The Victorian Walk
"He being Dead, yet Speaketh." [1870]
A quote read from an inscription in Trinity Church, Bangalore.
So many times I have imagined how a place would look like in near future. The growing infrastructure of cities in India often leads me into fantasizing the look of tomorrow. Moreover, the kind of profession that I am in is very ulterior in nature. And, there's always a Star Wars engine running in my head that is producing thoughts that pertain to 2000 years in future. More than often we allow ourselves to live for what is to come. On the other hand, I seldom sit together with people to talk about the times that were. However, this Sunday, I spent 4 hours discovering the past of where I currently live.
Bangalore is not an ordinary city. Apparently, as I learnt yesterday, it's never been an ordinary city. It had a huge significance at the time of British India and, as most of us would recognise, even after 50-odd years of independence people from all over the world continue to get "Bangalored".
A friend of a friend, invited me and a few others for a Heritage Walk on MG Road in Bangalore. Heritage Walk is a very common concept in most famous cities around the world. This was the first time I was going for a heritage walk. The itinerary had us start from the Trinity Church on MG Road and walk 2 kms till we hit Cubbon Park. As planned, we started off early on Sunday morning aiming to complete the walk in 2 hrs. Arun, an informed man and our guide narrated us the history and significance of various historic spots and buildings we visited on our way to the Cubbon Park.
We were a group of 13 people, young and middle-aged professionals, all enthusiastic about the history of Bangalore. We walked around for about 3 hours, stopping every 200 meters and discussing the history of each place where we made a stop, talking about British India and Britisher's presence in Bangalore at that time. Arun spoke of various facts and stories from all the places that we stopped at. I'm not going to talk about those stories because they are Arun's selling points. However, I barely hesitate to talk about my feelings of the event and the concept in general.
The short Victoria Walk was gripping in portions. Arun's excellent narration kept me interested for most of the time. To our advantage, we had an historian with us in our group who always had something to add to what Arun said. I now know which renowned English figure, who later went on to become the PM of Britain, was a member of Bangalore club. I now know how Tamilians ended up owning most of the prime Bangalore. I also know that there is a stronger than an average chance for me to become a cricketer if I played at the St. Joseph High School park. Last but not the least, I have found another more meaningful reason to not take my girlfriend to Bangalore Central for shopping.
In spite of, the whole experience being so amazing in so many ways, I hate to admit that I had little to take away from the walk. I have learnt that MG Road was a residence to many British officers, however, I can only rely on my imagination to know the kind of houses they lived in. Out of the 3 houses that we saw from outside, I could explore or photograph none from inside. The Mayo Hall, that was brought to my notice by Arun, looks nothing but like an old worthless building from outside, but I probably would have had a different opinion, if I could look at it from inside. I, for myself, have never before focused on places and the history attached to them. But people, who have lived and learnt in more historically rich places, like Delhi or Calcutta, will find little to satisfy their history appetite from this walk.
Arun, appears to me - a high spirited man, who is rediscovering Bangalore and has taken it upon himself to generate awareness about this beautiful Garden City. His efforts are worth an applause, but he probably needs to get more data or, as we call them in IT, artifacts together. Undoubtedly, the Victorian Walk was an experience that I would have hated to let go. I would strongly recommend it for people who travel to Bangalore for business or holiday reasons.
[Watch this space for pictures from yesterday's event.]
A quote read from an inscription in Trinity Church, Bangalore.
So many times I have imagined how a place would look like in near future. The growing infrastructure of cities in India often leads me into fantasizing the look of tomorrow. Moreover, the kind of profession that I am in is very ulterior in nature. And, there's always a Star Wars engine running in my head that is producing thoughts that pertain to 2000 years in future. More than often we allow ourselves to live for what is to come. On the other hand, I seldom sit together with people to talk about the times that were. However, this Sunday, I spent 4 hours discovering the past of where I currently live.
Bangalore is not an ordinary city. Apparently, as I learnt yesterday, it's never been an ordinary city. It had a huge significance at the time of British India and, as most of us would recognise, even after 50-odd years of independence people from all over the world continue to get "Bangalored".
A friend of a friend, invited me and a few others for a Heritage Walk on MG Road in Bangalore. Heritage Walk is a very common concept in most famous cities around the world. This was the first time I was going for a heritage walk. The itinerary had us start from the Trinity Church on MG Road and walk 2 kms till we hit Cubbon Park. As planned, we started off early on Sunday morning aiming to complete the walk in 2 hrs. Arun, an informed man and our guide narrated us the history and significance of various historic spots and buildings we visited on our way to the Cubbon Park.
We were a group of 13 people, young and middle-aged professionals, all enthusiastic about the history of Bangalore. We walked around for about 3 hours, stopping every 200 meters and discussing the history of each place where we made a stop, talking about British India and Britisher's presence in Bangalore at that time. Arun spoke of various facts and stories from all the places that we stopped at. I'm not going to talk about those stories because they are Arun's selling points. However, I barely hesitate to talk about my feelings of the event and the concept in general.
The short Victoria Walk was gripping in portions. Arun's excellent narration kept me interested for most of the time. To our advantage, we had an historian with us in our group who always had something to add to what Arun said. I now know which renowned English figure, who later went on to become the PM of Britain, was a member of Bangalore club. I now know how Tamilians ended up owning most of the prime Bangalore. I also know that there is a stronger than an average chance for me to become a cricketer if I played at the St. Joseph High School park. Last but not the least, I have found another more meaningful reason to not take my girlfriend to Bangalore Central for shopping.
In spite of, the whole experience being so amazing in so many ways, I hate to admit that I had little to take away from the walk. I have learnt that MG Road was a residence to many British officers, however, I can only rely on my imagination to know the kind of houses they lived in. Out of the 3 houses that we saw from outside, I could explore or photograph none from inside. The Mayo Hall, that was brought to my notice by Arun, looks nothing but like an old worthless building from outside, but I probably would have had a different opinion, if I could look at it from inside. I, for myself, have never before focused on places and the history attached to them. But people, who have lived and learnt in more historically rich places, like Delhi or Calcutta, will find little to satisfy their history appetite from this walk.
Arun, appears to me - a high spirited man, who is rediscovering Bangalore and has taken it upon himself to generate awareness about this beautiful Garden City. His efforts are worth an applause, but he probably needs to get more data or, as we call them in IT, artifacts together. Undoubtedly, the Victorian Walk was an experience that I would have hated to let go. I would strongly recommend it for people who travel to Bangalore for business or holiday reasons.
[Watch this space for pictures from yesterday's event.]
posted by Tee @ 15:45
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