VOLVO BUSES IN BANGALORE

The BTS called Bangalore Transport Service was renamed BMTC Bangalore Metropolitan Transport service somewhere in 2000. My earliest experiences with BTS is as a child say from around 1973. BTS services could be rated poor during this time with inadequate buses and huge rush of population and jam packed buses with the conductors finding it difficult to complete the job of issuing tickets. Every single bus stop was a scene of despair with families trying to get their act together of squeezing into a bus.
Some of the principal bus stands in bangalore were the Subhash nagar bus stand in Majestic near the city railway station; City Market bus stand; Shivajinagar bus station and Jayanagar bus stop at the 4th block.

With the opening of the ring roads and the many routes that were developed the situation seems to have eased considerably at present. The Kempe Gowda bus station seen at subash nagar must have come somewhere in the late 70's. It used to be a shallow valley were circus used to be held and I was witness to one such circus in the 70's.

The road -lines of Bangalore began to get illuminated with red coloured volvo buses from the year 2000 or so which caught the fancy of up-market residents.This has given the city a touch of glamour. The charges were exorbitant to start with on these buses but were rationalised later.

BMTC or (BTS) has developed and improved itself over the years. But it can be developed even further and defanitely efforts should be put in this direction.

DEMOGRAPHICS AND THE POPULATION OF BANGALORE

Bangalore has a distinct mix of people from different backgrounds.

Before British habitation Bangalore must have been some kind of a forest with ferns, shrubs and trees much abound with cobra snakes. Most of these snakes took shelter in the crevices of rocks that lay close to the many lakes and water bodies. The terrain of this place made it easy to create cachment basins for water which is characteristic of bangalore largely because of the land which had a symmetric and regular distriburion of crests and troughs. In the seige of srirangappatanam in the fourth mysore war the madras front was one faction of the british army mobilised from madras to the battle front in srirangapattana describe their 250 mile journey from madras to mysore as one through forests. The marching troops must have passed through bangalore at that time which must have been a forested land and not very significant as a place but for some bsic support in the form of food and temporary hangout for the troops.

What made bangalore an interesting place for the British would be a moot question. Possibly they were looking for an alternative to madras or a support center for the government in Madras and bangalore being fairly not very distant from madras chose it as a settling ground. They set up a cantonment here possibly to store ammunition and thence came many officers and their dependants to this place. This must have happenned not earlier than 1900 in full measure in my opinion. So officially the modern city of Bangalore could be a barely 100 years and more in vintage.

What makes bangalore different from many other cities is its dichotomous heterogenity. Upto the Bangalore cantonment was in the hands of British and the area further in the hands of the mysore maharajah and this city even to this day is yet to come to terms with this inheritance. The british controlled bangalore had a large tamil population brought to this place by their masters for various kinds of vocations and jobs. The mysore controlled bangalore had a distinct mysorean flavour and possibly the local population indulged in business of various kinds for survival. What a distinct contrast. Kannada was possibly the most spoken language in the mysore part while tamil became some kind of a defacto language in the other part. These two parts of bangalore have very distinct culture which is getting smoothened today by large scope for acculturation among the growing up generation today.

Something very significant about the populace today in bangalore is that no single tag or description fits well to describe the population and any such effort would become even more cumbersome in the days to come. One significant event in this dimension is the large influx of students from Northern India into Bangalore in search of education from the 1970's which began to intensify even further in the 1990's when jobs became plentiful for the youth in this city and such events will dictate and have a large scale bearing on the population of Bangalore of the future.

NLSIU ( National Law School of India University Bangalore)

NLSIU stands for National law School of India University. I spent two years here as a student of law from 2006-2008. I liked the place and the legal education given through lectures. 

There were some good teachers at the law school. Mr. Sairam Bhat who used to teach Contract law; Mr. Chauhan who used to teach environment law and Mr. M P P Pillai who used to teach Company law. I think Mr. Chauhan passed away somewhere in 2009.

I must make special mention of Dr. Chauhan who used to teach environmental law. He had served in the ministry of environment and forests before joining nlsiu. He used to be a very very dedicated teacher and used to teach environmental law with a high degree of involvement and enthusiasm. It is a tragedy we lost him so early. I think something must be done by the nlsiu to honour his memory and dedication towards spirited teaching. He sent me some ppt presentations regarding environmental law which I have preserved .

What impressed me the most at nlsiu is the library which has an axcellent design and also the lawns and the buildings , not to forget the small canteen in the main building and the bright young students who frolick merrily walking up and down the campus walk-ways.

Some people do not know how to reach NLSIU. From the bangalore railway station it is not very far. Take the taxi or rickshaw and follow the mysore road and the next important mile-stone being the raja rajeshwari arch and the gopalan arcade. Ahead you find the Bangalore University gate. Drive through the gate into the straight road until you see the psychology department to the right. Turn to the right at this junction and as you go ahead you see the department of environmental science of the bangalore University to the right and the road leading to a dead end. Turn left here and a few meters away you encounter a main road. Turn right here and keep straight through the winding roads and you rach the national law school. If you reach the new bangalore airport ask for Nagarabhavi circle near Vijayanagar which would be the pivots to reach the law school.

The culture at this institute is largely western and is co-educational and dont be surprised if you see boys and girls embrace; this is the culture here and a largely accepted one.

ST. ANTONY'S SCHOOL KR PURAM

In fact the first school I attended was not Lowry Memorial School. It was St. Antony's school. I think the school is at present in Ramamurthy nagar. I think I attended this school for about eight months and discontinued later to join the Lowry memorial School.

It is interesting to note where the St. Antony's school existed at that time. It was in a godown like shed in a vast area of land opposite to the facade of Indian Telephone Industries yonder the national highway 04. Now the place looks totally different with some petroleum institute having garbed a large share of this land. This shed was built during the British era it is said to house Italian prisoners.

The shed was divided into many enclosures with hardboard barricades and in one such room I spent eight months making fragile steps towards an education. My father used to bring food to this place almost every afternoon. I used to get eye infection repeatedly during my stint at this school and my father thereupon decided to stop education temporarily and re-admitted me to the Lowry Memorial School the following summer.

At this school I had a class mate by name Santhosh Koshy who later became a doctor.

Unni Krishnan who was the production manager of television at BPL was a product of this school.

SPORTS AT LOWRY MEMORIAL SCHOOL

There used to be an annual sporting event at the Lowry memorial School. This was conducted relegiously year after year in november and various athletic events were held and prizes distributed. I remember Ismail from hoodi village (and his brother muhammed ali) who used to win 1500mtrs race year after year . James peter, Swamy das were other sporting heroes of Lowry Memorial School of our times. Some of them used to win prizes at regional events of the karnataka state too.

I tried to be an athlete but in vain basically to bask in the glory of a winner-but never succeeded. But I came very close once. I was not winning short distance races, so i decided to try the 400 meters race. This means running two rounds around the school ground. I was doing a fairly good job and was very close to getting the third prize , had it not been for the unfair designs of my class mate Swatantra babu who was nick named cobbler and was from Kaggadasapura. He repeatedly tugged at me from behind and got the better of me; and in desperation I had to drop out at the last instance thereby losing my only chance to have won a prize at athletics. I protested at the action of my friend cobbler but the decision was against me- I should have completed the race and not drop out. In retrospect I think this decision was wrong and cobbler should have been disqualified for malpractice.

I took to playing field games later like basket ball and had good time doing so for many years.

SIGHT SEEING IN BANGALORE

Many people from around the world visit Bangalore. For many reasons its a good place to be in and an ideal tourist spot. The roads of Bangalore are congested and crowded but manoeuvring them is a world class experience.

Something about the history of Bangalore. During different periods of time this place has come under the influence of various rulers with the British making it a serious settlement, thereby the city getting a western look and outlook. Many centuries ago bangalore seems to be a large place with a rustic face with ferns and tall trees much abound. I happenned to see a picture of Mayo hall which is at present on the MG road which was a imposing building in the backdrop of mud roads ans small ponds. With the increase of habitation the city gradually got a modern look.

The name Bangalore is attributed to a prince in the 11th century who called this city "benda kalu uru" which means "place of cooked beans". How authentic this story is not known. The most recent aspect of Bangalore can be traced to the Vijayanagar empire which ruled south india in its entirety. This is a formidable empire and many of the various names of towns in the southern part of India can be attributed to this empire. A person by the name of Kempe Gowda was a chietain of Bangalore under the overall control of the Vijayanagar empire. Kempe Gowda gave Bangalore its boundaries; what exactly these boundaries are I do not know, but this person exercised control over this territory. Thereafter comes the rule of Hyder Ali and Tippu sultan - a not so long period of around 40 years ending in 1799. The stamp of their short rule can be seen in the lalbagh, a park conceived and designed by them. Thereafter it is the British...British and the British who held sway over this town. Strictly speaking a part of bangalore was under the Mysore Maha rajah and the other part with the Madras presidency which was merged after independence. During my childhood days I could see one part of bangalore spoke tamil too as a language because of the earlier influence of the madras presidency.

I would boldly put the following places as ones worth visiting while in Bangalore and also the approximate distance from the MG Road; I would list twelve of them

• The Ulsoor Lake(3 kms)
• Lalbagh(6 kms)
• Cubbon Park(2 kms)
• Vidhana Soudha( 3kms)
• Statue and park of King George(1 km)
• Tippu Sultan Summer palace and fort(7kms)
• Bannerughatta National park(35kms)
• Iskcon Temple(11 kms)
• Bull Temple(15 kms)
• The Nandi Hills(50 kms)
• Raja Rajeshwari Temple off Mysore Road(15kms)
• Hessarughatta(30kms)

I think each of these places needs qualifications which will unearth myths about the city. Some of these places are in the proximity of one another. May be I have missed out certain places- like the many parks that have come up around renovated lakes that have been recently circumfenced and protected. To see all these places It would take three days ang MG Road is the right place for any one keen on shopping.

The Ulsoor Lake : Bangalore in its pristine form had many lakes- some of them have vanished and given place to human habitats. The cold weather of Bangalore can be attributed to these lakes. At present there is a concerted effort from the government to protect these lakes. Ulsoor lake took the fancy of the British and they set up an aquatic training system for the Madras Engineering Group MEG in the mid 18th century which exists to this day. There is a hillock on the one side of the lake and a park on the other.

Any visitor to this place would find the park an ideal place to spend some time and indulge in boating. There is an eat-out for refreshments and just watching the traffic along the fringes of the lake itself is can be a favourable past-time.

Lalbagh : From Ulsoor lake lalbagh is on the yonder part of the city. Manouvre through M G Road into double road and at the end of the road you meet with a circle and the gates of lalbagh can be seen . Lalbagh can be approached through other gates too but I would suggest this gate. Once inside immediately walk up the hill to get a view of Bangalore. Coming down the hill there is a mini-vehicle that ferries people across the park. This is a good resting place for anyone.

The Cubbon Park: The Cubbon park was built by Lord Cubbon who was a regent at this place and stayed at the Raj Bhavan. For brief periods the control of the Mysore kingdom was wrested on these Regents. It is Sir Mark Cubbon who had the idea of building this park in the vicinity of the modern day Raj Bhavan. This park is slowly losing its identity to the corporate offices around. But it is a worthy spot to be in for various reasond and I sincerely appreciate the efforts of Sir mark Cubbon for having had the idea of building such a park.

The Vidhana Soudha - This is a magnificient and imposing structure built by the local government to locate administrative offices and a specimen of its kind in oriental architectural model and a strong building it is. Due to security concerns the building is encircled by a fence and visitors could view its grandeur from the walkways around or from the high court building. But its worth seeing it once. Note that the cubbon park is in the vicinity of this building.

The statue of King George unveiled in 1911 is in the vicinity of the of the Cubbon park.

Tippu sultan Summer Palace - This palace is a relatively small structure and the nearest land mark is the City Market. The palace has a large garden in the front and it is worthwhile to spend some time here. The construction of this place was started by Hyder Ali and completed by Tippu Sultan over a ten year period. It is arelatively small palace. Near the palace is the Bangalore fort of Tippu Sultan which was beseiged by Lord Cornwallis in 1792-93 during the third Mysore war. I have tried to enter the fort but was not successful. I think the concerned departments of the government of India must make this fort accessible to the public as it figures in the "seige of Bangalore " by Lord Cornwallis in 1792 and also inform tourists about its significance.

The Bannerughatta National Park - This is a park worth visiting for various reasons. I would like to disclose to you a myth of bangalore. This part of Bangalore where this park is situated is on one of the edges of the western ghat mountains which jetset into this part of the world. This is the reason that there is elephant menace in the outskirts of Bangalore-basically meaning herds of elephants that possibly lose their way and enter human habitats in search of food and water.

I t would need a day to have a good time at this place. There are multiple routes to this place. One is to drive into bannerughatta road from dairy circle; another one I discovered recently and would be the fastest is to take the Mysore road and get into the nice road which is a toll road and enter into the Baneerughatta road and eventually to Bannerughatta.

There are two components of bannerughatta; One is the the zoo and a museum which houses many wild animals and birds. The other component is the safari where habitats of animals can be visited in a mini bus specially designed for this purpose.There is the bear safari-the tiger safari- and the lion safari. It would take about an hour and a half to visit these safaries. Take a camera along to make live shoots of animals in un-assuming postures.

Please note that one can travel to Mysore from this point through the kanakapura road which is close by and reach mysore via malvalli.

The Iskcon temple - This is a place worth visiting for many reasons. It would take around an hour to visit the temple fully. The view of Bangalore from the temple-top is fascinating. This temple is near yeshwantpur on Vijayanagar road and opposite Mysore soap factory and also close to malleshwaram.

The Bull Temple - This temple is in Basavanagudi and is close to lalbagh. Legend has it that a bull was killed by peasents working in ground-nut farms in this place. They regretted their action and built a temple for the bull. (Basavanagudi literally means bull-temple). This incident dates back to the 1600's. I have not been to this temple myself but one must visit it atleast once.There is a ground-nut festival conducted here once an year.

The Nandi Hills - This hill is located near Devanahalli and must be around 50 kms from Bangalore. Both Tippu Sultan and thereafter the British have occupied this hill. It is in the eastern ghat mountain ranges. Few rivers take birth at this place. I have myself not been to this place and would visit it shortly.

The Raja-Rajeshwari Temple - This temple is located off mysore-road. One has to move into the Raja Rajeshwari Arch. This is a temple built in ancient dravidian style and is frequented by many people.

Hesarughatta - This place is off dasarahalli on peenya road and has the hesarughatta lake. I have not visited this place myself but heard that it is a place worth visiting. Any one keen may do a google search of this place to get more details.

Here ends I think a sojourn of the key places around Bangalore. I have found some people find it boring to visit the places mentioned in the proximity of the city. In such an event visit the places around Bangalore like bannerughatta, nandi hills etc which would brighten up a casual traveller. (Bannerughatta is linked by the local bus BMTC).Visitors should know that for Rs.32/- thirty two only the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Service provides a day pass where a passenger is allowed to travel on any bus(except the volvo buses).

My effort was to just introduce to you some key possible tourist destinations in Bangalore and beleive that some justice has been done. However please make very neat tour plans before embarking on any journey to make travel both leisure and pleasure.

WHITEFEILD

WhiteField is a place which I cannot forget.I spent two years of my life here and they were possibly my best and a time when I built solid foundations at a personal level which I can feel to this day. Kadugodi, Belathur, Hope farm and channasandra are places near white feild that I was associated with.

My earliest memories of white feild is having visited the place as a school student on an excursion; visiting alembic glass factory, the joy ice cream factory,the blind school and st. johns school. Some of these enterprises do not exist there any further.

WhiteFeild railway station was a single platform station in the 1980s where most trains would stop except the Brindavan express. Many times as students at white feild we used to wait for trains at this station. BTS meaning Bangalore Transport Service did have few busses plying to this area. Most of the buses were in the morning or in the evening. Any one caught in wHITE FEILD during the afternoon generally did not get a BTS bus and had to wait till the evening for bus. The situation is largely changed now. I have walked as a young boy all the way from whitefeild to kr puram along the railway tracks ;since buses were only in the evening. It used to take four hours to walk the entire distance.

BRINDAVAN

Sai Baba ashram named as Brindavan is a key aspect of this place. The entire stretch of road was busy especially when Sai Baba was in station. What a splendid sight. Bhajans could be heard upto the railway gate. There used to be pin drop silence especially when Baba was giving darshan.

Now whitefeild wears a totally different look; with high rise buildings everywhere. There is a stretch of road that connects whitefeild to old airport road which has become a hotspot today with the other stretch of road connecting hope-farm to kr puram not lagging behind. White feild is connected to hoskote through another stretch of road which must be very busy now because this road leads to the new airport.

White feild is a place to be watched. What used to be a sleepy and forsaken part of Bangalore will become some day a very important hub with many corporate offices located there. Fortunate are the people who purchased land long back at this place when the prices were paltry and would rake a fortune now and is a priced possession even otherwise. When all such evolutions abound I can feel a small sense of contentment that I was associated with this place too as a young boy and have fond memories harboured somewhere in the spirit.