by R.Chandra Prakash
An individual is mortal, but a city has a life of continuity. A city is enriched or ravaged by the type of residents it has had. Mysore has earned several epithets such as heritage city, educational centre and even a cultural city. In giving Mysore these shades of importance, apart from the Royal family of the city, many professionals, business houses and businessmen have contributed their mite. It is an attempt here to recall some of them and pay them a tribute for their role in making Mysore a unique and distinct city in the State and the country as such.
At the outset it should be mentioned that this is not a researched record. It is based on the observation of the author during his growing up years between the forties and early sixties in the then beautiful Mysore. Therefore, there is every chance that many names of people with similar importance or even greater importance might not find place here.
Businessmen and Builders: Let me start with C. Perumal Chetty & Sons, with the famous acronym of CPC. They were one among the few who ran a fleet of bus services in Mysore District. As per Mysore Gazetteer, there were 25 Jutkas in Mysore District in 1917-18, but “in Mysore it was CPC Motor transport which started town services.” That was a period when Mysore was a very compact town and Jutkas were in vogue. Obviously running a town service at that time should have been only a labour of love and could not have been for profit at all.
CPC Polytechnic, the building they donated for the cause of education in Mysore, further stands testimony to that. The Maharaja of the time had bestowed on CPC the honour of Dharmarathnakara, which meant a great philanthropist. The building besides Prabha Talkies at Gandhi Square was called CPC Building. Its architecture with very high walls and tall brown windows were similar to that of Wesley Press and Victoria School. The building where at present Hotel Sandesh is run was CPC’s residence. When a young son of the family, known for his racy living style and motor bikes, was killed in a motor-cycle accident at the turning of Belagola village, the entire Mysore city stood in lines late at night to pay homage. CPCs were a very charitable family indeed.
Yelakappa Chari was connected with the Palace buildings. He went on to build a Choultry on Irwin Road, Yelakappa Chari Choultry, which even today stands testimony to his royal days. He subsequently built and owned Chamundeshwari Talkies on Sayyaji Rao road, and pro- bably even the Gayatri Talkies on Chamaraja Double road.
How can one forget the name of Boraiah and Basavaiah [B.B&Sons] of Mysore? They were big builders who are said to have taken part in the construction of Sharavati Hydel Project and Vidhana Soudha. Their residence was in the building which later on became the house of famous fruit merchant Kareem and later on Sujata Hotel at the opposite corner of Idgah Maidan. These three builders carried on their businesses with ethics and charity. They were known for adherence to quality standards.
Dharmarathnakara Banumaiah was yet another of the businessmen, who not only made good in the business but also helped the cause of developing Mysore. D. Banumaiah’s Educational Institutions stand testimony to this. Like CPC, Banumaiah was also bestowed with the title of Dharmarathnakara by the then Maharaja.
Doctors and Dentists: Among the Doctors one cannot forget the roly-poly and Peta-wearing ever jovial Dr. Annajappa. He had his shop just beside the Devaraja Market’s northern gate on Dhanvantri road. There was also an entrance to his consultancy from the vestibule of Market gate. He was a huge person with very wide belly. But he was always immaculately dressed in three-piece suits, a tie and galleys to support his huge pants. A shining Mysore Peta with a golden tapestry was always there. He gave house calls only in his car. Obviously, he might have come from a rich family and patients from a rich family were his frequent visitors. His jovial mannerisms automatically reduced the pains and diseases of his patients. I never seem to have seen him grim, angry or serious.
On the other side of this gate was another doctor, entirely opposite in demeanour, Dr. Venkatadasappa. A Gandhian, always attired in Khadi coat, shirt and pants; very humble and soft in his manners. He spoke very few words, but he had high degree of commitment in attending to patients. Dr. Venkatadasappa moved around on a very old bicycle, with his worn-out brown doctor’s kit on cycle carrier at the back. He prepared his medicine in the shop itself, so he was also a Chemist and Druggist. His charges were either waived or pittance.
Dr. Srinivasa Murthy had his clinic on Sayyajji Rao road, where the present Dr. C.D. Srinivas Murthy practices. Dr. Murthy was a very refined person and a modern; well-dressed always with a suit and tie. He too was considerate to his poor patients. Long after his demise, his son became a medical practitioner in this very shop.
Then there was Dr. Dattu Rao, whose shop was a part of present Bata Shop on Sayyaji Rao road. Mysore Medical Hall on this road was also popular. Bang opposite this was Dr. Mariswamy, very popular among the villagers around the city. Very soft and patient in nature made him into a perfect doctor and human being. In the later years, Dr.Gopal Rajan went on to become a doyen of a surgeon in KR Hospital followed by physicians Dr. K.G Das and Dr. N.A. Jadhav.
Among the dentists we had Dr.Eapen, who practiced beside Abid’s Shop opposite Town Hall. And, of course, the Sheriff Brothers Dr. Kamal Sheriff and Dr.Siddiqui Shariff. Their clinic was on Harsha Road; a white bungalow between Opera Talkies and KEB office. It seems their father was dentist to the Maharaja of Mysore and this building was gifted to him by the Maharaja. These doctors and dentists provided yeomen service to Mysoreans at a time when Mysore was mostly confined to present city centre.
Hotels: In keeping with the British influence on Mysore, there were four hotels to cater to requirements of Europeans. Garden Hotel was located in a very large area in the very place where presently Sangam Talkies is located. It had a large compound and garden with a fountain in the middle. Then there was Carlton Hotel behind the Wellington Lodge. Hotel Ritz was located beside Ranjit Talkies. The Metropole Hotel in the city and in the KR Sagar were Maharaja’s Guest Houses for the British visitors.
Mysoreans were pampered with northern culinary delights to build up entirely new food habits by entrepreneurs from North India. Among them was Krishna Bhavan Hotel, which was located where at present Canara Bank building is located in K.R Circle, opposite Dufferin Clock Tower. At one time, owner of Krishna Bhavan, Munshi Lal, owned several hotels, including Gayathri Bhavan Hotel on Dhanvantri Road, Chamundi Hotel in Shivarampet and some hotels in the then Madras State. Then, Bombay Anand Bhavan (1921), Bombay Indra Bhavan (1936), Indra Bhavan Boarding and Lodging on Dhanvantri Road, Anand Bhavan on KRS Road, Dasaprakash Hotel, Welcome Hotel, Raju Hotel in Agrahara served palates of Mysoreans to their delight. These eateries went on to shape up the living styles of people, apart from expanding the economy of Mysore. It was only later on that Madhu Nivas, Vyasa Bhavan and some others came on to the scene.
However, Gayland cannot be missed among new generation of hotels. Located at the beginning of Harsha Road, just before Opera Talkies, Gayland was a rage among young and student types during early sixties. It’s dark inside with minimal lighting, a Juke Box at a corner and uniformed serving staff were all new things for hotel-going population of Mysore. This was a period of revolution in cinema — great music and great songs. Those people who loved to hear their favourite songs thronged Gayland. People put money into the slot of the Juke Box, selected song/s of their choice and just enjoyed them with their coffee and eats. Some simply sat through sipping coffee/tea to hear songs chosen by other customers.
Indian Coffee House, beside Prabha Talkies, is yet another place where young and intellectual types visited and spent time over cups of coffee, omelets and toasts. And, a lot of discussion on politics and cinema. Coffee House shaped up the life of many teachers, professors and politicians. Those were the slow moving days in Mysore.
Shops and Stores: Among shops and stores which sold groceries and other household requirements, one cannot forget Krishna Bhavan Stores, Indra Bhavan Stores, Nandi Stores of Nandibasappa, Bombay Anand Bhavan Stores, Srinivasa Stores. Govind Raj Shetty’s Pansari shop was a small country-tiled outlet opposite Dufferin Clock Tower but with wealth of materials — from Puja materials to Ayurvedic herbs, oils and grasses. Lucky for Mysoreans that this traditional shop is continued to the day by his next two generations. The shop is now located on D. Devaraja Urs Road.
Abdul Ravoof Pansari in Mandi Mohalla was always buzzing with business as he sold imported items from the dry fruits, kesar to badam oil. Rama Shetty of Laxmivilas went on to become famous for his sari shop, his brother Shankar Shetty for Jewellery shop; Sharma from Punjab for Sharma Sports shop, Kareem for fruit shop, Shivanna for his Nanjangud Banana (so much so he was called Balehannu Shivanna) both in Devaraja Market; Lalbhai for tiles and taps; and, Salar Masood for Hardware. These business houses served Mysore well.
Stationers & Book Depots: Since Mysore was also an educational centre, there were several stationery and book stores. Among them one cannot forget R. Krishnaswamy and Son on Sayyaji Rao Road. A statuette of a very old man with a casual cloth turban and wrinkled body was kept on the top of the shop. So also a very long model of Waterman Pen was hung onto the roof. These two made permanent impressions of the visitors of the shop. J.Nanumal and Sons; Kodandaramaiah and Sons, Gowrishankar Book Depot, Ramachandra Book Depot opposite Dufferin Clock Tower, were the usual book depots for the parents and students to go and get their stationeries and text books.
Renuka Pen Corner on Old Bank Road, very near Prabha Talkies, was a specialised shop in ink pens and later on jotter pens. Pilot brand pens and jotters were displayed in special packages and costs high. Among the ink pens Black Bird, Schaeffer and Parker were highly priced. The owner took the pains to explain the quality of each one of them, demonstrate the uniqueness of fillers, nibs and caps. Before the arrival of jotters, ink pens and ink-pots were popular. Quinck was popular brand to be felled later on by Chelpark and Iris ink. One would ask for Royal Blue ink or Black ink. Rarely Red ink was also bought. Renuka Pen Corner was a must visit for serious types of students for whom a right pen was a right way to right learning.
Cinema Theatres: Krishna Cinema Theatre, located on first floor of Kaveripattnam building in Gandhi Square was active during forties and early fifties. I remember to have been taken to this theatre somewhere during late forties. But it closed down thereafter. Olympia Talkies and Prabha Talkies were the main theatres screening mostly Hindi movies. Ranjit Talkies is where I seem to have seen Anaari and Mother India at Woodlands. I remember that Kalinga Rao’s melodious voice vibrated at Woodlands as soon as lights went out to announce the beginning of the screening of preliminaries. Opera mostly screened Kannada movies or some times Tamil movies. So also Lakshmi Talkies.
However, it was Gayathri Talkies and now defunct Ganesha Talkies which were class by them, because they screened only English movies. A must visit places for college-going students and, of course, the discerning class of the city. Anglo Indian ladies used to issue tickets for the balcony class at Gayathri Talkies. There was a box class in these two cinema houses which were the preferred places for “couples” for obvious reasons! The audience on the top row of the balcony preened backward and forwards for extra pleasure in these theatres. I remember to have seen screening of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in Gayathri Talkies sometime in fifties. Going to Gayathri and Ganesha theatres were our afternoon escapades from some boring classes at the college. I remember seeing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and many Alfred Hitchcock’s movies like Psycho, Birds, North by North West.
Wonderful years in Wonderful environment: One has to concede that everyone is influenced by his or her growing years and may remember all those moments mostly in positive sense. However, even if I am accused of a myopic vision or fixated view of life, I will hold my opinion that the years in Mysore I grew up in and the individuals and institutions that made up the environment were best. Best for the very reason that Mysore was a well-managed city, with beautiful environment and was inhabited by people with high values and virtues. And above all the slow moving time-frame not only enhanced the value of all these but also made life worth living. Hence, this small tribute to the people and places of that period.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / February 22nd, 2016