Shoba Shoba Website: http://shobanarayan.com/ My new book: Return to India is on Amazon, here. Return to India: Kindle edition here. The Indian edition here.
On 07-Feb-2013, at 1:30 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Send silklist mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/silklist > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of silklist digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > > > Message: 4 > Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2013 22:59:21 +0530 > From: Chetan Nagendra <[email protected]> > > > My memories of growing up in Bangalore was one of a close knit > scientific+literary community where everyone possibly knew everyone else. I > remember that growing up in Bangalore invariably meant running into a > white-haired "thatha" while on an evening walk with parents or grand-parents. > Of course these "thathas" happened to be a Dr. Raja Ramanna or national poets > like MVS or Masti, which we as kids were blissfully unaware of. Books meant > spending time during the summers in the Indian Institute of World Culture > which still has a humungous collection of comic books, or at the Central or > the local city corporation libraries, which unfortunately are now dead. The > secret stash of banned books were always found at the Max Mueller Institute. > The government book store at the Ashoka Hotel actually sold Debonair and a > host of other imported men's magazines. South Parade actually had fountains > towards one side of the road. The only night-club worth the salt was the Blue > Fox. The only electronics stores worth their goods were found at "Burmah > Bazaar". The only place with worthy Chinese food was Nanking (defunct), and > the best dessert arguably was found at Chit Chat (dead). There were no > Darshinis, and the best dosas were always (and still are) at Vidyarthi > Bhavan. Topkapi and Tiffanys were restaurants of reknown. Koshys was always > old and horrible. The Bangalore Club was always old, colonial and horrible. > Nandini or KMF milk did not exist, and Nilgiris delivered milk in actual > glass bottles, or the cow that would be milked in front of the house. The > police were actually friendly and had Willys jeeps and Rajdoot bikes, and > have now downgraded themselves to some horrible 100cc bikes. The Air Force > Base was actually very, very far from the city, and going to Nandi Hills used > to be a day's affair. There are so many temples in Malleshwaram that one can > lose count. The only college that anyone cared about was Josephs because the > Clergy offered a free lunch (literally). If you got into IISc, you had to be > better than Einstein. IIM did not exist. "Computer Point" on Dickenson Road > actually taught programming on ZX Spectrums and even sold these awesome > machines along with Redington typewriters. The best theaters were Rex and > Galaxy, but my favorite was always Symphony. Anyone could walk into the > Governor's mansion and request an audience. The Chief Ministers of the State > used to be somewhat down to Earth- one even inaugurated a corporation > swimming pool by diving into it. The best theater was always found at > Raveendra Kalakshetra and the best concerts at Gayana Samaja or the Sri Ram > Mandali. Chowdaiah Memorial is a fantastic piece of architecture. IISc still > has better telescopes than the Planetarium. The first super-computer was > installed at the Weather Station next to the old TV tower, and it probably > had a processing speed of 100 Mhz. There even used to be a precursor to > online forums called a BBS, and run by a certain Udhay. The Coorgis in Vivek > Nagar always made the best house wines. > > Not sure that any current book on Bangalore captures its essence. Perhaps the > natives should contribute towards a wiki to preserve the proper legacy of the > city! > > Chetan Wow! What a great walk down memory lane. Loved it. Chetan, thank you. I second the suggestion above about natives contributing towards a wiki to preserve the proper legacy of the city.
