Memories and music fill this old bungalow

Memories and music fill this old bungalow
The Times of India

Bangalore: At this time of the year, this old bungalow resounds with the music of the past.

Living in this bungalow on Viviani Road means a lot to retired Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson. It is a link with his youth — of Christmases when mother Olive Pushpa played loved tunes on the family piano, and of innumerable cosy evenings when the family relished home-made plum cakes soaked in rum and raisins. But for the former chief of Naval staff, this over 100-year-old home also symbolises what Bangalore once was.

“Fifty years ago, the city lived to a different rhythm — the chirping of sparrows, the tinkling of cycle bells and most importantly, music emanating from every other home,’’ he smiles wryly.

Dawson did not always live on Viviani Road. Nor did his family originally belong to the city. They came here as evacuees from Burma during World War II. “After the evacuation, we were in Nagercoil for a while and I joined the Navy in December 1942. We recruits went through three months’ training — in seamanship, gunnery, anti-submarine warfare and navigation — so we were called the ‘90 day wonders’,’’ he laughs.

While Dawson was in the Navy, his parents moved from Nagercoil to Chittagong and then, Visakhapatnam. “My uncle was posted to Bangalore then to build a prisoner-of-war camp at Jalahalli for Italian prisoners. He told my father to come here,’’ Dawson says. And so, the family found the place they now call home.

“Those days, there were more Anglo-Indians and Britishers here. People would dress up for Christmas, walk their dogs and visit each other for dinner. By 1950, the British left,’’ he adds. But the Britishers’ bungalows remained. Other families moved in.

“Now, our street has just two or three bungalows left,’’ Dawson says, gesturing to an empty plot opposite his house where a new apartment building is being built.

Dawson’s home most closely mirrors the home of his neighbour, former minister Nafees Fazal. Yet, his home appears more classically colonial: the wooden trellis in front is intact, the doors are intricately latticed and each room is high-ceilinged and well-ventilated and the living room has beautifully-carved tiles from Italy. Dawson’s old 1961 model Austin Cambridge parked in the porch adds to the old-world ambience.

But he admits the bungalow needs constant care. “The roof leaks so we have tar sheets on top, and unless the house is painted regularly, its true beauty doesn’t show through,’’ he points out.
But then, Dawson doesn’t really mind. For him, it is a labour of love.