I'm BANGALORED !!!

Bangalore always had an atmosphere for serene conduct and tolerance of all people. In my childhood days i never heard of communal clashes, and violence of the nature that one often reads about these days. This is perhaps because of the influx of all kinds of everybody into the city, removing from her the innocence of love and neighborly affection.

Bangalore boasts of some of the oldest and best-known schools and educational institutions in India. The premier educational institutions of Bangalore have produced some of the country's finest management and hospitality professionals, doctors, engineers, scientists, businessmen and erudite academicians and politicians, to name a few.

My school - BALDWIN GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL

A sister concern of Baldwin Boys’, this prominent girls’ school has a many splendoured history, having produced several distinguished citizens.(That includes me too !!) Baldwin Girls' also claims distinction for having produced excellent sportspersons, including national swimmers and basketball players.

Take a peek at our scholastic heritage . I have even put up some of Bangalore's finest pictures - Quite old ones though.

The climate and the city's original beauty is still holding out ... let's save Lalbagh, Cubbon Park, Palace Grounds, The Plant Museum opposite the Planetarium (let's hope this does not become a museum that is for ... "trees that used to be!!"... because strange tree diseases of drying up of trees suddenly is going around the city ...

I recall that as youngsters, we played hide and seek,hopskotch,Lock and Key or cops and robbers,badminton(that too on the roads) now one cant just imagine of playing on the roads. A game could go on till as late as 8 p.m.!! Saturday's used to be family time, when all of us would go to Hanuman Temple in Mahalaxmi Layout or just go to cubbon park.Talking about Cubbon Park how can i forget not to mention about the Train ride and hot Jo-laa(Fried Corn) or yummy sugar candy.

Come summer holidays and I'd be off to Lalbagh with dad and brother, Srikar. Just cant forget those days when we both kept playing in the lawns until dad finished his rounds of jogging.We'd stop by at MTR to have yummy Bisibelebath or just Rava Idly.

Old Bangaloreans never die, they just fade away (or have they fallen victim to the new congestion and pollution?).

Because of the development and infrastructure of the Communities, Bangalore soon was looked at as an Industrial Belt Area and now it's called the IT capital of INDIA, and has also made a huge impact globally.With so many IT companies in Electronic city(had'nt heard of this place when as a kid) and Whitefield and many more coming up in the city,it would just add up to large traffic jams.And construction activities going on everywhere and flyovers spinging up every 15 km, soon bangalore would turn out to look like another Singapore (Thatz exactly what a previous government's plan was to do so, God knows how much more time it would take) .The first thing that used to spring up my mind about Whitefield was of Sai Baba's Ashram.

One thing very noticeable in Bangalore is the change of relationships of neighbours, lots of strangers have moved in with their culture and isolated themselves in their concrete fortresses. Hence one does not know who is staying next door. Most of all the big old bungalows have been converted to flats. People have become very possessive, hard natured, inconsiderate, uncaring and it's depressing it's not Bangalore anymore ... it's a Cosmopolitan City, that has outlived it's usefulness, and now the people are looking for other cities to get more for their lives..

Now Hold On! not all has changed, there is a great lot which hasn't .... but that is rare....you can still find a couple of such buildings around Baldwin Girl's high School.... every nook and corner people are building and they don't care about the inconvenience caused to others... others who are occupying old buildings look only after their half making the building look astonishing, others put up hoardings all around and anywhere they feel like, disfiguring the beauty of the City skyline. Who cares? Can anyone help to recapture all of Bangalore's pristine beauty, make is Bangalore - A City Beautiful.

None, except the People themselves. They should get rid of all the ugly out-of-place hoardings, some occupy so much space on the footpaths that pedestrians have to walk on the roads. If the hoardings have to be put up they must blend with the skyline. It is a bit sad to note that lots of the old Pensioners lost their Paradises because they had no one to pass them down to, or were tricked into false promises or fear that the Government would take them over.


Another noticable thing about Bangalore is that Dogs that used to be pets are now used for "Guard Duty"!! Wonder what the Security Staff are for?! (NOw even they seem to be frustrated with the rising population and pollution in Bangalore, that they've actually started attacking humans as well, even to the extent of killing them.Gosh !!!!) This is the sad state of Bangalore.

Schools have come up in every nook and corner, some are recognised and some are not.. not too clear as per Government Norms... when there should be an urge to make Karnataka Literate like Kerala ... never mind.. some of us have passed through that stage in life safely ... Roads are still being renamed .. Wonder why no one thinks of naming new Layouts and their roads?

Bangalore, You are losing Your History. You are losing Your Charm. A Paradise Lost!!

Bangalore was and is made up of various Communities that came from Tamilnadu (Madras now Chennai), Kerala, Andhra, Pondicherry, and from parts of Karnataka ( earlier Mysore State). Tamilians, Anglo-Indians, Mangaloreans , Goans , Parsis, Muslims, and other Communities from neighbouring States have contributed to the City of Bangalore, each in their own distinctive way. There are people with disabilities that have let active lives in Bangalore, and who are known for their work in the areas of the handicapped, some call them 'Children of a Lesser God', I call them God's Own. I have even interacted with kids from Baldwin's sister concern school for the Mentally retarded. We would celebrate Christmas in school with them. They'd be so happy see us sing hymns and carols.

One can go on and on, but I think for the moment I should stop.... if you feel this is interesting , then please go ahead and write me your views .... don't know when anyone else would be in a mood to put down things, hope you enjoyed these Bangalore Memories ....

Hey, Bangalore Wallas!, if you remember anything about Bangalore, that I have left out or you would like to add, please dont hold back. Send me an e-mail or write to me and I would love to include the same on this page or even open a new one attached to this!!