Just a thought…

Chitra Doraiswami

How Kammanahalli has grown! (Or Kamanaali as some exotic residents call it).

Many moons ago, this WAS a ‘halli’, village. The only sign of civilization was ‘Vinu Stores’ run by two sweet Malayali gentlemen. We had our own ‘Mama’s’ shop which supplied milk and sundry stuff. Our surly Dhobhi cum dry cleaner was there, I think. Even HOPCOMS came later.

Most of us were the newly retired and we were pretty ecstatic to have a roof over our heads. Forget add ons like extending the living room into the garage, adding a gazebo like structure on the terrace, etc. We were strapped for cash. So the JVV inner roads looked broad and neat.

It was quite a different story the moment you stepped outside the gate. You would be forgiven for thinking you were living on the edge of a moon crater! TOI ran a contest to find the worst roads of Bangalore and both Kammanahalli and the road at the rear, Kachrakanahalli, had the dubious honour of winning!

The auto wallahs, bless their devious hearts, would act up and you would pay princely sums to come home from a loaf in Brigade Road. But Both Sena Vihar and JVV those days had the bonhomie of a Military Base. If you were mooching around near the Main Gate wondering how to get to the bright lights of town, you would be offered a lift. And if anyone recognized you in or around MG Road, you could be sure of coming back too, albeit on top of each other in the rear seat!

Our Iyengar baker baked his goodies to an appreciative audience. His ‘pups’ were very popular.(No, don’t report me to SPCA. This is the more common pronunciation of puff). His tasty bread sold for a mere Rs.7/-. Now it’s sold at a pricey Rs.30/- and it’s been dieting as well. It has shrunk quite a bit.

It was a red letter day when both the infamous roads and 80 Ft road all got a coating of bitumen. We, the locals, walked up and down and beamed at each other with proprietary pride. Progress!

Shanti Sagar’s opening signaled a downing of the ladles in many households. Now idlis and dosas were had there or ‘parcelled’ by those ubiquitous ‘boys’, to be had at home. Of course, we got uppity when Nandhana, followed much later by ‘AtoB’, graced our locality and some witty youngster nicknamed it Vanti Sagar (Puke Sea)! Cheeky!

We could have held our AGM in Food World the day it was declared open! Everybody rushed off and bought all sorts of stuff in the ‘buy one get one free’ category! Mainly us ‘old girls’ who can never resist a bargain. We even liked standing in a queue. It gave us such a big city feel! Before this, our mini mall was the (pseudo)Nilgiris up towards the more ‘halli’end of the road. Mr, Padmanabha Reddy graced our Kalyan Nagar by building his house here and he ushered in prosperity, popularity and BMTC. Could you ask for more? Yes, we could!

A large eye-sore of a bar opposite JVV was razed to the ground and mysterious hammering and tonging went on behind the barricade. Could it be…would it be…a MALL? That would be the ultimate ‘tick’ to indicate that Kammanahalli had ARRIVED! Ah, well. Our transports were premature but in no time, CMR Road turned into EAT STREET. Beyond our wildest expectations: We have Filter Coffee to HiSeoul that serves Korean. We have more Ice Cream parlours and Cafes than you can count. And , ok, no mall but lots of hi-end shops at the Ring road end of our street.

It’s true that nothing comes free. We have lost a lot of ‘walking spaces’. Now , if you have the temerity to try and walk to the Pink Water Tank on Ring Road, you will be knocked down by an SUV (twice) or get a dose of asthma from all the pollution! I can’ wait to see what else ol’Kamanaali is going to bring on!

photos by JP