Bangalore — A charmer

Shilpa Shree
Nov 1 · 4 min read

People, people everywhere, not a place is empty! This is how one feels when someone tries to explore this city, which was once called the garden City of India — Bangalore. Being born and raised in this city, I have personally seen it go through tremendous transformations. Should I call it good or bad, not sure! Let us just say, the city has matured, grown and changed. Yet, it charms us all with its beautiful, quirky weather.

Back then our city, Bangalore, ended at Gangenahalli in the North, and everything beyond JC road was airport road. Wide roads meant main roads, one could see buses, lorry, heavy motor vehicles and more ferrying people on the main roads. Smaller roads were the crosses or the by-lanes, often a scene of kids playing on the streets or cart vendors selling their products at people’s door step. Gulmohars, Australian wattle, Butterfly tree and many more lined up all the roads giving us all the fresh air to breathe and shade too. Mekhri Circle was a big circle in fact. HAL airport was the most fascinating destination. Lal Bagh, Cubbon parks were the hot hangout spots for family, kids and friends alike.

CREDIT: https://metrosaga.com/a-30-feet-view-of-old-bangalore/
CREDIT: https://metrosaga.com/a-30-feet-view-of-old-bangalore/
SOURCE CREDITS: https://metrosaga.com/a-30-feet-view-of-old-bangalore/

Working parents, yes, both worked even then. Only difference being, the support system was not just our own family, but the entire street who eventually became an extended family. This we can safely say as a village raises the child. Cows, buffaloes, goats, got milked in front of our homes and eyes, giving us all fresh milk to drink. Any social event meant the whole community gathered to celebrate it with all pomp and show. A death in the family gave the support of the entire community coming over and being there for the family.

As kids, playing on the streets was of paramount importance. It mattered to each and every child’s pride to make their street the busiest. This included the varied events conducted during the year such as Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali crackers, Holi, Christmas, Eid, etc. The street lights decided our evening play cut-off limit. No sooner the street lights went on, kids had to rush back home and study or finish their home work from school. It was mandatory to buy two types of sweaters for school, one with a long sleeve (full arm) and one without a sleeve. Sleeveless sweaters were worn during not so cold days and full arm sweaters during the rest of the months. Summers were peaceful and nice bringing in showers every time the weather hit 25–28°C.

Abhinay, Santosh, Urvashi, Natraj, Cauvery, Triveni, etc., were some of the single screen theatres people flocked. The smell of pop corns, cotton candy, sturdy hard seats, all are just a memory now. Alankar plaza, Cunningham road, Avenue Road, Chikpet, Gandhi Bazaar, Malleswaram, MG Road were some of the most flocked business hubs of our Bangalore.

Many lakes, which no longer exist, flaunted our city with clean pure air and bird life. Circus, community fairs, events brought people together without any inhibitions. Concept of travelling far of distance meant planning and spending ample time with the family and relatives. Oil lanterns were popular choice of light in every household.

Pepsi, coca-cola, thumbs-up, Gold spot, torino, frooti, etc were popular brands for cold drinks. Then came Fido-Dido. He swept us all off of our feet and made a special place in our hearts with 7-Up. One neighbor had the phone installed in their home and the whole street would use that as a communication centre. There were trees and wells within the perimeter of the house, and rain water was thus harvested without taking much efforts.

The 80’s kids saw the paradigm shift of Bangalore. The advent of IT in the city opened up doors for many. Hence, came the flow of many millions of immigrants from many nooks and corners of our country — India and abroad. Life has since then been shifting and changing, slowly and steadily. The kids have seen the antenna reception based television then to the internet based mobile entertainment now. Kids were taught Kannada language at school with much passionate teachers.

Dr.Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, Shankarnag, Ambareesh, Ananthnag, Malashree, Ravichandran, Sumalatha, Jayapradha, and many more entertained us in the Kannada film industry. Many Kannada authors and poets have brought laurels to our Karnataka with their writings. Karnataka gave birth to the greatest poet of the 20th century, Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa, most commonly known by his pen name, KUVEMPU. He wrote a poem which is the state song of Karnataka. It speaks laurels and praises for our state Karnataka.

ಜಯ ಭಾರತ ಜನನಿಯ ತನುಜಾತೆ,

ಜಯ ಹೇ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಮಾತೆ!

ಜಯ ಸುಂದರ ನದಿ ವನಗಳ ನಾಡೇ,

ಜಯ ಹೇ ರಸಋಷಿಗಳ ಬೀಡೆ!

Jai Karnataka! Happy Kannada Rajyothsava.