From Garden Ci

Bangalore has come a long way since its botanical nature has given way to the best of technology

The .late British Prime Minister Winston ChurchiU, duri n g the early part of his life as an army officer, bad a three-year stint in Bangalore. He didn't like the place. In his memoirs titled My Ear!J1Life, he described the city which the British capmred after defeating emperor Tipu Sultan in 1799, as a "tl1ird rate watering p lace wit!, !ors of ro u tine work to do, without society of good sport".

Howeve r my experience was noming similar, when in the late seventies I first visited the elegant metropolis tl,at was founded by a chieftain called Kempe Gowda in the early 16th cenmry. Bangalore's colonial vestiges, architectural magnificence, historic sires and slow-paced classy Li fesr yle filled with cocktails and cricket, three piece suits and horse racing we re enough for me (and perhaps for many ochers) to fall in l ove at the first visir, and rhereafrer remrn rime a nd again

Blessed with a salubrious clin,are, lush gardens, parks and namral lakes, it was men fondl y called the Garden City. Along witl1 locals and tourists, I always enjoyed tru n d ling through the sprawl s of me 240 -acre Lal

Bagh Boranical Garden and me 300- acre Cubbon Park mat p rovided a spl ashing green landscape for grandiose edifices such as me Neo -Dravidian scyle state parliai:nem house caUed V idhana Soudha and the 19th cenrur y red- brick High Court and Government Museum buildings, all located nearby.

Being not an awfully pricy ciry, I could then afford sleeping at Lhe opulent five star Ashok or me co lonial West End for a price that was much less compared to similar horels in other Indian metros. I could dine in s tyle at the rooftop Topkapi Restaurant, which was said to be owned by Bollywood actor Amjacl K han of Sholtry fame, before getting into di sco mod e at one of me v ibrant joints at Brigade Road.

I lost couch with my heartthrob after moving to Australia in the eighties, but the capital city of Karnataka state did n't lose her phce in my heart Driven b y that nostalgic feeli ng, few years ago I touched its soil again and was amazed by che quanttlm of cha nge tbat has swept through me metropolis since my last visir almost 25 years ago It was hard for me to spot the Bangalore 1 knew intimately.

As the plane was about to !and, me firsr change that h it m e was hearing, "Our flig ht will shortl y be landing at Bengaluru airport"

Though I knew abour the name change, me announcement instantly crea ted uncanny wimdrawal symptoms w imin me, something sim ilar to tl1e experience of being taken away from your comfort zone.

The next lot of surprises came after entering the same old airport terminal building once dominated by India n Airlines, bur now sharing floor space with hordes of newly introduced domestic airlines from Spice Jet to Kingfisher. Pushing my trolley through the mick mulrilingmu crowd, I realised how liberalisation of air travel has revolutionized tbe way a common lndian used to travel earlier. Air travel is no more me cartel of tl1e rich and the mighty; i t bas almost become a common m an's vehicle.

Stepping outside I found the carpark foU as usual, bm goodo ld Ambassadors and Fia ts were replaced witl1 Toyorns, Opels, BMWs and Merced es, proclaiming India's economic progression parr.icula rly in th is city, due to me g lobal conve rgence of tl1e information technology business

W itl1 ' jobs being Bangalored' as th e western world quotes, m y 'Garden C ity' is now crowned with her new ti tl e, 'Silicon Valle y of the East'.

My image of familia r Bangalore soon got lost in a new genre of a traffic-clogged metropo lis sprinkled wit!, n ew flyovers, lofty office rowers, glittering shopping maUs, massive residential b locks and a plemora of l uxury hote ls, bars and resraurant5. F lavoms o f Microsoft, Ora cle , Pizza Hur and McDonalds have taken over me bato n from HAL, HMT a n d those traditional 'Udipi' restaurants. The city, wbicl1 was o nce a haven for wealmy retirees because of its slow- paced way of l ife, has become a hub for me younger generation keen on technology, money and a fast routine Forttmacely me magical transformation didn't take away m y imrins ic liking for mis So u th

Indian m etropolis that is stee ped w ith hi story and culture. Th e warm hug o f welcome didn't disappear.

I e n joyed my time watchin g the b lend of old and new and left with a promise to return soo n.

It took me another fo ur years to seep in there again and guess w hat welcomed me? More changes!

This time l wal ked ouc of an ula·amodem airport located 40 k m m.vay from the city centre; wafted around rhe ciry -hub usi ng the n ew mecro rail; visited new trend y restaura n ts; saw more lmm_ry h otels li ke the plush Park P laza ne ar Mararhahalli junc tio n ; found tha t street s have b eco m e swirling sea o f c ars and pedestrians while 1 stumb led on overh ead cra n es, bulldozers and dug up streets in every direction, a cl ear m ess age that so mething n ea ter and bigger is on the way.

INDIAN LINK

I am to ld n ow that over 10 million passengers move an nually throug h the new airpo rt whic h hints thar the ciry h as n't lost its charms, ot her than Time changing its offe r in gs. What sur prises m e th e most i s d1e return h ome of many ymmg NRis mainly from th e US, w h o prefe r B an gal ore to New Jersey or Los A n geles, from a Jjfes tyl e and employment point o f v iew

I came across a good number o f inte rna tional touri sts They trundled over p op ular stretches of MG Road , Commercial Street and Brigade Road taking pictures of co lo n ial buildings; crowcli ng th e sw:n m er palace of Tipu Sultan, a n elaborately decorated structure wi th o rnate arch es and minarets; visi ting the 300-year-o ld Venkataramanaswamy Temp le: and lighting candl es ins id e St. l\fa ry's Bas ika, d1e city 's oldest church. I felt p leased to see my favourite ci ty well -placed in the touristy circle.

But the w hy didn't

C hurchill like Bangalore? P erhaps during his tim e there was not much o f action and e n tertainment in the sleepy cantonment to keep yo ung E n g li shmen li ke him amused and occupied.

Th e thought came back to me whe n I visi ted the l egendary Bangalore Club establi s hed in 1868 to m eet the social needs for the city's European inhabitants It is said that young Ch urchill, who was m iserably bored, spent tim e at ili is club, perhaps drinking l ocs of w hi skey. le didn't d o h im any good; rather he left ilie city w it h a debt o f R s 13 owed to me c lub. Th e ledger book of the club from June 1899 is n ow di splayed in the club prem.ises and bas 'Lt WLS

C hurchill' named as one of 17 defaulters! lt is really amazing to see documentary evidence of a later- turn ed -ruig h ty Prime 1'1inister owi ng a small amount of m o ney ro an estab li shm e nt i.t1 a country d1 at crune wider hi s rule. Many B ritis h citizens visiting the clL1b, after seei n g Lhe deb t h ave offered to clear hi s d ues, buc the club auchorities always politely refuse, sa ying mar hisrory is history, and can't be rewci cten !

GETTI NG THERE

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ACCOMMODATI ON

Situated ina meticulously chosen location, the newly opened 234-room Pa rk Plaza Benga luru is pa rt of Sarovar Hotel s& Resorts (www.sarova rhotels.com)and offers5 star serv ices compara ble to the highest internationa l standards

MORE INFORMATION

Check www.incred ibl eindia. org or ca ll Incredib le India on 02 92219555