Off to Madurai

I am accompanying my mother, who is aged 85, to Madurai this morning for her to visit relatives.

My mom is from Aruppukottai, a town which is an hour’s drive from Madurai. She came to Singapore with my grandfather and grandmother sometime in 1952 when she was 12 years old. My grandfather had come to Singapore on his own in 1940 to find work. Unfortunately soon after he arrived, the war broke out and he was stuck here till 1946. During the war he was inspired by Subhas Chandra Bose, saw him at the Padang in Singapore and then fought for the Indian National Army. After the war he went back to India and brought my mother and grandmother here.

They stayed at Lorong Maha, which is off Jalan Ulu Sembawang, a place I remember well with fond memories. My grandmother grew all her vegetables and they had 3 cows which they kept for milk and yogurt.

A long time ago, traveling to India had to be by ship. There used to be 2 vessels I recall which plied that route; SS Rajula and MV Chidambaram. That journey would take 7 days. I remember my grandparents taking those ships. I also recall when they returned to Singapore, they would disembark at Colleyer Quay.

Later when commercial flights started, I would take a flight to the then Madras (now Chennai) and then take the bus to Aruppukottai. It used to be an overnight 13 hour journey, one which I have undertaken many times. At that time it was the Thiruvalluvar bus that we used to take.

Then they started domestic flights from Madras to Madurai, which cut down the 12 hour bus journey from Madras to Madurai. I recall I was once on the flight from Madurai to Chennai and  a famous actor from the 1950s and 60s, Gemini Ganesan was on that flight. He occupied a seat his parrot which was in a cage was on the next seat

There is now a direct flight from Singapore to Madurai! Thank goodness for that.

The earliest picture of my mother.

Madurai is a city that has changed and modernized quite a bit. For eg the hotel I am staying in is really nice. The highways connect the cities and there are good restaurants. But in many ways it still retains its heritage and charm that I remember from the first time I came here in 1986. Driving on the roads you still see cows and goats, cars honking incessantly and road side stalls and of course people everywhere. Quintessentially India and thank goodness for that!