The very first sign one would sense that Coimbatore was beckoning in the horizon was when the huge natural gas reservoirs were seen at Peelamedu from the train.My Papa had done well to establish himself and own a car in the 1980's but I hated traveling by car. I always loved the train since I was 3 years old. Papa would give in to my demands usually to travel by the lovely and legendary "Island Express". It was also very mystical when we we waited at Bangalore Cantonment for it to arrive from nowhere and drop us at Coimbatore and carry on further into Oblivion in the twilight hours with mist surrounding us at dawn with most of the lights still illuminated. My grandpappy was the first familiar face I would sight waiting for us at the arrival concourse and escorting us to the car with my uncle following behind. A new dawn in a new world.

 

I always loved visiting Coimbatore - My birth place and my dad's native place. The autos and the town buses were so fascinating. The yellow autos resembled overblown toys that I often compared their cieling tarpaulin with my brother's head. They both tapered in towards the front. The buses were sparkling clean with fancy destination number boards and were chrome silver and red in color, much better than our boring BMTC buses we see in Bangalore.

 

Coimbatore falls in the region close to the sholas or Sahyadris just below the confluence where the mighty western and eastern ghats meet at Nilgiris some 90 km away north. The coimbatore region alongwith the neighboring districts of Erode, Salem and Niligiris collectively is called "Kongunadu". There is a train attributed to this region - Kongu express, which plies between Coimbatore and New Delhi via Banaglore. Being close to the path where the trade winds blow, it receives bountiful rainfall throughout the monsoon and has a pleasant climate owing to the Nilgiris on the north and the Dense Valparai mountains to the  south-west. The Great Palghat pass lies to the south which is the gateway to Kerala. If you really want to get somewhere, get to Coimbatore first. For it is the connecting link to Kerala, Western Tamil nadu and the beautiful Nilgiris. 

 

The primary personal reason for me to visit Coimbatore was always - Trains and South Indian Cuisine. Who can forget that Coimbatore has one of the best cuisines in India and represents the true flavor of Indian spices. The piping hot sambar and the ghee roast would melt in anyone's mouth and further melt their heart. I used to look forward to having breakfast at Sree Annapoorna Gowri Shankar, the most famed and largest restaurant chain in Coimbatore. Most of the cuisine and it's taste is endemic to Coimbatore and not found anywhere else. There are several reasons why it stays that way. Coimbatore is situated on the banks of river Noyyal and derives the water source from the Siruvani river which is supposedly believed to be the second sweetest water in the world. The afternoon meals at these restaurants are to die for. They generally consisted of Rice, sambar, rasam, avial, porial, Vegetable curry, lentil curry, paapad, Yogurt, Buttermilk, Pickle and a sweetmeat. It was unlimited quantity except for the yoghurt and the sweetmeat. 

 

There are a few other things as well that were very popular in Coimbatore. The tea cakes and Kerala parottas at Davey's, Durghalal's famed Garlic pickle, Nido's Biryani served in plantain leaf, Chilli parottas at Gowri Shankar, Puttu and coconut milk, Rice dumplings at any of the Kerala restaurants. Also prominent across Coimbatore is the street food which was called "Kaalaan" or "Kolan" which means Fried mushrooms in a cornflour and chilli sauce. 

 

My grandparents house was situated in the 6th floor in one of the earliest aparments in coimbatore back in the 80's. located centrally and gave a bird's view of the beautiful city and the sorrounding mountains of Nilgiris in the North, Marudamalai and Valparia in the West and south. My favorite place was the balcony and would remain glued there almost for 22 hours watching the trains go by. The balcony was my world through which I saw Coimbatore.

 

Then there is this mandatory visit to Nilgiris (Ooty) every single time I visited Coimbatore. Well that's another story. I have a considerable amount of the Coimbatore blood flowing in me and would always feel a connect with this place. I have seen this place evolve for 26 years. I usually visit on my own now and always have the standard schedule to visit Ooty and Palghat and the rural areas. It's small city but second largest in Tamil Nadu and has the sobriquet - "Manchester of South India" owing to it's industrial capacities and establishments. People would want to settle down here for various reasons. I know many people desiring to settle down here, my father topping the list. I have shared the experience of visiting Coimbatore with my childhood buddy who's native is next door in Palghat. I am only waiting to transcend to another level in visiting this place back with yechbeeyell, a phenomenally wonderful character whom I would love to emulate. 

 

Coimbatore can give you the feeling of a pleasant purgatory where you end up to go to other destinations physically and mentally. Like I said before, "If you want to get to somewhere, get to Coimbatore first"!