namma mejura

Any maduraiite hanging around on the net would have tried to view their home at Madurai through Google maps or Wikimapia. But Madurai city is still a hazy picture in Google maps. It does show clear & crisp view of a few areas like Madurai Airport, Tirupparankundram, Tirunagar etc., but the main city & nothern parts are still hazy.

Yahoo Maps on the other hand shows Madurai City clearly. Even though we can’t get views as close as in google, the Madurai city view is particularly good compared to Google Maps.

The green mini-buses are the lifeline of most suburbs around Madurai. Most of the newly developed areas like Gomathipuram & Yagava nagar near Anna Nagar & a plethora of ‘Nagar’s between Iyer Bungalow & Moondru maavadi have narrow 20ft. roads as main throughfare.

Worse, the roads under village panchayats were poorly paved. Most of these roads have giant craters & will become pools of red slush on rainy days. It is only these private mini-buses that brave the odds for them.

The buses suffer due to bumpy roads & dust conditions. Some of the buses had to push start by commuters themselves while a few others are well maintained. In any case, if you prefer a ride in these buses, be prepared to an assault of blaring music!

Streets starting from most major roads now have a helpful ‘You are here’ type boards. Apart from the streets, it also mentions prominent businesses & other landmarks nearby. In addition to that all the necessary electricity, water & corporation councillor phone numbers were listed.

A really handy information amid the posters in street corners. Luckily, these were largely spared by poster fixers.

It eases the life on GST road from Palanganatham through Tiruparankundram, Tirunagar. All the intimidating roars & horns of private buses, that menacingly edge out 2-wheelers & flummox tiny 4 wheelers were missing.

Thankfully, the high-court case comes to an end. All the mofussil buses from south now takes a detour via ring road and reaches Maatu Thavani Bus Stand (MTBS).

Interestingly, some private short distance carriers terminate at Tirumangalam (20kms from Madurai) instead of going to MTBS.

Looking majestic even when dry. The vast tank bed is a safe place for lads to play. And they mostly play … cricket (what else!).

Very close to bustling traffic, yet safe, this dry tank bed playground is an important part of life for many lads around Teppakulam & Anuppanadi.

Except the brief rainy season – October to November, and on the times of Teppam festival, this tank is mostly dry.

And it looks even more interesting when filled with water. City officials invariably start a boat service to the central mandapam.

Here is an established cricket pitch. No wonder, impromptu matches were also held here. Cycles were brought down the steps and rode to the spot. Spectators get a nice perch to sit & watch the match up close!

The mofussil bus services to nearby towns are a world in itself. The government buses looking dull & rusty are no match for the loud & swanky private buses parked alongside in mofussil bus stands.

When TV was a crazy thing, the private buses went on to add video to their busess – free of cost. Later some of the government buses also followed the same. Now most private buses have two TVs. The loudness is something we Maduraiites seem to love always. The screeching sound of movie music mixed with engine roar & high pitch chattering of people on the buses can guarantee a nice hard headache for unexperienced. But it seldom affects us. In fact, many of us will not aboard a bus if it doesn’t have TV or music.

OKay, I was getting dragged of the title. I haven’t posted for a while & interested to compensate. Anyway, getting back to the title, now a private bus service upped the ante.

A bus service operating between Madurai & Cumbum now runs two air-conditioned buses on this route. The big surprise is – no extra charges! So for a standard bus fare, you can ride on an air-conditioned bus for about 3 hours. Now that really is something.