Impression of Bangalore.

Bangalore for me was just ‘Yelahanka’ and chilling at ‘M.G Road’ and ‘Brigade Road’ before the presentations we had about the history of Bangalore this morning. Broadly, these presentations helped me in developing an urge of knowing the city now I live-in. The part that attracts me the most about this place is its heritage. The historical monuments of Bangalore unfold a whole new world of historical, architectural, political and cultural and religious legacy. After knowing the history of Bangalore, it looks like a never ending city to me because there are endless historical monuments and a story behind the monument that makes it interesting. For instance, Kengal Hanumanthaiah who’s credited with the conception and construction of Vidhana Soudha, incorporated various designs of the building he saw when he visited Europe, Russia, United States and other places and that’s where he got the idea of designing and building Vidhana Soudha.

Researching about the matter for the presentation brought to my knowledge interesting facts about the Anglo-Indian community, about which I was not aware of. In the simplest form, Anglo-Indians are the people who have a mixed Indian and British ancestry. They are more of Anglos than Indians. 1.25 lacks is the population of Anglo- Indians in our country. Out of which around 20,000 are in Karnataka, mostly in Bangalore. Organizations were and are formed for the upliftment of the Anglo-Indians such as All India Anglo Indian Association which was formed in 1876 and Anglo Indian Guild which was formed in 1980 for preserving the culture and language of Anglo-Indians.

Moreover, made me aware of the chronology of Bangalore which talks about Hoysala Dynasty, Kempagowda, Hyder Ali the foot soldier who the commander-in-chief of the Mysore army, Fall of Tipu Sultan, Bangalore Cantonment setup, Railway connections to Madras, establishment of Bishop Cottons School and Baldwin’s Boy’s School, set-up of Victoria Hospital. Then about the 20^th Century that focuses on electricity, economic liberalization, entry of MNC’s and Bangalore becoming a Global City.

Furthermore, it helped me understand the (Information Technology) IT sector which is not just of Bangalore but India as a whole. High technology firms in Bangalore have led to the growth of IT in India. Bangalore is named as the Silicon Valley of India, which clearly means that it’s the hub of IT companies in India.  

It also made me realize the fact that it’s not just the heavy pay and luxuries that call center people get but more importantly the stress they go through as they are supposed to always talk on the phone, sometimes for 7-8 hours continuously. They are continuously pressured to perform well and they don’t have a choice other than following their superiors as they are paid on daily bases and not monthly. All this adds in making their life displeased and stressful.

In addition, I would like to mention M.G Road before the construction of Metro happened. The road used to be wide with benches, flowers and trees on the other side of the Hillington book store lane. 

I remember when once I came to Bangalore before the construction of metro and I felt so alive and green but now, after 10 years on M.G Road I could just see railway tracks when I look up and barriers when I look down the street.