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An Evening in KOCHI
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How do Kochiites spend their evenings, asks VIJAY GEORGE and finds that the city affords many options but the lure of TV, Internet and safety concerns keep people indoors.
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EVENINGS. THE perfect time for family and friends. After a hard day's work this is your "personal time," to relax and recharge. With serene backwaters, secure playgrounds, planned walkways, upcoming shopping malls, many restaurants, cinema halls with latest flicks, Kochi affords the right setting for spending a good evening.
But how are Kochiites spending their evenings? Are we just relegating ourselves to the cool comfort of our drawing rooms or spending the time before `the tube' as couch potatoes?
Painter T. Kaladharan feels that the television has been a great reason in changing the equations. "Even the interactions between people have become much less now. We tend to adjust the evenings to the timings of our favourite soaps. As a result, we don't even come across many entertainment programmes being organised in the evenings as it used to be earlier," he says.
Soaps rule
His suggestion is almost echoed by everyone. "After eight in the evening, the city is almost dead," analyses Dr. N. Harimohan, founder of the Shilpa society for mentally disabled children. He had lived in Chennai for quite some years and feel that Kochi has to go grow much more "to have the feel of a metro. With so much scope for backwater cruise, what holds us back from developing it is a mystery," questions Dr. Harimohan.
He explains, "Take Fort Kochi for instance. With the kind of beauty and prospects, it would have been a different world altogether in any other country. But we tend to ignore it and the result is that only a few dare to remain there during the evenings."
Law and order
According to writer - activist C. R. Neelakantan Namboodiri, "the evenings in Kochi are very short now. The law and order situation is definitely something to be worried about. It is pretty tough travelling in buses after 8 pm, as a lot of people will be sloshed by then. We have perhaps accepted drinking as natural. But drugs too pose a threat these days, it seems."
He thinks that those who go out in the evenings spend their time mainly on shopping and eating out. "With cars becoming a necessity than a luxury, shopping in the evenings are almost our way of spending the evenings well."
Eating out
With trendy cuisines to choose from, has `eating out' become a passion here? "Though Kochiites are not that adventurous with food, they too are accepting this concept" is what Sandeep Rai, Asst. Restaurant Manager of Taj Residency feels, during his one and half year stay in the city. Naturally, the hotels are trying to woo the "prospective clients" with food fests of "all possible themes." Mr. Rai thinks that, "such announcements are being received well by the crowd."
"The hustle-bustle of the roads where vehicles and the pedestrians are almost chock-a-block comes in the way of going out for many, in Kochi," says C. Ravindranathan, trade union leader and the former hon. Secretary of the Ernakulam Public Library.
"People tend to devote less time for reading nowadays. The channels that air loads of variety programmes have almost succeeded in keeping the crowd hooked to it," adds he.
Surfing the net
Surfing the Internet in the evenings is also becoming a part of the routine for Kochiites too, as it is common with most of the big cities. "More people are using their evenings to surf the net," states Neeraj K.M, Territory Manager with Satyam i way, who have 19 Internet cafes in the city.
According to their estimate, around 80 new registrations happen daily, besides the routine card system.
Badminton ace Jaison Xavier is of the opinion that, "these days everyone seems to be aware about the need to relax in the evenings. Obviously there are different ways to relax. People have become more health conscious now and working out has almost become a trend."
Photographer Joy `Retina' thinks that, "there should be more walkways and importantly, they should be safe. It is heartening to see the developments made in the city to create some space where you can have the feel of fresh air, like the Durbar Hall ground." Jaison too feels that even those who are not ready for the toil in health clubs can opt for the "walks."
Few Family flicks
What about the big screen then, which is regarded as the classic way to spend one's evenings? "People are really selective in watching movies. And the films too have changed over the period. From family entertainers, films have now become individual entertainers," states Mr. Namboodiri. He also feels that though the ticket rates have gone up, theatres are not maintained well. Joy suggests opening multiplexes, "as it is common in metros like Mumbai."
Kavya's evenings
For actress Kavya Madhavan, who shifted her base from Neeleswaram to Thammanam, "it's pretty tough at times to digest the metro culture, where even the immediate neighbours are not aware about your whereabouts. She thinks that, "perhaps it will all end once someone attempts to break the ice and starts to be friendly with the people who live in their area, just like we see in our villages."
Kavya reminisces that in the evenings in her "home town", many from the neighbourhood used to come to their house, as only a few had TVs at home. "Virtually everyone in the area would know me, as the girl from `Supriya', the name of the textile shop that we owned. And we had enough time in the evenings to sit and spend time with the neighbours," she says.
"But there is no doubt that living in a metro has it's own advantages," she is quick to add. "I don't go out much during the evenings, in Kochi. Once you are in a career where you live out of suitcases, every chance to remain inside your house is literally grabbed and I just hate to go out once I am back home," she smiles.
Time to relax
The general feeling is that everyone forgets to think about "the time to relax" while coping up with the frenetic pace of life.
"We all are too busy concentrating on our careers in the new scheme of things," says Kaladharan. "Though there is no denying the fact that it has its own plus points, at the end of the day there is this big question that are we actually happy with the kind of hectic life that we have?"
Tough one? Crack it yourself.
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