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An old BPL certificate

IAF TRAINING COMMAND

The IAF  training command is a key institution in the city. I have fond memories of visiting this place to meet officials of the IAF for professional reasons..and remember Gp. Capt V N Katyal in 1997. It is basically a well maintained outfit and one of the few institutions of its kind in the city.

CPRI CENTRAL POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The CPRI or the CENTRAL POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE is a key organization in the city and possibly has other branches across the country. I have visited this institute many times. Mylavarapu Ramamamurthy who has written a book on Power Electronics was director of this institute in the 1980s. In 1997 I remember visiting Mr. Biswas who was a key official inside the premises of CPRI and have also attended seminars inside the CPRI  auditorium.

This institute proves beyond doubt our Government is second to none in creating and nurturing institutes like CPRI  in niche sectors which serve as a back bone to power transmission thinking and dynamics.

Anyone keen on visiting this institute or in a quandary about its location the institute is adjacent to the Indian Institute of Science also called the Tata Institute and a key bus stop along the way is Mekhri Circle and the IAF training command and even Sankey tank is close by.

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Colonial Administrators and Bangalore

The city of Bangalore as it is seen today has colonial roots similar to many cities within the country and also few other cities in the world that has a colonial history which means that the foundations of the city are very much at par with key cities of the World but oriented with time in different ways and mannerisms. Bangalore will have striking similarities with Edinburg . Glagow , London and even cities in the American continent the foundations of which were largely English.

Any motorist who visits the town or travels through it rarely imbibes the heritage around which the city is built and structured. The city has undergone transformations at various levels more so with the rampant growth of technology and investments from many sectors.

There are many people and possibly administrators who fashioned this city and whose names appear off and on in some forums and formats. Should we forget these administrators or individuals...need not be so....at the bosom of the City is the subtle contribution in forms both tangible and otherwise of

these persona which provides an aroma to this vast changing landscape which is increasingly merging with the Global village the World is turning out to be today.

Let me list some of these persons and try to see in what context their names are etched in this town so that we become entirely absorbed about the vastness of the history around which this city and continent is built.

Some of the names would be   ...Sankey....Mark Cubbon....Bowring....Brunton....Wheeler....Lavelle....Cunningham.....Hudson....Dickenson...Albert Victor....Cameron.

Richard Hieram Sankey

Richard Hieram Sankey   1829 - 1908  was a civil engineer of the Madras royal Engineers and an Irish man by birth and served as Chief engineer of Mysore. Before he made the Sankey tank near Bangalore he designed and built the High Court Building in the city and also some adjoining Buildings. He has also something to do with the existence of Marina beach in Madras and also served in Nagpur. During this time in Bangalore Bowring must have been the commissioner of Mysore at Bangalore a honourable post which directly reported to the Viceroy and had the role of monitoring affairs in this part of the world. The administrative affairs of the city around this time was conducted from the old   Tippu palace seen near city market and the need for full fledged offices leading to the construction of the modern high court building now seen opposite Vidhana Soudha. The Sankey tank was created later to solve water problems of the town.The tank primarily supplied water to the adjacent feilds for crops to prevent famine. This Sankey is not to be confused with the Sankey who is credited with the Sankey diagram and a mechanical engineer.High court building was earlier called attara kacheri meaning eighteen offices.

Portrait of Sir Mark Cubbon  Commissioner of Bangalore 1834 to 1860

Cubbon Park  , Cubbon Road  and Cubbon Pet are named after this man who came to Bangalore as its first Commissioner in 1834 and made far reaching changes especially the railway line to Jolarpettai and various bridges that were made along the railway line and the Stations. It was his idea to convert the vast stretch of land from Bangalore Pete the modern K R Market to the modern Raj Bhavan into a wooded park the Cubbon Park that came into existence in a full fledged way in 1870. The commissioner of Bangalore had a primary responsibility of regulating the Mysore government  and the relations between the local administrators and the royal family at Mysore faced challenges from time to time.In 1859 it was decided to handover the English administration of Mysore to the Governor General of Madras presidency challenging an established administrative procedure which Cubbon resented and the order was withdrawn but Cubbon was bent on reaching his home country but died in 1861 in Egypt on his  way to England.



A very important road in Bangalore is the Wheeler Road and not many know that the road is named after General Wheeler who died in June 1857 in the Sepoy mutiny in Kanpur. Wheeler had an Indian wife. The Ulsoor lake is an epicenter of English activity in Bangalore as the Madras Sappers later called the Madras Engineering group is head-quartered there. Madras sappers originally formed in 1782 in madras moved into Bangaloe in the early 1800's and had the role of assisting the infantry in warfare and General W H Wheeler  possibly William Hugh Measly Wheeler belonged to the Madras Sappers and the Wheeler road almost connects the Ulsoor lake to Fraser town ...this key road along the lake being named in memory of one of its general's.

                                            General Wheeler on whose name Wheeler road is named originally of Madras Sappers served in Kanpur 1857 sepoy mutiny.

Lewin Lentham Bowring in a rare portrait.

Lewin Lentham Bowring was commissioner of Mysore from 1861 to 1870 though a short period saw the construction of the high court. Two institutions bear the name of Bowring....the Bowring and Lady Curzon hospital which was originally Bowring hospital inaugurated by Bowring himself and built in French hospital design and later another wing possibly for fe-males being created and the hospital gets he name Bowring and Lady Curzon hospital. There another place called Bowring Institute which bears his name. Though I have seen Bowring institute but have not visited it and, will write something more on doing so. Bowring is credited for purchasing th modern Raj Bhavan for 32,000 rupees in an auction or else it would have fallen into private hands. Meade is acting Commissioner of Mysore after Bowring.


The Dickenson road of Bangalore starts at the end of the M G Road and extends upto the Dispensary road.This road appears to me as a link between the city of Bangalore and Wayanad  and has a bearing to the Pazhassi revolt called as Pychy revolt by the British. To avenge the hanging of Kannavath Sankaran Nambiar and his son by the  British East India company an attack is launched in the night of 11 October 1802 on the Garrison in Panamaram Wayanad which had some fifty soldiers headed by Dickenson who must have had the rank of Major and also some affiliation with the Madras Sappers. All the fifty solders are dead at the end of the ambush and some five of the invaders but Dickenson lost his life too. This road in Bangalore must be one of the earliest roads to be named after an Englishman soldier deceased in action. In all probability Dickenson must have distinguished himself as a soldier and must have also taken part in the operations against Tippu Sultan in 1799 in the fourth Mysore war.

Paul Brunton with Ramana Maharshi of Thiruvannamalai

 Raphael Hurst was the actual name of Paul Brunton on whose name Brunton road is named some kind of an alley connecting the M G Road and the Richmond Road..born in 1898 and lived up to 1981..served in the military in the first world war but became a mystic thereafter. It is likely that he influenced the creation of Ramana Maharshi park near Mekhri circle. You see some mammoth Victorian style villas on Brunton Road.


The Cunningham road in Bangalore is named after Francis Cunningham and had two of his brothers also in the service of the English government. He helped shape lalbagh as it is today probably in expanding its area. He was a powerful man serving as a deputy to Mark Cubbon and appears to be of Scottish descent. He also helped in refurbishing the guest house seen above the Nandi Hills. All the Cunningham brothers seem to be positively disposed to justice and had a pro-Indian orientation. Francis Cunningham was for returning power to the Mysore royal family who were depraved of power for nearly fifty years and power being restored to them in 1881. On the exit of Cubbon Francis Cunningham also releived himself of official duties and stayed on in Bangalore possibly in one of the houses on modern day Cunningham road itself. I think if there is any road in Bangalore which should retain its English name for ever it would be Cunnungham road a tribute for a man who strived for the cause of Mysore.

Prince Albert Victor Grandson of Queen Victoria who visited India in 1889 on whose name Albert Victor Road is named.

Not many know about Kalasipalyam near the city Market and to observe that one of its roads is named after english royalty is even more enthusing. Palyam means a fort and many cities in India have this word palayam attached to its places and Kalasipalyam is one such place in Bangalore and probably the only place. The entire part of Kalasipalyam was possibly within the Mysore kingdom and had more of regional orientations. Vani Vilas Hospital  and Minto eye hospital are institutions of yore and Kalasipalyam developed into a major city hub for patients looking for treatment more so as a de facto bus stop and station what it was and what it has become on a larger scale today. In 1882 the english hand over control of the Mysore kingdom to the Mysore kings and Prince Albert Victor visited Mysore kingdom and Bangalore in 1889 and the Mysore royal family must have gone overboard to please him. The prince visited Lalbagh and it was decided to name a road fairly long one from one end of Lalbagh to the modern Bangalore medical college as Albert Victor Road. This is my gut feel and Albert Victor road of today is technically a small stretch on this long stretch.



Lavelle Road of today is called Subbaraju Road and originally referred to Michael lavelle an Irish soldier in the English Army. Michael Lavelle could be truly called a man of Gold as KGF would not have come into existence had it not been for his pursuit. Lavelle used to stay on the Lavelle road himself and was a wealthy man from trading his rights of mining in KGF. On visiting New Zealand on official duties he understood the mining activity and on being told on return about some mining activity that existed earlier performed studies around modern day Kolar Gold Fields and found that coal and Gold existed in the depths in adequate quantity.He did receive licences to mine gold and thereafter as he could not handle the activity alone sold the rights to a more statutory set up. Lavelle became rich as a result and had owned a large patch of land on the present Lavelle road which was named after him.



John Cameron was an enthusiastic and a key character who was the head of the Lalbagh gardens for a sizeable time upto 1908..it saw the creation of the Glass house..also called the crystal palace possibly erected to honour Prince Albet Victor and also expanding the overall size of the park to accommodate additional plants and was an enthusiastic horticulturist who also mainted good relations with the villagers around that time. He was a very intelligent man and vivacious in disposition and his self less enthusiasm deserves praise. He also was responsible in creating the Govt museum seen on Kasturbha road..but plants were his life.He gives control of the park to Gustav H K whose photo is seen below and another eminent horticulturist who even went into designing the vaious avenues of the town.

Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel a horticulturist responsible for the greenery of Bangalore basically a german who helped the English administration.He died in 1956 and is buried in the city...

Thomas Austin  Dewan of Travancore 1932 to 34 and of the Madras Presidency Administration


I can go on and on.......Thomas Austin a bureacrat who was also the Dewan of Travancore on whose name Austin town is named....Fraser on whose name Fraser town is named was a royal tutor and possibly was the inspiration for the many schools in the Cantonment area ..Kensinton..Cook..Cox...Coles are all names seen in Bangalore and must be associated with some people whose history must be in some archives..but these are the  many who helped design this city and please note that BBMP also designs modern day townships around the city around the etches provided by these administrators who had a hidden love for this city and had a largesse to hand over in tact to the future and it is but responsible that as we understand and use this city we don't forget the passion around which these people possibly developed this town a basis around which its present and future glory rests.

CHOWDIAH MEMORIAL HALL

Basically the city of Bangalore has many halls many of them built post independence. In Bangalore prior to Independence there was possibly only the "Puttanna Chetty Town Hall" built in 1935 and close to the city market. Note that there are two formidable halls near the town hall namely the Ravindra Kalakshetra where Kannada plays are very often staged - a large and well ordained hall, and opposite to the Ravindra Kalakshetra is another municipality hall which can also house some one thousand odd people at a time.  This means on J-C road to my knowledge there are three halls.

If I were to list few other halls there is the Good Shepherd hall on Residency road and also a Guru Nanak hall.

The most striking and impressive and often talked about hall is the Chowdiah Memorial Hall near Sankey tank close to Malleswaram. Incidentally Sankey was an English civil engineer and the architect of the High Court building opposite to the Vidhana Soudha. It is built in memoriam of a renowned violonist of this part of the World by name Chowdiah who possibly gave many concerts and the entire hall is designed in the shape of a violin. This is the unique proposition of this hall and I have visited this hall many times and always enjoyed doing so.

Richard Hieram Sankey 

The interiors of the hall is striking with a seating capacity of more than one thousand...please check the exact count.....it has a small balcony seating facility too, with gardens around  and dining areas.The sound system and facilities inside are world-class.

Mekhri circle and Malleswaram 18th cross would be the vantage points around this edifice and anyone must visit this hall atleast once. This hall and its  existence is credited to Gundu Rao the then Chief Minister and deserves praise for having sanctioned such an outfit which would be defanitely termed as a Jewel in tne Crown of Bangalore.

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AIR CRASH IN BANGALORE OF FEBRUARY 1990

There was an air crash in Bangalore flight 605 of Indian Airlines from Bombay to Bangalore on the 14th of February 1990. What a tragic day and for many weeks thereafter the city reverberated under its shock.

Bangalore for all practical purposes before the said date had a clear air record at least on the passenger aircraft front.There was no incident where-in a plane taking off from Bangalore or any plane coming in missed the destination. Cities like Chennai madras and Bombay Mumbai have had air accidents- but not Bangalore. There were stray incidents of may be small planes like the HF 24 crashing in the out skirts on some trial mission.

What happened was this.  Bombay -Bangalore flight 605 took off from Bombay at around 12;00 noon and scheduled to land at Bangalore at around 1:20 PM. It was an A320 jet with fly by wire technology commanded by S S Gopujkar and his accomplice. It possibly had its co-ordinates of Bangalore Airport wrongly fed...and the plane instead of landing on the runway foreclosed and landed some 150 meters from the wall of the Airport adjacent to the military lawns after mowing down a cow...by the time the pilot switched off the fly by wire and took manual control it was too late and there is zero possibility of the plane taking off again...the plane rammed though the ground on the hot afternoon ripping the wheels apart and screeching the belly for many meters and the fuel going up in flames and 92 of the 154 passengers charred ..and for the timely intervention of the Air-hostess who flung the back door open the rest jumped to safety and the tragedy of the situation being that the plane burnt and at the hostile and uninhabited terrain the fire engines could never approach and what followed was bizarre and horrific least said.

I deliberately refrain from putting any picture of this incident owing to the malady it can create and note that one of the Birla scions were on board and possibly sitting in the Business class was early to be consumed. What a tragedy  ? I was at the BPL plant in Koramangala that afternoon and was one of the early recipients of this news.

Sadly a nearly similar incident gripped   Mangalore Airport few years ago.

Some serious thoughts must go into Aircraft design. The fuselage assuming it is the fuel container..I am no aviation expert........must be covered with a sizeable layer of some fire extinguisher material which will be unleashed on impact to nuetralize any fire that is created by friction..this would create a weight penalty on take-off and alter dynamics but it will save lives. How and in what matter it could be executed must be thought of by manufacturing experts. Fire must be mitigated and intrinsically quenched. Airports could have a helicopter handy with fire extinguishing apparatus which could be pressed into use in instances like this when there are terrestrial hindrances

BANGALORE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BIA

  Bangalore as a city has a supposedly world class Airport. for many long years the Old Bangalore Airport was called a third-class Airport by the world media and the problem has been largely redeemed by the new Airport which is World class or in a class of its own. This Airport must have commenced full fledged service some five years ago say in 2009 or so. The date may not be perfect..but the reality of the new Airport commenced from around this time.

Bangalore as a city has Aviation history in the HAL which was an Aircraft servicing unit of  Hirachand Walchand and note that the old Bangalore Airport was an airstrip used by the British in World War II especially to bring in POW   prisoners of war from various pockets of the World. These prisoners were housed in the many barracks around the city largely in the K R Puram area of the city and one such places was the Gheecenter where the Khadi Udyog Board operates near the FCI go-downs close to Tin Factory bus stop on Old Madras Road.Most of the prisoners were Italians and possibly another barrack was in the lawns in front of the Main gate of Indian Telephone Industries but many of these structures have been demolished as the new world order took over. The remnants of many such structures could be seen in the 1970's. The prisoners could be fed well in these cities like Bangalore and the cost of doing so would be very less as supplies of various kinds were abundant here within and immediately around the British Cantonment.

The reason why I gave the above description was that..a small time runway becomes a full fledged airport of the city and for nearly five decades handled the Air travel into the city...The old Bangalore Airport. With time the number of planes increased and so did the traffic..there was more demand for International travel..and the roads leading to the Old airport was a perennial stretch of anxiety and uncertainty  leading to an outcry of a global kind leading to the facilitation of the new airport at Devanahalli.

It is an International consortim that built the BIA which I just visited once to date..during its construction I had met Albert Brunner its MD at a party one evening a gentleman from Switzerland overseeing the construction of the new Airport.He told me that both German and the Swiss language is spoken in Switzerland which I did not know hither-to.

Albert Brunner

On visiting the new BIA  I found it acceptable in design and an largely replicated version of the old Airport operating from a much larger area or land mass. Bangalore as a city may not be categorized as a major transit point in World air routes like London or Singapore and would have limited air needs largely for local travel and as a origin of planes for International destinations.

On an average it could be stated that the Airport is some 30 kms from various strategic points of the city which must be addressed through dedicated trains to the Airport which would become a reality any time considering the expansion of metro network in the town. Somekind of a bangalore Aero district would take shape from Devanahalli to Majestic to Hoskote and back. as of now there are two routes to the Airport the one through Yelahanka and one through Budigere cross near Hoskote. The shortest route to the Airport could be through the roads behind Ramamurthy nagar..but a full fledged road does not exist  needing to circumvent.

May the connectivity to the Airport improve even further through what ever means possible and this Airport should change the face of the city and its many other neighbouring towns.

ARMY SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL TRANSPORT ASMT

There is a school for mechanical transport in Bangalore called the ASMT largely focussing on transport issues and training. This is close to Domlur and after the ASC gate on the old airport road.

INDIAN SPACE RESEARCH ORGANIZATION ISRO

Many may not know that the Head Office of  ISRO is in Bangalore. I had visited this office personally at times on some work sometime in 1996 and even met Dr. Sinha at that time for some purpose.

ISRO has grown in leap and bounds especially over the past couple of years. Starting its first step to glory with Dr. Madhavan Nair and the foray into the moon and the recent mission to Mars. There are many outfits of ISRO in Bangalore...one on the old Airport Road.......another inside the Peenya Industrial Area and there must be many more.

To my mind the growth of the internet and mobile telephony has had its catalystic effect on ISRO and has increased its efficiency many fold and has the potential now to partner constructively with the many other space forces of the World largely in the deployment of Satellites which could spur Satellite communications around the world. Outer Space may also be a technology of travel of the future.

ISRO puts India on the world map as a country rapidly advancing in Technology and the challenge of the future would also be to attract right minds to the Business of space.

It is ironical that all through the 1970..s there was a rhetoric that an institution like ISRO  was an unproductive outfit..how wrong the buyers of this argument..Why should a poor country like India have a space outfit?   there must have been many Space enthusiasts of these times who saw somewhere in spite of all the opposition a future for Indian Space which has borne fruit.

The leaders who spearheaded this country post Independence deserve reverance at this juncture that they during the time of inception never felt India as poor but felt deep inside richness amidst temporary penury..and laid foundations for institutions like ISRO.....and this is what leadership is all about.

There could be fallout  of success in Space missions ..they would provide the basis of a very vibrant Aviation industry in India.in the manufacture and processing of Aircraft.

It would be nice if  I can pin point the exact location of the ISRO Head office in Bangalore..it is technically at a place called Sanjay Nagar....on approaching IISc from Mekhri Circle  take a right turn at Sadashivnagar police station and enter the New Bel Road and after the first major junction which is a traffic point and on descending further the major right turn ahead takes one to the office of ISRO.

INDIAN STATISTICAL INSTITUTE

There is a institute of national importance in Bangalore sometimes referred to as ISI  or the Indian Statistical Institute. Statistics as a field of study has applications across domains and ISI serves this purpose. Students from across the country do courses at this place.

This institute is off  Mysore road close to Kengeri and one has to cross the Bangalore -Mysore railway line to reach this institute.

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THE BIG BANYAN TREE (DODDA ALADHA MARA)

Few kilometers off the Mysore road is a place named in the vernacular as Dodda Aladha Mara..which translates into Big Banyan Tree.....a stand alone tourist spot some ten kilometres off the Mysore road. It is a large tree very close to the main road and comes imposing suddenly to a casual driver on this road. The government as fenced the tree and put seating inside this place for a tourist who specifically comes on a search. The origin of this tree might be many hundred years ago...how many centuries ago only a botanist can say. Possibly this entire area was a forest of the yore and with the expanding human civilization was on the receiving end of human concern that the tree is left untouched for posterity.

Any one looking for a peaceful retreat for about an hour would find this place of interest. They say there are many monkeys within its boundaries but on a full sun lit day this place could be exquisite.

How to reach this place .. If you are driving to Mysore from Bangalore after Kengeri you see the R R Dental college and turn right here into a road that is adjacent to this dental college...there is a railway gate here ..and from this point it is about say 10 kilometres through a beautiful sylvan setting and gradually you reach this place which could be termed magical.

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FLATS IN BANGALORE

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COURSE AND CONDUCT

MASTERS DEGREE certificate

DEGREE CERTIFICATE Btech

SSLC certificate

PUC certificate

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L H Bhatia

At various points I have written about BPL a largely pioneering Organization in the city of Bangalore which made world quality Television sets largely out of indigenously fabricated components.The organization itself was spearheaded by many

 people..one such person was L H Bhatia;He largely pioneered the sales efforts of Medical equipments and thereafter the Television sales activity.


 Mr L H Bhatia who made an entry into the organization from Phillips in the 1970’s and went on to serve the organization for more than three decades. 

He was undoubtedly a person of high competence and drive with a boyish charm and exuberance.

Devarayanadurga

Devarayanadurga near Tumkur

The city of Tumkur is a very important hub some 60 kms from Bangalore and is a route to the northern cities in Karnataka state.It is some one and a half hour drive from the city of Bangalore. I have seen lush greenery at many pockets around Tumkur and one such point I visited was a place called Devarayanadurga. Not many must have heard about this place.

I found rocky terrain here and a climb up a hillock for a splendid view around and the whole exercise was breath taking. There are quite a few temples in the vicinity; These rocky terrains are extensions of the Eastern Ghats.

Any one keen on visiting this place can do so…it is right turn on the  Bangalore   Tumkur   highway few kilometres from Tumkur and the whole area is serene and worthy.

Shivaganga near Bangalore

There is a tourist spot near Bangalore on the Bangalore Tumkur Highway few kilometers before Tumkur which many people may not have an inkling about. The name of the place is Shiva ganga a tourist spot and a spot of Piligrimage. There are various kinds of legends and stories associated with this place.

I had visited this place and found it unique in many ways. This place Shiva ganga is a huge hill which can be conquered by any one on foot as special stairs are cut on the rock and it would take some two hours of steep and careful climbing to reach the summit largely thrived by many people. On the return from the summit there is a cave housing a Shiva temple.

Any one with  the will to embark on such a trip will have a pleasant day doing so and taking utmost care during the climb not to falter and prevent looking down the hill during the climbing process.

The Bangalore Fort

There is a place of historical significance in Bangalore..the Bangalore Fort as it is called. A good number of cities in India have Fort’s like the Vellore fort, The Kannur Fort..the Fort at Palghat and many many such structures. In Deccan many of these Fort’s owe their existence to various kinds of power groups since time immemorial..and many of them changed hands from time to time possibly to be modified and re-constituted.

The Bangalore fort for a curious traveler is very close to the modern day City Market. There is hustle and bustle there but a structure of ancient times stares at passers’ by. It is close to the Summer palace of Tipu Sultan. Who built this Fort..I don’t know for sure..possibly it has its origins from the Vijayanagar time to be later in the possession of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan and later to be taken over by the British.

For many years the gates of this Fort was sealed with no entry for visitors and the structure being open for the public only few years back. The interiors of this Fort is relatively small with some kind of a residential quarters and a large garden adjacent to it. That’s All …..and at the entrance to the Fort is some kind of a dark dungeon where it is said Col. Bailey was imprisoned or it could even be Col Biard..but I was informed about this imprisonment episode. On the outside of the Fort can be seen a breach of the Fort supposed to be created by the English forces under Cornwallis.

It is worthwhile to see this place once  and also the Summer palace of Tipu Sultan few meters away. The nearest bus stop is the City Market bus stop. The entire structure looks imposing from the outside.

Two Wheelers and Bangalore

The Bangalore city of today is full of two wheelers and many use this as a mode of transport from one place to another like in few other cities of the World. Barring a few months during the rainy season a two wheeler is a cozy device to travel around the city.

When did the two wheeler revolution throng the city..perhaps in the early 1980’s or so –prior to which time there only few two wheelers to be seen in the city largely Scooters and motorbikes. Scooters like Lamberetta , Vespa and few other not to mention the motor cycles like Java and Yezdi.

Companies like “Honda” are responsible in making Bangalore a two wheeler friendly city. Most of the varieties of two wheelers mentioned above had gears and a kick start seen as unfriendly propositions for any two wheeler and there came the modern scooterette which had no kick-start and at the same time some of them had auto gears.

A  large support mechanism has grown around the town to service and repair two wheelers. Research must be done to make all two wheelers as light as possible..occupy less space on the roads..and have no manual or foot gear changing; which means all have auto gears…professionalize the network of servicing in some form ..design a rain coat to protect the rider completely from the rain....Two wheelering in the city would even thrive further giving the rider autonomy of transit and at the same time at the fraction of the cost and time needed by a car .

My niece Shreya

The Pakistan India Imbroglio

It was nice to see   Mr.  Nawaz  Sharief  attend the swearing-in ceremony of   Shri  Narender  Modi  though after some confusion regarding his posture about his ability to do so.The world has changed and things have moved on and so should the orientations of Countries and societies. I read in the papers a statement by Mariam the daughter of Mr. Nawaz Sharif   Why cant we Live      like  United Europe instead of being like North Korea  and South Korea ?  What a pertinent statement  from a good thinking individual.  Our Prime Minister Mr. Narender  Modi also deserves praise for inviting his counterpart of Pakistan.

I have been listening to many lectures from various individuals both from our country and from across the border and also at one instance some discussion about India by some school  students in Pakistan. I  find very few speaking about  India with a sense of animus. The basic orientation is largely positive. India and  Pakistan  show a behavior consistent with the behavior of Europe in the early 1900’s. Governments  at loggerheads and people aspiring for co-operative existence.

What can we learn from  United  Europe?  many things……they have put behind the agonies of the World wars..the  World  wars had their commencement due to poor Economic conditions in main-land Europe and the common man failing to understand the causes. Economic  depravation  in the past had a hand in the origin of wars. They have unified themselves.USA is an example of United Europe and co-existence- but in an altogether different Continent. Businesses of Europe now must on a path of upswing largely owing to such co-operations. Airbus Industrie of France may not have made the A 380 had it not been for co-operation from other European partners. Through co-operation Europe is developing its economy  and the effects of its development would have positive influence on even its  Asian and  African neighbours and would make the  Economies of these countries more self reliant owing to investments from near-by. Europe is not very far from India…You only need to travel possibly some 5000 kms…there is an altogether a positive situation emerging in Europe which would change World equations.

Look at the partition of India into West Pakistan and East Pakistan…an event uprising from the culmination of the Second  World  War. A deal that had to hurriedly  accepted  if the fruits of decades long struggle were to bear any fruit.  It was a game situation of marginal advantage for some and face saving on the other hand. Had the formula of partition not been accepted things would have prolonged through uncertainty and the  constituents  thought  it wise to take the spoils and put any other issue for future consideration and alteration. A hurriedly accepted solution for a prolonged struggle  for  independence. It left some loose ends and suffering to the populace from which this zone has to some extent reconciled.

Who is responsible for  Partition ? Some say it is the religious groups involved..Had it been purely religion there is something  amiss  as seen from the events decades  after Partition..the repartition of Pakistan itself into which India was forcibly drawn. Religious fervosity should have kept them together but over the years they parted primarily and possibly because they could not co-exist notwithstanding the factor of religion. Then who is responsible for  Partition ?  It appears to me the British itself. The Second World War to my opinion left the British Economically famished their efforts targeted at preventing the Germans from crossing the  English  Channel. War with Germany was on a much higher professional scale and lasted for too long…largely crippling the various Global supply chains. Study the policies of the British since time immemorial it always smacked of Injustice and selfishness and also marked by atrocities. They simply wanted no opposition an d treated with an iron hand any one who did so..with due respect to them and their skills as a community. They indulged themselves in such extreme acts time and again in various parts of the world. Can any one reconcile with the ”Doctrine of lapse” promulgated in  India. It is not that any single British has to be blamed their administrative machinery worked that way. They got into trouble with the Americans owing to such  policies  resulting in warfare. A wantonly unjust treatment of any given situation largely to their advantage and gross disadvantage to the other side..It had to be accepted or bare the consequences. Had it not been for the Economic circumstances prevailing post second world war India would have never become free..The British found it grossly difficult to support a large empire with the remnants of the war and thought if fitting to hand over the reins to local Governments and letting them do what they wished but had their own reservations about handing over such a unified territory into a single hand…Cut it into as many possible pieces and hand it over and leave for a posterity an environment of mistrust and conflict. Had the formula of Partition not been hurriedly accepted   this zone could have been severed even further.

Look at what happened in India post Independence. A   Government machinery that went in full swing to support an economy bequeathed by the British. I have no inkling how Pakistan handled its independence. On the Indian side there were think-tanks and highly committed individuals who put the pangs of partition behind and built a professional and scientific network. The British administration put the larger portions of the country un-developed but left many isolated pockets highly sophisticated..the cities from where-in their administration ran. The leaders of this country post partition looked at some of these cities to set up the framework from which the new country would find its footing…Madras…Bangalore…Bombay..Delhi..Kolkata…Ooty..just to name a few. They created five year plans..built dams..built Industrial institutions..built  Educational Institutions..and into these cities poured a first generation Indian populace seeking glory for their self and family the after effects of which govern the progress of the country even today. Foundations were laid without doubt for a modern technological country which believed in secular ideals which was slow to show results initially but with other global changes catapulted the country into a spin of Economic optimism.

The next question is What would happen to Pakistani and Indian economies of the future? The turning point of the Indian economy came  post  globalization and India as a country rode the upswing much better than the more established economies of these times. Globalized era in India started and thrived as a result of the growth of the Internet and mobile telephony preceded by the expansion of our Television networks. Indian Economy owes to technology a great deal and also to its leaders like Nehru and  Menon  who who  built scientific foundations for the country. Mobile telephony integrated India and Internet integrated India with the rest of the World..two lethal events unexpected and lacking in precedence. The rest is history and an unpredictable future which would be largely constructive and positive. The foundations of various kinds laid in India catapulted India into a higher orbit of World reckoning. Pakistan on the other side missed the Technological revolution and could not put to purposeful economic advantage the upsurge of Technology, and India by default increasingly would become a destination for foreign investments.

Pakistan had an ally  during the cold war era..the United states. The US administration of these times badly wanted the companionship of Pakistan to keep a check on  Soviet  movements in this part of the world..The end of the Cold war saw the diminishing significance of Pakistan in Military terms for the United States and with that a possible tightening of the belt in terms of financial support…Pakistan turns to a supposedly foe of India ..China  but of not much use. Language barrier with the Chinese and other fundamental differences would mean difficulty in sustaining long term goals. Pakistan would badly need an economic companion to hand-hold it into the modern era a force secondary to any other  considerations. Just take a case of a lad growing up in a Pakistani city and a lad growing up in an Indian city and compare the possible avenues for higher education. The opportunities for the Indian lad outweigh to a large number the opportunity on the other side. This a gross disadvantage with time will create an imbalance which would translate into economic arithmetic  and  with time would create a crisis in the other country.

Should Pakistan and India co-operate? The English speaking elite of these two countries will not have a problem. The problem would be from other sectors of the populace.  But sooner there is a platform for constructive co-operation the better it would be..a co-operation that puts the economy foremost to all other disputes and problems. What the British did must be undone sooner the better at least on the Economic front. As a first step education could be liberalized - a free movement of people across these zones for the purpose of knowledge and education; may be an Indo-Pak common university could be created where students from both the sides could educate themselves under a common platform. Understanding and Re-understanding of issues will help put many issues in the perspective. If a physical University is difficult to create to start with, a web based university with a conference session twice a year held in cities from both countries. This would be a welcome step as from this university would emerge next generation leaders in this part of the world who would shape the well-being of this continent and the well-being of Asia at large.

Mariam  the daughter of Nawaz Sharief is right…may be India and Pakistan would work like United Europe as against North and South Korea and seeing us the Koreans might follow suit.

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PALACE RAILWAY STATION IN BANGALORE

Some time back I had written about the Bangalore Palace..a majestic structure at a serene outreach of the city largely left to itself without recognition largely because access to this place is complex though an important life line of the city the Palace road and few other roads run closer to this structure.

There is a key encouraging fact to the situation...the possibility of setting up a   Palace Railway Station along the railway tracks.

Firstly such a station would make the Palace very accessible. Next it would serve as an important traffic de-congester. To my observation the Madras railway line necessarily does not touch key locations of the city namely the key roads of the city. The closest it gets is the Cantonment station and note that this station too is far flung to the city. On the other hand a Station at this point would make the Cunningham road quickly accessible and where-from the other parts of the town.

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HOUSE

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