A ride on Bangalore’s pride

A ride on Bangalore’s pride
Deccan Herald

Mahatma Gandhi Road, popularly known as MG Road, is the pride of Bangalore. Its flowing slope of ups and downs, its high-level footpath on left side of the road and the pink bougainvillaea creepers almost touching the road, the shady trees on the footpath have all made this road picturesque. On the right side of the road, there are shops with their attractive show windows displaying their ware.

Before it became MG Road, this road was known as South Parade during the British regime. The open field on one side along the road was the British army's parade ground and the road being to the south of the parade ground was named South Parade. At one time, the parade ground spread across a distance of over two kms from Raj Bhavan (the former Residency) to Trinity Church in Ulsoor. Until the exit of the British Army, this road was a taboo for the middle class Indians because of the vulgar behaviour and the use of slang by the soldiers.

After Mahatma Gandhi’s assasination, the road was named after him and his statue was installed in 1956 by the then Congress president U N Dhebar. Until 1970, the road was so calm that the elite citizenry was using it for their evening walk. In the 1950s, Sir M Visvesvaraya used the left side of the road nearer to the bund, for his slow walk using his cane, while a car followed him at a distance to pick him up in case he got tired. If a maroon Chevrolet car was parked in front of EGK building, it meant that Sir Mirza was taking his brisk stroll somewhere around.

Pensioner’s paradise

Around that time, the city was a pensioner's paradise and the shops catered to the needs of this area. The biggest shop was Spencer's showroom stocked with foodstuff, wine and champagne and was patronised by the Anglo-Indians and a few aristocratic families of this area. GK Vale, GG Welling and EGK were famous portrait photographers. International Book Depot and Lakeview Milk Bar and Indian Coffee House were good places for browsing and sipping. Globe and Plaza theatres exhibited the latest English films, while Empire exhibited English, Hindi or even Tamil films depending on their availability. Most of these buildings had beautiful designs with ridge-roofs.

Deccan Herald building was a famous dance hall called "Funnels" with a wooden dance floor and was meant for the high rung of the society at that time. The outer facade and the wooden dance floor are retained as they were even today.

With the change in managements the Globe became New Globe and went on to become Liberty Theatre. Bartons was another photo shop and a good place to buy silver wares. EGK has undergone transformation into a modern type construction. On the other side Liberty has made way to Canara Bank, Spencers has taken a new shape and the tiny Bartons have become a gigantic building.

Prime attractions

Until 1970, MG Road's attraction was from Oriental building up to Arts & Crafts. Beyond this, it was purely residential quarters with huge compounds of an acre owned by a few rich civilians and military officers. Later commercialisation crept even in this area. The City Corporation built a 24-storeyed Utility Building. Then came Mittal Towers, Mahalakshmi Chambers, Oberoi, Kids Kemp, Vijaya Bank and other buildings. The only drive-in hotel of the city, Udyavan has made way to the Prestige complex.

The vehicular traffic in this area was a dozen cars at the most parked on the bund side of the road from Oriental to Brigade junction. One could take a U-turn with ease. In the 1980s, when the traffic increased the parking was shifted to the building side to avoid the drivers crossing the road after parking.

MG Road has seen the parade of many VVIPs including Queen Elizabeth, Richard Nixon, Saudi King, Marshal Tito, Bulganin, Khrushchev, Prince Charles and President Nasser. All of them have had a State Drive in this road and appreciated the pristine beauty of the MG Road of that time.