Thursday, July 28, 2005

Ode on 1st Main Road Gandhinagar

There are something experiences in life that you would never want to miss...

To me a stroll across Gandhinagar 1st Main road is defenitely among the Top 5. I've been there as a student of IIT, wearing attitude up my sleeve, been there as an intelligent yet unemployed guy and still there as an executive burning midnight's CPU power.

The road has changed a lot and has yet preserved itself.


The red platform is a welcome addition and I get the same feeling as I do when I walk through the new platform at besant nagar.



Sangeetha hotel appeared a couple of years back and has filled many hearts through their stomachs.Unrelated employment opportunities like the one for the underground sewage cleaner, who cleans up the mess sangeetha dumps quietly into the system.


This guy works hard and pledges his life to methane and cleans the city, all for 3000 bucks a time...In the same road you see kids and beggars all well trained in getting sympathy out of you.They are all organized and task oriented, as the sewage cleaner is.

The latter thinks life has to have a purpose and is cleaning up the city in his case. The former's purpose is to live...no matter what

A few yards ahead, you se the massive house getting gradually eaten up by time and pollution. The owner, as the termite-ravaged nameboard says, is Roy Vaz (MBBS). Earth in that place costs more than gold.

March a few more yards you have traffic jam...the hotel...its claim to fame is its name and definitely not the food they serve.Craig Chappel for some reason loves this hotel. Every time he is in Chepauk, he asks the camera crew to show the hotel, for its funny name.

The same keralite entrepreneur who owns this hotel also wonts tawau lodge and tea stall. Wondering what tawau means.

The distinctiveness of the 1st main road lies in its dichotomy...The old age entreprenurial/working class face of 1st main road stops with the tawau row of shops...

The new age entrepreneurial/richer class face of 1st main road starts at the ceebros apartment gate...

Oh! How can I miss Krishna sweets and Odyssey on the other side...Krishna sweets is close to my heart. My grandma's sister was up for marriage and her dad was approached by this sweet seller...a poor brahmin guy...

After much of deliberation her dad found the boy promising and the marriage happened. My Grandma and whole of our family cursed the man for the betrayl he did to his daughter. The family struggled and struggled hard for years and slowly built what is now an empire called "Krishna Sweets".

"Entrepreneurial Brahmin" is an oxymoron and I love this offshoot from our family for its forsight, courage and perseverance.

Sharing the wall is Yamaha motors....a dying retialer for a dying brand...The first time i took my enticer there, I hd thoughts of taking it back without serviceing. Japanese mess is again an oxymoron and I hate Yamaha for being an exception.

Go past the nicely laid out bus stop adjoining the platform and step down to your left...you are at odyssey, which shares a wall with Sangeetha.

Odyssey's business is to serve food for your thoughts, hobbies and disposable income. They have everything that makes you feel good..toys, books, cards, gifts etc.

The owner is again Ashwin...If you want to see who live in Adyar, come here. Adyar is not a place its a community of well mannered and proud first-generation rich people.Odyessey is a snapshot of adyar.

Lets now move a little fast as the sewage guy is at work...The road stinks...If you wanna window shop at dollars and pounds, you can excuse youself...while you are at it buying inexpensive duplicates of cult brands there, let me avoid the smell of sewage and negotitate my way through the beggars..

Oh No! This is 2000th time am being sold the idea of having an oxford dictionary. This elevator pitch is so good, yet so mechanical. If only this inappropriately well dressed young men apply their minds, they will have a good career. They have good english and they are selling wares in the street.
What stops them from appraoching a BPO? Its not skill buddy, its about enterprise....

Ok..when you were walking down after your purchase at Dollars and Pounds, dont miss me...am sitting in that cute cement bench outside titan showroom, seeing amir khan "rising" high with his titan ad looks.

Come lets have a bite at foodworld...Lemme take sweet corn and Frankie...What do you have? Suzzane's burger there is not bad at all...and would you complain if all the good looking teens of adyar are cramped along with you in that 50 sq ft bakery?

But yeah I agree..when you are there, you also have to put up with the mass urinal that the bus stand is...the gypsy family there never seems to complain..so are the people residing in the posh flats right oppostie to the mass urinal...

Thankfully their neighbours have a sense of hygiene and oh ya , a good sense of money too...Never mind if their antique building is dozed to ground to leave way for a new apartment...They now can live in yet another posh locality without ay guilt of having erased a landmark...and they wont need to face the stink of the urinal.

There are still a few meters in this road...covered by Mr.G, Nuts and Spices, Naidu hall, Kumarakom and the likes.

Mr.G is a pasta shop buried underground. I bet you wont find it even if you try...Nuts and Spices is not buried literally, but yeah figuratively...

Kumarakom rocks...If you are a keralite, you have to be here. If you are not a kerlaite, ou still got to be there. If not for the food, lend your ears to this upcoming singer/owner of the hotel. I wish God is kind to him and gives him 50 more years. Let him have a second chance at singing, he has not tasted success in his first 50.

Naidu hall...This is one place I have never gone to and frankly have no need too ;-)

Also because it takes "two" to tango here ! :-)))

Ok...meendum inooru blog le sandhikalam..adhuku munaadi....breeaak..
 

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