HERITAGE

In a symphony of horns and beeps, cars, buses and motorcycles bullet past the populated Springfields apartment complex, the enormous Wipro campus, and the multitude of schools that dot the famous Sarjapur Road. It turns from a mellow street at night into a hub of pandemonium we witness during the day. Narrow and long, it stretches on for kilometers, providing access to thousands of residential complexes and immense corporate offices. Smaller streets branch out of the main spine of Sarjapur Road like tributaries, spreading to Electronic City and Marathahalli. As it trails away from Bangalore city, it dissolves into the…

The sign says it all: An bungalow in the Cantonment area The quaint names, the tree-lined streets, the quiet roads and most important, the bungalows make the Cantonment area, a sure-shot target for real estate 'developers'. My husband and I moved here ten years ago because of this old world charm--we loved the serene areas in and around Cooke Town, the streets adjoining Mosque Road, the hidden gems around Richards Park. But now standalone homes, of every size, from stately bungalows to matchbox-shaped houses, are morphing into apartment buildings. And the end result is a sandwiched existence. Take Davis Road…

View of the Somanathapura temple from the porch entrance. Pic: Wikimedia Commons The temple at Somanathapura took 58 years to build with 500 sculptors ceaselessly working on it. A true work of art, the Gods come alive in the stones of Somanathapura.  The stone figurines speak to you, be it is the ornately carved temple ceilings, the intricately carved pillars or the heavily sculpted star shaped Trikuta style temple of Somanathapura.  Somanathapura as the name suggests, is not a Shiva temple; it is a famous Hoysala styled Keshava temple. A brief history The temple was constructed in 1268 AD by commander…

One thing led to another. I was looking for feedback on sketches of the street life at Russell market and that led to the suggestion: “Why don’t you try meeting Mr.Zaffar Sait? He has been an old resident of the neighbourhood” So, that’s what I did and then couldn’t help but turn it into a post just so that others would have the chance to listen to this story as well. So, here is the account of life in Bangalore in the 50’s as narrated by Mr.Zaffar Sait, who belongs to one of the most well-respected mercantile families of the…

As long as I remember, the Shiva Bala Yogo Ashrama has had two locations, one in J P Nagar 3rd Phase, and one on Bannerghatta Road. A couple of years ago, I noticed that the trees in the Ashrama on Bannerghatta Road had been cut down, and the building was no longer being used.  Now it looks as if the building is going to be demolished. I wonder what will come up in its place! This has been a landmark for a long time (the bus stop nearby is still called the "Ashrama" bus stop).  Certainly, the loss of the…

I went to Langford Town, and was saddened to see another beautiful heritage home hit the dust on Oleff road. This lovely bungalow, typical of old Bangalore architecture, set in small, lovely garden, was already half gone. I tried to see if the year of construction was marked anywhere, but could not find it. The solidity of the construction, and the high ceilings, can be seen: How I wish I had the money to buy up such old homes, and maintain them in the old style! I could sit in them and dream about days when space in the city…

I've attended, and enjoyed, several of Bangalore Little Theatre's productions over the years, because it's Bangalore's oldest theatre society...but this evening's production of "The Court Jester: Tales of Tenali Rama" was very special for me, as my grandchildren, 5 and 1, were visiting me, and I'd been very keen to give Kavya (the elder) a taste of theatre...so having a children's play by BLT to go to was a wish come true! The whole family went to Woodlands Hotel to find that things were delayed a bit, but Vijay Padaki filled in the gap with great panache. He first invited…

As we entered the Woodlands Hotel just off Richmond Circle, to attend a wedding, our attention was riveted by this little gem, parked in the campus: The MORRIS MINOR is a beautiful little car! As if to keep perfect company with the car, these old buildings of the Woodlands Hotel looked so lovely: We attended the wedding, too...the youngest daughter of one of the old families of Bangalore and Nanjangud: All in all, it was a day when history and heritage seemed to thrive in modernity!

My memories of Neralu, Bangalore's first crowd funded tree fiesta held in around Cubbon Park on 8th and February 9th 2014.   We walkedand talkedabout trees,birds and bees There were songs and dancesof green romancesplays, talesand tree inhalescrafts and artsseeds and plant partshugs galorefor our beloved trees of Bangalore So, let's say "1, 2, tree"And set ourselves free!

I met a lot of interesting people today. My friend Jayashree Govindarajan put me in touch with Nidhi Manoj and Reshmi Chakraborti, who have been, for the past two years, running an e-magazine called Silver Talkies , for those above 55 years of age, Today (7th March, 2014) Silver Talkies, along with Suchetadhama (run by Shanthini Dawson) and artist Paul Fernandes’ gallery of Curious Memories, held their maiden event, “Art, Coffee and Conversation”, at the gallery, with high tea at The French Loaf, situated in a heritage house across the road. The idea was to share thoughts and discussions, and…