VIZAG matters - Sohan Hatangadi's Blog

Growing up with Vizag My article in the Times of India, Vizag Edition, 12 February 2017 S ome children grow up too soon. One day they are crawling then learning to walk, and then they are running, knocking things down, falling, hurting themselves, getting up, playing, laughing and then surprisingly disagreeing with us. Before we realise they have become young adults with minds of their own. To parents and grandparents this is a mix of pure joy, concern, alarm, annoyance, frustration and pride in equal measure, sometimes all together. Before long they are going to school, college and taking up a job. They get married and move on. Soon they become adults in their own right and we can scarcely recognise them. But this article is not about children. This is about our city, our Vizag. Infant years For those who have seen Vizag grow up we can appreciate the stages it has gone through. We have the memories from our childhood of Vizag’s infancy. We remember the narrow...

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...

My friend the Navy TOI dated 31 January 2016 Those who lived in the old town of Vizag in the 1950s to 1970s had an emotional link to the Navy. Many of us lived on or very near the beach road of the old town long before the entire beach front was taken up by the Outer Harbour project. From our sea facing balcony we would see the naval vessels steam in and out of the harbour and watching those grey vessels against our blue seas was a treat. Those who studied in St. Aloysius would be drawn away from the teacher and blackboard to gaze at these wonderful vessels bristling with guns. Where were they coming from, where were they going? What were the navy men doing on board? Our fertile minds created an aura around these men in white. We dreamt of lands far away and the life in the navy. Many youngsters wanted to make a career in the navy when they grew up. The navy had a profound impression on our young minds. Of fishing and navy ship watching During the long summer vacatio...