The Hindu : Karnataka News : Mysore's `good old days' are gone forever

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 10, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Mysore's `good old days' are gone forever

By R. Krishna Kumar

CHANGING CITYSCAPE: A view of Mysore by night

MYSORE, MAY 9. The quintessential Mysorean, who is perceived to be a conservative at heart and at best given to taking a casual stroll in the evening and eating groundnuts or sipping shared coffee, is undergoing an image makeover. The times are changing and, slowly, the pace of modern life is beginning to catch up with him. Sceptics may dispute it, but the undercurrents of lifestyle modifications are already visible.

Many Mysoreans are leaving the familiar ambience of the city and holidaying abroad. The second largest number of group tourists from Karnataka for Thomas Cook's European holiday package last year originated from Mysore.

Information from leading tour and travel operators here show that more Mysore-based entrepreneurs and others have been inquiring about holiday packages abroad in recent times than before. The harrowing experience of trying to obtain a visa and the stringent procedural norms that have come to stay after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York have not deterred would-be wanderers from checking out the unfamiliar.

The leading players in the world of travel and tourism are keen to promote their packages through sales outlets and tap the potential market. Already, they have elicited inquiries from places as remote as T. Narsipur and Chamarajanagar and booked tickets for holiday packages in Europe and the U.S. The bottom line is that more people are living it up and spending a lot that they used to.

The net impact is what economists call the "demonstration effect," where the lifestyle of one is emulated by another who, in turn, triggers a similar sequence to set off a chain reaction.

Again, the new generation is different from the earlier ones. Thanks to the Internet revolution or the mass media explosion, the current crop of students in Mysore, as elsewhere, is exposed to a culture that transcends geographical barriers and is beamed across continents making it familiar.

A case in point is the trend to participate in adventure sports. Parasailing is proving to be popular and so is a trekking expedition. The annual Himalayan mountaineering expedition undertaken by the Youth Hostel and other private adventure clubs are a sell-out. With students in their late teens already owning vehicles, the tendency to embark on long drives is growing.

The small-town mindset and hang-ups are passé. Tastes and attitudes picked up in schools and colleges today are similar irrespective of where one resides. And, talking of schools, Mysore has many private educational institutions, including a few public schools that promise education of international quality: for a price, of course.

The resultant attitudinal change among the people is best reflected in the conspicuous consumption that is visible everywhere. Supermarkets are mushrooming and so are shopping plazas. The sale of canned food is on the rise and so is the demand for pet food for cats and dogs, something that was unheard of till a couple of years ago. The sales of consumer durables are on the rise along with two-wheelers and four-wheelers.

Leading financial institutions such as ICICI, Standard Chartered, Global Trust, Citi Financials and HDFC are already here and others are expected to follow soon.

However, this is only the beginning. Once the commuting time to Bangalore is reduced when the four-lane highway, which is likely to materialise by March next, is ready and the railway line is doubled, the pace of change is likely to accelerate.

The urban sprawl visible all around is altering the city's landscape beyond recognition. With more people commuting frequently to Bangalore and adopting the lifestyle of the capital, rapid changes are being ushered in, perhaps leaving those resistant to change yearning for the "good old days".

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