Blue Mountain

As a young boy I used to often go to Coimbatore. By Nilgiris express. By Blue Mountain express.

And suddenly it dawned to me one day that Neel= Blue and Giri= Mountain. Nilgiris and Blue Mountain were one and the same. There was only one train referred sometimes as Nilgiris express and at other times as Blue Mountain express.

After passing my S.S.L.C. exam in 1966, I joined Vivekananda College and studied there for four years. I used to cycle to college and I will pass by the large vacant ground with a board: This place belongs to Nilgiris 1905.

Much later the Nilgiris super market was opened in this place. Here you could get authentic Madurai Malli (Jasmine flowers from Madurai) around 4 p.m. in the evening. Who has not heard of the Nilgiris cake shows?

Alas! A business which was started in 1905 and was successfully run by the family members for more than a century was sold to a private equity investor a few years back.

I came to know of it when a prospect rang me up and asked for 55 air-conditioners. He asked me to meet him in Nilgiris and explained that he had bought the place.

It seems that the younger generation of the family were not interested in continuing the business and the elders were not comfortable in appointing professionals and running the show.