this small restaurant was renamed as ‘Shree Ram Sweet Shop’ and now it does not exist. There is some other shop in it’s place.

 Probably it is just a case of ‘those were the days’ but the memories of those ‘paper roasts’ and ‘rocket dosas’ are that they were the best I have ever tasted! 

Musings from a short journey

Last week I had cause to travel by train to Kochi. Nothing exciting happened but a couple of incidents ignited some thoughts and I wanted to share with you...

 I am not a voyeur nor do I poke my nose into other people’s affairs, but during a train journey lots of small incidents are played out in front of you and you can’t help but observe and sometime be part of them.

 Chengannur is a small station around about the half way mark between TVM and EKM. Though a small town and an even smaller station, it is always a busy one. Lots of Chengannur-vasis make a living outside the state. When the train (a long distance one) chugged into Chengannur, there was this lady in her late twenties boarding with a lot of luggage. Looking at the folks on the platform I could guess that they were her mother, sister, brother in law and nephew. She was obviously very sad to depart and had her face away from them. Her eyes were red. It was sad to see this parting scene which got worse when the train started to move.

 Fast forward to 30 mins later – we were approaching Kottayam. There were shrieks of laughter coming from the adjacent cabin – the same lady was joking with and chatting up her co-passengers.

 I do not want to pass judgment or comment but the point I want to make is – the power of emotions is great but power of time to heal is even greater. The lady’s obvious sorrow at moving away from her loved ones was great but it took just half an hour to cope with it.

 Last time I saw her and her new friends, they were having vada and pazhampori.

 The other interesting thing that happened during the journey was that a differently-abled (the politically correct way of saying disabled) person was selling books. The books were priced at Rs 10/- and most of the travelers purchased at least 1 book. He would be earning a rupee or two at the most from the sale of the books but he was making living with dignity and that is much better than begging.

 I purchased a coloring book for my daughter. Better that the person mentioned above benefits than a big retail giant.

TVM Rising

Came across a very good blog a few days back.  It's a blog about the development of Trivandrum.

Found it very informative and more importantly up-to-date.

Would recommend it to any TVM - lover.

URL - http://tvmrising.blogspot.com/