TOWERING TRAIL

TOWERING TRAIL

When these techies drew a blank on the history of Bangalore, they didn’t just brush the ignorance off. They went on a cycle tour to the four original city towers built by the city’s founder Kempe Gowda

MANASI PARESH KUMAR



Admit it. Didn’t you fall asleep while your history teachers droned on and on about a bunch of rulers whose existence revolved around war and wine? You are not to be blamed, because few would care if a teacher made history sound like a dull, lifeless story instead of an action-packed adventure.
That is what four techies found out as they cycled to the four original corners of Bangalore. Meet Aneesh Kamath, Sanjay Raghavendra Rao, Sandeep Kannambadi and Shashidhar or ‘ASSS’, as they like to call themselves. The four have been friends for most of their lives.
These 30-something guys embarked on a unique journey to discover Bangalore of the bygone era. They went on a cycling expedition to the original four towers built by Kempe Gowda when he founded the city. “We studied history only till high school and barely remember anything of it. But when a foreign client asked a few questions about the city, I had no clue. It was embarrassing. That’s when we hit upon the idea of a mobile classroom without the teacher,” says Aneesh, who is with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
NET-ENLIGHTENED
Their first step was to figure out where the towers are located. “We knew of only one tower that is located in Lalbagh. There was just so much confusion about the rest of them. A few people even told us the one near corporation was an original one. Thank God for the internet,” says Sandeep.
“According to the
internet, the four towers are at Ramanamaharishi Park in Mehkri Cirle;
Lalbagh; Narahari Gudda near Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple; and Bugle Rock. It was only after we went to Bugle Rock that we found out it was not an original tower. The fourth one is at Ulsoor lake,” says Sanjay.
With their backpacks kitted and cellphones switched off, the four began their expedition. “It was a Saturday when we play cricket in the evening. So we had to be back home by 1.30 pm. But Aneesh is not a morning person, so it was a tough call to make sure we began at 7.30 sharp,” says Sandeep.
GEARED UP
The group got on to its geared cycles (international makes with 18 gears) and reached its first destination - the tower at Mehkri Circle. “Though it was early in the day, the traffic was quite terrifying. I had my heart in my mouth many a times till I
crossed the corporation circle. We attracted
a lot of curiosity and many enquired about us at traffic signals. When we told them what we were doing, the excitement seemed to pass on,” says Aneesh.
When they reached Ramanamaharishi Park, they found the watchman manning it could not speak a word of Kannada. He was from Andhra Pradesh and spoke only Telugu. “That was the case with Bugle Rock as well, where the guard spoke only Tamil,” says Shashidhar.
IN THE DARK
But the group was left disappointed because the notice board put by the Archaeological Society of India gave no information on the other towers. “The information provided there only tells you about the structures in singular terms. We are from the city, therefore we know that there are four towers. But for a tourist, it would be very incomplete,” opines Sandeep.
“When we reached Lalbagh, we had to pay Rs 10 to park each cycle. I was wondering if it was the recession-effect,” laughs Sanjay. After a few photographs, they pedalled their way to Bugle Rock. It was courtesy an old gentleman who was enjoying his mid-morning siesta that they realised they were on the wrong track. “We were disappointed. But then the silverlining was we knew the address of the fourth one,” they say.
ORIGINAL FACE
Of all the towers, Narahari Gudda turned out to be the favourite. “While the other towers have been restored and painted over, this tower is still in its original form. That made us feel like we were witnessing history. Nobody is allowed there,” says Sanjay.
They were still to reach the last tower and time was running out. “It was a toss-up between the cricket match and the tower, and finally history won. We cycled back all the way to Ulsoor lake. What made it even better was we were back in time for the match!” chorus the four.
“What makes this trip special is that we started out to revisit history and learnt so much more on the way as we interacted with people. We have lived here all our lives and yet there is so much we don’t know about the city and this turned out to be a great way to figure it out,” says Aneesh. “We pedalled close to 60 km that day and none of us trains. Yet, all we felt was exhilaration and not exhaustion. We cycled to the lakes of Bangalore, covered the NICE road in the following weekends and yet this remains special because it was our first trip.”