Its been a long time since I posted anything. For my part, I was away to A'bad for a few days. A'bad and I have a strange relationship. Its the place I was born, and by that account, I should have a very emotional bond with it. But no. I am more ambivalent to it. Sure, it is the place I was born, but it is also the palce I went to college to, the place I started working and also the place I later struggled to find a job, the place I got into fights... The last has really put it in a bad light for me.
But this time around, things seemed different. Different from the time I visited the place last year. I couldnt put a finger on it, the feeling. Maybe the absence was making my heart grow fonder for the place, or maybe I was getting old, hence a little emotional attachment for all things nostalgic. Things just seemed a little different. For starters, my old house seemed bigger, which is not a surprise after living in a Delhi flat and warmer because of all the memories. Fair enough. But what about the place outside? Things just seemed different. People recognise you, which is a nice feeling. But people when you realise that you werent really chatty pals with them. Your equation with them has advanced, and you didn't know that!! But still, all in all, the first two days were good, barring the very dirty house.
A'bad has certainly moved ahead. Its evident everywhere I went. Gone is the sleepy town of my college days. In its place is a town trying to maek up for the lost time spent snoozing. A'bad wants to be declared a metro town, and it is stopping at nothing to achieve this. Roads have been cleared, broadened, dividers have been set up, CNG in commercial vehicles is necessary, there are newer buses...
But it is in the evening that the change becomes evident. It is quite in the evening. And as far as I can remember, A'bad was noisy till at least 1 am in the morning. And now, things quite down by 11 pm!! What could be the reason for this drastic change? could be that the Gujju craze for the US has finally had a social impact as the population is greying and the youth is off to distant shores, leaving the place like a ghost town? After the riots, people have started moving out to places like Mumbai (number two in the Gujju wish list after US), B'lore and Hyderabad. Opportunities have reduced there inspite of opening of lots of call centers. But if the call centers thrived in India due to cost benefits, they are opening in A'bad for the same reason. The labour there is the cheapest, so the rate of attrition is even higher than traditional call centers.
Another factor is the expanding of A'bad. it is slowly expanding to encompass the nearby villages into its limits, and this is where the crowd is headed. As a result, where there was only the CG Road and the Municipal market as a hangout spot, there is now the SG road as well, with newer shopping malls and multiplexes coming up. As a result, the crowd has spread out...
and speaking of shoppin malls, their increase in numbers has not meant an increase in the number of shops there. Usually, there are just a few big shops that are open there, and the rest are shut. Looks like not many are willing to take a chance and open up there and compete with the big boys...
But I am just thinking out loud here. Whatever the case maybe, A'bad is definately changing, and the optimist in me is sure that it is for the better.
I should know. I have the sixth sense for that place
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