I Moved
And I think I might have made a grave mistake!
It will be nearly two months (in a week) and since we :—
a) haven’t yet packed our bags and run away,
b) hosted a ‘thank-you’ lunch for friends who got us here,
c) turned 90% of the white lights in the house to warm lights, and
d) found an orthopaedic doctor (this is a biggie),
I am guessing now is a good time as any to announce to the substack-verse “MONE1, WE HAVE MOVED”.
Of course, it is a temporary move. My Noida house—red floor, photo frame-walls, and cane furniture—remain as is, ready to embrace us whenever we decide to return to the ‘kabhi-gas chamber-kabhi-swimming pool’ city.
But for now, we have moved to Kerala.
No, not Kochi!
We have moved to the capital—Thiruvananthapuram aka Trivandrum.
After 7 years of staring at a park and buildings (and now a couple of twin towers fucking the skyline completely), I am now a merry tenant of a fully furnished, well ventilated, bright, happy 3-BHK apartment with a sea-view.
A REAL SEA VIEW! Not the type once promised by a builder—Book your dream home with a sea view in Greater Noida, Today!
Anyhoo…
So was I planning this move for a long time? Not really.
Last November when I landed in Trivandrum, the AQI was 35. Noida was above 400. When I left Trivandrum after a week it was still at 35 and Delhi was still struggling at 400.
So, I called up my school friend and asked him to look for a place. I was impulsive. He was quick. Too quick in fact. I had a blocked calendar till March (and as it turned out, very cold feet). So I decided that I will take the plunge in August once the smog heads to Delhi!
By July, the friend once again found a flat. And a much better one this time. His only question was “Are you sure?”- He was in no mood to spend his time or human resources a second time round. That was it. The fact that this was fully furnished—beds, sofa, dining table/chairs, fridge, gas, water filter, washing machine et al—just made it so much easier to move.
And the BESTEST part — a breathtaking SEA-VIEW!
The Duster was sent (with a suitcase full of books). We packed our clothes to the ratio of 15:1 because Udit said he would be a frequent traveller.
That was until—
a) he actually stood in the balcony watching the sun set, with the wind blowing in his face, the train chugging past, and the sea dotted with boats melting into the sky; and
b) the prohibitive cost of flying in and out of Trivandrum hit us smack in the face2!
So here we are after braving a series of “ARE YOU SERIOUS?”and a volley of questions and warnings from all our Mallu friends.
“Why Kerala?” I like the language and the food and the greenery and the beaches. And the films. My school friends are there. And why not?
“Why not Kochi?” It is too busy. And it is becoming the Goa of the South. I love the waterways. But I don’t think Kochi is for me.
“Why Trivandrum? Who goes to Trivandrum? It is a sleepy town” I like sleepy and slow. I like the small town feel3. We are lazy people. And there is family here. Udit’s best friend’s family lives here.
“Give me five reasons you should leave Noida” Umm let’s see —AQI (As I write this piece, three nights after Diwali - Trivandrum is at 40 and Delhi at 364!). Traffic. Hard water. North India. Noise.
“It is not what it is in the films” — I know. I read the news as well.
“It is a patriarchal society” “The people are the worst” “Gods own country, Devils own people”— We are from UP and Bihar, the bar is very low. Patriarchy is everywhere.
“What about your work”— I work from home. Home can be anywhere. Udit too. He will keep coming back to Noida (or so we think!).
“So You like Kerala but what about Him” — That is exactly what we are going to figure out.
And then came the unbelievable bit. “So HE is moving because YOU wanted to?” — He is SUCH A GOOD HUSBAND. Of course when has a man ever moved for his wife4.
So with this move I have :-
a) made a decision that is fucking unbelievable (as everyone keeps telling us), and
b) firmly plonked Udit in the annals of ‘world’s all-time BEST husbands’.
So how is it going? So far so good. These are the best months, I am told. Weather wise.
We can see the sky, the sun and the sea. It is bliss. We spent the entire first month plonked firmly on the sofa watching the sea. And the sunset. Boseman was here and he did the same!
The sea breeze and the view makes our flat 15A the house with the best view in ALL OF TRIVANDRUM!
The sea has a bustling night life. On some nights, the horizon lights up as though someone has carefully lined it with a string of fairy lights. On most nights, the sea looks like a city with a 100 neon billboards. All fishing boats, of course—This is their busiest time!
There is a railway line between the sea and us. It is a joy to watch trains go by without having to see people defecate on railway lines.
Then there is the airport—the runway lights up at night and one can see planes land and take off from a non-annoying distance. They do fly above us and we figured there are three routes that the planes take! Anyway the best part is that on the way to the airport (which is about 6 kms away) we can stop and enjoy the sea for a bit as well!
Then there is VSSC, the space centre. On Wednesdays (every 3rd, we were told) they launch a rocket. It is a rocket, so unless we know the exact time and day, we are only going to keep hearing a loud blast and see the white smoke and contrails!
We moved in during peak Onam and the noise levels when 200 people sat for Sadhya was unbelievable. IT WASN’T THERE. NOT A MURMUR. Smiles, hand raises, and head bobs did the trick!
In fact I managed to buy a pair of shoes with a lot of head bobs, dumb charades, sheri, thang you and “enikku kurachu malayalam ariyaam”5 .
I will get there!
So far so good. Except that there is one thing I didn’t really think through —I AM UNABLE TO WATCH MALAYALAM FILMS IN THEATRE HERE BECAUSE THERE ARE NO SUBTITLES.
So when I went to watch Lokah and when for the first five minutes there were subtitles, I quietly crossed my fingers and as soon as the kid with me said “Chechi, this has…”, I clasped her hand tight … “Do not jinx it”, I whispered. I miss my weekly-mid week-mid day-getaways with Roshni to the Jasola movie hall!
The movie fiasco is a blip. But I think this move has been a grave mistake.
WE HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE!!!
We are in love — With our flat. With the view from our balcony. With the city. With the sea. With the sky. With the crazy rains. With the people who bob their head, go that extra mile to help you out and don’t demand impeccable Malayalam from you just because you are in Kerala.
Enikke keralam ishtam aane6!
DAMN! WE MIGHT NEVER BE ABLE TO LEAVE THIS PLACE!
Can’t thank Ila Reddy & Shreya Sridhar enough for planting the seed of moving out and showing how it can be done. And Roshni for checking on me and letting no opportunity go by to remind me of what all I have left behind (temporarily, even) … I miss Jasola moley, I really do, but I love it here too.
Boy, in malayalam. m-o-n-a-y.
Basically, it is a pro-max version of “Kuch din toh bitaye Gujarat mein”. If you have managed to fly into Trivandrum, forget about flying out.
Didn’t realise that it actually had roads like Jamshedpur.
I know at least one more. My boss did.
I know little Malayalam.
I love Kerala.
Savvy, I smiled and smiled and smiled. I am inspired because I know nothing about life except making such decisions that are strange and extraordinarily beautiful. This has to my favourite Savvy piece because you are the savviest here… I love how fucking unique your writing voice is and how it shows here. Thank you for doing this and writing about it.
So many reasons I love this piece, but mostly because it's such an alive way to experience pure courage! Well done moley, well done.