Inside Outside

Five years ago, our neighbourhood was so quiet that visitors invariably exclaimed that it was hard to believe it was in the heart of the city. The land across the street was a backwater, part of the Adyar River basin, bordered with thorny bushes, and home to mongoose, snakes, and many species of birds. Now it has become a giant construction site. Here is the view from my gate now -- the new studio of Sun TV, on seven acres of land. From the depth of its foundations, I assume that it will rise so high that the blue sky in the photograph will be completely covered. To the right and around the corner, still more huge buildings are rising -- two hotels, apartment buildings, IT parks:


and looking to the left:


Here is what you will see if you stand at the gate looking in (the watchman provided that pink chair for himself. I'm not too fond of it, but it looks endearing, compared to the hulking monsters outside):


It's still peaceful to look at, but the roar of five cement mixers outside and the construction of a huge building, which goes on for 24 hours a day, is impossible to block out.

6 comments:

Isabel said...

In contrast to the cement mixers (and the pink chair!) your house and garden look lovely!

Yes, this is a trend experienced by all of India's big cities. Where will it end? Apparently in Bangalore there are now too many vacant apartments - the result of frenzied building by money-hungry speculators.

Ramesh Gandhi said...

Yes, that seems to be true here too -- in the suburbs, at least. I think that land/ apartments are still at a premium within the city proper. Prices are still insane, anyway...

Anna said...

Sad for you to lose such peace - and for the mongooses too.

Anonymous said...

Looks beautiful. And very peaceful :) Which I guess it is, on weekends ;)

Unknown said...

The house looks beautiful but I wish your watchman had a better sense of color.

Ravi said...

This is the sad part of so called urbanisation isnt it? Its really pains to see how the once tree-lined OMR is now lined with steel and concrete. I definitely don't like this development. Its takes out the real "natural" beauty of places.