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Becoming Bangalore: Roopa Pai's book explores the city's history, culture

The book is an introduction to the city as seen through the eyes of one of its own

Becoming Bangalore: Stories that Shaped a Hometown

Becoming Bangalore: Stories that Shaped a Hometown

Neha Kirpal

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Becoming Bangalore: Stories that Shaped a Hometown
Author: Roopa Pai
Publisher: Hachette India
Pages: 310
Price: ₹599
  After 12 years of living in various cities across the world, third-generation Bangalorean Roopa Pai returned to her beloved city in 2004 as a “sort of outsider.” “My laid-back city had exploded, embraced capitalism with a vengeance and made space for the tens of thousands of dreamers newly arrived at her gates,” she recalls. Over the next two decades, Ms Pai explored her hometown, leading children and adults on heritage walks around the city and state, as part of her work with BangaloreWalks, the city’s first heritage walks company that she co-founded with her husband.
 
 
In a sense, she rediscovered her city by researching its history, walking its neighbourhoods, exploring its restaurants and cafes, and meeting its people. Filled with historical anecdotes and insightful observations, the essays in this collection are an outcome of this, capturing the unique essence of Bengaluru, and its evolution from being a small 16th-century settlement on a hill to the global metropolis that it is today.
 
One of the first things that strikes visitors about Bengaluru is its pleasant climate through most of the year. Despite the traffic, the heart of the city has two large public parks, both of which are over 150 years old. In 1760, Hyder Ali set up Lalbagh, a botanical garden that continues to be a popular spot in the city. Then, British army officer Sir Mark Cubbon founded the Agri-horticultural Society in 1839 and Sir Richard Hieram Sankey designed Cubbon Park. Further, John Cameron, known as the father of horticulture in Karnataka, introduced apple cultivation to the city in 1887.
 
Through the ages, rulers and administrators brought in expert gardeners, botanists and administrators to grow several varieties of flowers, fruit and vegetables. Not only did they plant native flora, they also imported exotic species from around the world, many of which still thrive over the centuries. In fact, it was German horticultural legend Hermann Krumbiege’s idea of “serial blossoming” that has ensured that there are always trees in bloom on Bengaluru’s streets, no matter what the season. “To this day, despite untrammelled growth and urbanisation, the city remains defiantly verdant,” writes Ms Pai.
 
The book brings to light several interesting facts and trivia, such as the fact that Bengaluru became one of the first cities in India and Asia to receive electric light in 1905. In 2023, the almost century-old palatial Russell Market was restored, in time for Ugadi, which marks the spring season, and is celebrated annually as New Year’s Day, in Bengaluru. “A one-stop shop for flowers, exotic ‘English’ fruits and vegetables, meat and fish to serve British homes and kitchens,” it was conceived by T B Russell, the municipal commissioner at the time. Merchant-philanthropist Sir Ismail Sait has a hospital, street and one of the city’s best-known mosques named after him, all located in the Fraser Town neighbourhood. Sait went on to establish a successful store, The English Warehouse, on St Mark’s Road, selling all kinds of goods imported from England.
 
Possibly two of Bengaluru’s most famous citizens are its homegrown infotech pioneer N R Narayana Murthy and his wife, bestselling-author Sudha Murty. Ms Pai dedicates a chapter to them, narrating their love story. “There is something very Bengalurean about the fact that it was books that brought the two together,” she writes. Ms Pai goes on to explain how libraries, book launches, author talks, book clubs and bookstores are all such an intrinsic part of the city’s culture. With a steady decline in reading habits across the country, it’s heartening to learn that in Bengaluru, both large chains and even independent bookstores, such as Atta Galatta, Champaca, Bahuroopi, Ankita Pustaka, Harivu Books, Lightroom and Funky Rainbow, continue to blossom.
 
Ms Pai dedicates an entire chapter to the many sporting legends that have emerged from the city over the years, such as Rohan Bopanna, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Mahesh Bhupathi and Prakash Padukone. She also points out that Bengaluru has more Olympic-sized pools than any other Indian city. No surprise then that many of the country’s 28 Olympians, including Nisha Millet, Shikha Tandon and Rehan Poncha are natives of the city. “Bengalurean engagement with sport, whether as players, audiences, patrons, coaches, enablers, or administrators, continues to grow, aided in large part by its beloved champion sportspersons, who invest time, money and talent in their own training centres of sporting excellence across the city,” she writes.
 
Along the way, Ms Pai also salutes other well-known personalities who hail from the city, such as Udipi Ramachandra Rao, Sir Mirza Ismail and Dr Rajkumar. During the course of the book, she also pays tribute to various iconic institutions in the city, such as the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the Kanteerava Stadium, the Indian Space Research Organisation, National Aerospace Laboratories, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the Indian Institute of Science and the UR Rao Satellite Centre.
 
Known today as a hub for pubs, cafes and restaurants, the first outlet of Cafe Coffee Day too opened in Bengaluru in 1996. “Years later, CCD would be hailed as the pioneer of Bangalore’s booming cafe society,” writes Ms Pai. However, few people probably know that Koshy’s or Parade Cafe, founded way back in 1952, was the city’s original Indian-owned cafe. Ms Pai also discusses Bengaluru’s homegrown newspaper  Deccan Herald,  which was founded in 1948, relating her special relationship with the daily where she got her first byline at the age of 17. In other essays, she talks about the rising trend of board game cafes in the city, the Bangalore Press and the vibrant Bangalore Literature Festival.
 
The reviewer is a freelance writer based in New Delhi
 

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First Published: Feb 04 2025 | 10:02 PM IST

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