When a tree is gone or a wall is broken, it doesn’t just lend the area a different look, it also makes regular commuters on that road feel a bit lost as they miss a familiar turn.
No complaints against development of the city; or the progress the city is making. We just rue the fact that while the city is getting a new look, it is also losing many familiar sites and sights.
When the walls on the left side of the main road to Tivoli were struck down to make way for the Metro’s pillars, little did T. Archana, a teacher, know that she would drive ahead, miscalculating the position where she normally took a turn.
“After crossing the RP road flyover, the next left is my way home. But overnight, the road looked too wide, too open, and I was not sure where to cut and take the left turn; so I drove ahead and missed my routine turn. I wasn’t angry, just surprised at a missing wall and the tree on the corner could mislead me.” Clearly habits die hard.
Of late it’s not advisable to give addresses or directions with terms like ‘opposite to so and so retail store’. Chances are the store can’t be viewed from across the road. It’s easier to give directions with relevance to Metro pillar numbers under flyovers. That way you don’t lose your way when a view of the regular left or right turns is blocked by a pillar here and there.
Actually losing one’s way isn’t the worst thing to happen. An upcoming pillar work a few months back almost blocked the traffic signal light opposite HPS.
“I drove ahead missing the light only to see, after some effort, that I was driving at amber. The cops stopped me, challaned me and didn’t buy my argument. After that I went slow and made an effort to look for the traffic light to avoid another new challan . Finally I am glad the casts are off and the lights are visible from a distance. Now the place also looks clutter-free,” says Pratap Kumar, a businessman.
For the Hyderabad Street Photography page, changes are important; as important as the sights and scenes captured that lend the real flavour to the city. For someone like Sanjay B. of Hyderabad Street Photography, who draws inspiration from common sights and lights in and around the city, “When I couldn’t spot the Vishvesvaraya statue on my usual route, I was stunned. I thought it had been pulled down or shifted, only to discover that a pillar covers its view. Similarly, when the compound walls of the Institution of Engineers were pulled down down, I couldn’t recognise the place I grew up seeing everyday on my way to school, college and finally to work.”
The sight of the massive pillars and speed at which work is progressing is impressive. So impressive that it surprises people to… once gain, lose their way. No, this isn’t because they have missed any familiar landmark but because they saw something new they never knew existed. “I was driving between Assembly and Khairatabad and the sudden sight of a temple in a newly formed island took away all my attention and I missed my turn. I drove back to the spot after a u-turn in an attempt to reconstruct the familiar road. I failed,” says author Suresh Kumar.
Nothing can beat Rajeshwari’s 10 kilometre extra drive and a late show with in-laws in tow to fix her brother-in-law’s marriage. “The girl’s family was in distress seeing our delay. We were more than two hours late, but nothing beat the smile of the girl’s parents when we eventually reached, though it was almost in time for tea instead of lunch,” Rajeshwari giggles. All because of a right-turn being sealed, which made them drive a long way ahead and find their way back with the help of Google maps.
