DR. MENON IN ULSOOR

 My father used to routinely take me to a physician in Ulsoor Dr. Menon, when I was a kid for various kinds of inoculations and the last one was when I was about twelve. We used to take the local BTS bus(now BMTC) and get down at Ulsoor and had to take a walk through the in-roads to reach his clinic.Once we got a lift from some friend of my Father who was driving that way all the way from Ulsoor to my school gate. There used to be rush at his Clinic and we had to wait for long sometimes to see him.

Dr.Menon was an LMP I think.(Licenced Medical Practitioner).He was a fair and tall man with a bald head but very impressive in his candour.

Much later when I used to work at Graphite India his son-in-law Narayan Vilampil used to be my colleague. It would be worthy to mention that there was another prominent Physician in  Ulsoor by the name of Dr.Pillai during these times.

ULSOOR LAKE BANGALORE

I thought of writing something about this lake.....I have mentioned it several times and the modern city of Bangalore as we see today has grown around Ulsoor lake though many may be unaware of it.

Bangalore was originally an agricultural township which needs to be emphasised and large ponds or lakes were dug every two to three kilometres to harvest rain water.The place where Mayo Hall stands today was once a lake.Paddy was extensively cultivated around these lakes which had waterways into the feilds and even conduits from one lake to another to handle water from excessive rain fall.How different the city looks today?

There were hutments close to these lakes where small villages thrived..and near such hutments came temples and with temples came festivals and processions an important component of the heritage of the city. Ulsoor known as Halasuru was one such hotspot. Incidentally the present Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Teresa May visited the temple at Ulsoor during her visit to the Country.It is possible her great ancestors lived close by in places like Cox Town and had some affiliation with the temple.

Ulsoor was an important epicentre of Bangalore owing to the large temple and pond that existed within its confines and was a town of concern.When the Anglicization of Bangalore began in the late 18th century  Ulsoor and its lake became a key sphere of activity with the Ulsoor lake being fenced and being used for aquatic training by the Madras Sappers...and there upon with the passage of time miles and miles of circumference began to be encroached by humanity and a large metropolis as we see today takes shape.

The earliest formal settlements to arise around this lake is Cox town where the English settled and adjacent to it is the Coles Park and Frazer town ,Banaswadi still further and Cooke town..diametrically opposite to which emerged the offices of English administration..the South Parade..which was a Parade ground in South India for English soldier recruits  and other roads like the Infantry road and the Cavalry road and even the Brigade road....note these are all military terms.

Some the areas in the vicinity of the lake in clockwise direction would be Cox town, Ulsoor,Shivajinagar and may be Munireddy Palya.

The lake is well maintained by the Government now  and has a  island in its centre and some of the age old English offices can be seen within its boundaries and two more islands on either side.These three islands make this lake unique.

How to reach Ulsoor Lake?Trinity Circle on M G Road is a point from which the lake is some walking distance.The Ulsoor Gurudwara is adjacent to this lake and Aurobindo Ashram is on the other side.Trinity Metro station is close to this lake.