When I was 7 years old and while spending
the summer vacation at Grand Parent’s house in Thanjavur my mother made the
announcement at the dining table- “We are moving to Neyveli”. My father a civil
engineer had earlier served as Municipal
Engineer at various locations in Tamil Nadu. Transfers were frequent and I was
just thinking about the new school I would be going to in Neyveli.
When we moved into Neyveli in April 1957
to a small house with Asbestos roof in the Mandarakuppam colony it was a
different experience for me .As a young boy I had earlier seen towns like
Cuddalore, Dindigul and Karaikudi with my father’s frequent transfers. Neyveli was
different . It was just a village but with clean and neat new houses. The nearest towns were Cuddalore to the east
and Vridhachallam to the West. The Project was in the initial stages. Only the
Pilot Quarry to determine the area and quantity
of lignite to be mined had been completed.
There were about 30 Engineers for the
Project who lived in those asbestos roof houses. Shortly thereafter, new
spacious houses were built on the Northern
side of the Cuddalore-Vridhachallam Main Road. It was called the Mandarakuppam
officer’s colony. Soon we moved into a two bedroom house in the new Officer’s
colony with ample garden space. I spent some of my wonderful childhood days at
this colony. Every week a new family would move in. We would extend whatever
help we could to settle them in their new house. More families would mean more
friends. There were plenty of open grounds and we had ample space to play. Exploring new areas was one of my favourite
past time. I remember the days we have ran back home after spotting snakes.
Author with his brother and sisters
in front of the house in Neyveli (1957)
The project in the initial stage was
managed my Mr. G. Srinivasan who was designated as the General Superintendent,
affectionately referred to as “GS”. His movements could be visible to anyone in
town as he moved about in his spotlessly clean red coloured jeep with cream
coloured wheels. He knew every family in town and was a father figure. He would even know the children’s names. He
lived in a large bungalow on the northern side of the colony. The first CMD,
Mr. T.M.S. Mani then operated from Chennai. I remember the day when Mr.
Srinivasan took all the families to Grand Anicut (near Trichy) for a picnic.
As the officer’s colony started growing,
more families moved in. We had new friends. The Ladies club was inaugurated.
The Men’s club was formed and Tennis courts were laid. The NLC Management
opened the first Cooperative Stores. It used to be a meeting ground for many
families in the evening. Before the store was opened, there were only two
reliable stores at Neyveli on the Main Road.
Everything I saw around was new. New
houses, new jeeps, new lorries, sophisticated mining machineries. Neyveli was
growing day by day. By late fifties work started full scale on the Thermal
Power station and Mine I which was supposed to feed the Thermal station with
lignite. Travelling to Chennai used to be a nightmare for some of the families
who had roots in Chennai (then Madras). There were no good train connections or
bus facilities. Whenever a Project lorry left for Chennai to collect materials a
few families would hop on to the lorry which would have temporary tarpaulin
cover and a few benches for people to be seated. I remember making such a trip
in the lorry with my family to attend a wedding in Chennai.
Lignite mining had its own problem. The
water under lignite had to be pumped out before mining the lignite as otherwise
the mine could get flooded overnight. Before large scale mining started the
water pressure was high in Neyveli and surrounding areas that one could see lot
of Artesian wells. The wells surrounded by green paddy fields was a treat to
the sight. These wells were favourite picnic spots for the families. On
weekends we would pack our evening snacks drive down to these lovely spots and
play in the water.
One day father took us to a spot close
to the new Thermal station which was under construction. Bull Dozers were
razing down Cashew forests. He then said that the site was being prepared for
the new Township to build more houses. I asked a very honest but logical
question. “Why are they building it so far away from our colony?” His reply
shook me. He said the officers’ colony would disappear as it was only a
temporary colony. He said the colony was sitting on lignite mining area and
would disappear the day they start mining that area. But he said it might take
some 50 years.
I could not believe what he said. How
can anyone destroy my beautiful little town? The drive back home that evening
was painful to me. I could not come to terms with what my father had said.
The new township grew rapidly. New
schools came up and also the first High School. My elder sister was in the
first batch of SSLC students to pass out from the N.L.C. High school in the year 1960. The
High School was then not eligible as an Examination centre and she had to
travel with all her classmates to the nearby Kurinjipadi School to write her
final exam.
In the year 1963 my father became the
Township Administrator of Neyveli Township. We left our little colony and moved
into township. I passed out from the High School in the year 1966 and then went
to College in Chennai. Although father served in Neyveli until 1978 my visits
to Neyveli were less frequent as I began my career. But on every trip to Neyveli
I would go down to Mandarakuppam Officer’s colony and spend time looking at the
lanes and roads where as a young boy I had spent such wonderful time with my
friends.
Recently I was driving down to
Pondicherry with an old friend who had grown up with me at Neyveli. We decided
to spend some time at Neyveli and see the houses we had lived as young school
boys. On our way out from Neyveli township I insisted on my friend to drive
through the old Mandarakuppam colony. I wish I had not made that request. The
colony looked abandoned. Most of the houses had been broken down. The house we
lived in was found demolished. Indeed what my father had said had come true in
exactly the same years he had predicted – 50 years!
The house the author lived in now lies demolished
I returned with mixed feeling. I
remembered all the wonderful days of my early childhood at Neyveli. My school,
the play grounds, the picnics , the Deepavali celebrations that all families
would jointly celebrate , the trip Mr. Srinivasan arranged for the colony to
Kallanai and the wonderful friends . Looking back, those were some of the
most precious moments of my life.
ratnakarpaul@gmail.com
