Why the old and retired love living in Agra (Letter from Agra)

AGRA - The city of the Taj that revels in the cosmopolitan legacy of the Mughals and the British has become the favourite destination of many senior citizens and retirees who prefer to spend their sunset years in Agra’s peace and comfort.

Besides being a prominent destination on the world tourism map and being close to historic temple cities of Mathura and Vrindavan, Agra has all the facilities of a metro city, complete with five-star hotels and malls.

Ashit Kumar Das, who worked for a tea company in Tundla near here, could have shifted to Kolkata, his native place but he chose to drop anchor in Agra, which for all practical purposes is now his permanent address.

“People in Agra are helpful and do not let you feel that you are an outsider,” Das says.

For Ipe M. Ipe, who retired as principal of Agra’s prestigious St John’s College, settling down in Agra was a deliberate move, as he had educational commitments to fulfil and institutions to manage.

Ipe lives in the “comfortable, pollution-free ambience” of the Dayalbagh area, which is of course not as green as Kerala, his native place.

“But I have absolutely no regrets. The law and order situation is much better than in Greater Noida or Gurgaon. Agra is so well connected with major destinations in India and the quality of life is definitely good.”

Ipe says that people with modest means can also own a house in the city.

Bibhuti Bhushan Barik, an author and educationist from Orissa who owns a decent property in Paschimpuri, says: “People here do not discriminate. They are friendly and cooperative. The air is good and food is cheap.

“When I served a three-year stint at a prestigious national institute in Pune as director, I felt the problem of discrimination, which at times was offensive. But here in Agra, people are not bothered where you come from or why you are here. They are liberal and broad-minded. I often move in and out of the city during night but nobody has ever bothered me.”

Retired Col. Shiv Kunzru, who is of Kashmiri descent and his wife is from Delhi, says: “The city lives in several ages and offers a wide range of choices in every field, from a five-star ambience to road-side chatwallahs.

“Who would like to live in a non-descript place, an address that can lead to several supplementary questions? Agra needs no definition, go to any part of the world,” adds Kunzru, who has built a house in Kaveri Kunj on Shamshabad road.

S.P. Singh, who retired from a government job, a few years ago, says the power situation in Agra is much better than in most other cities of Uttar Pradesh.

“The city is free of frequent violence and riots and life goes on at a rather laid-back pace. For connoisseurs of food, Agra’s sweets are simply unmatchable,” he adds.

Shravan Kumar, who has just a few months left for retirement, says with the new fleet of comfortable Marco Polo buses, commuting within the city is not a hassle any more.

“From one end of the city to the other, it takes just an hour and you also have the ubiquitous link autos to transport you to just anywhere at affordable charges,” he says.

Vijay Nagar colony resident and financial adviser Sudhir Gupta feels one reason why the local property market has not panicked due to the recent slump is the growing number of inquiries from people planning to retire shortly or from ageing parents whose children have ventured out to greener pastures.

According to the 2001 census, there are over 3.6 million people in Agra district, 200,000 of whom are senior citizens.

Surendra Sharma, owner of Goverdhan hotel, says: “The city is neither too big to be unmanageable nor too small. With more money now pouring in ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, the civic infrastructure would be further streamlined.”

However, the city does not have much scope for the younger generation, he says. “The grim reality is that there is hardly any worthwhile economic activity which could engage the younger generation in Agra as all industries are now closed following Supreme Court intervention to control pollution for the safety of heritage monuments,” says Sharma, whose hotel has become a favourite meeting place of senior citizens.

(Brij Khandelwal can be contacted at brij.k@ians.in)