Cash Pharmacy has been a landmark in Bangalore.
Many people have grown up marvelling its architecture. The fact that it was an imposing building with a tiled roof caught evberyone's attention.
But for Harish Bijoor, it is something beyond that. “I grew up with Cash Pharmacy in my life and that too, a whole big dose of it. That was because my school was diagonally opposite this little white bungalow that had this very imposing board that screamed in black and white: Cash Pharmacy. I still remember wondering those days if there was a “Credit Pharmacy” anywhere else at all, said Harish.
To him, it was a hoary institution of a hoary old past.
Bishop Cotton’s Boys School, and the Girls school variant of the same name had literally a Pharmacy-attached.
A well-stocked one. The families of every one that went to these schools would buy their stock of Calcium Sandoz tablets, and more from here.
The place was forever crammed with people. It was ill lit, and had a whole army of chemists and chemistattendants scurrying around with prescriptions and ferrying out of the depth of the store medicines and syringes and bottles and vials of every kind.
The place brought joy for children as well. It had a nice collection of Cadbury’s chocolates right up-front in a glass case. “Going to the pharmacy meant forcing your mom to buy you some chocolate as well. And that was nice,” he recalled.
Cash Pharmacy brought long other memories. For instance, there was Dr Venson’s Dental Clinic round the corner. And that was a place every child hated to go.
“It was the noise and the grating sound of the toothdrill and the pain and the blood and the threat of a possible long-drawn out root-canal treatment, which Dr Venson would give out ominously; if one did not brush one’s teeth well enough,” he smiled. One therefore brushed diligently after gorging on all the chocolates at Cash Pharmacy.
These are all memories which are over 25 years old.
Today the scene is different.
There is still the Cash Pharmacy, with the very same old board. The bungalow is gone though and this has made a world of a difference.
As has the ample parking all around it. A small piece of the heritage that this small piece of land once boasted has given way to a spanking new building.
“The board seems to be the last vestige of a reminder of what was out there, once upon a time. I sure do miss the place,” he added.
One still misses many things in Bangalore today.
Cash Pharmacy is one. He also has fond memories of old eating joints like Shanbhag Hotel which was known for its fluffy rava idlis and Lion Stores which attracted people during summer, with its stock of mango and orange juice is another. Both joints were in the vicinity.
Harish Bijoor is an author, brand expert and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.