BANGALORE: Some call it Kengal Hanumanthaiah (KH) Road. Others identify it by a more suggestive name – Double Road. And if a walk down that road can’t prove to be a meaningful one, then, walk again, this time, well aware that you are travelling on the first double lane of Bangalore.
Lal Bagh boasts of its floral fortune on one end and Bangalore’s funny flyover (the one that finds you on the wrong lane suddenly) boasts of uncanny constructional tenets on the other. And if that were not enough to set your train of thoughts running, the stench from the canal that cuts across the road undeniably will.
Ayub sits in composure, selling tender coconut water right at the corner of the canal, well-acquainted with the odour.
“I’ve been here, at this spot for forty years,” he gives a toothy smile. “Perhaps that’s why I am used to the smell. But more importantly, this is the first double road of Bangalore,” he says with the authority of a history professor. Behind him, stands towering, the BMTC bus terminal, that also houses the Bangalore Metro Rail office and Big Bazaar. “It used to be a much smaller BMTC bus depot,” remembers Ayub. The KSRTC office is another landmark on the road.
The road slopes gently to Lal Bagh Botanical garden, while on the way, Vision Cinemas pompously displays the current shows, as Qwiky’s coffee addicts sit in peace sipping on café lattes in the same compound. From what used to be Vasanth Colour Lab, the transformation into a movie theatre proved to be a huge hit among college kids and the residents of Wilson Garden and Shanti Colony, the two residential areas around Double Road.
“I come here almost every day. It’s a great place to unwind,” says Sanjay, a resident. But pitches in Rudresh, security guard at Vision Cinemas, “Sometimes it’s not that safe. There have been incidents of chain snatching and thefts around this place.” Sidapur Road that runs along Double Road has a slew of hutments and that is the reason for Rudresh’s agony. But the kids of the slum seem to dwell in harmony, aware that the world around them has changed, but still living in a world of their own. A bunch of four boys tug along a small pony to the main road, as cars zip past them in full throttle.
As a daily ritual to feed the pony, they take him to the canal side. “We use him to pull our carts,” they exclaim, as they add. “People dump garbage on the side of the canal. And we find plenty of food for our pony here.” Showrooms, small shops and two residential areas give Double Road its life. Some people pick this route that will take them to the heart of commercial activity (Brigade Road), while the others make way to this road just to unwind by catching a movie at the much laid back Vision Cinemas. Still others like Ayub, the coconut seller anxiously waits for someone to stop at his road side shop. “It’s good when it’s summer. More people come to buy tender coconut water,” he says. Summer or winter, life on Double Road is never at rest.