Walking through Bangalore’s Roads-Part 2

These are your roads, these are your areas, this is your city, as you pass by it remains to narrate its stories, loud and clear. But, most of us either don’t head to it or ignore it. 

We would perish, but it remains with its glory, telling its stories for decades. Such are the stories of places around. 

Let’s go for another walk listening to some more interesting stories from the voice of this city. 

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL): Took its inception as the Hindustan Aircraft Limited which was incorporated on December 1940 at Bangalore by Shri Walchand Hirachand a provident intellectual in association with the Government of Mysore. During March 1941, Govt of India became one of the key shareholders of this company. There were aircrafts that were manufactured before independence. During August 1963, Aeronautics India Limited (AIL) was incorporated as a Company wholly owned by the Government of India to undertake the manufacture of the  MIG-21 aircraft. Two companies i.e. Hindustan Aircraft Limited and Aeronautics India Limited was merged officially on October 1st, 1964 by an amalgamation order issued by the Government of India and the Company thereby was named as "Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)"

Marathahalli:  Attached to HAL, another momentous story emerges for Marathahalli. There was this HF-24 Jetfighter ‘Marut’ which was designed and assembled at HAL, unfortunately, crash landed in this piece of land. And the word ‘halli’ meaning village in kannada, was joint to be getting recognized after this incident, and even today we continue to call its name in its tribute. 

Kodigehalli: Most of us know that Bangalore was colloquially known as ‘Bendha Kallooru” (Village of boiled beans).  Kodigehalli has its roots here. 

The well documented political history starts with Kempegowda, but Bangalore does have its deep roots since ages of Gangas, Cholas, Hoysalas, Vijayanagara Kingdom and Mysore Wodeyars too. 

While Veera Ballala II, a Hoysala king was fed by an old woman here at today’s Kodigehalli and in return he gifts her this village and so-called ‘kodige’ in kannada meant ‘gift’ and this area still has its nice people around with same warmth. 

Domlur: Drive down towards MG Road from Marathahalli, you will have to pass through Domlur. Previously called as Bhagat Singh nagar today is popular with its name as Domlur and it is believed that this locality was full of white bearing flowers called ‘Thumbe/Tombe’ which was devoted to worship Lord Shiva. Tombe+Ooru in decades took its name as Domlur.  Another folklore story of being a mosquito village also gets attached to Domlur, but its lineage remains hidden.

Ulsoor: It was Halasuru meaning ‘Halasina Ooru’ was famous for its jackfruit orchard colloquially became popular as Ulsoor, but Halasuru as well exists with many today. 

NR Colony: Created during the early 1950s this entire area was named after the then Mysore Wodeyar Sri Narasimharaja. 

Thyagarajanagar: While there were umpteen temples in and around this area and there were regular classical music programs which were held, and this expanse was named after the most prolific & celebrated classical music composer ‘Thyagaraja’. 

Jayanagar: Meaning ‘Victory City’ has one of the popular histories attached with the then Maharaja of Mysore Sri Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar.  One of the finest and first planned neighborhoods in Bangalore was efficiently designed and largest in Asia during 1948. 

Majestic: As the center of the city for transport and standing pretty majestic as well, this belt received its name because of the famous cinema theatre in the region called Majestic. Today’s bus station terminal was built on Dharmambudhi Lake which dried during the famine that stuck in 1892-93 with monsoon failing during subsequent years. 

Vidyaranyapura: Formed during the 1970s is believed to be a battlefield then because of few relics that were found in this stretch. It is named after an eminent saint, philosopher and poet Vidyaranya who is considered to be a kingmaker and key element in the establishment of Vijayanagara kingdom. 

Jayanagar T-Block: Ever wondered what ‘T’ is here!  This is one of the classic examples of consideration and reverence we had from times immemorial. This belt was formerly called ‘Thayapanahalli’. While it was merged & renamed as Jayanagar, we retained ‘T’ in between in honor of locals there and called it as Jayanagar T-Block. 

Quick Bites: 

· Vishweshwarapuram was named after Sir. MV was established in 1918. 

· Shankarapuram came into existence is 1908 and is named after Shankara Mutt which is in the same vicinity. 

· Basaveshwaranagar is named after prominent poet Basaveshwara.

· Cooke Town is named after G H Cooke, the then President of the Bangalore Civil and Municipality between 1928-1934.  Mayo Hall was constructed during his tenure.

· Mayo Hall was built in honor of Lord Mayo, the 4th Viceroy of India. It was inaugurated by a British resident in June 1883. 

· Coles Park came from British resident Arthur Cole. 

· Hutchins Road is named after Chief Engineer of Mysore, MC Hutchins who was responsible for water supply to major parts of this city.  

· Pulakeshinagar formerly the Fraser Town was named after Sir Stuart Fraser, the scholar who was a tutor of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar. 

· RPC Layout is Railway Parallel Colony is now Hampi nagar got its name because it ran parallel to the railway track. 

· JC Road is named after Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar. 

· KH Road is named after Kengal Hanumanthaiah, 2nd Chief Minister of Karnataka and is fondly remembered to have contributed for the construction of Vidhana Soudha. 

The list never ends. Every area of Bangalore has a lot of stories to narrate, resonating its beautiful history. 

Feels like – we see Bangalore just as city reverberating with life, traffic, IT industry and people around everywhere. 

But, as I go deep into every corner, road, region – its span of expanse gets spread immensely expressing its untold & unheard stories. Wish it had a life just like us to tell us its tales and about legends who contributed to what it is today. 

#Lies that bind us #Happy Women's Day #She for her

Yesterday was one of those memorable days to have received entrepreneur award. It’s not an easy journey. Probably that makes it more ardent.

What I presented and spoke had appreciations and on demand, I am bringing it to black and white.

March 8^th 2019, 3:30pm.

Since morning I have received more than 300 messages wishing “Happy Women’s Day”. 

Epitome of patience, tolerance, understanding, compromise, care, power, share, most beautiful, acceptance, sacrifice … innumerable number of adjectives. Flowers, chocolates, brilliantly designed posters… all gets exchanged. A day where gender-hood is honored and flattered immensely.

Rest of the year, what we receive is this – Good girls are found in every corner of the earth.  Put your wife’s picture as a screen saver, when in problem see it, you are confident enough to handle anything. Happiness isn’t everything, so get married.  A quite man is a thinking man, but a quite woman is usually mad.  😊

Including women, everyone laughs at that moment and things continue to be in its place. 

A real women’s day is -

-          A day where parents don’t distinguish sons and daughters as plus and minus

-          A day where she feels safe and doesn’t need to feel threatened of trafficking, infanticide or harassment

-          A day where no partiality exists for education

-          A day where marriage becomes free from dowry

-          A day where she need not have to ask for her percentage of reservation

-          A day where we need not have to strategically plan for diversity and inclusion.

Change is always slow, but that change should start from her.

How did we arrive here?  ‘It’s simple’. We believed in lies.  Yes! my friends, #lies that bind us.

Top three challenges of women have been – i) Restrictions from family ii) Struggle to retain societal pressure and prestige iii) Balancing expectations as she shoulders other responsibilities.

How did we condition ourselves is because of yet again three predominant traits – Guilt Feeling, Indecisiveness and Insecurity.

Think about it my friends – each of them are interrelated.

I would like to call upon each woman out here to think deeply on lies that has bound us

Societal Lies: Lies that society conditions us - despite all the newfound opportunity, the prevailing societal attitudes about what women are historically supposed to value still have a long way to go.

Your worth is based on your appearance. Your worth is based on gaining attention and approval from others, family before career, women are care takers, be passive, feel shy, coming home late night isnt permitted, girls should sit in a decent way, working moms exist not working dads, culture, art, music is girls’ world, if guests come home – girls are expected to serve. The list continues.

Homespun Lies:  Lies/pressure/compulsions/expectations - your immediate family, relatives, friends exert on you

Women is the wheel of the family, you should adjust, you will not get everything you desire, marriage is happiness; singledom is not, you can’t handle life on your own, skinny is healthy, fairer is beautiful, value education is mother’s responsibility… oh! It seems to be a bottomless pit.

Self lies: Strong beliefs which are eventually lies that has conceived in ourselves or by your past experiences.

I am an obliged one and I need to execute my duty in line with expectations from others. I don’t look good in fancy & modern dresses, being fat is a curse, how can I have my personal time and space when I have a family??? – Self and intimate lies of ourselves are much more dangerous to uproot.

Well, we live & grow with these lies.  To put it into a nutshell, I emphasized on queen bee syndrome and supporting each other becomes vital to get out of this vicious circle.

We know lies deceives, lies are expensive, lies conditions our mind, lies kills our courage and confidence.

I heartily wish you all that - let all lies die that has conditioned your mind. Support oneself and others in your fraternity. Let SHE stand for HER.

Let all lies die that binds us. Wish you all a very happy women’s day.

That was the snippet shared with audience.

Back home this early morning, March 9^th 2019, I saw a message from my current HR360 Whatsapp group asking what time is the session today.

It was 6:10am, and I replied – I am just entering Bangalore. Let’s meet at 3pm.

Coincidentally, two replies came back to back – a hour later saying – Mam’, please relax today, and take the session tomorrow.  😊

An earnest warm smile filled my face feeling #sheforher.

Change has started. Even if it is slow, let the day come.  Happy women’s day. 

Walking through Bangalore’s Roads

Amidst of a buzzing day, one of my friend had called in to seek some info, and casually asked, where am I? I said currently I am at JP Nagar, Jayaprakash Narayan Nagar.

He was happy to hear that, and said he didn’t know who was JP. I said, he is a Bharat Ratna popularly called as Loknayak. And this area is named after him. Just as a cheery exchange, I asked what does RT Nagar, BTM Layout, HSR Layout stand for?

This was the inception of this snippet to introduce Bengaluru’s expanse and its nomenclature with areas, roads and localities – its significance with its name and the relic behind it.

Bangalore holds its history with Gangas, Cholas, Hoysalas, Vijayanagar, Wodeyers and predominantly recognizes with Kempegowda’s establishment of fort here during early 16^th century. Bendakaaluru became Bangalore during British Raj and officially called ‘Bengaluru’ since 2006.

Being the 3^rd populous city in India, spread over 741sq.kms, it has more than hundred areas narrating its own story and carrying rich etymology behind it.

Walking through ‘Namma Bengaluru’s belt’ reveals lot of interesting facts. Here is a small attempt to connect etymology, history and recognize few unheard heroes and their work.

Mehkri (Not Mekhri) Circle: Named after a businessman Enayathulla Mehkri who levelled the rough climb from Hebbal tank spending his own money of 10,000 rupees which was big amount in 1930’s. This came to attention of Krishnaraja Wodeyer who attempted to payback the amount, but Mehkri denied to accept. The appreciation was expressed by naming the confluence in his name.

Hudson Circle: Located adjacent to Hudson Memorial Church, built in 1904 is named after a Canarese scholar and educationist Josiah Hudson who is appreciated to have started many schools at Bangalore region during early 1900’s.

Bhashyam Circle: Named after KT Bhashyam who was a congress leader, businessman and activist during freedom struggle attempted to unite around 30,000 mill workers during 1920’s.

Anandarao Circle: T Ananda Rao, Diwan of Mysore during 1909-1912 was an able administrator. He has laurels to have constructed reservoir for Shivanasamudra Power Station, laid construction stone for KRS Dam, and started economic forums and conferences during his period.

Rajajinagar:  Adored as Rajaji, C Rajagopalachari was a freedom fighter, lawyer, writer, historian and statesman. He was the first Indian born, last Governor General of India as India became republic in 1950. He was one of the first recipients of India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.

Sheshadripuram: Regarded as ‘Maker of Modern Bangalore’-  Sir. K Sheshadri Iyer, Diwan of Mysore from 1883-1900 was a great statesman. Shivanasamudra Hydroelectric project commencement, establishing KGF, Victoria Hospital, promoting science forums he has big hand in instituting IISc at Bangalore. 

RT Nagar – First Indian and a non-european recipient of Noble Prize in literature, Rabindranath Tagore leaves his mark in Indian history and we at Bangalore honor him with his name embedded into our geography.

Sadashivanagar: Named after great Kannada freedom fighter and philanthropist Karnad Sadashiva Rao.

Whitefield: Anglo Indian settlement during 1882-83 had a political reek where His Highness of Mysore Chamaraja Wodeyer donated a portion of this region to DS White, the then President of the Eurasian and Anglo-Indian Association. The neighborhood then got its moniker from White’s name for the settlement of Anglo Indians in the region.

Sunkadakatte: This is certainly an interesting name cradling a place where tax/toll was collected. ‘Sunka’ in Kannada means tax. Because it was located beside a lake which had a wide place to sit it held the name of ‘katte’. Sunkadakatte emerged combining two.

Nagarbhavi: Due to urbanization, things have changed it's attributes. Nagarbhavi is one neighborhood in Bangalore which was named because of the number of snakes’ present in the locality. As it was amidst of hillocks forming a kind of well structure, it positioned its name as Nagarbhavi.

Madiwala: Sounds amusing, current Madiwala was the outskirts of then Bangalore where washermen used to stay.  The term Madiwala means washer man in Kannada. Madiwala lake, one of the big waterbodies is nearly 300 years old and was mainly used by them for drinking purpose.

Malleshwaram, Banashankari, Basavanagudi, Gavipuram – few more gets its name because of its renowned temples in the region. BTM & HSR Layout is named for congregating its adjacent areas.

There are much more interesting facts to be shared. Shall be back soon for another walk. 

Fountainhead Series: Open & Closed Gates

It was Sunday afternoon, and I was into cleaning mode. A continuous honking started disrupting music that was on. The noise was heard evidently as the room is just above the pathway from basement leading to main road.

Honking is routine for most – helmets & headsets on or windows closed, it might not reach to an irritation level when on the move. How does it feel to hear someone honking continuously? It would annoy anybody after a point. I tried ignoring it for a minute or so, but when it continued – I could not resist peeping out.

It was a white sedan, around 5 feet away from the main gate, honking as if the entire energy in his body was concentrated in his hands. I saw the fuss for 30 more seconds and was a little irked because plausibly it would hardly take 15 seconds to pull the hand brake, get down, open the gate, and drive away.

Now he pulled his window panes and started shouting ‘Security, security ….’

The entire drama of honking and shouting went on for another 3 minutes. I could not hold back anymore – I put on my slippers and went down, by then the car just passed out of the gate. The poor security guy had come running all the way to just open the gate. I gave a cross look and said – “He could have opened it himself, what’s the big deal in it”. His straight-faced response was – “There are very few who think we are humans too. “

Honestly, I felt bad for both. How thoughtless & inconsiderate of the white sedan driver and how indifferent one behaves with people involved in what we term as menial jobs.

While I took the stairs back home – a thought passed by: How can you open the gate in front of you if you have your gates closed from within.

Fountainhead Series: "If they can’t manage vegetables, I wonder how will they manage their lives"

It was late night by 9:30pm and I was walking down to my place, there I saw a vegetable hand cart with tomatoes and few more fresh veggies.  Picked up and then pulled my cotton bag and held in front.

He saw my face and said – Wish everyone can get a bag like this, there is no need to use plastic covers.

I was taken a back from his statement and asked, you seem to be nature friendly person, and said don’t give plastic covers.

“We don’t want to give it, but people who come here need it, if I don’t give it, they will go to another place to buy, and my livelihood depends on everyday’s earning.

Hmmm. That’s a valid point, I said. Wish everyone has little bit of knowledge like you.

All I know is plastic does not mix with soil and animals eat it as well and it is harmful for us too after a point.  I don’t mind giving one plastic cover, there are people who will ask to put five varities in five different covers. They say they cannot go home and manage it. All five covers directly get into fridge as is, as they have no time to separate it.

If they can’t manage vegetables, I wonder how will they manage their lives.

His statements made me think while walking back home – his compassion towards nature, and his last statement left me pondering.

This is Mani – vegetable hand cart vendor. He can be seen little ahead of Katriguppe circle(BLR) near the curve on the left of the road as we head to Vidyapeeta circle. 

Fountainhead Series