The complicated case of Complex

In the not-so-distant past, between 9th Main and 10th Main in Bengaluru’s Jayanagar 4th Block, both broad roads like many others in what was once celebrated as the “largest suburb of Asia”, there was barren land. Between them shot up, in 1974, the iconic Jayanagar Shopping Complex, and the 4thblock swiftly became the hub for South Bangalore.

As a portmanteau shorthand in millennial times, SoBa never quite acquired the cachet of Mumbai’s SoBo, either in social exclusivity or real estate value. But the JSC, aka the Complex, remains to this day and age a magnet which draws curious explorers and veteran visitors.  

To the south of the Complex is the BMTC bus stand with the RTO, sundry other offices and much-needed terrace parking. To its north lie the remains of a once-bustling vegetable market, Janata Bazaar, and a Canara Bank branch, among other landmarks. These three commercially vibrant places, along with many other shops, are now silent, empty shells. They were hastily vacated over seven years ago and await demolition. What will come up there is still a matter of much speculation. Prime property lying unused has become home to ferocious cats silently lording it over the ruins. Such apathy defies conventional wisdom. Such a space would have been swiftly built up elsewhere, yet another glass-and-concrete structure changing forever the skyline of Jayanagar.

While 9th Main retains to its west some vestiges of the past, 10th Main is so modern that it has become a garbage interchange. Every morning, mini-vans, which collect polythene packets and other dregs of household waste from nearby lanes, line up here with military precision and feed the large compactor trucks. Contractors and marshals oversee this operation and wave away the bulging trucks onto the next phase of their wasted life.

Left behind are the scraps and stink of rotting garbage. What used to be a pristine street is now studiously avoided, and only those with critical work there venture into this olfactory hell. On the eastern side of 10th Main are chic watch shops and a juice shop that goes back to the Complex’s earliest days. They stand mute witness to the fall from grace. 

While slow decay and inevitable death are crucial to rebirth and growth, that seems to be taking its own sweet time in the redevelopment of this precious plot. The BDA recently threw its hands up and said it was withdrawing from the project, and it has now become the Bengaluru South City Corporation’s baby. The Complex itself needs some urgent repairs, and a recent fire, mercifully minor, was yet another reminder that it needs an urgent infrastructure upgrade. 

The Complex and its delightful shops still draw visitors every day by the thousands. But if the area around it can be developed as per plan, whatever it may be, and as per strictly enforced timelines, it could well change the face of 4th Block yet again. ‘Let’s meet at the Complex’ was once a rendezvous phrase. Perhaps it will get a fresh lease of life this year. 

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)