Commerce has chased away calm and charm

The Palace Road-Vasanthagar main road intersection connecting the area to Sankey Raod through the railway overbridge.

Commerce has chased away calm and charm
Times of India

Bangalore: Sandwiched between Miller’s Road and Bangalore Palace, Vasanthnagar was once a quiet residential locality. Today, it teems with apartments and offices housing multinational companies and software giants.

It is close to the heart of the commercial district — an easy drive from Cunningham Road, M.G. Road, Commercial Street, Vidhana Soudha, High Court, Race Course, Golf Course, star hotels and several educational institutions. Consequently, the real estate value has been shooting up.

It is now a trend: the middle class populace here is selling to big builders and moving to other parts of the city, and multi-storied mansions are mushrooming.

If big companies are swooping down on the main roads, smaller ones are setting up shop in the bylanes. Those who cannot afford offices on higher-end areas like St Mark’s Road and Infantry Road are opting for Vasanthnagar.

Even famed residents are shifting. “A huge building has come up in place of a bungalow on the corner of Vasanthnagar Main Road, facing Mount Carmel College. It once belonged to well-known criminal lawyer Devadas. A bank has come up in the house belonging to Supreme Court judge Justice Shivraj Patil. Justice Patil grew up here,’’ a resident recalls.

Once, there was a pub on the premises of a petrol bunk, at the junction near Mount Carmel College (now called Minugu Thare Kalpana Circle).

Film star Shah Rukh Khan came here regularly to buy cigarettes from a certain shop. Khan’s aunt used to live nearby, says another resident. Kodava Samaja is another famous landmark, where wedding receptions and functions are held. The place is still the same.

“Ten years ago, there used to be a railway gate near Mount Carmel College and a drive from the High Grounds police station junction to Sankey Road through this gate used to be memorable, with natural landscapings and Bangalore Palace property,’’ an old resident recollects.

“The evenings were calm. Only the college hostel girls ventured out to buy snacks. Today, residents find it difficult to walk on the main road,’’ another resident says.

A railway track connecting Bangalore City to Cantonment station separates Vasanthnagar from other areas. “Those days, watching a train on the tracks from Palace Loop Road Cross was a great experience. A Railway Over Bridge has changed all that,’’ says a resident of government quarters, where IAS, KAS and IPS officers reside.

The railway overbridge has helped traffic move fast, but Vasanthnagar’s charm has fallen by the wayside.