Greater Basavanagudi that once was… We had seen a shorter version of Basavanagudi from the smallest of circles in Bangalore a bare 8-10 ft. ft in diameter but connecting to history all around. I will attempt a slightly longer stroll criss-crossing the locality... The Eatery Circle Lunch Home was almost bang on the circle itself, barely 20 ft. away where at present Ladies Wear House has moved in from the other end of the road. Newspaper boys would start their morning routine after gulping hot coffee here. ** If you walked from Gandhi Bazaar leading to Ramakrishna Ashrama in Bull Temple Road, you passed V.S.& Sons, the owner with a beard selling books along with Chandamama, Balamitra and Balabodhe a book only of palm-size. The shop also doubled as a cycle repair shop. Opposite you had Guru Medical Stores which helped the elderly by keeping their regular medicine always in stock. Next you came to Gita Restaurant which already had a crowd for morning Tiffin from the adjoining BeNNE Govindappana Chhatra from Govindappa Road. You also passed through Revanna Stores still keeping a vigil on what Gandhi bazaar once was and even now selling quality grocery. It was to Ganesha Stores after –dinner- strollers trooped in for kharada bannu and badami haalu at night. For a few years, P &T opened a Telephone Office to send telegrams with a facility to make international calls here. The calls you booked materialized only after a day which usually ended as a yelling match of ‘hello- hello’ across the seas with very little conversation going at either end. Coin-operated telephone booths which gave bruised toe nails for the frustrated who could neither get their call through nor their coins back had not made their appearance yet. Basavanagudi Cooperative Ltd, a major Shopping Center at the corner of the circle shed its colonial prosaic name turned modern as ‘Basco’ starting a Food Court and became a Mall of sorts when the word mall had not even entered a dictionary. As you walked down further after crossing Gita Restaurant, you came across a house with lot of open space which was quite common then belonged to Srinivasa Rao , Headmaster of Bangalore high school. His son Guru and his friends played under-arm cricket in the open space; you were declared ‘out’ if you hit a sixer on to the road. Immediately after that you came across the biggest traffic junctions of that area connecting 5 roads. ** If you chose to take a left and take a steep walk towards Dodda Ganapati temple and further down you would come to BMS Engineering College started by B.M. Srinivasaiah, only the second one in the city after Government Engineering College at the other end of the city. On the other hand If you continued to walk further down at the traffic intersection, on the right hand side you had the Kohinoor Grounds, where you could see Juttu Gopi’s team thump stalwarts like E.A.S. Prasanna, G.R. Vishwanath, K.R. Rajagopal and B.S. Chandrashekar and their likes in Tennis ball cricket matches. The professionals were all at sea but some of them confessed improvement in their game because they learnt how to judge the bounce of a ball better. As you walked further down you reached Gavi Gangadharana Temple in Gavipuram Guttahalli where apart from offering prayers during Sankranthi, you also ate yellu, bella and chewed on sugar cane when your teeth was still strong. Nanjanagud halpudi made them strong, never mind if it had salt or not. If you took a right at the junction, you would first come to Ramakrishna Ashrama in Bull Temple Road, the only place where the Swamijis gave you sweets and milk on Sundays when you went to learn bhajans, kirthans in Kannada and Bengali. Bull temple Road took you to Royan circle, Mysore Road and Goods Shed road and to Railway Station by the shortest route. Another route to Station was via Visveshwarapuram, Town Hall and thro Majestic and Tank Bund Road, a circuitous route not surprisingly preferred by most auto rickshaws! Bull Temple used to be desolated those days and people preferred Shankara Mutt Road offering namaskaaras to the deity passing along the way T.R. Shamanna’s Ranganatha Typing Institute or through Ranga Rao road starting from Isaac Ratnamma Issac’s clinic. The stone plaque of Ranga Rao Road gave plenty of opportunity to budding artistes turning the name topsy-turvy in Kannada. ** If you decide to walk from Gandhi Bazaar Circle to Nettakallappa’s circle, after fortifying yourself with fresh vegetable puff and badami haalu at Harsha Stores not before you say hello to Rama and Krishna looking after their vegetable shop with their father; opposite was competitor and friend Eaarappa’s shop perched next to the only Flour Mill Bangalore knew at that time. As you walked the longest stretch of Nagasandra Road, now called DVG road, you would pass Abalaashrama, a Society which groomed a destitute into a cheerful lass bidding good bye to her tearful dwelling mates while leaving for her own home with her just married husband. Gurukulam with Ramachar was still the place to learn the basics of grammar and Kannada the old Gurukula way as you cut across Police Station Road where Behenji ( called ‘Bahunji’ ) turned most girls to Hindi Visharads who went on to emulate Latha Mangeshwar’s Hindi songs at parties and get together. Karagiriyachar’s Prabhat Shishuvihara and their art - wing Prabhat Kalavidaru in their new premises at the corner of Police Station road would always be busy with new dance dramas that captured half of Bangalore’s hearts. Press baron Nettakalappa created a record of sorts being the first to jump into Journalism when he started Deccan Herald and Prajavani. YNK, photographer T.L. Ramaswamy horned their professions here while Mr. Citizen was born here through Ramamurthy’s immortal sketches. Netakallappa combined journalism, breeding of horses and liquor business into a fine art. But P.R. Ramiah’s Thayinaadu gave a stiff fight to Prajaavaani most mornings and was the preferred Newspaper. Now if I go further I am sure to hit Yediyuru Lake which was once the border of Bangalore. ** I mentioned Prajavani somewhere above. From Gandhi Bazaar circle, immediately after Harsha stores if you took a road to the right you would get Deccan Herald / Prajavani’s office before they flew across the city to M.G. Road. Right in front of it was Basavanagudi Temple if you climbed few steps and walked couple of furlongs. Nearby was the famous bugle Rock amidst rocky hills. ** Now, if you walked towards M.N. Krishna Rao park from Gandhi Bazaar circle, there were M.S. & Sons , L.N. & Co, twin shops side by side that sold heavy text books. Next was a puri shop who sold all types of puffed rice with bataaNi and groundnuts. Then you came to Vidyarthi Bhavan where most of them were waiting for their first masale dose of the day after eating the vada . Right Opposite was 11 and 16 bus stop to start their longest journey ferrying passengers for their office and schools. The flower shops had always stayed there with their colourful flowers spreading fragrance and cheer all around. The horse driven carriages or Jutka stand was next, which disappeared from the place altogether from modern age due to combined onslaught of BTS and Auto rickshaws throwing life into a perpetual disorder and one of anxiety. In between was Yuvaka Sangha in the first floor of a building which moved opposite M.N. Krishna Rao Park. It was in this venue, in a public meeting the crowd had objected to Atal Vajpayeeji and L.K. Advaniji addressing them in Hindi! Behind Krishna Rao Park you had Home school and Vijaya College. A few meters from Park was Institute of World Culture known for arranging meetings of intellectuals. It was here once Jayant Vishnu Narlikar came with his guru Sir Fred Hoyle to address a gathering on their conformal gravity theory. On the way to MNK Park from Gandhi Bazaar, you would pass a Corporation Market built with lot of fanfare as vegetable market. The vendors rejected it from day 1 and refused to move from the footpaths, won their case in court and have become part of heritage themselves in place where they have their shops! You passed through Welcome saloon with a longish hall where the senior barbers cut the hair of elder clients and in a smaller room inside the junior learnt the profession by trial and error, mostly latter, by trimming scalps of children perched atop a wooden box over the chair. Canara bank must have opened its one of the first branches in the city at the end of the road. Opposite was a Fancy-dress shop which also had a tailor to stitch dresses for individual requirement. As you cut across MNK park, you hit Armugam Circle and further down was Madhavan Park and that means you have touched Jayanagar now. The K.R. Road passed all the way to City Market and Majestic touching Bangalore High school, Vokkaliga Sangha, Scout Headquarters, Shankaraaiah hall, Fort High School’s Rama seva Mandali with makkala koota nearby. The stretch between National High school and Bangalore High school had the city’s first saalu mara on both sides of the road. Much later Thimmakka created her own saalu mara long before the world woke up and made the word ‘environment’ fashionable. ** As we hit the final stretch, walking towards Uttaradhi mutt road from Gandhi Bazar circle, you glanced at Fruit Ramanatha’s shop Ramanatha himself perched at the top. Then you came to the best grandige angadi which sold anything from cumin seeds to Ambal Nashya to coffee pudi. Opposite you had the Iyengar’s Newspapaer shop where on Saturdays, boys waited for Sports and Pastime and once in a month for Nagi Reddy’s ( chakrapani) Chandamama to come from Madras, now Chennai. Then there was Maruthi Fancy Stores the cheerful, stocky owner sold from colorful drawing papers, drawing papers to crackers before it was banned for selling in shops. At the corner was Siddoji Rao garmentShop which is like a sentinel even now and has become a heritage shop itself. When you crossed HB Samaja Road famous for Subbamma’s shop, Anjaneyana gudi and Medico Surgicals still in the main road you came to G.K. Bros ( Kalliaya) who sold books from anakru and tharasu novels to text books. Opposite was the classes for Chitra Kalavidaru like drawing classes then you came to Sundaram Stores selling stainless steel wares and at the corner Mani stores for bread, biscuit and baadami haalu at the cross of Govindappa Road which had Benne Govindappana Chhatra. Aroma from Shyamala Bakery wafted as you crossed the road here. Suvarna stores started as a small shop doing monthly chit fund ( cheeti haakodu !). He hit big times and became a major textile shop. Next was Vasu’s bhattara hotel famous for Rave Idli and opposite was Dr. Chandrashekar’s clinic; the doctor visited homes to see his patients and was one of the last of doctors who had ‘families’ attached to him and hence lovingly called a ‘family doctor’. Next to Bhattara Hotel much later came Nayak’s coffee shop who sold other grocery items as well. Between Surveyor Street and North Road, the end of Nagasandra Raod was place for tailors like Venkoba Rao (select Tailors) and his brotherinlaws Reliance tailors (No relation to Ambani Bros). Sai National Mart selling bulbs, stationary was the last shop before the halt board signal. There was a grocery shop between the tailors shop called beNNe angadi and a jewelry shop of Vasudeva Rao at the junction of Nagasandra Road and North Road coming from National High School. It was in North Road Dr. MV Govindaswamy the man responsible for NIMHANS stayed for a while opposite Karanikara paatashaala and Rajam Saraswati’s Women’s Peace League nursery for children. Just few minutes down Uttaradhi mutt Road was Uttaradhi matha famous for its daily puja of madhvacharya. This was just behind H. Rama Rao’s National High school Grounds and H.Narasimaiah’s ( H.N.) National College. *** Thus Gandhi Bazaar / Basavanagudi was the pole star in an era around which life happened for a generation of people. ## How many games were going on simultaneously at National High School Grounds also called Hindu Eleven? That’s another story :) ….. E.R. Ramachandran
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 04:59:34 +0000
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