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The evergreen charm

From the albums
Last Updated 12 June 2016, 18:35 IST

As far as my memory goes, this photograph was taken in 1946 at our old house in Malleswaram when I was 7-years-old. My uncle late N S S Iyengar, who was fond of painting and photography, took the picture. Our family was quite big — we were 5 brothers and 5 sisters. After this photograph, there were 3 more additions to the family.

Those were the days when there used to be big families, and today I wonder how my parents managed to bring us up, giving good education, basic necessities and most importantly, equal love to all of us. My father N Singlachar was a civil engineer working in the Mysore Government and was posted in different rural and urban areas of the state.

We were a highly disciplined orthodox family. All of us were instructed by our parents to reach home before sunset, wash our hands and feet, pray in the ‘puja’ room and start our studies. For meals, we used to sit on the floor in a line according to seniority, my father first followed by the others. Even as my mother, Yedugiri, served food, we would not start until my father did. After completing, we would wait for his signal to get up or take permission to leave early. Inspite of his strictness, we loved and respected him. 

Bengaluru in those days was heaven. There were only a few city buses running and as I remember ‘No. 11’ was running between Malleswaram and Gandhi Bazaar, ‘No. 1’ and ‘1A’ between Yeswanthpur and Jayanagar, ‘No 12’ between Jayanagar and City Railway Station and ‘No 5’ to City Market. ‘No 4’ went to the mental hospital and people used to make fun of it saying ‘it appears he wants to go on route No 4’.

However, people at that time were also very sensitive and well-mannered. While walking, if by chance one brushed against the other, the person would say ‘sorry’. Whether one knew the other or not, he would smile at them. Now things have changed. Even the climate makes us — the old-timers — wonder how this garden city known for its pleasant and cool weather has turned in to a hot furnace. There were no fans and refrigerators in those days and we required woollen blankets at night even in April and May.

I did Bachelors and Masters in Geology from Central College. The best period of my student life was the 4 years in this college, which offered me a good environment for studies and sports. Since my school days, I was into sports, with cricket, athletics and basketball being my favourites. I captained the college kho-kho team in 1960 and basketball team in 1961. In the same year, I represented the Mysore University basketball team at the inter-collegiate basketball tournament in Pune.

I used to cycle to college from Basavanagudi where we shifted later. Once I had gone to Tumakuru for a vacation and left my bicycle with my friend as he wanted to use it. It got stolen and he lodged a police complaint. On my return, I started using another bicycle but kept looking for the lost one. One day, as I was entering Avenue Road from City Market side, I saw a man coming from the opposite direction riding my bicycle and stopped him immediately. The policeman asked us to go to Basavanagudi police station where the complaint was lodged. That person told me on the way that he had bought the bicycle from a known person in Devanahalli and that I could take the bicycle and he would ask for a refund. There couldn’t have been a better deal for me! Can anyone imagine getting back a stolen bicycle now? It is difficult to trace even a stolen bike or car.

I missed Bengaluru life for a decade and a half as I started my career in IARI, followed by GSI, Central Ground Water Board and ultimately NABARD. I worked in Jaipur, Lucknow and Hyderabad and lastly, in Bengaluru. It was a great experience to be with people having different food habits, ways of life and languages. I married Sharada, a post-graduate in Hindi literature, in 1972. She helped me in coping with my social life in the Hindi speaking places.

Among our family members, my eldest sister Susheela and younger brothers Venkatesh and Shelly are no more. My elder brother, Rajan, worked for HAL and is now settled in Vijayanagar.

One of my younger brothers, Kannan, is settled in Philippines. While my youngest sister Nidhi is in Mumbai, the other 3 sisters, Sriranga, Srimathi and Sumana, are all in Bengaluru. My son Adarsh and daughter Anupama are married with 2 children each and are working as software engineers here.

I reside in Jayanagar and though I have lived in many places across India, there is something about Bengaluru, a certain nostalgia and my love for the city, that has held me here firmly.



(The author canbe contacted on nssreenivasan@yahoo.com)

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(Published 12 June 2016, 16:03 IST)

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