Bangalore Walks

On Sunday, I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a small tour of Bangalore called the "Victorian Bangalore Walk". It was a four hour affair, starting at Holy Trinity Church on MG Road and ending at the 13th floor - a restaurant situated at the top of Barton Center. Around 40 of us gathered on the stone steps of the church at 7 AM. Each of us introduced ourselves, and our tour guide, Arun, gave us a small introduction about himself and the whole Bangalore Walks program.
You must understand that I am a Chennai boy when I say that the winds that morning were "bitter". I've definitely endured temperatures harsher than a mind-numbing 18˚C, but it was an unsettling cold, the kind that keeps you on your toes and awake. I guess that was a good thing, considering that anything before 10 in the morning is too early for me.

The Holy Trinity Church's innocent facade disguised the years of history it contained. With tall pillars and smooth, plain walls, I did not expect much from it. Even the inside seemed ordinary - benches lined the sides and the altar was nothing spectacular. Above the altar was a beautiful stained glass portrait, but it was fairly typical.

As we started to mill around, I realized why this church was different from many others. Along the walls were engraved plaques commemorating soldiers who were posted in Bangalore. What struck me was that not a single one of them had actually died in India - they had either been killed in
Australia, Europe, or America. Now while this was interesting, the most fascinating bit of information was that Winston Churchill belonged to this regiment, and actually owned a house down the same road!
We then proceeded to climb up to the bell tower, where we had the chance to ring the bell. Unlike many churches nowadays, it wasn't digitized - a long, thick rope ran down from the top which had to be pulled every morning and evening.After that, we continued to walk down MG Road for another few hours, with periodic stops along the way.

I could go on and on rambling about what we did and the places we saw, but that would take the fun out of the whole experience.
What I do want to talk about is that programs like these are great for tourists, but I believe that they are even better for people who live here. What I learnt in four years was only a quarter of what I learnt in four hours. Not only do I have a better knowledge of the place I live in, but I love this city so much more. The noisy streets of old Bangalore no longer seem tedious and unbearable - I look at them as pages out of the story of our world.

For instance, I stood just a hand's reach from the very center of our city; in India, the original center of a city can be marked by a very distinctive landmark - the banyan tree.

I was outside Winston Churchill's house and next to one of the only surviving bungalows in the country!

I looked over a vast expanse of city - the city I call home.

As a final note, I highly recommend that everybody experiences a Bangalore Walk. It will open your eyes to a historic world hidden in the folds of modern Bangalore.
http://www.bangalorewalks.com