Kodambakkam is with it

It seems a long time ago that my family refused to move to Kodambakkam. After our parents spending almost all their adult lives and we children our young life in cosmopolitan T Nagar, it was unthinkable to move to a place that gave wrong connotations when mentioned.

You see, my grandfather (S T Arasu) took voluntary retirement from the AG’s office in Rangoon, Burma, to settle down next door to his married daughter in T Nagar. His family, extended family and friends continued to live in splendid style in the house that was constructed with timber imported from Burma. He put his sons in Ramakrishna Mission High School and his daughter in Sarada Vidyalaya. They grew up, married and had children, all in T Nagar.

Caught in the whirlpool of time, life changed but the bulk of the family continued to live in T Nagar. School for us children was only walking distance. Shopping always had to be done in Pondy Bazaar and Panagal Park, the hub of T Nagar. Vegetables had to be bought only from the evening market in Panagal Park, a habit initiated by my grandfather. Even when we branched off to college, it was only a short distance to the Panagal Park bus stand to take a bus to the institution.

All our childhood friends lived in T Nagar and life revolved around the area. So, even though we had our own house in Kodambakkam, we continued to live in a rented house in T Nagar. But after my father’s (T Ramalingam) retirement from Pachaiyappa’s College as a chemistry professor, we grudgingly crossed the railway track to Kodambakkam (Azeez Nagar), which for us was the dividing line between civilisation and semi-rural life.

The house was neat enough, with a big garden around. Almost all houses in the area were flat-roofed, some very rarely with a floor on top. Life was relatively quiet. But there were other discomforts. The path leading from my house to Liberty (theatre) and Kodambakkam High Road, which was like the ‘town’ area of the locality, was a landfill. Dumping was in progress when we moved in in 1982.

The place raised such a stink and was such an eyesore that my mother would insist on taking the roundabout route to the main road. We would screw up our noses and plough through the filth on a narrow beaten track.

We used to tease friends living in the suburbs about how one would need a passport and visa to reach their houses. They would retaliate by saying that at least they did not have to live near a rubbish mountain.

We would haughtily lift our heads and say, “This is the heart of the city. Just you watch. One day, we will have a huge road here and have regular bus service.” But we continued to shop in Pondy Bazaar and Panagal Park and made a ritual of getting vegetables from the evening market.

The years rolled by and the road did appear: There are boards proclaiming it as United India Colony Main Road. With it came civilisation…

Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam, which rose as a magnificent building in white just where the rubbish mountain was, gave it the first shot in the arm. Mostly known locally as Rajinikanth kalyana mandapam, it is easily one of the most expensive marriage halls in Chennai.

And the people who use it are from the cream of society. We have seen elaborate weddings take place here, sometimes even elephants and horses would grace the occasion and lighting would touch the very skies.

Even then life was at a sedate pace. But it was also the time that the landscape of Chennai was changing. The old sleepy houses of our streets were gobbled up by developers and up came ugly tall apartments.

In houses where one to two or four tenants lived, now there are thirty. In rains we are flooded as the sewage and the stormwater drains were not built with so many people in mind. There is acute water shortage every summer.

Deepavali is the right time to understand the transformation. They are so noisy with all the families vying with each other to burst crackers and the din is unbearable.

Vinayaka Chathurthi is another time that shows how this place has transformed. The inhabitants have grown so much that there are rival Vinayakas during the festival time. There are little Vinayaka temples in the vicinity that compete with each other right through the day with songs on the Lord.

Traffic has increased four-fold as the area is close to Kodambakkam railway station and autos can be found in almost all inner roads. The area has also got hep. There is a shiny building of a leading IT company in the area. There is a designer boutique bang opposite Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam. There is a fast food joint.

Food World recently set up shop. There were huge queues outside the department store during the inaugural week because of an offer. And the crowds have since been growing. Everybody stopped buying provisions and vegetables from the ‘Annachi kadais’ (local provision stores mostly run by Nadars) to wheel-in their weekly buys and carry them home in smart shopping bags.

There is also an exclusive fruit and vegetable shop called ‘Pazhamudhir Cholai’, where you can pick the best bargains in A/C comfort and drink the most nutritious juices. As if not to miss any of the action, Subhiksha opened shop at the other end of the road from Food World. Discerning buyers can be seen standing there patiently for their turn to save some money.

And there is a government route bus running on the main road and even has a request stop near Raghavendra. Cosmopolitan T Nagar? Just check out Kodambakkam.

S Chitra