If not for this god-forsaken pandemic, I would have been out and about, painting the town red in Bengaluru. Who am I kidding? I would have been sitting down for a game of intense FIFA with greasy Chinese food delivered by Dunzo on the couch. My friend from Hebbal who will read this hopefully will have some thoughts otherwise. He’s more of the ‘let’s head out and chug some beer till we drop on Fridays’ kind but he’s also the right kind of foodie to hang out with, so it’s fun for everyone. But all of this in Bengaluru, all the same. (In reality, I’m treated to the noise of crickets in good ol’ Bhubaneshwar which mostly decides to nap at 10 pm itself).
My latest read is Askew: A Short Biography of Bangalore by TJS George, celebrated writer and Padma Bhushan awardee. The T of course stands for Thayil, and you would do well to remember his son Jeet – you can read my thoughts on his book Low here. George writes about the transformation of Bengaluru post Independence, originally meant to be a place for pensioners to settle down peacefully. All of this of course was turned upside down with business taking precedence and the IT and biz boom that followed subsequently in the 90s and 2000s has meant that urban planning has been forced to take a backseat. This put immense pressure on the city’s natural resources and public facilities, impeding its growth. Not just physically, but the cultural landscape of the city underwent an obvious makeover with reverse migration and immigration making it a hotchpotch. Intolerance and political standoffs have sometimes marred what is mostly a peace-loving populace but urbanization and civic issues continue to plague daily existence.
The author, in his inimitable editorial style writing, takes us along this entire track, right from Kempe Gowda setting up the city to the various influential people who heralded its evolution – scholars, politicians, entrepreneurial mavericks, business leaders alike. Now that I think of it, the city’s thriving sporting culture was a big miss, despite the due credit provided to the previously mentioned folks. As a big foodie myself, love how he’s charted out the setting up of legendary institutions such as MTR, Vidyarthi Bhavan, Veena Stores, Koshy’s, Darshinis while also acknowledging how the cosmopolitan nature of the city has meant that there are widespread gastronomic choices on offer due to the blooming up of numerous modern, high-end cafes and restaurants. But there is a certain degree of respect accorded to these establishments steeped in history, so much so that the average NRI returnee would surely step in for a benne dosa before he headed home.
The read: The book is flush with anecdotes and the author’s tongue in cheek humour makes this a fun read. But what could have been avoided was a full chapter dedicated to a Tale of two families – namely the Mallyas and the Murthys. The spotlight was on the respective scions, Siddhartha and Rohan, and their lives so far and seemed out of place with the narrative up till then. To permanent Bengaluru residents, this would possibly be oft-repeated stories and facts that they know of very well. But to the average outsider and the city culture and history junkie like me, this is a nice and breezy read encompassing a city that has a distinct soul of its own. I’ve only had that feeling with Bombay so far because of my upbringing there but I hope to make the most of time and experience all of what I’ve read in the flesh, once I’m in Bengaluru.
Trivia: One of the interesting locations mentioned that one can walk into V Harish’s salon, New Modern Bombay Men’s Parlour on Southend Road, and ask for a Kuvempu Mushroom Cut or a fancy Shivaram Karanth Scissor Cut. If you do not want a haircut, you could ask for Da Ra Bendre Face Shave or Girish Karnad Eyebrow Threading as well. developed this idea to further his intention of promoting Kannada as a language. At present, he offers 10 styles named after the Jnanpith awardees, thespian Rajkumar, and poet G S Shivarudrappa and also hands out Kannada books for free as well. (Reference)
8/365.
Book: Askew
Author: TJS George
Year of Release: 2016
Publisher: Aleph Book Company