An NRI’s perspectives of Trichy

Being a born-and-brought-up in Trichy, I can proclaim myself a “thorough-bred

home-grown Tiruchian”, and have done my fair bit of been there, done that, in and

around my city of citizenship all those golden years.
Now, having spent 10+ years out of the country, figured why not share my perspectives

of Trichy as can be perceived now, and aptly named this blog entry so.

I have now been in Trichy for 3 months. In the last ten years, I have been here on

five occasions each with a three weeks span each with its own hectic schedule.

Therefore starting with a huge disclaimer: several observations may fall under a

“yeah right, so what?”, or “he didn’t knew that?” eyebrow raisers, or even a “that’s

how it is anywhere in India” smirks.

The first thing that would strike anyone visiting a hometown after such a prolonged

period would be a “wow, so much changed around here!”. Not so much for me. And that’s

not necessarily a bad thing. Trichy has preserved its identities. The vendors in

teppakulam, the buzzy Chathram Bus Stand, the solicitors at Samayapuram, the traffic

in Thillai Nagar Main Road, the prasadam at Srirangam, the cost of living

factor..nothing has changed much.
I do agree there are several noticeable changes, but I stress on the fact that Trichy

still remains the same old city, in a good way, on its rich heritage and feel. On the

cost of living part, this is still a middle-class oriented city. Agreed no one can

live on the same amount of earnings that was a decade back, factor in the income

growth and inflation, and you know what I mean. Real estate has appreciated, not so

much as the metros like Chennai and Bangalore, but still affordable for Non-NRIs. It

remains to see what the proposed IT SEZ park can do when(if) it takes off.

Ten years back, an internet browsing centre was an unknown identity. Five years back,

there was one every street. Fast forward to now, thanks to the global network

revolution and India’s own progress in the communications sector, there is one every

block, right next to hair dressers and tea-shops. The browsing cost is cheap (Rs. 8

per half-hour) and more than once I noticed school kids either playing games or

looking at porn.The ones that are not seen doing this are probably doing the same in

their own bedroom. Internet has penetrated most house-holds, what with a variety of

providers to choose from: government entities like BSNL to private guys like Airtel,

Hathway, Tata Indicom to name a few. Speaking of internet, I needed to get a high

speed broadband connection due to my work commitments. While I was initially

frustrated by the 512 kbps from Hathway (about Rs. 600 pm), I was pleasantly surpised

to learn about the 2 Mbps from Airtel (Rs. 1300 pm). I have no qualms about Hathway,

just the speed wasn’t suffice. With both, I have had about 99+ % uptime. The Customer

Service was surprisingly good and comparable if not better than the West.

Okay enough of internet. My five year old kid gave his unsolicited opinion of Trichy,

that it seems to have a lot of temples and doctors. Oh yes, Trichy has a lot of

temples we know that. From the well-knowns like Malai Kottai, Srirangam, Samayapuram,

Vayalur to much less knowns like Vekkali Amman, Panchavarneswarar temples in Woraiyur,

Naachiyaar kovil, Ayyapan Temple in Cantonement etc.you can spot a temple every

quarter kilometer no matter where you are. Trichy can aptly be called the “City of

temples”. Any time I wonder where to go out for an evening leisure trip, the mind

incongruosuly starts thinking about temples. Mind you, I have nothing against temples,

religion, or God, but after visiting so many temples in so short timeframe, there is

no way to stop thinking.. another temple, another deity, another pooja, another

prasadam. What intrigues me at temples are the architectural brilliance, and the

devotees. Different walks of people ..financially, professionally, physically,

mentally, so many different people all arriving there with elements of faith and fear

of the unknown. Rivetting, at times.
My personal favorite has been the Panchavarneswarar temple where true serenity

associated with temples can be found. The other one is Samayapuram for solely personal

reasons.

Coming to the other aspect of the 5 year old’s opinion: doctors. I am positively

convinced our people are now medically aware than the John Doe of America. Either

that, or people are now more sick than ever. Not so sure although I tend to lean

towards the awareness part rather than the sickness part. Every doctor in every cross

road and its inroad, is holding patients more than it can hold. Doctors do not want to

accept new patients as they are already working whole night. ( I am not making this

up, this is true. I did meet a doctor who works until early morning). Anytime a doctor

appears on TV taking public calls (and he could be a optician, anaesthesian or a

paediatrican doesn’t matter), the calls are flooded from the public. Self-health scare

prevails among these calls, also need to mention much love, affection and care can be

felt when questions are related to their dear ones.

For kids, and by that I include babies, toddlers, kindergarteners, pre-teenagers, and

teenagers, there is absolutely NO entertainment. Over in the US, I have observed that

in small towns where such is the case, there are malls where kids hangout as last

resorts. But over here, there is nothing, nada, zip, zilch, a big fat zero. Where can

a kid go to enjoy a slide, a swing, or just run wild on a big lawn? Comparing with

Chennai, there is a cheap and best entertainment in the form of beach. I honestly

believe that the tax amounts paid by public need to be spent to provide an oxygen

space. Trichy has a Femina Shopping Mall (FSM). But if you call it a mall, all real

malls of the world would feel insulted. Consider FSM as Big Departmental Store,

Jewellery Mart, fabric outlet, and a food court rolled into a cramped stinky cluttered

space. If you can call the Go-kart in Besant Nagar beach a “Mini Go-kart”, the one

here is a “Incredibly stupid to be called Go-kart”. No offences, just my sincere

observations.
For the rest, if you need entertainment, a surprise element is the “Cauvery bridge

under lights”, Trichy answer to Hyderabad’s Tank Bund. Mobile vendors selling masala

groundnuts mixed with mango (don’t miss this), or water-melons or chaat are not to be

missed. A walk from the bridge watching the scarce “water under the bridge” and

reminescing pasts distant and not-so-distant are not to be missed . Another evening

trip for those with kids and not minding spending exorbitant money is “Odyssey”, the

book store on Cantonement road. A few hard to get books, toys, audio and video can be

found here that can be found only in metros. On a personal note, I found that toys in

Odyssey are 10x the price of their counterparts in the US.

Another “almost” clean family fun can be movies. Only wish it were fully

family-friendly. The seats are not fully elevated from the front seats, so less taller

people (read kids) have a blocked view ending in them sitting on parents’ laps. The

snack bar is open only during the interval, or “intermission: as they put it, so no

way to get an icecream or a soda during a song break. The corridors are still

smoke-filled during any song-break. On a personal note, I was disappointed that

“Sippy” theatre has ceased to be operational. So many good memories’ ember glow there

- the admirations of hollywood super heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Silvester

Stallone, Bruce Wills all grew there. Another one was to learn that the Maris theatre

complex was now screening in just two theatres. In its heydays, the lines to movies in

these theatres would well stretch to the main road. Any one in a town bus can

interpret if it was showtime end by just looking at the headcount on Salai road. I

heard the theatre has been poorly maintained hence causing this windfall.

Switching gears, Trichy has been popular internally for its own vegetarian

restaurants, with Vasantha Bhavan leading the way. But a new found “Kannappa”

restaurant is a treat for the meat-lovers. An authentic Chettinad style restaurant. my

humble food critic in myself says this is the best Indian Non-Veg restaurant in the

Universe. The Biryani is unmatched, while the pepper chicken varieties are uniquely

spicy and a treat. Easily the best place to eat when you are hungry. In the past I

have been a lover of “Banana Leaf Restaurant” but haven’t tried it now. “Pandian” in

Thillai Nagar is mediocre, but service and ambience are excellent. While on the topic

of food, it consistently amazes me how even B grade restaurants in Trichy can produce

Idlies, Chutnies and Sambars of the highest grade.

Having said all the above, I finish by saying Trichy is a city I love and want to call

it my home. There is something for everyone here.