8
Gems of Bangalore
Much like their
counterparts in other
cities, the clubs in
Bangalore came into
existence during the
British Raj. These clubs,
quintessentially colonial,
was a place of retreat
exclusively meant for the
British and a handful of
local elite, who the British
thought were fit enough
to rub shoulders with.
Now, with the British
long gone, some of these
clubs, especially the Raj
era ones, still follow the
colonial practices albeit
with a few modifications
made to suit the local
culture. Apart these clubs,
many a new ones have
sprung up in different
parts of the city, some of
them with the intention
to promote a particular
sport. Our Bangalore
will feature one of these
institutions every week.
A Cosmopolitan appeal to South Bangalore
M
ost of the Cosmopolitan
Clubs located in different
cities across India were established during the British Raj. Be it the
Cosmopolitan Clubs in Chennai, Calicut or Mysore, they were all established
in the 19th Century.
However, the Cosmopolitan Club
in Bangalore is relatively new in that
sense. Located in Jayanagar, the Club
was established in 1968, exactly a hundred years after the first social club
in the city, the Bangalore Club (then
known as Bangalore United Services
Club), was founded in 1868.
Despite being a relatively new club,
it is one of the most sought after
clubs in the city, especially in south
Bangalore.
With over 35,00 members, the
Cosmopolitan Club, Jayanagar, offers
a whole range of sporting facilities,
which includes swimming pool, tennis courts, indoor shuttle badminton
courts, cards section, health club, yoga
center and billiards among others.
A number of bars and restaurants
along with lodging facilities for members
of affiliated clubs makes the club the top
recreational club in south Bangalore.
The Cosmopolitan Club, Jayanagar
is affiliated to 70 clubs across India and
one club abroad.
The club also has a few exclusive facilities which one might not find in the
other clubs of Bangalore. Cosmopolitan
Club Jayanagar boasts of housing a home
theatre facility with a seating capacity of
100 people. No other club in the city has
this to offer. According to the club, multi
lingual cinemas are screened on rotation
basis all the days in a month.
A bowling alley and a children’s
amusement park along with a Chinese
and veg restaurant are also located in
the club premises. Even non-members
can make use these facilities.
The establishment of such facilities
and opening them up shows how the
Bangalore club scene has evolved from
being a retreat exclusively meant for the
British and a handful of local elite.
Being sick of water
shortage in Bangalore
B
Hemant Gairola
is a wordsworth-turnedsoundsworth, who is currently
holed up in Dehradun, composing
music for his band and reliving his
days in Bangalore every single day.
Find out why you
should not cook
food with water
taken from the
bucket in your
bathroom.
No matter what.
efore monsoon turns Bangalore’s roads into rivulets
and people start considering
buying rubber boats to commute,
summers tend to get quite merciless.
In summers, water supply in Bangalore becomes like Indian Railways’
tatkal tickets: everyone wants, only a
lucky few get.
In many localities, people hit the
road to stage protest, demanding
water. Desperate times call for
desperate measures. Indeed. As I did
once. No, I didn’t go down the road
screaming “Dhikkara, dhikkara”.
When my apartment ran out of water
during lunch time, I got water from
bathroom to cook.
From the perspective of someone
who has been there, done that, I’ll
advise you not to cook food with
water taken from the bucket in your
bathroom. No matter what. You
wouldn’t want to learn the lesson the
hard way.
I was making khichdi on that
eventful day. Opened tap in the
kitchen for water to boil rice. Damn!
Wanted water, got only air. What to
do? Vegetables were cut and I was
hungry. Heck, I’ll have my lunch,
I thought and took a mug of water
from the bucket in my bathroom
and poured it in my pressure cooker.
Used my bathroom mug, by the way.
Put the cooker on gas. My lunch will
be ready!
Yeah, baby! The problem solver
has done it again. Cometh the hour,
cometh the man! Started feeling
smug for being so awesome at crisis
management. Was busy adorning
myself with adjectives such as
resourceful, creative and what not
when the cooker’s whistle interrupted my narcissist thought process.
There was my khichdi. It’s aroma
wafted as I opened the lid, further
heightening my sense of triumph.
And, it tasted good!
Ok. Later that night this headach