Buried under a large debris of information in today’s newspaper I saw an innocuous little photograph. It depicted a bald patch of ground on which a bland signboard had been put up: “Property of BMRCL : Keep Out!!” . The caption casually mentioned that on that land the proud Plaza Theatre had once stood and now had been razed to the ground for the MG Road Metro Station. So you remove one of the iconic buildings on MG Road and replace it with a Metro Station. All applaud for Progress!!
A bit of history first. The Plaza Theatre was built in 1917 by Mr. Arcot Mudaliar who among other things also built the Bangalore High Court. The theatre soon rose to prominence among the soldiered gentry and also boasted of a wooden dance floor where young officers could woo their ladies. Over the years it screened classics like “The Roman Holiday” and “Gone with the Wind”. Yet today the nostalgia of happier times has been reduced to ashes and ringed by construction equipment.
One can see a pattern developing across Indian cities especially in Bangalore where people being in the mad race of gadgetry and technology forget the beautiful legacy left by earlier generations. Where heritage buildings are pimped into boutique hotels in the name of development or worse still are torn down to create monstrosities called malls which are then passed off as being beautiful additions to the cities landscape!! I can understand that the Metro will bring much needed relief to harried commuters of Bangalore like me. Yet that does that merit the wanton destruction of icons of a bygone era which reminds us of simpler times?
You may argue that change is unstoppable and the only constant. That the old must make way for the new. But take a look at cities such as Vienna and Prague where tradition has been blended with modernity and has even been converted into a successful model for enticing tourists. So what if the Plaza theatre could be converted into a museum with an auditorium that screens classic films and a small part of the Manekshaw Parade ground may be used to build the Metro Station. Perhaps the solution is too simplistic yet I am sure a better answer to this problem can be found. Else we might just have to dig deeper into our newspapers to find out what more is missing on MG Road.
A bit of history first. The Plaza Theatre was built in 1917 by Mr. Arcot Mudaliar who among other things also built the Bangalore High Court. The theatre soon rose to prominence among the soldiered gentry and also boasted of a wooden dance floor where young officers could woo their ladies. Over the years it screened classics like “The Roman Holiday” and “Gone with the Wind”. Yet today the nostalgia of happier times has been reduced to ashes and ringed by construction equipment.
One can see a pattern developing across Indian cities especially in Bangalore where people being in the mad race of gadgetry and technology forget the beautiful legacy left by earlier generations. Where heritage buildings are pimped into boutique hotels in the name of development or worse still are torn down to create monstrosities called malls which are then passed off as being beautiful additions to the cities landscape!! I can understand that the Metro will bring much needed relief to harried commuters of Bangalore like me. Yet that does that merit the wanton destruction of icons of a bygone era which reminds us of simpler times?
You may argue that change is unstoppable and the only constant. That the old must make way for the new. But take a look at cities such as Vienna and Prague where tradition has been blended with modernity and has even been converted into a successful model for enticing tourists. So what if the Plaza theatre could be converted into a museum with an auditorium that screens classic films and a small part of the Manekshaw Parade ground may be used to build the Metro Station. Perhaps the solution is too simplistic yet I am sure a better answer to this problem can be found. Else we might just have to dig deeper into our newspapers to find out what more is missing on MG Road.
