Serene locality to commercial hub

Serene locality to commercial hub


All of Jayanagar had one bus stand — Shanti theatre (near South End Circle) and the place where we have Janata Bazar (adjacent to 4th Block complex), a shamiana would be put up for Rama Navami festival. After dinner, Mahalingam used to play the flute and people used to sit around and watch,’’Madhushree Anand, who has been living in Jayanagar since 1960, fondly recalled the old-world locality of yesteryears, and compared it to today. The double murder has not yet shaken her ‘faith’ in Jayanagar. Madhushree is a social activist and also involved in family counselling.
Madhushree lived at Madhavan Park in 1960 and moved to Jayanagar 9th Block in 1968, and has been living there ever since. “There was no 4th Block complex or bus stop. It was probably set up in 1975. There was Kalpana Hotel and JB Bakery in Jayanagar 3rd Block and they were the only commercial establishments of the area. When Kuchalamba Kalyana Mantap was inaugurated, Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar had come and I had gone to see the Maharaja even without combing my hair!’’ she recalled.
Today it presents a complete contrast. The entire residential area around 4th Block complex has been turned into a commercial area. Even East End Road, which was once considered a sort of forest, is now a hub of business. On the Tilaknagar side, Swagath Talkies has become Swagath Garuda Mall and on the other end, Sagar Apollo Hospital stands tall in the crowd.
But the old residents are not complaining. “It is gradual acceptance of things. Like you accept your childhood, then youth and later old age. The rapid development is a recent trend — may be five to seven years. Jayanagar, according to them, is like a family. “People are educated and broad-minded.’’
HOME TO 5 LAKH
A prime locality, Jayanagar was known as the largest residential area till a few years ago. It has several blocks, ranging from 1-10, with more than 5 lakh residents. The locality is spread over approximately 4.5 sqkm — about 3 km long, starting from Ashoka Pillar to J P Nagar, and 1.5 km broad, from J P Nagar to Banashankari.
There are about 50,000 houses in Jayanagar. Though the estimate of the population and number of houses are not exact, this could be the rough count, says B Bhaskar, joint secretary of the Federation of Jayanagar Resident Welfare Associations