A light breeze of change

A light breeze of change
The Hindu

Old-world charm blends with the new in Malleswaram, once known for its laidback pace of life.


Traditional Malleswaram is lovely old bungalows enveloped by large walls, vendors selling coconut water at street corners; the 101 jam-packed shops selling bangles to spices to sweets; smell of the temples and flowers: and the quintessential vegetable market. So in this bastion of tradition and on the road of flowers, what are Coffee Day and Pizza Corner doing? Inevitable change has come to rest on the doorstep of this cosy and laidback locality, forcing it to change just like any other.

Named after the Kadu Malleshwara temple in the old Mallapura village, Malleswaram is one of Bangalore's old and large neighbourhoods that came up around the time the other old locality, Basavanagudi, did.

Initially, Malleswaram was populated by Telugu Brahmins who served the Mysore Maharaja, and later, Tamil and Konkani-speaking communities came in. Today, the two communities are numerically significant in the total population of the area.

Malleswaram has been home to several important personalities and institutions. Bangalore's own Nobel laureate, C.V. Raman (whose bungalow exists even today, occupied by his grandson Vivek), and M. Chinnaswamy after whom the cricket stadium is named; the late Veena Doreswamy Iyengar, academicial M.P.L. Sastry, poet G.P. Rajaratnam and Dewan Seshadri Iyer all lived here. Among institutions here are the Canara Union club set up by Konkani-speaking people in 1930 that to this day hosts a variety of cultural activities, the Malleswaram Association, hub of the area's sporting activity since 1929, and the Chowdaiah Memorial hosting all the great names in music and theatre.

The Malleswaram Sangeetha Sabha, the Rasika School of Dance, dancers such as Maya Rao, and Padmini Ravi are all here.

Among the eateries, the Janata Hotel and Veena Stores and Asha Sweets are extremely popular hangouts. Among the newer ones is Halli Mane, which is perennially jam-packed.

Vimala Rangachar, who is associated with the Crafts Council and the Chitrakala Parishath, who has lived in Bangalore for over 75 years and has seen the locality change over years, says it "has certainly lost its quiet and peace, though some pockets are inviting and neighbourly. Every time you walk down the road, you see smiling, friendly faces. It is also the cultural nucleus of Bangalore."

Growing pains

While some of this artistic-cultural sense has not gone away, the topography is changing. The old, spacious bungalows with their large grounds and trees are giving way to high-rise apartments. With the influx of people is the accompanying arrival of the cybercafes, supermarkets, malls, and stores selling branded jewellery.

"Malleswaram is a blend of the traditional and modern," says Shankar Sastri, who works with a construction group. "It is a self-contained locality. Schools, colleges, markets, and other civic amenities are easily accessible making it an obvious choice for prospective residents despite the expansion."

Old-timers agree it is pointless fighting the change. To ensure things don't get out of hand on the general civic comfort, they have set up the Malleswaram Swabhimaana Initiative that works with the Malleswaram Residents Association to address grievances such as poorly maintained roads, drainage problems, and uneven footpaths. "The growth of the population in the area compelled co-operation between residents and the Corporation to keep the locality well-maintained," says Sumathi Rao, Secretary of the six-year old Initiative.

According to recent figures of town planning firm, SCE-CREOCEAN India Pvt. Ltd., that works in collaboration with the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), Malleswaram's net population density is 521 persons per hectare, while Bangalore City Corporation standard is 352 per hectare. Ms. Sumathi Rao says Government inspectors have been very co-operative. "They attend the monthly review meetings and rectify the problems immediately," she avers. Gopiprasad, who works with a ,admits that changes have had both a positive and negative impact. "The commercial establishments have opened up job opportunities, but the vehicular population has gone up drastically and the area is not designed to accommodate this. However, it is still one of the greenest localities in the city," he says.

And so the winds of change might have swept through this age-old locality as well, but it tenaciously clings to its character.