JOIN USThis family photograph was taken in 1976 at our house in Bengaluru, soon after a family function. Whenever I look at it, it takes me back to the wonderful times of yore spent with family and friends.
I got admission at Visvesvaraya College in 1968 for a masters degree in structural engineering. One of my school friends, Sainath, was working with a contractor.
Everyday, after returning from work, he used to take me to Avenue Road around 10 pm. We used to stroll on the roads, enjoying hot ‘idlis’ and ‘dosa’ from the mobile food carts. Our favourite coffee joint was India Coffee House located at the entrance of Avenue Road. After college hours, we spent most of the evenings there with friends.
During that time, every other building in Majestic had a movie theatre. Our favourite theatres were Alankar, Prabhat, Kapali and Kino in Seshadripuram. Public transport was practically non-existent then. Very few vehicles were seen on the roads. Most of the people used cycles for movement.
After completing my masters degree, I moved to Ranchi to take up a job as an assistant design engineer at Mecon Limited, a public sector enterprise. It was in 1973 that they established their regional office in Bengaluru to offer consultancy services for steel plants. Venkataraman, Narayanan and I got transferred here. Our office was located on Nrupathunga Road. We enjoyed the clean roads, the cool breeze and the greenery all over the city. We strolled in Lalbagh, near Ulsoor Lake, MG Road, Brigade Road and a few other places. The three of us always moved around together. Thus, we became famous as the ‘three musketeers’ in office. In the 70s, owning a Yezdi motorbike was a matter of pride. I purchased my first Yezdi for Rs 3,500 from the Java factory. Two of my friends also bought it. I remember we would travel all over the city on our bikes. We also went on picnics (on our Yezdi) to Jog Falls, Kochi, Hogenakkal Falls and Nandi Hills.
In 1976, I got married to Vidya. All my friends attended our wedding. We started living in Jayanagar 8th Block. The area was not developed during that time and we would go to 4th Block even for making small purchases. Walking on Nanda main road was a pleasure with neat wide roads, trees and parks on both sides. My wife and I would enjoy ‘samosas’ sitting on the concrete bench facing the road. It was a lovely experience. My friends would often come to my house in the evening and we would spend time till late at night singing songs and playing a game of ‘Bridge’. Meanwhile, my wife served hot dinner to everyone. As middle-class families, we did not have gadgets like TV, fridge, telephone or radio. We had a national transistor which served all the purposes. Hence, we had sufficient time to enjoy amidst nature, indulging in outdoor activities with family and friends.
Slowly, as work demanded, all three of us moved to different parts of the country and abroad. However, we have maintained our friendship throughout. As a family, we also try to make time to meet our relatives and extended family members on special occasions. When we are together, the conversations about the past just don’t seem to end!
C Sampath Kumar
(The author can be contacted at samcollur@gmail.com)