A treasured sanctuary

Public commons like the well-loved Cubbon Park play a crucial role in bringing together creatives and communities. Varsha Gowda explores the cultural and emotional significance such spaces hold

In the heart of the grey, glass and concrete metropolis is situated one of Bengaluru’s most beloved public spaces. It is to this lush, green heart that several hundreds of residents of the city flock on weekday mornings, evenings, weekends and public holidays. 

For 150 years, the trees of this park have sheltered generations of curious children, parents, students, hobbyists, sportspersons and readers. The grassy lawns have been an audience to the comfortable chatter of picnics shared between friends and families. 

Visitors have found that the serene ambience, quietly interspersed with the chittering of birds, fresh air and lush grass is the perfect setting to walk, run, cycle and skateboard, leading to many communities of musicians, artists and sportspeople coming to life. 

In the 1980s, for instance, the park was home to free concerts and jamming sessions. “Musicians would perform at the strip near the Queen’s Park. The location then shifted to the boulders opposite Bal Bhavan because of the good acoustics there,” says Roopa Pai, author of ‘Cubbon Park: The Green Heart of Bengaluru’. 

These concerts would be organised without any advertising and were, “entirely free musical evenings for the public. Word would get out, and people would congregate,” she says. 

Much later, in 2015, queer takes of Shakespeare plays were also staged in the bamboo groves by the theatre group Bardolators of Bengaluru. “Without a stage or any elevation, the group performed ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. The location also fit into the plays as many scenes required a woodland setting,” adds Roopa. 

New interests

Not only its open layout but also the network of roads that run through the park like veins, make the space conducive to walking and cycling and, as Divye Karde found in 2016, a great space to skate. “At the time, there were not many places that accommodated fitness skating for adults. I wanted to learn and took a few friends along to teach,” he says. 

Thus, the Sunday skating practice sessions became a staple at the park and Karde watched in amazement as this group grew from a handful of people to over 30 to 50 people over the years. 

Another group of unexpected visitors are Pokemon Go players, who have rediscovered the beauty of the park through the augmented reality game which debuted in 2016. “The game requires you to catch Pokemon on your phone by walking from one location to the next. During special events, rare Pokemon are abundantly available in the park,” says Karthik (name changed).

The game can encourage people to walk upwards of 8 km when such special events are scheduled. “The green surroundings make me feel like I’m on an adventure. It is also a great way to meet other trainers who are out on similar missions,” he says. Players keep in touch through messaging platforms and team up to go on raids – to battle and catch rare Pokemon. 

Public commons like Cubbon Park play an integral role in encouraging visitors to unwind, find calm, peace and community. They can grow to become a centrepiece of holiday traditions. 

“For instance, groups of Bengalureans would meet once a year early on Christmas day to eat cake in celebration. Several Muslim families have also made it a tradition to visit the park after the month-long fasting of Ramadan, culminating in Eid al-Fitr,” Roopa adds. 

More recently, in the past year, the park has witnessed a spate of quiet reading, origami, writing, painting and knitting movements.  

Shruti Sah, a baker, marketer and co-founder of Cubbon Reads, explains why the park’s environment proved opportune for these gatherings. “Wide green expanses welcomed us to sit on the grass —  it made us feel nostalgic about childhood, as we lay on the grass under the widely spread out trees, trees that showered multi-hued flowers and leaves, or as we sat against a burly tree trunk to just read,” she says. The park is well-visited by individuals who want to relax, stretch out and read because it remains widely accessible, not requiring tickets, unlike botanical parks. 

The Cubbon Reads co-founders, Shruti and Harsh Snehanshu, an entrepreneur, used to cycle to Cubbon Park and read for a few hours in December of last year, motivating them to create an Instagram handle with the name "Cubbon Reads". The page was meant to serve as a means to document the quiet gatherings.

Skaters play hockey at Cubbon Park.

The outdoors 

The individual space that the park allows, has also encouraged both Shruti and Harsh to return for multiple readings. “The park is so vastly spread out that we always found our own space on the grass even though the park was being visited by several thousand people every time we were there,” says Harsh.

Even just observing people practice and hone their arts can be meditative and inspirational, according to Saniya Zehra, a member of Cubbon Knits – a knitting and crocheting community and a sub-community of Cubbon Reads. “I mean there’s just a joy in sitting in a corner with your book while the guy beside you is painting a scenery and perhaps a woman in front knitting a sweater while a small group is sharing their newfound love for origami folds,” says Saniya. 

People reading painting and talking in the sprawling park during the weekend.

Cubbon Park has been called the heart of Bengaluru for good reason. “Everyone feels a sense of ownership for the park. Historically, it was located between the Old Cantonment and the Maharaja’s Bangalore. The park was a sort of no man’s land. Similarly, today, we see many ownerships,” says Roopa. 

It is without question that the park, its land, the trees and the atmosphere have inspired creatives and recreational sportspeople alike. However, in recent months, curbs by the Department of Horticulture that restrict carrying food and sports equipment have put a dampener on these activities. 

A reader attends the weekly

Roopa Menon, a regular to Cubbon Park, observes, “I am sent back if I have a packet of biscuits in my bag. Many people who work in the High Court and M S Building come here to have lunch. There should be curbs to keep the space clean. But the answer is not to turn people away and make the space austere,” she says. 

Cyclists and joggers at Cubbon Park on a Saturday morning.

“Cubbon Park has been so inviting, it is where friends meet to catch up, where people come to read, talk, laugh and celebrate. It is truly a people’s park and instead of seeing this as a threat, the authorities should be proud that the space is treasured so much,” she adds.