Jay Raghu's Musings - July 2014: Who is the loser…?

Hi Friends!

At last, I have taken to blogging too!

I shall try and imprint my musings for your reading and feedback.

Feel free to post your feedback - however sever it may be!

Good Reading..

Affectionately
Raghu
www.kcig.in

Jay Raghu's Musings - July 2014

Who is the loser…?

“That my morning walk today was not going to be usual dawned on me as I turned the corner of the I cross and the II main road. A monster of an earth mover was cruising to demolish the half torn building that till date housed Ranga Technical Institute for over 4 decades. My heart was bleeding at this sight as Ranga Technical institute had its own charm and value to the 70s residents of this part of the city. Here was a renowned typewriting and short hand institute that has groomed innumerable dreamy youngsters – boys and girls – who have gone on to various walks of life, some with success and others like any average Indian citizen. But this institute held an excellent aura of freshness, romantic adventures and ambitions and dreams of a horde of youngsters.

As I walked past this building to go to my school, the place used to buzz with a bevy of girls in half saris and boys in full, half trousers and dhotis. 70s were a period of time when every household expected their school final sons and daughters to learn typing and short hand as those skills were an easy passport to employment. On our way to school we had always stealthily held our heads a little high to catch a glimpse of the girls standing on the balcony waiting to occupy their seats on vacation by the preceding batch. Some of the boys in my class used to curse Ranganathan, the maverick owner, for not giving them the 8 o’clock slot as that slot is preceded by a girls batch!

Ranga Technical institute is only one of the many such emotionally connected structures that have all given way to commercialization and development.  The junction at Ambika Departmental store used to have artistically designed pillars which were the source of information on the weekly Friday movies in Eros theatre. And to think of Eros cinema, there could not have been a more relaxed and enjoyable way of watching movies than a Saturday evening show at Eros. In my 20 years, I have never seen the theatre full except on two occasions – one for Rajkapoor’s Mera Naam Joker and the other time, it was Cecil b Demelli’s Ten Commandments! Today Eros has given way to a marriage hall which in turn has now become a car show room!

The low-roofed shops housed in one building on the main road used to boast of Adyar bakery, a small pastries outlet from where eternally a whiff of sweet fragrance greeted you whenever you passed by. Today, Adyar Bakery is an institution housed in its own multi storied complex. Amruta Coffee Shop was a place of constant noise emanating from the coffee roasting and grinding machines. It is not there anymore. The young smart looking owner of the Hongkong Taylors has now become a wrinkled old but prosperous man, driving a team of his bright sales guys and girls in his now a posh designer show room. He no longer stands in front of his shop with a pleasant smile, greeting the passersby, known or unknown. All these small shops have now become part of a large mall-like structure with the old charm no longer visible.

Often one faces this question of why growth at the cost of a personal, affable local flavour to a distant, unfriendly westernization and the romantic emotional structures giving way to giant but impersonal stonewalls.

Is this a question only in the nostalgic minds of the 50-plus like me, who has not learnt to accept the fruits of technology and growth economy?

Who has lost?