In the early 2000s I shifted from
polluted, loud and crowded Delhi –a city of ugly uncouth people salivating and
stampeding around power so much so that the character of place percolates in its sinister clutch, to garden city of Bangalore (now Bengaluru). Bangalore
was a welcome respite with charming weather and mostly understated mild mannered
people. During those days even fans weren’t needed in summer. Huge trees dotted
the avenues with cascading flowers and wafting scent in the air. I used to go
for long walks or cycle, stop for warm delicious fluffy idlis, impeccable coffee,
streetside books (I recall picking up rare copy of Pearl Buck), and watch clear
bluest of sky. There were lakes, gardens, birds and butterflies…. there were so
many jungle mynas, purple sunbirds, and as you cycle few kms you could see
Indian rollers, Kingfishers, Drongos, Ibises, (even paradise flycatcher right
in the center of city -Cubbon park)…so on. There was so much diversity in urban
space. Oldtimers will tell you that the city had already started to crumble
with IT influx from late 1990s. Glass houses -ostensibly to keep off air
pollution and noise, and look chic, propping all around the place emulating desert architecture, ended up trapping heat hence began huge demand for air conditioners. Lakes vanished,
and so did the catchment areas and biodiversity (I recall spending time to
visit lakes and writing about it many years ago...please visit https://depalan.blogspot.com/2011/10/dying-lakes-of-bangalore.html), and yes, a quaint culture of care and
compassion. For few years I faced the brunt of polluted traffic as a two-wheeler driver (and surely reduced my life span, I still get wheezing and tremors, and assaulted spinal).
Changes in Bangalore were swift. Very
soon beautiful huge trees were cut, tacky flyovers and underpasses were
constructed, all the while charming buildings resolutely morphed into sickening
glass house clones as the city traffic got louder and louder spewing toxic
smoke. Birds and butterflies have vanished (I used to sit in the garden after
breakfast at NKB, there were so many birds and bees, and now after
ugly Mantri mall and noisy traffic there is nothing. The place is dead). Disease
of development took over the city. They systematically hacked out life from
every nook and corner, and sanitized it with signs of neo liberal progress. Where
once stood inviting Coffee house -overlooking street and garden, is now brick block
of glittery gold jewellery shop. The civilizational loss to market capitalism nurtured
greed and crass values is immense. They are now moving to Mysore like the medieval
marauders. The deadly swarm of development that will barren the land and eviscerate
life.
