I have been in Bangalore since last Thursday evening. I had to be here both last week and this week for business. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, there was a three-day long weekend stretching between the two weeks. Monday, August 15 is Independence Day, marking another anniversary of India's - you guessed it - independence.
Friday night was late... my company's celebration of two years in Bangalore with an R&D facility (we have been in India since 2000 as a sales & support operation). During those two years (actually, now it is two years and three months, but whose counting!) we have grown from sixteen employees to three hundred employees. That was a lot of work. We needed a party. The founder of Juniper Networks came for a visit last week, spoke to the entire team on Friday evening, and a party ensued. We also ran a workshop for the sales team during the day.
Therefore, after the brutal travel to India (India is not an easy place to get in and out of, with flights arriving and departing at the weirdest hours,) plus the events of Friday, I was very tired. I ended up sleeping quite late on Saturday - to 11 AM, only the second time that has happened since the triplets were born. Saturday afternoon I went out exploring, shopping and walking. Saturday evening I did some work. Sunday I did a little more shopping and walking. Sunday afternoon I was sitting in my hotel room flipping through a Bangalore "What's On" magazine called "City Info" when I found a little clip about Bangalore Walks. I read the clip, went to the web site, and decided to attend one of their walks at 7 AM on Monday morning. (Remember, it is a holiday today!)
I bounded out of bed early today, arriving at the designated starting area (Trinity Church, only five minutes from my hotel) just before 7 AM. A short while later a group of seven including our guide, Arun, began our walk. For the next three hours I learned things I never dreamt of about Bangalore, discovered some neat tucked away places - including parks and gardens - I had never seen but drove or walked by all the time. We ended up at a secret Bangalore restaurant for a private breakfast while the Independence Day Parade took place on the Parade Grounds nearby. The morning was fantastic. My only regret was I had never done anything like this before in Bangalore, however, Bangalore Walks have only been in existence for less than a month! At left: Looking up MG Road from the Trinity Church Terrace.
What I learned:
Winston Churchill was posted with the military for three years in Bangalore. This is where he wrote his first two books. Churchill attended Trinity Church, a gorgeous, military church tucked away in the middle of the city. The church became a civilian church in the 1960s. Today I climbed into the bell tower of Trinity Church. At left: the inside of Trinity Church.
Many of the historical figures I studied in school, who spent time in North America in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds, also spent time in Bangalore. Therefore, it was fascinating to learn that places named after these people in Bangalore were also named after places I had visited in Canada! (Or the USA!) At left: two colonial buildings on MG Road, one restored and one not, contrast with each other. At right: "Monkey Tops," contribute to Bangalore Gothic, architecture unique to Bangalore.
Bangalore today is an international technical hub, with a labour force known for their superior technical abilities. This is not a recent phenomenon. As far back as two hundred years ago Bangalore was known as a technical hub, attracting the entrepreneurial to take advantage of local expertise. At left: many of us have been to "The Birthplace of Silicon Valley," the small garage where the HP founders started up. Meanwhile, 12,000 miles away we bump into the birthplace of modern technical Bangalore! This office building (next to where we had brunch) is where Wipro had their first office!
I remember watching "Saving Private Ryan" and hearing references to Bangalore Torpedoes. Sure enough, these explosive devices, usually used for clearing barbed wire, were invented in Bangalore. At left: the view down MG Road from another vantage point. Just beyond the tall buildings on the right you'll find Trinity Church.
At left: The Independence Day parade takes place on Parade Grounds. This hardly scratches the surface of all the things I learned during the walk but I certainly am glad I took the time to discover Bangalore Walks!
What a unique adventure you found. Reading your account of Bangalore Walks reminds me to slow down and seek out little gems of
history such as what you found. I am
disappointed I am unable to click on your pictures to enlarge them, seems my computer just refuses to cooperate. It barks out a "?m??ðDϩW,抳?*-N??@*PAp?ܘr?" at me and then smugly hums innocently, but from what I can tell, its a beautiful place.
Posted by: Jill | August 16, 2005 at 12:24 PM
that's such a wonderful discovery. i wish i knew how to be a better tourist. i might have gotten more out of the few travels i have had. i do enjoy wandering around on foot, but without a tour guide of some sort, i don't always know where i am or the significance of a particular place. i'll definitely have to look for walking tours next time (if) i go anywhere.
Posted by: knobody | August 17, 2005 at 10:03 AM
Nice reading about your comments on Bangalore Walk. It almost lives the walk again in a superbly written memoir.
By the way I also have been to one of these walks and felt great!
One can also book tickets of these walks online on events section of http://www.ghoomo.com
Look forward to also attend Arun's Bangalore Pub Crawl and Bangalore Cycle Walks :)
Subodh
Posted by: Subodh | August 27, 2005 at 05:08 PM