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Coonoor
Coonoor is a small quiet hill town in the Nilgiri hillsin Southern India. It has a reputation (shared by many Indian hill stations) for being a reality-defying idyllic Shangri-Laof sorts. However, the growing networked economy, and the rampant influx of tourists to the region in the past few decades have eroded this image of Coonoor to some degree.
BackgroundCoonoor's economy relies primarily on the seasonal tourist traffic during the summer months, and on the teaindustry year round. The town is the second largest in the Nilgiri hills after Ooty, the district head quarters. Image:Coonoor tea plantation.jpgThe local populace almost entirely depends on the tea trade. The massive private tea plantations that surround the hills produce fresh green tea leaves which are picked, processed and packaged in bulk in local factories, for sale at auction houses in Coimbatoreand Cochin. The hills are among the more scenic spots in Tamil Nadu, and consequently attract enormous amounts of tourists during the hot Indian summer months. The town?s infrastructure often finds itself unable to handle the tourist inflow, and life turns especially chaotic when the local horticultural society holds its annual ?Fruit Show? at the peak of the tourist season, hosted at Sim's Park. Coonoor?s dominant demographic is a healthy mix of religions, languages and cultures - caused by the tourists who decide to retire here, the Indian Army?s regimental headquarters and Staff College (DSSC) in neighboring Wellington, and the local boarding schools. Christianity is a dominant minority religion, with many locals practicing Christianity along with Hinduism or Islam. Economic development of the town has at best been lopsided, with very little going towards the maintenance of the town. The photograph of the Coonoor bazaar is a testament to the economic divide that is as much a part of Coonoor, as it is of India. The market, composed mostly of small traders in the foreground is an unplanned mess, the distant hills in the background are home to many of the affluent elite. Boarding SchoolsThe expensive boarding (residential) schools have for nearly a century now been a feature of the Nilgiris and Coonoor. Originally modelled as British vocational training centers, these have now become comprehensive Kindergarten - Higher Secondary (K-12) schools based on the Indian (Central or State) schooling systems. The pleasant climate and utopian ideas of children growing up away from the maddening rush of life attract parents from all over the world. The schools are generally very well equipped by Indian and International standards, and mostly cater to the Indian elite. However, since most schools are also open to locals, they don't always breed elitist values. The majority of the schools are owned and operated by Catholic missionaries. The reasonable availability of infrastructure allows these schools to excel in sports, unlike most other schools in India which have a very strong academic focus. Nilgiri Mountain RailwayImage:NMR up train at Kateri Road 05-02-28 04.jpeg The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is one of the oldest mountain railwaysin India. The Nilgiri Mountain Railwaywas declared by the UNESCOas a World Heritage Sitein July 2005. It runs through Coonoor enroute from Mettupalayamto Ooty. See also
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