TIRUCHY: What’s in a name, being the profound quote it is, need not necessarily apply everywhere. Residents of ‘Drainage Street’ in Tiruchy will testify to that. From schools to offices, bank applications to Aadhaar cards, the name of their street haunts them. The embarrassment caused is so personal, that the signboard to the street has been damaged.
The corporation logo on it has been covered with black paint. “If someone asks where we live, we hesitate to give them an answer,” says Harikrishna. “We just tell them we live close to the Sakthi Mariamma temple near the Srirangam Station.
But, when it comes to filling-out applications, it’s humiliating. I cannot remember how many times officials have made fun after looking at the address.” Several representations have been made to the corporation,but in vain. “Probably, if affluent people lived here, they would have changed the name,” he says.
Why was it called Drainage Street? Senior citizen K Selvaraj, has a theory. “Some say it’s because around 50 years back, the street was inhabited by sanitary workers of the Corporation. A few others say it’s because there was a drainage pumping station around here.” Whatever the reason be, residents feel it’s affecting their upward mobility and social prospects.
There is another reason why the stigma around the name hurts the residents — a majority of them are Dalits. The name, they feel, is a reminder of the social oppression that follows them.