Mavoorinte Bhaavi?:
So the giant chimneys no longer spit toxic gases, the sirens will no longer be heard thrice a day and Mavoor will never see those long serpentine queues of bamboo laden trucks. Maybe we all managed to prevent a disaster from happening, another tragedy in the lines of Union Carbide and Bhopal. And for now the waters of Chaliyar won't be black...
But may be we should spare a thought for the more than 3000 people who lost their jobs, and for their families too. Many who spent their entire lives in Mavoor, and many who didn't have a skill set to fetch them jobs outside of Grasim. All those families who had no places to go when they were evicted from their quarters. All those shops and merchandise which mushroomed and survived along with Grasim. Well, many survived ,many didn't. The situation of some people are grim, especially those who were attached to the school, those who were conveniently forgotten by the unions during the compensation talks. But people will find a way to survive. After all these years, when I went back to Mavoor, I was quite surprised to see that most of the shops were still open and functioning as were most of the buses. As Ian Malcom famously says in "Jurassic Park" , "life finds a way (to survive)".
Discussions are going around on what will be Mavoor's future. What to do with those vast swathes of industrial wasteland. Unfortunately, I don't see anything happening in near future. Mavoor can only be useful for those heavily polluting , water guzzling behemoths. And given the experience of Grasim, people will not prefer them anymore. And to expect that IT/ITES concerns can be accommodated here is nothing short of day-dreaming, Mavoor (and for that matter Calicut) is no Kochi!. Let me hope that I'll be proved wrong, and something good will indeed come to Mavoor soon. But all those newcomers will now have to start it all over again, for some of the old inhabitants of Mavoor have slowly but surely made their way back ... SNAKES!
But may be we should spare a thought for the more than 3000 people who lost their jobs, and for their families too. Many who spent their entire lives in Mavoor, and many who didn't have a skill set to fetch them jobs outside of Grasim. All those families who had no places to go when they were evicted from their quarters. All those shops and merchandise which mushroomed and survived along with Grasim. Well, many survived ,many didn't. The situation of some people are grim, especially those who were attached to the school, those who were conveniently forgotten by the unions during the compensation talks. But people will find a way to survive. After all these years, when I went back to Mavoor, I was quite surprised to see that most of the shops were still open and functioning as were most of the buses. As Ian Malcom famously says in "Jurassic Park" , "life finds a way (to survive)".
Discussions are going around on what will be Mavoor's future. What to do with those vast swathes of industrial wasteland. Unfortunately, I don't see anything happening in near future. Mavoor can only be useful for those heavily polluting , water guzzling behemoths. And given the experience of Grasim, people will not prefer them anymore. And to expect that IT/ITES concerns can be accommodated here is nothing short of day-dreaming, Mavoor (and for that matter Calicut) is no Kochi!. Let me hope that I'll be proved wrong, and something good will indeed come to Mavoor soon. But all those newcomers will now have to start it all over again, for some of the old inhabitants of Mavoor have slowly but surely made their way back ... SNAKES!
(the end...) PART I, PART II, Recent Photos
Anubandam: Thanks for all the comments. It is a great feeling to know that so many people still remember and love Mavoor.
10 comments:
I had visited Mavoor in mid 80s. I still remember the self igniting yellow Sulphar 'hills'.Also the obnoxious smell that used to reach Calicut by early morning. I can sense some 'pain' in your writings on Mavoor..any reason?
For someone, who woke up to that "obnoxious" smell of sulphur and the sight of "sulphur hills", everyday for the most part of his life... I can't be anything but melancholic now! :(
I am in the preparation of making a website about Mavoor that reaches the pulses of Mavoor.Help me plz by giving some pictures,newses and something more.
Mail me faisal.pcm@gmail.com
My website is www,faisuonline.cjb.net
dsfsddsfds
First of all a heart felt thanks for bringing all the memories back to life. Ours was one of the last families to leave mavoor. I had passed out of GRHS by 2000 and had a very hard time seeing all my friends leave one by one taking a piece of my life with them. The years i had lived in mavoor will always be the best in my life. I am still searching for my comrades in school, i have found some but lost many. Hope your blog reaches out to all those who had lived and loved mavoor like me.
My native plave is in Kozhikode DT and i have many rekatives in and around mavoor..so i use to pass by mavoor once in a while..feel sad seeing the sleeping mavoor these days..
Since ours was one of the best CBSE schools near by for mavoorians those days,we had many good teachers who were Wives of staff's wroking in that compnay..i also had many friends from there...we lost alll good teachers and friends since they had to move out when the compnay was closed down...good Blog...it was nice to read ...i appreciate for sharing your memories..
Anish
I think you have to write a PART IV obituary to the toxic sulpher plant which was never envisaged in the 60's when the woodpulp factory took shape. There too the cleaning and waste was NOT to be dumped in the Chaliyar.But in those days there was no Pollution Control Board worth its name and with the political links -the BIRLAS made their money one way or the other. Who else would give bamboo @120 per tonne and electricity @ 0.20 unit perpetually BUT the Kerala Government ???
Let us hope the present leaders will clean the air with a techno-park-software type place which will bring back the lush greenery of MAVOOR and bring back life into the Chaliyar. Let us hope it happens in our lifetime too !!
Stay in touch Aneesh.
Muneer kmuneerudeen@gmail.com
PS: I found those old construction time photos B/W small pics and I might post it on my website www.koyapathodi.com
hi,
I am sabari from TVM. I read the article and could feel the pain. Can't any private players start any new venture in that place? cant the govt take any initiative over there?? anything has to be done.Some thing has to be done.U are very much attached to it then onlu u can give such insight about a painful incedent .My mail is sabarih@rediffmail.com
Anish, i believe ,the real pain which u had made u post this article. Article is really good.The photos bring back many old memories. I too am a Mavoorian, passed out from GRHS in 1990 and left Mavoor in 1993.I hope merchants like Shamsuddin, Mathew (Premier Stores) et al, Beljith Tailors are still leading a decent life there.I sincerily wish- Let Mavoor flourish again.
Nostalgic memories. I worked in pulp plant as trainee engineer. Love and affection i got from the workers unimaginable.
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