Old Bangalore, New Bangalore?

If you’re one of the new settlers in Bangalore, you’re sure to have encountered a lamenting old timer complain about how Bangalore has changed for the worse. Worse still, if you’re idea of Old Bangalore is MG Road/Mayo Hall or Commercial street. There, you’ve ticked off a true Bangalorean. Watch him/her go off – “you don’t know what old Bangalore is…”

We’ve had this debate many times over with friends/office colleagues. For true old timers, Bangalore is what comes after MG Road – Malleswaram, Rajaji Nagar, Vijaya Nagar, Basavangudi, Chamrajpet and the works. That for them is the essence of the yesteryears.

Since the time I came to this city in 1999, it has changed so much. In fact, there is so much change, that once my wife remarked, when will they stop constructing new stuff here?! What ticked me off on this topic was this. After a long time, I finally mustered enough courage to go visit some of the nostalgic spots.

Started off on a bus ride from HAL and got dropped near Millers road at 7:00 pm. Then I walked to Commercial street, did some shopping and then walked to MG Road from there. I was truly hoping to hop into the HOHO service near Com Street, but that didn’t happen, never saw a single bus on this entire trip. Maybe Sunday was a wrong day to be looking for them.

MG Road is a mess now – long gone were the promenades where we used to hang out. That I was prepared for, but the monster cranes and dug up heart of the city I wasn’t. It’s very hard to visualise how this would look once Metro kicks off. Cauvery emporium wore a pale look after the recent fire. I then weaved through the mess and got to an old time haunt – Brindavan Hotel.

 

It’s amazing how this place holds up its own against the onslaught of Modernity. Nestled in a bylane, close to Brigade Road and the new Mall next to that, this hotel continues to serve customers in the only way it knows. There is no attempt to bring any change in its working and its customers are not complaining either. The dosas are just as crisp, lunch just as filling and the service just as quick as it used to be. There are no frills here and no waiting.

Post dinner, I made a visit to Corner House on Residency road. The surprise element was that it wasn’t located where it was earlier. Corner house had turned a corner. It’s now located on bylane parallel to Brindavan. The ice creams were just as good, but somehow the spirit seemed to have been lost.

Corner house itself has grown well beyond Residency road, there are branches all over town. But the place where it had all started wasn’t there any more. Is this taking the heart out of the ice cream?

So there in lies the question on my mind. Here were two old timers – one adapting to modernity and the other staying in its own time warp. Brindavan still appeals to me – for nostalgia’s sake. But how long can nostalgia make business sense? When am I going to frown upon its looks or lack of modern amenities like air conditioning and better furniture. Would the gen-X ever go here? I’m sure they have no qualms going to Corner House. Is it just me though?