Valmiki Nagar

"WHY DON'T you buy a plot of land in Valmiki Nagar? It's only Rs. 30,000 per ground," my friend had said. I was sorely tempted, but I let the opportunity pass.

This was in 1981 if I remember right, but I first visited the lovely seaside suburb south of Tiruvanmiyur way back in 1962, my last year at school, when my classmates and I were invited to tea at our school principal's house, 'Saradindu'. Kalyan Miss and her twin sister Anand Miss were perfect hostesses and we boys, all eight of us - that's how big our class was - waded into the sumptuous spread like soldiers back from the trenches.

There were few houses in the neighbourhood then, and 'Saradindu' was a single-storeyed, spacious, airy bungalow with a huge compound and plenty of vegetation around it. A swim in the sea was an exciting bonus, followed by some sage advice from Mr. Subramaniam, the principal's father.

Eight years later, Valmiki Nagar had not changed much when my wife and I went there on a holiday, courtesy our Spanish friend Maria, who lent her house on Third Seaward Road.
It was still a sleepy suburb, with the bungalows few and far between, occupied by IAS officers and other distinguished personages of Madras.

To reach Valmiki Nagar, you took the village road past where Kalakshetra is now situated and crossed the agraharam of the Marundeeswarar temple. Lotuses floated in the temple tank, which actually had water those days. All the buildings around the temple were old, village houses that you found in temple squares everywhere.

Tiruvanmiyur itself was still very much a village, with the bus terminus located on North Mada Street, the large one on the main road still belonging to the future. Jayanti and Tyagaraja were then 'touring talkies', 'tents' that moved from place to place. Hordes of IIT students would land there on a Saturday evening, usually late, and the projectionist would restart the film to oblige them. English films were part of a two-in-one deal, which meant that you watched MGR as a prelude to "Come September" or "Casino Royale".

'Sunny Brooke' was the first block of flats to come up in Valmiki Nagar, some time in the 1980s. One recalls the sense of outrage it caused in old time residents. The owners of the property, who had betrayed the interests of their neighbourhood for personal gain, were criticised.

In time, however, almost all the seniormost residents gave in to the inevitable. Today, some of the better multi-storeyed residential apartment complexes in Chennai are situated there, outnumbering independent houses by a big margin.

Valmiki Nagar is no longer the preserve of IAS officers. Company executives, pilots, businessmen, musicians and showbiz stars reside there. It is still a pleasant suburb, but it has too much traffic for comfort. Cars zip around, competing with water tankers, which pose an even greater threat to life and limbs. School vans and office-goers in a tearing hurry make the roads unsafe for the pedestrian and the cyclist in the mornings.

The saving grace is that the locality has not been taken over completely by the rich and famous. Its middle class residents still form its hard core, with their upward mobility over the years visible in the gradual improvements in their houses and modes of transport.

One thing that may never change is the approach to Valmiki Nagar. Whether you take a left turn on New Mahabalipuram Road or enter it via the Besant Nagar-Kalakshetra route, there is no escape from traffic snarls and potholes. Nor, we are assured, will there ever be an attempt to remove the permanent obstruction on East Mada Street that reduces every motorist to tears day in and day out.

You must cross a few hurdles on your way to this quiet suburban haven.

(First published inThe Hindu Metroplus in August 2001)