Small Town Blues

This post is inspired by two events that happened in close succession...Two days back - friend from blog world says he loves my city 'cos he's studied here for five years. Today - friend from real world says he fell in love with my city during the very first visit, reason being he was bowled over by the greenery...
So I decided to take a good sharp look around to see what I find lacking in a city where I grew up and have now returned to after almost five years ... Maybe, I am taking the luxuries for granted???
Well, sadly even after close to 24 hours of deep thought, I still haven't come up with a lot of luxuries that the place offers !
1. Greenery : Yes, the city is green...green beyond the wildest imagination of someone who has never been here before. And that can charm a tourist...but in day to day life, will you rather choose between
a) Shops open late nite so that you can shop for essentials after work OR a star lit sky ('cos there is no pollution) ?
b) Monsoon rains (good to watch from the comfort of your hotel room) which clog the roads OR a road in which you don't have to swim?
The list is endless....I am a nature freak...but my city's infra is so poor that it takes away the joy of watching rains, sea and sky...

2. Cost of living : Yes, being a small city, cost of living is very less...But then again choices are equally limited. Even if you are willing to shell out money, you will not get a spanking new house on rent - unlike in metros, where houses are built with the intention of giving it out on rent, in my city, you will only find really old houses or claustrophobic flats (where you have to literally jump from bed to bathroom as there will not be any space to walk around in the room) available for rent...Same applies to movies - movie tickets are dirt cheap - just 35rs for a balcony ticket...but the seats are dirty and the crowd dirtier....and there is no other choice.

3. Close knit community : This is the other major advantage touted by many...Yes, it is good to know that if and when disaster strikes you, there is a whole bunch of resources you can reach out to....but the price to pay for this one-off occurrence is too steep : On a day to day basis, you are expected to forego the notion of privacy and individuality. Your deepest secrets are topics of open discussion ('cos in a small town there are always far too many people with way too less work). And the society is extremely homogeneous with the result that even slight deviations in behaviour and thought are not only not tolerated, but also cruelly suppressed. The result : A stunned society which fails to explore new horizons.

My verdict : There are certain things in life which is only worth nostalgic value - my city is one such. It nurtures you carefully when you are dependent - in childhood and in old age. But your independent youth is best spent elsewhere. (of course when it drizzles there, you can reminisce about the magic of monsoons, when you are stuck in a traffic jam, you can reminisce about the greenery back home, when you take your girl friend out, you can sigh about the prices...) And return home when you are too old to enjoy the fast paced life !!!

Comments

Anonymous said…
there are many reasons for not having enough rental houses to choose in kerala.. i guess there is a law by which owner has to sell the house to the renter if he has lived so many years..i don't know the specifics.. it is called "kudi adappu avasham". the law was orginally ment for farm lands like paddy fields but is applied to these cases also.. i know couple of people who bought prime properties from the owners at a large discount because of this... also other laws to take care of renters are lax in kerala ...
in places like tvm before the karivattaom technopark boom, only renters u get were VSSC employees..so there was no economic motivation also to build houses for rent.
bombay dosti said…
i know ..i know..they say quality of life is better there in god's own country.. and there is international films festival they say... maybe we ought to be speaking to more tvm die hards... but you have brought out both the sides..
Tinkerbells said…
@anon: well, the reality has changed...people in technopark have a combined monthly income (both spouses together) of 1 lakh plus...also, rental rules are equally bad in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu...still there are choices...here all that happens when u do house hunting is that the owners hike the rent by 1 K if they know u have the ability to pay, without increasing any comforts...and if u r a single woman in the city havin to wrk late hrs then even God can't save u in HIS OWN country...

@BD : have added u as buddy in gmail. as far as die hard tvm fans go, well.. no one would have done as many debates with a die hard tvm fan as I have - 'cos I live with one..."my hubby" :P.
mathew said…
I understand how badly i miss trivandrum once i came out..inspite of all jaathas and strikes our city is really good..it is a city with the charm of a town.. i hope it doesnt go the blore way..hope the authorities are foresighted enough for a planned development where it retains the charm and greenery of the old..
Tinkerbells said…
@mathew: well, you can't have the best of both worlds...that's reality!
Alex said…
Well, when i said i like TVM, it was because i enjoyed my school days; of which i had hardly been to TVM city as i was a boarder.

The friends i made and the times we shared are priceless.

Problems are there everywhere. :)
Tinkerbells said…
@alex: u r still around in the virtual world eh?? :P As I've said in the post, school days and old age are best spend in a place like tvm. "Problems.." - I agree. But match your situation to the problems the city offers and choose the best one for your given circumstance, that's what one should do...Ideally! Real life ofcourse, is different.
Alex said…
Tinkerbells,

Hehhe. Yeah im around, very much.

The friends here are priceless too. :)

Ideally, or rather rationally as textbook economics says. But real life is so different.
Tinkerbells said…
@alex: yea rational economics vs behavioural finance is quite an interestin academic debate !!!
Alex said…
Tinkerbells,

I just noticed that stock market is one of your interest area.

:)

So making huge money or just analysis? :P
Tinkerbells said…
@alex: Hahaha...neither huge money nor analysis..I do invest and I do read up...and it is an interesting area, I am still a student...though if you r interested, I can direct you to some stuff that I found interesting....especially in behaviour finance....it is more psychology than finance :)
Alex said…
Tinkerbells,

Waiting for your directions! :)

Stock market works more on psychology rather than anything else.

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