Kesavadasapuram Junction is a major junction. Three major roads meet at the roundabout. One is the MC Road, one from the heart of the city, and lastly the one I am in. This junction is active round the clock. The only time it has been quiet is during the lockdown period. For the long-distance buses going to the north of the state, the diversion for the two routes happens here.

As I take the roundabout and exit onto the road leading to the city, I see a couple of bikes and a car lying crashed on the pavement. An SUV remains crashed on the divider after the roundabout. It must have been taking the turn. I slow down to glance at them. There is nothing new in them. The crashes aren’t that bad. All these vehicles must have slowed down as they approached the roundabout, thereby decreasing their impact.

I passed this junction when I came to join college. One of our family friends was living near Pattom. We came a day earlier and stayed at their home. While leaving for college the next day, I crossed this junction. Uncle was describing the places and landmarks. I did pay attention but I didn’t retain the information. Later on, when I went through these places while going to the railway station or to the bus stand to go home, I became familiar.

Kesavadasapuram has seen a lot of development and changes in these years. It still keeps its charm. Although new buildings and shops have sprung up, they haven’t affected the landscape much. The few shopping complexes and buildings that populated the area still remain and assert their presence amidst the competition surrounding them. The road is wide and well-maintained. There is a proper pavement for pedestrians to walk in. There are parking spots alongside the road.

The stretch from Kesavadasapuram to Pattom is lined with shops of all kinds. I really don't have to go into the city to meet my needs. Whatever I want can be found here. There are supermarkets, restaurants, clothing and apparel stores, shopping centers, and everything you can think of. If you can’t find what you need in one shop, you just need to find another one on this stretch.

There are a couple of shops on the other side of the road that has a memory of us attached to them. I slow down as I look at them. We visited them on our way back from her college. We take this route if there is anything to buy. There is a road leading to Medical College, thereby avoiding going around Ulloor or Pattom.

I can see a couple of vehicles lying crashed here and there. Most of them are on the side and a few are in the middle of the road. Their numbers are a bit higher than what I came across in the Medical College area.

I reach the intersection from where you can take the right turn that leads you to the road to Medical college. A few meters ahead, a new restaurant had opened. It is a well-known biriyani restaurant chain in Tamil Nadu. When I was working there, I had it once. I liked it but there was never a second time. The thing with biriyanis is that not every variety entices me. Since she had not tried it, I decided to buy chicken biriyani for lunch.

We bought them while returning from her college having picked her up. We were really hungry and couldn’t wait to open it. As she was changing into her casual clothes, I opened the parcel to dismay. Instead of two chicken biriyanis, they had kept vegetable biriyanis. I was pissed off. I got angry and didn’t know what to do. The hunger along with the prospect of having something delicious had gone for a toss. I got their contact number online and tried calling them. They didn’t answer. By this time she was sitting down to eat. I too was really hungry. So we opened one of them and ate it. It was tasty. And we were really hungry. But the disappointment hung on my face.

After satiating my hunger I called them once again. They attended the call and heard my complaint. They asked me if I had ordered through an online platform. I said I had come directly and bought it. They asked me to bring it back as only then can they do anything. I took the other one and met the guy who had attended my call. He took it without asking any questions and went into the kitchen. He returned with two chicken biriyanis, a bottle of coke, and some sweets to compensate for their error. I had thought of giving them a negative review, but seeing how they managed the situation I decided not to. Our two meals were sorted.

Up ahead I can see a KSRTC bus smashed into the railing of the LIC bus stop. The bus stop gets its name from the LIC office adjacent to it. This is the first heavy vehicle I am coming across. I had a hunch I might come across a bus along this route.

The bus crashed onto the railing and the bus stop. It has damaged the seating at the bus stop. I stop in front of the bus. It is a super fast. Its front has been damaged. The crash isn’t a bad one. I guess the bus was slowing down at the stop when this happened. Normally buses on this route cruise at high speeds at odd times. They stop only at the main bus stops and avoid such small ones. Also, they prefer to cruise along the lane adjacent to the divider. They change lanes to the outer one only when there is a passenger to de-board. The glass has cracked but remains intact on the frame. The windows are shuttered down. Only a few are open. It was a bus coming from Thrissur, a city towards the north of the state. I take a u-turn, go around the bus and stop in front of the door.

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I board the bus to have a look. Bags fill the carriage. Some of them are under the seat. There is no sign of anyone. I walk to the driver's seat. His bag lies adjacent to it along with a bottle of water. I get out.

Right next to where the bus has crashed, a lane cuts in from the main road alongside the boundary of the LIC office. It used to be a frequently used road I took to go back home when I was staying in Trivandrum ten years ago. My brother was studying at a nearby school. After picking him up from school, I used to take this shorter road home. The road descends after a while along smaller lanes. Most of them end up on a parallel road. During the three years I stayed, I knew every lane. Now I have forgotten them. Only the shop at the start of the lane remains part of the memory. I used to buy milk from it occasionally.

When we moved here during the last year of my college life, I was angry and frustrated at the decision. Mom had got transferred and was to stay here for a couple of years. I knew we would be moving out again and was dreading it. Once I become comfortable in a place and have found my friend circle, it becomes really difficult for me to move out. I take time to make a circle in the first place. To see them dissolve hurts me. I will have to start again from scratch in the new location. Also, we had been living for nearly eight years in the same setting. It was difficult to leave it all and start new.

We were staying in an apartment complex before we moved. It housed nearly a hundred families. Finding someone in my age group was relatively easy. I had eased myself into those surroundings. In Trivandrum, there was no such facility to avail. We had to take a rented house. We tried looking for apartments but couldn’t find one at short notice. It had been a long time since we stayed in a rented house. The owner had a grandson who was close to my brother's age. They struck well and become friends. I was left out. It didn’t matter much to me because I was in college and was spending most of my time there with my friends. But as soon as it ended, most of my college friends left for their respective homes or jobs or higher education. I felt a little depressed being all alone at home. I had a couple of friends around. I used to meet them during the weekends. On weekdays, I had to pull through the day somehow. I missed what we had left behind in my previous residence. There was no use in complaining about something that cannot be reversed. I took it all in and prayed to God to speed up the process of joining my job.

I get back on the road. Seconds later I come to a stop.

There is this restaurant on the opposite side of the road. It has a very old touch to it. I have been seeing this since the time I had been in Trivandrum. I have never gone in though. People I knew haven’t visited it. It isn’t a well-known restaurant. Just a normal one that has stood the test of time. The owner might be an old-fashioned guy who is happy to go ahead with this something that has been going around for quite a long time.

When we were looking for places to eat, the first name that popped into my head was this. I suggested it to her. But we had already decided on another place and were driving towards it. It was put at the top of our list of restaurants to try out in the city.

From the outside, it looks frozen in time. The board is old school. The doors and wide windows are old-fashioned. The crowd too, I feel, are simple common people. It has a decent amount of customers all the time. I haven’t seen it jam-packed but neither have I seen it empty. The counter is plain and simple. The menu is written on the top of a wall for everyone to see. I can’t make out what is written. From the looks of it, it serves local food. This is what attracted me. I feel restaurants like these have stood the test of time because of the food they serve at an affordable price. For someone who is well off, the price point doesn’t matter. Then comes the ambiance. It is basic. It has tables and benches to seat its customers. I don't have a problem with it. If it serves something good, I really don't mind the ambiance.

I feel there might be dishes in here that are iconic. Dishes that haven’t aged a single day from their inception. Dishes that have a loyal following of the common folk. It might not be super tasty or wonderful. It can be simple and consistent. A good porotta and beef curry can be the deal breaker if repeated with consistency over a long period of time. I don't think the people who come and eat here go around advertising it. They come, eat and leave. They see it as an everyday restaurant, an extension of their home. That is a powerful thing.

I stopped right in the middle of the road because of what has happened to the restaurant. A car has crashed into it, destroying its glass windows. Surprisingly the railings are intact on the pavement. The car must have gone through the gap in the railing. Considering the impact of the crash, the car was speeding. There is a cutting in the divider just behind me. I turn my scooter all the way around and take it to enter the opposite side of the road. I rush to the scene.

The glass lies shattered on the pavement. The front of the car is badly damaged. The airbags have inflated. There is no one inside. I get out and carefully approach the crashed wall. Inside it, the tables adjacent to the window are covered in glass. I look at the menu on the wall. It has all the local dishes you expect to find in a local restaurant written on it in length. The rates are nominal. I feel a bit sad. I should have explored it.

We feel we have time and put out things for another day. I am learning it the hardest way possible that this is not true. Honestly, we don't have time.