The view from rustambagh
From my perch here, I have quite a view of the heartland of India’s Silicon Valley. On my right is the very heart of Bangalore’s dollar dreamland, Airport road. My view extends all the way from the apartments of Diamond district all the way to Embassy
Golf Links, with its tech and banking offices and wannabe luxury hotels as willing neighbors, rubbing shoulders with the green expanses of the golf course next door.
On my left, glimpses of Bellandur lake, warrens of apartment buildings and the zillions of IT companies dotting the outer borders of Bangalore, all along the outer ring road. Every year, Bangalore’s outer borders continue to be redrawn, with builders who see every available cent of land as another crore to be minted. And here I am, on the sunlit terrace of a building in a locality called Rustombagh, surrounded by probably the last surviving natural grove of coconuts and eucalyptus in this part of town. Coconuts, mango, chiku and eucalyptus, stretching all the way till the EGL greens. Must be quite a sight in the rains.
Here’s me sitting on a steel table on the terrace and squinting at the setting sun, the amber rays outlining the distant edifices and reflecting off their glassed fronts. Come to think of it, if i just block out the buildings on the horizon, focusing only on the green below, the whole scene could be straight out of Kerala.
All this uninhibited vegetation, and nothing to break the monotonous continuity. I wonder if this is how IT parks in Kakkanad (Kochi) look right now, what with all the urban development happening there. Wonder how long it will be before the flora in god’s own country succumbs to the pressures of globalization and allows its' green treasures to be razed down to make way for greenbacks of a different kind?
Wonder what those little pups down in the gutter by the road think about the changing face of their locality? The pigeons seem to have adapetd well to their new neighbours, even the langurs.
Golf Links, with its tech and banking offices and wannabe luxury hotels as willing neighbors, rubbing shoulders with the green expanses of the golf course next door.On my left, glimpses of Bellandur lake, warrens of apartment buildings and the zillions of IT companies dotting the outer borders of Bangalore, all along the outer ring road. Every year, Bangalore’s outer borders continue to be redrawn, with builders who see every available cent of land as another crore to be minted. And here I am, on the sunlit terrace of a building in a locality called Rustombagh, surrounded by probably the last surviving natural grove of coconuts and eucalyptus in this part of town. Coconuts, mango, chiku and eucalyptus, stretching all the way till the EGL greens. Must be quite a sight in the rains.
Here’s me sitting on a steel table on the terrace and squinting at the setting sun, the amber rays outlining the distant edifices and reflecting off their glassed fronts. Come to think of it, if i just block out the buildings on the horizon, focusing only on the green below, the whole scene could be straight out of Kerala.
All this uninhibited vegetation, and nothing to break the monotonous continuity. I wonder if this is how IT parks in Kakkanad (Kochi) look right now, what with all the urban development happening there. Wonder how long it will be before the flora in god’s own country succumbs to the pressures of globalization and allows its' green treasures to be razed down to make way for greenbacks of a different kind?
Wonder what those little pups down in the gutter by the road think about the changing face of their locality? The pigeons seem to have adapetd well to their new neighbours, even the langurs.
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