Yesterday I was driving on the new Mysore expressway which is absolutely brilliant. What used to take min 2 hrs from NICE Road Junction to Mysore Ring Road is now around an hr. The road is straight and can do decent speed. Thanks to this, there is no need for breaks and you can reach Mysore in 2 hrs from home. 👌
I had my family in the car and was explaining to kiddo how bad it was before and how it should have been done 2 decades ago. My aunt quickly pointed out that the old road was supporting so many businesses and all of it was ruined. 😞
I suddenly realized we have created a Route 66 situation where the express highway kinda killed the old route. I dono much about this but remember watching cars cartoons and feeling for those old motels, Tyre shops etc that ran out of business 😞. Thanks to this new Mysore highway, the old restaurants, toy stores, and other shops are almost gone. Some of the famous places are now deserted or abandoned 😞
For the next 30 mins, I went back in time remembering the places we used to visit. Like the Kamat Lokaruchi near Janapada Loka for the Kotte idli or Bidadi tatte idli... Rangantittu/KRS deviation or Kokkare Bellur or Shivapurada Satyagraha Soudha in Maddur, Baburayana Koppal non-veg food, Srirangapatna Kaveri Brigde, Mandya town chaos, Channapatna toy shopst, Maddur Tiffany's for the best Maddur vada and Mysore pak. I have god some really good memorable things from that road.
It kind of felt bad that the old route has died and with it the small businesses it supported. The cultural differences of each town on the way, the milestones reminded us of the progress made and the distance to go... all of it is replaced by a straight road. Tbh I felt bad about the old route but also felt good that the new one is great for Mysore. I just hope in a few yrs ppl will realize that the old route had much more to experience and will be ok to spend extra time once in a while to feel that 🤗
As my soul says "Yes it's the eternal tension between old and new. Old has its charms, familiarity, all the known curves and edges, no need to be adventurous and be surprised by things. Enjoy the nostalgia and reconnecting with the familiar and well loved parts of life.🙂❤️"
