Of a circle within a circle

Heritage

For a person who has grown up in Bangalore during the 80s and early 90s, Whitefield was a place quite far away from the city with many farmhouses. People who settled here came for the peace and quiet, away from the hubbub of the cities. Today, the name Whitefield immediately brings to our mind Satya Sai Baba Ashram or huge IT and tech parks. How did Whitefield get its name or come into existence?  

Mysore state’s largesse
The Mysore Gazetteer authored by B L Rice states that a Eurasian and Anglo Indian Association was formed in Mysore in 1895 aimed at improving the condition of families belonging to those communities. It approached the erstwhile Mysore state for land and was readily granted around 4000 acres of land in Whitefield, Sausmond and Srigandha Kaval in July 1881 towards agricultural and industrial pursuits.

The original intention of the association was to establish four colonies: Glen Gordon - 527 acres,  Haldwell Green - 757 acres (in Srigandha Kaval on the Magadi road) and Whitefield - 542 acres, Sausmond - 926 acres – looking at agriculture as the chief occupation. However the association managed to develop only Whitefield and Sausmond while relinquishing the other land. Whitefield was named after D S White, the founder of the original association in Madras. He therefore chose to develop the area that had a good railway connection to what was then known as Madras.

Krupa Rajangam, a conservation architect, describes the planning of the layout as a unique experiment and is quite different to the other suburbs of Bangalore. The original Whitefield is planned in concentric circles - an inner circle that faces the green and an outer circle encircling the inner one.  

Waverly Inn, on the outer circle
Vivian D’Souza, who lives in Waverly Inn on the outer circle, describes that the original intention was to create three circles – inner, middle and outer. However due to scarcity of water in those days, the third circle never came up; hence the middle circle became the outer one.

Waverly is one of the oldest houses in the area that still stands. According to the records, it was owned in 1882 by James Hamilton who owned many properties in Whitefield. It was originally the ‘Waverly Inn’ which then turned residential. Vivian’s father Bon Dsouza bought it from Khader Ali, in 1970; as he wanted live a quiet life, far from the madding crowd of the city.  

Perfect Peace;  inner circle
Another very pretty house is the ‘Perfect Peace’ in the inner circle. The owners Merlin Dsouza and her son Paul Dsouza live here. Paul recalls the quaint way in which they renamed their bungalow.

Originally named Hillside, it faces the playground. A friend of his mother, Selena Nunes, who lived in Bangalore, found this bungalow very peaceful and used to address it as ‘Perfect Peace’ in all her letters. “And the letters reached home,” exclaims Paul. He explains that in those days when everyone knew everyone else, house numbers did not matter.

The postman would know the owner or the name of the bungalow. They found the name very charming and renamed the bungalow. Just off the main road, it retains the old world aura and the name seems very apt. Today, though many houses have transformed into flats, a few still hold own with their own tales to tell.  One such story is that of Dr Sommer. Dr Sommer was a German born in Peshawar and studied medicine in Lady Hardinge College in Delhi. She lived a very active life, served in the army and retired as a Major. In the late 90s, she converted her property to smaller plots for sale.

War-time stories
T R Raghunandan, one of the buyers of a small plot of land from her recalls her sense of humour and the colourful war stories that she used to describe. He recalls a particular episode when she was caught in Dresden in one of the worst allies’ attack on civilians.
On the night when Dresden was carpet bombed and she was trying to flee, her first son was lost in the melee. He was later found in a refugee camp a year later.   When she died in 2001, her family sold the house and remaining property and migrated. While one of the properties was bought by prestige, the smaller plots were bought by individuals.
While houses such as Waverly and Perfect Peace are old Whitefield bungalows, Raghunandan and his neighbour Anand Madanagopal have recreated the old world charm in their own ways. Raghu’s house is built using antique materials rescued mainly during demolitions of old cantonment bungalows. Anand’s house is built in the typical rural setting with carved wooden doors and an open inner courtyard. Though the bungalows and their history are very charming and make a great story to narrate, the fact remains that it’s tough to maintain such a house.

Vivian Dsouza, who owns the century-old Waverly jocularly says that Whitefield is also famous for White ants – termites. They eat away the wood on the timbered roof and leave the façade intact. The walls too get weak and open up like a flower. He had to drill in metal rods along the entire bungalow to hold them in place. Whitefield’s farms have disappeared and the area has witnessed a radical growth in the last six to eight years.
From a small suburb, Whitefield became a developer’s Mecca. While civic problems multiply, there is also a cultural change, the huge numbers of migrants and those who live here because it is closer to the tech parks.