The
IT Park at Cherthala, Kerala, attracts many people who are looking
for a rural life, with cheap amenities, and no traffic jams or
pollution
Photo by Mithun Vinod
By
Shevlin Sebastian
The
35-year-old woman was agitated. At the security office, at the Info
Park, at Cherthala, she insisted she wanted to meet the bosses of
the companies. But when she was asked for a specific name, she could
not provide any.
At
that moment, Anoop Krishnan, the CEO of a Kuwait-based firm, was
passing by. The security called him for help. “When I questioned
her, she said she worked as a helper in a textile shop and was
looking for a similar job at the park,” says Anoop. “I said that
you don’t get those types of jobs. It is linked with computers.”
The
woman said, “The government had said that we will all be getting
jobs in the park.”
Anoop
smiles as he recounts the incident at his air-conditioned office at
the park. “Initially, many locals did not know what we were doing
here,” he says. “But two years later, they are all supportive.”
Anoop
was working in Kuwait when he was asked by his company, Webna Web
Solutions, to start a development centre for software. “The
directors went to the info parks at Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, but
they liked Cherthala the most. It is green, pollution-free, and
seemed calm and quiet.”
Anoop
also likes the Info Park. “The main advantage is the absence of
traffic jams,” he says. “When I was working in Thiruvananthapuram
and Bangalore, I would take anywhere between 45 minutes and two hours
to get to work. But in Cherthala, I take 10 minutes to come to work,
even though I live 10 kms away. The staff also comes on time.”
There
are other advantages, too. At his home town of Pathanamthitta, 65 kms
away, tomatoes cost Rs 47 per kilo, but at Cherthala they are selling
at Rs 28. “Fish and vegetables are also cheaper,” he says.
Even
the rents are affordable. You can get a three bedroom house for Rs
3500 per month. There are employees who have hired a two-storey
building for Rs 7000. As for Anoop, he is living in a four-bedroom
house, and paying a rent of Rs 5000.
The
park, set in an area of 60 acres, is an expanse of green. There are
all sorts of trees and flowering plants, as well as a lake. “Once
you come here, you will feel happy,” says Anoop. “There is a
rural charm. The pace is soothing and relaxing.”
The
park has food
courts, conference halls, discussion rooms and game zones. There is
also a110 kV sub-station, a water treatment plant, storage tanks,
internal roads and an effluent treatment plant.
“The park has been designed for low-cost operations,” says Info Park CEO
Hrishikesh Nair. “It has emerged as a sought-after destination for
companies from the Middle East.”
One
reason for being sought-after is the rural ambience. “Most of the
employees have come from places like Dubai, Bangalore and
Thiruvananthapuram so that they can live in a natural environment,”
says Deepu
Krishnan RK, the CEO
and director of the Bahrain-based Voyager IT Solutions.
But
there are disadvantages. There is no entertainment, to speak of, nor
a nightlife. “We enjoy ourselves on the weekends,” says Jaison
Kunjukutty, who has relocated from London, where he was working for a
mobile company. “We go
to Kochi, which is only 30 kms away, and spend a lot of time in the
malls, watch films at the multiplexes and have fast food.”
For
Rajesh Gowda (name changed), a Kannadiga from Bangalore, language is
a problem. “The people don’t understand Hindi or English,” he
says. “But since I know a little bit of Tamil, I am managing.”
Food
is also a problem. “The Malayalis use coconut in every dish,” he
says. “So I make my own food and use sunflower, instead of coconut
oil. Nevertheless, I like it here.”
Deepu
is also happy. In the near future, he will be taking a 5,000 sq. ft.
office area, from his present 1700 sq. ft. “Our
Fakhro group in Bahrain has 47 companies, so we need a lot of backend
staff,” he says. “This is just the beginning of good times.”
(Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)
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