Geometry and geography in Bangalore

Geometry, geography, and Karnātaka sangītam intersect with proper nouns. It may not be what you think. Or what you expect even.

At around 6 am, I was walking along Double (or KH) Road. A car pulled up beside me. In it were a couple; husband was driving. They hailed me.

I leaned down to look through the open window of the passenger side. It was the husband part of the picture talking to me. He needed directions. Could I please help him? I said yes, of course.

“How do I get to Richmond Circle?”

From then, the conversation took a rather amusing turn. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Let us back up a little.

Place names are very fascinating. Toponymy (from the Greek topos — place, onym — name) can often make for some very amusing geographic situations.

You know what geography means, right? Geo — Earth, graphy description (from Greek); this is the standard definition that you have memorized. Of course, geography is a LOT more than that (we’ll look at that another time). There is another Earth-related subject you study: geometry (geo — Earth, metry — measurement; Greek again). The two geo words are quite intimately connected, of course.

One way is the application of the rules and methods of geometry to measure things on Earth — e.g.: altitude, latitude, longitude, depth, etc. We use geometry to describe geographic things — e.g.: downstream, upstream (both refer to differences in altitude along a body of flowing water).

We use geometry in naming places. Here in Bengaluru, there are roads with geometric names: 50 Feet Road, 100 Feet Road, 80 Feet Road, etc. Shouldn’t they be called 15.24 Metres Road, 30.48 Metres Road, and 24.384 Metres Road, respectively? But it just doesn’t roll of the tongue quite as well as “feet” does it?

No, I have not forgotten the story.

So, hubby asked how to get to Richmond Circle. They were on “Double Road” — this being Kengal Hanumanthaiah Road, or K H Road; the original “Double Road”. Don’t be misled by the more recent upstart “Double Roads” elsewhere in the city!

But he was driving in the opposite direction to where he ought to have been going.

“Ah. Richmond Circle. You are going away from it. Just continue ahead. At the next traffic signal make a U-turn. Then stay on that road past one traffic signal. The next major intersection is Richmond Circle.”

“Oh? I see…”

“You won’t see.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, I am guessing you are from elsewhere. Are you?”

“Yes, we are from Delhi.”

“Ah, then, welcome to Bangalore.”

“Oh, thank you!”

“Yes. We like to mess with the minds of visitors. This Richmond Circle that you seek … there is no circle there. Nor a square, rectangle, triangle, nothing at all. Bangalore is full of such places!” (See image above)

Both of them were giggling by now.

“So, when people give you directions and refer to all sorts of geometric thingies, don’t think you will actually see them on the ground. So, again, welcome to Bengaluru where we have a strange sense of humour.”

They thanked me, waved, and drove off amid much mirth.

We have Tagore Circle, which is a rectangle; Ramakrishna Square is a rectangle and has a statue of Swami Vivekananda; and Lal Bagh Circle … well, it just isn’t there!

Then, we have names of places attached to people. In the normal course of people’s names, we often see place names (usually in the form of one or more of their initials).

But what fascinates me most is how Karnatic musicians use place names. So you have Hyderabad Brothers, Bangalore Brothers, Mambalam Sisters, Sikkil Sisters, Bombay Sisters (they have not changed over to Mumbai Sisters), and so on. These are musicians who have gained a certain degree of popular appeal and renown.

So, if you and your sibling (of the same gender) are learning Karnatic music and have only completed up to lesson 12, you couldn’t call yourselves by any whole, large place name. No! You are small potatoes! So, you would be, for example, 85/A (old no. 22/1), 2nd floor, 12th Main, 7th A Cross, Jayanagar, (Near former Post Office Circle), Bangalore Sisters. However, you may progress and rise in stature. This is approximately how it would work:

• You complete 26 lessons, you can call yourselves: 12th Main, 7th A Cross, Jayanagar, (Near former Post Office Circle) Sisters.
• You complete 78 lessons, and can sing in the local Ganeśa festival pandal in the morning as: Jayanagar, (Near former Post Office Circle) Sisters.
• You learn several krtis which require some breath control to sing, and you can do this without choking and coughing, and you are able to elicit applause from the non-family, non-friends, non-well-wisher members of the audience. Good. You now qualify to call yourselves: Jayanagar Sisters.
• You can do all kinds of jiggery-pokery with ragas, tālas, svaras, and so on? You are noticed by people who matter and are invited to sing at the 6pm slot for one of the better known Bangalore Rama Navami festival programs? Good, now you have arrived and you may call yourselves … Bangalore Sisters!

Please send me a free pass to your concert at Tagore Circle.

Things you can do:

1. In your city, are there streets with geometric measurements as part of their names? What are they? Where are they? Are those measurements accurate?
2. In your city, are there circles, squares, etc.? How correct are the names of shapes used for them? Are any of them just names without actual shapes being there? What happened to the shapes? (This also takes you into historical geography!)
3. Do you know people who have place names as part of their names? Map these names and see the geographic range of your family, friends, and acquaintances. In this list of people differentiate between the terms “kith” and “kin”.
4. Describe that map. Will it remain the same forever? Will it change? Why or why not? If it will change, how might it change? Send your maps and narratives to geo@tigs.in and we will publish selected responses on our geography blog.
5. Look for other strange and odd place names in your area. Find something funny? Take a picture of it and send it to us. (geo at tigs dot in)

A version of this article appeared in the Deccan Herald Student Edition on 9 July 2015.