Changing face of Vyttila

Sasi is an auto-rickshaw driver at Vyttila junction in Kochi. He has seen the transformation Vyttila underwent in the last 25 years. When he started, he was the 3rd auto-rickshaw driver in the junction. Among the earlier two, one passed away and the other moved to goods carrier auto in some other part of city. Thus, Sasi would be the senior most driver in Vyttila.

It was a regular on-the-trip conversation for me. My inquisitiveness, sometimes bizarre, led me to think of the Vyttila then and now. According to Sasi, Vyttila was then a 'Y' junction with roads to City, Thammanam, Aroor and Tripunithura. It is now probably the biggest traffic point in Kerala with most number of vehicles passing in a day. Vyttila now has 4 main roads connecting City, Tripunithara / Vaikkom, Allappuzha, Palarivattom and two smaller roads connecting Aroor and Thammanam. Sasi remembers 7 autos at the junction then and it is now more than 200 autos. Sasi fondly remembers listening to the songs played by the temple while sitting on a doctor's compound wall. The cacophony that exists today at the junction has taken those religious songs away from him. He has become financially better, but days are not as relaxed as it used to be.

I have inhabited an office space in Vyttila. From the terrace of my building, I can see the Vyttila Mobility Hub coming up brick by brick. It will be the largest bus terminus in the Kerala state and third largest in South India. The Rs. 400 crore (Rs. 4 billion) project aims to provide access for public to various modes of transport - by road, by rail and by water.

Sasi has more to see and I have only just started.

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