Malgudi series - 13
There are three ways by which one can learn about a city, it's core, culture, dynamism, values and soul. One by spending considerable time in the city and knowing it first hand, second by talking to people who are from the city and third and the most easiest one is to read the books available. Each one of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages, the third option is the most simplest one, but the experiences one grasps is as good as the book and its narrator !
In the coming blogs i would like to introduce to the reader many books written on Bangalore from people who were born and brought up here, who were from a different place and stayed here for sometime, people who were just fellow travellers and also from Englishmen who stayed in the city during pre and post independent era.
The first such book in the series is " Askew : A short biography of Bangalore by T.J.S George
T.J.S George is a keralite who studied in Madras and due to his career in journalism travelled across the world and stayed in cities like Hong Kong, New York, Bombay, Patna and finally came and settled in Bangalore during his post retirement days. It was this time that Karnataka was undergoing a lot of cultural changes and Bangalore's civil society was quiet vibrant. This is evident in this book where the author illustrates his interactions with the celebrated editor of Kannada journalism Y.N.K.
Most of T.J.S cultural observations of Bangalore were from the eyes of Y.N.K which is a repetition for anyone who is aware of the cultural sphere here, however his observations on the the dwindling lakes and parks which made way for the high rise buildings, establishment of institutions and IT parks and what followed later like price rise, traffic, sudden growth leading to crumbling infrastructure and corruption come from his first hand journalistic observations ! Interestingly, his stay in the city when all these changes were taking place brings more authenticity to his observations.
George argues that Bangalore is at a tipping point now and if not rescued will soon become a dead city ! The unavailability of sufficient green spaces like parks for its elderly and children, felling of trees, pollution and traffic jam, neglecting heritage buildings for commercial complexes and there by pressing the soul of the city should be taken seriously.
He gives an interesting example of New York which went through similar problems in the late 90's and how it overcame those problems by setting aside place for everything and re-planning the whole city for good - this is worth a read and should be emulated in Bangalore, if at all we are serious about our city !
Overall this book by T.J.S George is an introductory and lucid read for anyone who would want to know what was Bangalore like over the past few decades and what changes it went through in this period from a journalistic point of view. There is more an in-organic analysis of the city and its problems and less of organic discussion about the city !
There are three ways by which one can learn about a city, it's core, culture, dynamism, values and soul. One by spending considerable time in the city and knowing it first hand, second by talking to people who are from the city and third and the most easiest one is to read the books available. Each one of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages, the third option is the most simplest one, but the experiences one grasps is as good as the book and its narrator !
In the coming blogs i would like to introduce to the reader many books written on Bangalore from people who were born and brought up here, who were from a different place and stayed here for sometime, people who were just fellow travellers and also from Englishmen who stayed in the city during pre and post independent era.
The first such book in the series is " Askew : A short biography of Bangalore by T.J.S George
T.J.S George is a keralite who studied in Madras and due to his career in journalism travelled across the world and stayed in cities like Hong Kong, New York, Bombay, Patna and finally came and settled in Bangalore during his post retirement days. It was this time that Karnataka was undergoing a lot of cultural changes and Bangalore's civil society was quiet vibrant. This is evident in this book where the author illustrates his interactions with the celebrated editor of Kannada journalism Y.N.K.
Most of T.J.S cultural observations of Bangalore were from the eyes of Y.N.K which is a repetition for anyone who is aware of the cultural sphere here, however his observations on the the dwindling lakes and parks which made way for the high rise buildings, establishment of institutions and IT parks and what followed later like price rise, traffic, sudden growth leading to crumbling infrastructure and corruption come from his first hand journalistic observations ! Interestingly, his stay in the city when all these changes were taking place brings more authenticity to his observations.
George argues that Bangalore is at a tipping point now and if not rescued will soon become a dead city ! The unavailability of sufficient green spaces like parks for its elderly and children, felling of trees, pollution and traffic jam, neglecting heritage buildings for commercial complexes and there by pressing the soul of the city should be taken seriously.
He gives an interesting example of New York which went through similar problems in the late 90's and how it overcame those problems by setting aside place for everything and re-planning the whole city for good - this is worth a read and should be emulated in Bangalore, if at all we are serious about our city !
Overall this book by T.J.S George is an introductory and lucid read for anyone who would want to know what was Bangalore like over the past few decades and what changes it went through in this period from a journalistic point of view. There is more an in-organic analysis of the city and its problems and less of organic discussion about the city !
