JC Nagar: Where life is simple

JC Nagar: Where life is simple


A fish-seller on the busy JC Nagar Main Road wooing customers.
Aniruddha ChowdhuryFirst Published : 12 May 2009 08:58:28 AM ISTLast Updated : 12 May 2009 10:44:20 AM IST
BANGALORE: In namma Bengaluru — like a lot of other ‘developed cities’ in our country — it isn’t uncommon to see a snazzy multi-storied apartment block situated right next to a slum overflowing with people below the poverty line. Take a look at JC Nagar, and the first thing you may notice is that it wouldn’t exactly fit the bill of a posh area in the city. But ask the locals and you will come to know that it is an area which is almost entirely and uniformly made up of the middle-class. People here still go to the local ‘mandi’ for their daily needs, instead of a Nilgiris or a Spencer’s, and local tea shop will always be teeming with people chatting for hours about all things under the sun.
THE GOOD When it comes to the basic amenities, the people here have no complaints. Be it water or electricity, the area is wellserviced.
There are barely any power cuts and water is regular too. Then one can find almost everything that could be needed on the busy JC Nagar Main Road — from regular household needs, electric or electronic appliances, medicine shops to bakeries. Vishnu Sweets on JC Nagar Main Road is a sweet shop which is over 70 years old and is quite popular among the locals. Within a kilometre radius of the main road, one has several temples like the Anjaneya Temple and Maheshwaram Temple, two mosques and a church.
THE BAD The roads in the area, like a lot of other areas, again are in a really bad state, with potholes and dug up patches dotting the mains and the lanes. One other problem which is rampant in this area is the illegal use of children for working at small garages, eateries, tea shops, etc. A grocery shop owner says that this has been on a rise over the last few years, while it wasn’t like this at all earlier.
When it comes to eat-outs, the area falls miserably short (unless you take in the countless roadside dhabas, few of which actually serve up some pretty decent parathas, kebabs and kushka).
For a decent meal at a decent place, one could probably try out Retreat on JC Nagar Main Road, or go down to Nandidurg Road or Coles Park and choose from the various eateries out there.