There's a correction in this article that may be seen at the bottom of this page.
Nilgiris, the supermarket on Brigade Road, is a well-known landmark in Bangalore. But not many residents know that during WWII, it was also one of the few establishments that Italian prisoners of war, incarcerated in Jalahalli, were allowed to visit. It even had a sign saying "inbound", meant to signify that PoWs could enter as decided by the British. Further up the road is the outlet of Kentucky Fried Chicken which in another era used to house the only Chinese restaurant around. Imaginatively titled 'The Chinese', the proprietors swiftly changed its name to 'Continental' as soon as the Indo-China war broke out in 1962. And while some may be aware that the majestic Royal Opera House at the end of the road was a cinema, which also hosted dances on its polished wooden floors during weekends, you would probably be surprised that it was a venue for boxing matches during WWII, apparently very popular in the city then.
Countless priceless anecdotes like these, appealing both to the history buff and the lay person, will be part of Bangalore Storyscapes: Chapter 1, a curated walk conducted by the Centre for Public History, or CPH, on Sunday, based on oral histories collected from in and around MG Road, the city's most famous thoroughfare. While the centre takes on institutional archiving projects through its arm, ARCH@Srishti, the organisers say this is more of a personal project. "People remember certain things in certain ways, and you place that within the matrix of history. It's not that we are just taking memories and making them into history. We've curated these stories in a manner that they take you across certain time periods, through relationships, and so on," says Indira Chowdhury, director at CPH. Those who have signed up for the 90-minute walk will have to download audio files on their phones and will be guided when to listen in.
The project started three years ago but had to proceed slowly as it was a not part of the institute's main research and consultancy work. The team finally ended up interviewing some 26 people who either ran commercial establishments on MG Road or were residents of the city who had a lot of memories associated with it. Thus, they got to know that PN Rao, a well-known, upmarket shop selling customised suits for men at one end of MG Road started off by selling needles and buttons on the pavement, graduating first to a ladies' tailor before taking on the avatar in which the boutique is now familiar. Koshy's, arguably one of the most well-known landmarks not just on MG Road but in the city, began as a grocery store in 1940, expanding to Parade Cafe in 1952 and the more posh Jewel Box in 1962.
"These are the kind of stories that unravel through the medium of oral history. We go with the subject on his story," says Avehi Menon, curator at CPH. Oral history helps interpret what people went through and it is also far more democratic because everybody has a role to play, she adds.
"Compiling this has been a fascinating journey even for us. I grew up in Bangalore but I never knew that the landmarks that were so familiar to me had so many layers," says Menon. The usual associations with Bangalore are those of an infotech hub, so the layers of history are not in the physical landscape but in memory, she says.
They chose to do their first walk in and and around MG Road because of its prominence from the time the city was a British cantonment and the road was called South Parade. It was where people congregated for business and leisure.
One of the challenges of working with history in a city like Bangalore, they say, is its constantly changing topography "because even the landmarks one uses to anchor a memory are changing," Chowdhury explains. But that's perhaps when oral history becomes all the more important.
The walk scheduled for September 28 had to be postponed due to reasons beyond the organisers' control. The new date and other walks will be announced on www.facebook.com/centreforpublichistory
Correction: An earlier version of this article had mentioned Brigade Road in the headline instead of MG Road
