STADIUMS IN BANGALORE

Principally there are three stadiums in Bangalore. The KSCA stadium of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, The Bangalore Football Stadium and the Kanteeriva stadium. The KSCA stadium stands at the end of the M G Road, the Football stadium in Richmond Town and the Kanteeriva stadium near the Richmond circle.

Mostly cricket matches are held at KSCA stadium ; once upon a time football matches were held regularly at the bangalore football stadium and athletics and other sporting activities in the kanteeriva stadium. The kanteeriva stadium has come up in the location that earlier was the Sampangi tank. The cubbon park is adjacent to this stadium.


As a boy I remember witnessing a foot ball match at the Bangalore Football Stadium between ITI Ltd and Orkay Mills - must be in the late or near-mid 70' s at the Bangalore Football Stadium.It was a close match and I very vividly remember the fine goal keeping of Bangera the goal-keeper of Orkay mills through whose consistent telent and effort the ITI team failed at making a goal all through the first half and had to execute the ultimate surprise and deceit in the closing minutes of the game to get a goal through one of the distinguished center forwards of the side whose name I dont recollect now. Sundareshan I think is the name of the goal keeper of the ITI side. These matches were played as part of the Federation Cup matches and in the finals ITI played East Bengal. Mohammedan Sporting, East Bengal, Mohan Bagan, ITI Ltd, Salgoacar, Dempo sports were the key football teams of India during this time.


I have not witnessed any cricket match at the KSCA stadium but had some association with the Kanteeriva stadium where as school boys were called upon to participate in taluk level volley ball matches and also in 1990 as a sprinter in BPL intramural competitions.

THE IIM KOZHIKODE

I have visited few IIM's but the IIM kozhikode is truly fascinating.

Let me explain how IIM-B looked like in 1986 when I happened to pay a couple of visits. It was a large barren land with the central stone structure visible from far and few occasional flights that take off from the old Bangalore airport could be clearly seen gaining height above this stone structure. It was indeed a splendid sight that evening. I had met Mr. Ravi Kumar of the department of psychology during a subsequent meeting. The IIM-B today is a more refined structurally speaking and one of my recent visit left me spell bound in the consistency of architecture employed and the many parks and greenery abound. Indian educational institutions like the IIM's showcase to the world that primarily we are second to none when it comes to designing such educational enterprises of national significance. I had known the present director Mr. Pankaj Chandra earlier and happened to call on him some time back. I had met a HR professor Kalyani Gandhi in one of my visits.

I was thrilled when the govt was mulling setting up an IIM at Kozhikode may be something long overdue ...I dont know the exact year this enterprise was established possibly few years prior to the year 2000 and the IIM's did operate out of REC Calicut for few years before the present set up came up at Kunnamangalam. Kunnamangalam is an important node on the calicut-wayanad highway roughly 15 kilometers from Calicut / Kozhikode and can be approached through the civil station road or via the Medical college road that runs adjacent to the PG hostel terminating at Karanthur. Kunnamangalam was an important hub for we REC students too...the sindhu theatre down the junction where we were visitors for movie in the afternoon or evening. There was no bus stand in Kunnamangalam prior to 1984 and the present small bus stand coming up in the june of 1984 and the IIM is somewhere mid-way between Kunnamangalam and Karanthur. IIM Kozhikode can be called an IIM on the hill which it precisely is and possibly the only educational institute in the world where one cannot just walk into. This aspect must be adding some additional advantage and largely contributing to placidity essential to learning and assimilation.


I happenned to visit the interior of IIM Kozhikode in 2006 and the view from the IIM around is truly breathtaking the large stretch of vegetation that catches ones sight almost instantly a rare sight to be enshrined by any visitor who takes the rugged path from the base uphill. Somewhere I find Calicut/Kozhikode changing in that the various hills that signify the city going bald with the tonsuring of the trees that perch on them for human and economic ends a turn of events that does appall me...and if at all these trees are tonsured they must instantly give way for new saplings to replace the old. No one must compromise with the the green facade of Calicut or Kozhikode and any irresponsible attempt at defacing the trees must be countered healthily. I met Prf. Broaca and Prof. Bhatt during this visit and also dined with Prof. Bhatt.


IIM Kozhikode instantly puts Calicut/Kozhikode on the world map for various reasons and that the Govt. executed in all ts wisdom such an institute with professional designs is laudable and
K P P Nambiar was in some way a key figure in the conception and execution of this venture is somewhere enthralling to me.

The ITI theater and Auditorium

Deep within the ITI complex is an edifice the sign and thought of which fills me with glee and some anguish of some special kind...the ITI theater or Auditorium or what ever it may be called. Glee because I saw many a movie in this theater and anguish because the "HOUSE FULL" board greeted me at times...nevertheless this theater was to ITI and to its surroundings what the Arena was to Rome.

I was associated with this theater as a child or may be even as a baby....Malayalam and Tamil movies were screened at this theater in the early 1970's only to be discontinued for some reason soon after. English , kannada and Hindi movies were the main stay ever since and the people in the surroundings had a surfeit of them all.


What is this theater all about...It basically skirts the Vidya Mandir school and is a rectangular structure with a ground floor and a balcony with an elevated projector room which had metal stairs to it ; The balcony had slightly more than 300 seats and the ground loor had a total of roughly 1000 seats divided between first class and a lower class. In 1975 the fare for the balcony was Rs. 2/25 ; the first class Rs. 1/60 and the second class Rs0.90 a very moderate standard even by the rates of the day. It had a 35mm screen covered with a curtain used to raise with a specially designated signature tune which was specifically entertaining and amusing. The staff who worked at the theater were employees of the ITI factory who volunteered their services and were paid for their service.

There is no movie in the history of moviedom that did not find its place to be screened at this theater..every single movie in the the english, kannada and hindi found its way into this theater. You could reserve your tickets for the balcony in the mornings between 10:00 Am and 12:00 am and first show and second show was screened every day at 6:15 and 9:30 respectively and a matinee show at 2:15 on holidays.

Why did I choose to write about a common place object like the ITI theater..I was witness to many a battle that was fought at and near the box office for tickets for many a movie - the scrambling - the hurry - the resentment- the satisfaction - the many scrambles and altercations-the restlessness and uncertainty.........all to see a movie at the ITI theater. I was a witness to all this as a boy especially the long queues that diminished rather slowly and not to mention the sudden emergence of the "House Full" board and the last minute rush of many through the dark inside the hall to find their seats sometimes sitting on some one already perched on a seat leading to pandamoneiun and confusion of sorts only to be sorted in a hurry by the many around who were feeling disturbed and the light of the long torch of the supervisors trying to help many a family find their trusted spot....this was the frenzy at the theater and how could some on forget it and not to mention the accidental stamping of somebody's foot in the dark and the shreiks of pain.


Each movie for me is a case study. I went to reserve tickets for "SHOLAY" and the house full board greeted me after a long wait in the queue and I made an entry into the first class after spending time in another queue...For the movie "Daari Tappida Maga" I had to go twice or thrice for the ticket.


This is the ITI theater and let me thank the Managements of ITI at various periods of time for organizing and maintaining such an enterprise and above all running it well and also showing the most ultimate altruistic gesture of throwing the gates of the theater open for the wide public irrespective of being directly or indirectly linked with this great institution called ITI.