Those good old days

This photograph was taken in 1960 when I was in H A Sanitary Board Middle School at Yemalur, near HAL Airport. Hindi was not a part of our regular class syllabus but the students had to register with 'Mysore Hindi Prachara Parishath', Pampamhakavi Road, Chamarajapet, Bengaluru, for classes like Prathama, Madhyama, Pravesha and Uttama. I successfully completed 'pravesha pariksha' under the guidance of my teachers.  I was born at Muthanallur, Anekal Taluk and later my family shifted to Bellandur. After completing middle school. I joined Acharya Patashala, Narasimha Raja Colony, behind the famous Bull Temple, Basavanagudi. I remember in 1960s that there were no proper roads. I had to cross barren and waste lands to board the school bus to reach Acharya Patshala in N R Colony.

After my education, I joined Industrial Training Institute at Bannerghatta Circle (Diary Circle) and completed my ITI successfully. In 1963, I joined Indian Army, EME and was trained in both Military warfare and technical aspects at Bolaram, Secunderabad (Andhra Pradesh), now Telangana. After the successful completion of training, I was posted to areas like Sikkim, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir in the subsequent years of my service.

I was discharged from the Indian Army Service on my request in 1973. In the same year, I joined Indian Telephone Industries Ltd., Dooravaninagar as a technician. We shifted to Halasuru and I remember that I used to cycle from Halasuru to ITI Ltd. It was cold and the roads were nearly empty. The tall-tree lined stretches across the city added to the charm.

We would hang out in Lalbagh, Cubbon Park, Hesaraghatta, Halasuru Lake and Sankey Tank during the weekends. We would later enjoy a meal at MTR near Lalbagh and Vidhyarthi Bhavan in Gandhi Bazaar. We would move around the city in BTS (Bangalore Transport Service), now BMTC. There were double decker buses those days.

Time has flown by, life styles have changed and people seem to have forgotten to sit together, talk, share and laugh. The city's quiet stretches have now become busy and the rushed pace has become a part of daily existence .

B V Aswatha Narayanacharya
(The author can be contacted at 9164018005)