VIZAG matters - Sohan Hatangadi's Blog

Every time we talk of tourism we want to cram something more on to our beach road. Our beaches are destination for Events. Food joints.  Shows. Sports. Flash dances. Protests. Rallies. Parties. Awareness drives and every other whimsical idea we come up with. Every alternate day there is some idiotic programme on the beach road as if there is no other place anywhere in Vizag. Every week folk like us are impacted terribly by the sound, increased curb side pollution and gridlock on our roads. Our beaches are suffering and the citizens are suffering. I appeal to all to stop this campaign to do more on our beaches. Leave our beaches alone at least from Coastal Battery to VUDA park.

Vizag’s roads are getting crowded by the day and what with frequent VIP visits it is never easy to keep our roads incident free. Our traffic police have a challenging job of keeping control without being overbearing. Generally speaking our drivers too are not over aggressive. They don’t go crazy with road rage, fifteen year old industrialist’s children in BMWs do not rampage around our streets and drunken actors don’t mow down labourers sleeping on pavements. They don’t show the finger, or wave their fists. In fact there is very little abusive language coming out of cars these days - with the air-conditioned and the windows up we just can’t hear them anymore. It is true that we Vizagites have a couple of stiff ones before heading home amiably from the belt shop and pay our fines quietly when caught by the ever vigilant police. While there is no empirical study Vizag drivers and riders are a civilized lot. However our city roads and our motorists have some remarkable eccentricities th...

My article in the Times of India, Vizag edition dated 17th April 2016 MY MALLYA MILES I first started flying Kingfisher Red airlines from Vizag in 2009. Gosh the airlines had fantastic branding. Their counters were bright red and white and that sparkling orange and blue kingfisher bird, with its wings spread, made a terrific impact. At the check-in counter the lady in red had such a sophisticated air that we wouldn’t mind taking the centre seat on the flight if she gave it to us. The bright red coach took us to the ATR aircraft, K-I-N-G-F-I-S-H-E-R was emblazoned in all caps across the length of the aircraft. The first letter K and the last letter R were a little bigger than the rest of the letters. New flyers stopped and took pictures for remembrance and for bragging. And as we climbed up the ramp we were greeted by the ladies with flashing smiles. With their fashionably short red pencil skirts, white blouse and red vests, they looked like models. We took our red seats wit...

HSBC Wall Kalamkari art depicting their CSR activities

This article appeared in the Times of India, Vizag Edition, 3 April 2016 Landing in trouble There is a renewed purpose in the air, the Andhra Pradesh state government’s mission is clear; this is the time for double digit growth! In order to fuel the growth we need plenty of money. A capital is to be built from scratch; infrastructure is required in every segment, airports, sea ports, power plants, highways and myriad government institutions. Where do we get the money to do all this? Obviously from taxes, we must therefore entice industry and business to bring in the revenue. No wonder then that the first priority of governments is to attract private entrepreneurs, the bigger the better.  The inducements for investing in the state are typically, ease of doing business, educated workers, adequate water, guaranteed power supply, roads, rail, ports and most important of all, the magical ingredient in the business mix …LAND! Plenty of LAND! Have land – want industry Who ow...

You've got messages He staggered into the doctor’s clinic. His clothes were wrinkled, his hair was uncombed and his eyes had that glazed lost look of someone who was about to be put in straitjackets and packed off to the mental asylum. He slumped into the patient’s chair and whispered in urgent tones “My smart phone has been taken over by the devil! I wake up in the middle of the night with the intention of relieving my bladder but instead stare at my phone screen. I can’t get back to sleep. Whether my phone is in silent mode or not, I am compelled to see every message, every video and every picture. I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is reach for my phone!” He leaned forward on his chair and clutched at the doc’s collar “Doctor … help me … I am addicted to WhatsApp!” They have you surrounded Sounds scary? Well it should be. As of February 2016 this popular app has garnered 1 billion users throughout the world. In India it is estimated that more than 80 m...

Temples to be built in agency areas are a matter of concern. Even a decade ago Adivasis worshiped nature. They went to sacred groves to pray. The forest was their spiritual solace and it was naturally protected.  Recently religious competition was introduced. Buildings of different faiths mainly churches sprang up everywhere. The innocence of the tribal is getting compromised. It is becoming this faith against that. Their original respect for nature as a spiritual symbol is vanishing. To top it off thousands of folks from the plains go to some small temple in the ghats and have a huge eating out party leaving the entire area with tons of rubbish mainly plastic but also remnants of goat skaughter and chicken bones. The temple cleans up 10 ft around their perimeter. The left is left in the sun surrounded by dogs and crows. There is no way of removing the garbage and they lie there forever. Forget tribal tourism. The areas around temples are filthy. Now we have religious...

During a recent visit to a wooded area deep in the Eastern Ghats I was awoken early one morning by a strange sound. It was still dark outside. I sat up sleepily. Again that clear sound cut through the early morning fog. I was wide awake! “Oh my God, I have heard that sound before” I thought. But I get ahead of my story. The sounds of the sea As a child my family lived in a house by the sea in old Vizag. So close to the sea in fact, that as the waves crashed on the beach in stormy weather, the salty spray went through our living room like spray from a giant salty cologne bottle. Twenty four hours a day we heard that sound. The ascending roar of waves rushing in; an extended crash as it broke upon the beach and a long fizzy sizzle made by billions of little bubbles bursting  as it withdrew back into the sea again. The funny thing is that when we hear a sound for so long we tend to not listen to them anymore. It goes deep into the temporal cortex of our brains and embeds its...

These are signage references for Vizag Old Town heritage walk signages

This article appeared 11 Aug 2013 in the Times of India. I forgot to put it on my blog. As they say "better late than never" so here it is. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/visakhapatnam/Capital-punishment-for-Vizag/articleshow/21754914.cms Capital Punishmaent August 2013 I would rather be willing for a dentist to be drilling Ever since the Andhra Pradesh separation story broke upon us, every gathering seems to focus on this subject. Last week I sat in a dentist’s chair, getting my new crown fixed - the type that goes on teeth not on the head - and I could hear the topic come up again. Unfortunately as the pros and cons of the contentious issue swirled around me, I was restrained from giving my opinion as my mouth was full of dental instruments. I did of course emit a few grunts of assent or dissent as the procedure progressed to let the others know that I had an opinion too and to signal to the dentist that I was still alive. Last night we met at a frie...

My article in the Times of India dated 21 Feb 2016 Vizag's hidden history TOI web link People fascinated by Indian history are familiar with historical facts of several old towns and cities such as Varanasi, Hyderabad, Chennai or Mumbai. While most old Indian cities and towns have interesting past our own Vizag has a secret history that has escaped some of us residing here all our lives. We pass by structures surrounded by buildings as we rush about our work scarcely throwing a glance at those forgotten spots that have played a significant part in Vizag’s past. Tourist brochures convey a simplistic view of Vizag’s history describing it as a “sleepy fishing village” that over time transformed into today’s bustling city. Somehow we visualise a bunch of fisher folk sleeping all day. In fact Vizag has been an important town for many centuries and has witnessed the ebb and tide of rulers, armies, cultures and outstanding men of vision - who slept very little. What’s in a n...

My article in the Times of India dated 7 Feb 2016 How the International Fleet Review changed Vizag Our city has recently gone through a transformative change. Several parts of Vizag have gone from ugly to beautiful in a month. Encroachments have been cleared, greenery has been laid, walls have been painted, pavements have been tiled and the city has a clean new look. We must admit that Vizag has never ever looked so bright and shining. The challenge Getting an existing city like Vizag spruced up so quickly is not an easy job. Those of us who have got a house renovated realise that every work looks simple until we start. But then things go wrong. Workers don’t turn up, wrong materials are purchased, things break, unanticipated jobs crop up and the journey to completion is never smooth. Old parts of the city that has grown organically over many decades are never easy to fix. Plans were to be made, money had to come in quickly, contractors with adequate human and monetary reso...