Tag Archives: blogging

Shops and shrines on a busy road in old Bangalore

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I KNOW OF TWO Avenue Roads. One is in London. Lined with the homes of the wealthy, it runs between Swiss Cottage and Regents Park. The other one is in Bangalore. It runs between KR Market (aka City Market) and a large Hindu temple (mandir) where Kempe Gowda Road becomes District Office Road. Both the road in London and its namesake in Bangalore carry much traffic, but there the similarity ends.

Avenue Road in Bangalore (‘AR’) is mainly lined with all kinds of shops, especially those dealing in paper goods (stationery as well as printed books). It runs through one of the oldest parts of the city: Chickpet. The lines of shops are punctuated by small lanes and alleys that lead away from AR.

Old pillars in a mandir on Avenue Road in Bangalore

As you stroll along the thoroughfare, you will pass mandirs and one church. And near the KR Market end of the road, a short lane leads to a Muslim shrine, the Dargah-e-Hazrath Manik Mastan Sha Saherwadi. It is well worth removing your footwear to enter this peaceful place. The grave it contains is in a small room with a mirrored, domed ceiling.

Some of the mandirs on or near AR are also worth looking into. Although some of their facades look fairly recent, the carved stone columns within the buildings look quite old. Near the street entrance of one of the mandirs on AR, I saw two intricate stone carvings of Hindu subjects. Both looked as if they might have been carved several centuries ago.

The Rice Memorial Church stands in its own small grounds, separated more from its neighbours than the mandirs on AR. Named after the British missionary, the Rev Benjamin Holt Rice, this Church of South India place of worship was built between 1913 and 1916 on the site of an earlier chapel first constructed in 1834, and then later rebuilt before being demolished. Although I have passed it often, I have not yet been able to enter it.

Not far from the church and a couple of picturesque mandirs, there is a branch of the Kamat chain of eateries. You can stop there for snacks and a variety of beverages. This place is in the midst of the numerous bookshops on AR. Proclaiming discounted books, these stores mainly stock textbooks and computer programming instruction manuals. Incidentally, AR is a good place to find a wide variety of diaries and calendars.

Bustling Avenue Road in Bangalore is a far more colourful and interesting thoroughfare than its rather elegant but staid namesake more than 5000 miles away in London. The street in Bangalore and the lanes leading off it give one a good idea of the ‘flavour’ of the parts of the city which existed before the arrival of the British imperialists. It makes a fascinating contrast to the newer Cantonment areas that became established after the British began settling in Bangalore.

Protesting about lettering in Bangalore

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Happy New Year!

KANNADA IS THE language spoken by the indigenous people of the Indian State of Karnataka. It is a Dravidian language spoken by about 44 million ‘natives’ of Karnataka and a 2nd or 3rd language for about 15 million ‘non-natives’.

The city of Bangalore is home to many people who either know no Kannada or for whom the language is not their ‘mother tongue’. Consequently many shop signs in the city either have no Kannada or have both English and Kannada lettering.

At the end of February 2024, it will be a legal obligation for all shop signs in Karnataka to have at least 60% of their coverage in Kannada script (currently, the requirement is 50%). However, for some fanatic Kannada nationalists this is not soon enough. On the 27th of December 2023, a few lorries loaded with men toured Bangalore. They stopped outside shops and attempted, often successfully, to damage or destroy the English lettering on shop signs. They did this not only to those signs which were entirely in the English script, but also to some bilingual signs (I.e., signs with both English and Kannada script). Not only did they damage or disfigure the English script, but in some cases, they also smashed windows.

Defaced shop sign

The police attempted to restrain these pro-Kannada activists. A few of them have been arrested. However, two days later I read that further unrest in Bangalore is threatened if those who have been arrested are not released.

While I sympathise with locals being upset that many of those who have come to Karnataka from elsewhere have little or no knowledge of Kannada, vandalism is no way to promote usage of the language and its script.

An interesting outdoor bazaar in Bangalore

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AT FIRST SIGHT, you might well think that you are looking at a crowded carpark which has been blown to pieces by a powerful bomb. There are parts of cars – bodywork, tyres, engine parts, etc., – all over the place.

After a moment or two, you begin to realise that there is a semblance of order in this ocean of car parts, many of which have been salvaged from cars at the end of their useful lives. For this area in the Shivajinagar district of Bangalore is a car parts bazaar. There are many different dealers, each specialising in particular parts of a vehicle. For example, there are merchants selling radiator grilles, others purveying axles (both front and rear), there are sellers of tyres, there are shops selling car doors and body panels … and so on.

Near both Russell Market and St Mary’s basilica, the car parts bazaar is almost hidden from sight by the buildings surrounding it. It is approached by short gullies – narrow lanes. I first stumbled across it in late December 2007. Then, on subsequent trips to Bangalore, I tried to find it again, but in vain. Today, the 26th of December 2023, I managed to locate it, and spent a few minutes wandering around it, stopping to take photographs.

It seemed that most of the dealers were Muslims. Some of them stopped me, greeted me, and asked where I came from and my name. When I replied ‘Adam’, they asked me whether I am Muslim. This reminded me of my first visit to Kosovo in 1975. As soon as I stepped of the bus that had carried me from Skopje (Macedonia) to Prizren (Kosovo), a group of youngsters surrounded me. They wanted to know my name, and when I told them, they were very happy because they thought that, like them, I was a Muslim.

Most of the dealers in the car part bazaar were happy with my taking photographs, but a few in one section of the market asked me not to use my camera.

As far as I could see, no repair work was being undertaken in the bazaar. Nearby, next to Russell Market, there were plenty of cars being repaired. Often those involved in repairing a vehicle were engaged in noisy discussions.

It is seeing places like the seemingly shambolic car parts bazaar that help to endear India and its people to me.

A collection of colourful saree textiles in Bangalore

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ONE OF THE THINGS that struck me when I first visited India in January 1994 was how everyone was wearing clothing far more colourful than anywhere else I had been before. Wherever I have been in the country, there is a feast of colourful clothing to be seen. Whether the colourful garments are worn purely for aesthetic reasons and/or for ceremonial or group identity reasons, everywhere there is much to please the eye.

I am not alone in noticing the Indian penchant for wearing bright colours. In 1956, the famous style ‘diva’ Diana Vreeland noted in British Vogue magazine: “… pink is the navy blue of India …”. Following from this, an article in India’s “Economic Times” of January 2022, pointed out that “Red is the Indian beige and yellow is the Indian grey…”. In other words, that the exuberant colours worn by Indians contrast dramatically with the much more drab colours currently worn in the West. Actually, as my wife pointed out, long ago in Europe (eg the 18th century and before) clothes – especially those worn by the wealthy and the aristocracy – were far more colourful than now.

On the 23rd of December 2023, we were fortunate to get admission to an exhibition of sarees on its last day. Intriguingly entitled “Red Lilies, Water Birds”, the show was hosted by The Registry of Sarees in a house on Hayes Road in Bangalore. The Registry (established in 2016) is a trust set up by the Mysore Saree Udyog (founded in 1932). Its purpose is to promote the study, design, and conservation of handspun and handwoven textiles.

The nine rooms of the exhibition contained about 84 examples from the Registry’s much larger collection. Each room concentrated on either a particular region of India, or a specific method of creating the textiles. Every room was filled with sarees, which filled the viewer’s eyes with richly coloured, intricately patterned delights.

Many of the visitors to the exhibition, and the staff looking after, and explaining, the show were wearing clothing that demonstrated what I mentioned at the outset – namely, the preference of many Indians to dress colourfully.

Driving on roads on India

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WHEN I FIRST visited India – that was in January 1994 – I carried my British and International driving licences with me. Boldly, I drove in the heavy traffic and densely crowded streets of the busy City Market area of Bangalore and also all the way to Ootacamund (‘Ooty’) – over 270 Km, and that was before the highway was constructed. You can share in these experiences by reading my book about travels in India, “The Hitler Lock & Other Tales of India”. This book/kindle is available from Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/HITLER-LOCK-OTHER-TALES-INDIA/dp/B0CFM5JNX5/ ), and IF you live in India, from: https://store.pothi.com/book/adam-yamey-hitler-lock-and-other-tales-india/ .

Where a famous botanist from Germany used to lecture in Bangalore

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DURING AN EXCELLENTLY guided walk through Bangalore’s Lalbagh botanical garden, I saw many parts of the place I had never seen before on several previous visits. One of these new ‘discoveries’ was a small neoclassical building with a triangular pediment on which the ganderberunda (double-headed eagle) of Mysore can be seen in bas-relief.

Painted with deep red paint, this small edifice is a recent reconstruction of Krumbiegel Hall, which was first built over 100 years ago (some say in 1860). For many years the original building was neglected, and it fell to pieces. In about 2020, it was rebuilt according to the original plans. So, today it looks brand new.

Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel (1865-1956) was born in Germany near Dresden. He was a botanist and garden designer who came to India in 1893, after having worked in London’s Kew Gardens. He helped to develop the Lalbagh Garden into the wonderful place it has become. Apart from designing the gardens, he introduced many interesting and exotic plants into Lalbagh. His importance in the development of the botanical garden cannot be overestimated.

The original building was used to hold lectures. Krumbiegel was one of those who spoke there. He used to enjoy practicing his speeches and talks in the hall. The construction of the replica of the original hall was stimulated in no little way by the campaigning of Krumbiegel’s great granddaughter, Alyia, who resides in south London.

When I saw the hall yesterday (22nd of December 2023), it was locked up and in front of it were a couple of lamps stands awaiting election. One day, I hope that I will be able to attend a lecture in this hall that has been replicated on the footprint of that which Krumbiegel would have used.

The loss of an earring made by a jeweller in Bosnia

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ONE MORNING IN Kutch (part of Gujarat), we set off to see a historical monument not far from the town of Mandvi. On the way, we stopped at a cash machine (ATM) to withdraw some cash.

We inserted the debit card and the appropriate PIN code. After keying in the amount we wanted, the machine made the normal noises, and then asked us to remove the cash and our card. To our great dismay it delivered no cash. Yet, we received an SMS stating we had just withdrawn the amount of cash we had keyed in. This worried us greatly.

Fortunately, there was a branch of our bank near the ATM. We spoke with the manager, and explained what had happened. After taking a few details, he resolved the situation and instructed the cashier to give us the cash we had wanted. From his desk, he also managed to ascertain that the ATM had suffered a technical problem.

We drove on towards our intended destination. Despite information on the Internet and on noticeboards, all of which suggested that the place would be open, it was closed. The watchman at the gate explained that the attraction was closed for repair. However, he let us go in for a couple of minutes, after telling us that if anyone saw us enter, he would be in big trouble.

After this second mishap of the day, our driver took us to see a lovely Hindu temple a few miles away. As we began walking around the place, my wife noticed that one of her earrings had become detached. It was one of a pair that a jeweller in Sarajevo (Bosnia) had made. The pair had been made by the uncle of one my Bosnian dental patients, who, having been pleased with my dentistry, had given them to me to present to my wife. These earrings were of great sentimental value, and Lopa was most unhappy to have lost one.

After retracing our steps in the temple compound and failing to find the piece of jewellery, we decided to return to the bank and the ATM, where during the panic of the debit card problem, it might have fallen. On the way, we returned to the closed visitor attraction. We asked the watchman of he had spotted the earring. He had not.

So, we decided to search the part of the driveway, where we had stopped earlier. Lopa and I looked around in vain. Then, our driver joined the search. Within a couple of minutes, he found the earring in the gravel of the roadway. Sadly, either something had driven over it or stepped on it. The earring was intact but the silver stone setting had been distorted. We will have it repaired by Kalim, our skilful jewellery repairer in Bangalore.

They say things happen in threes. That was the case that morning in Kutch. Fortunately, two of the three problems were resolved in a good way.

Towers of light at a water tank in Mumbai

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HAPPY CHRISTMAS

A DEEPSTHAMBH IS a Hindu architectural feature found near temples or temple compounds. It is a tower with many small niches into which small oil lamps (diyas) are placed and lit to celebrate special Hindu occasions. A good place to see a number of these is at Bombay’s Banganga Tank in the Walkeshwar area.

Two deepsthambhs next to Banganga Tank

The tank is a rectangular pool surrounded by steps that lead into the water contained within it. At one corner of the tank water flows from a spring vigorously into the pool. The tank is full of large fish, which the locals feed. Being in a strictly vegetarian neighbourhood, these fish are safe from being caught and eaten. The tank is surrounded by houses and many smallish temples. The Tank is a few yards from the rock strewn seashore.

The tank was first built in 1127 AD by Lakshman Prabhu, a minister in the Sihara Court of Thane. This makes the Tank one of the oldest surviving features of what is now Mumbai. It was rebuilt in 1715. According to legend, the spring that now feeds the Tank appeared suddenly when Rama stopped at this spot during his search for Sita.

Banganga Tank is a pleasant spot at which to linger. So near to the hustle and bustle of Mumbai, here is a place that us both beautiful and relatively peaceful. It gives me a good feeling.

The title greatly enhances the photograph.

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THERE IS A PHOTOGRAPH in the “Times of India” (Mumbai edition: 19th of December 2023). It is a good image showing a group of women wearing saris, and seated on a wall next to the sea close to the Gateway of India. The picture on its own is a pleasure to see, but what enhanced my enjoyment of it was its wonderfully witty title:
“SAREE SOIREE AT THE GATEWAY”