OH! WHERE HAVE YOU GONE MY OLD BANGALORE?

By Aubrey Millet

 

Oh  where  have  you  gone

My  old  Bangalore ?

The  old  charming  Bungalow

With  red  bougainvillea

Framed  by  trees

With  yellow  forsythia

The  city  of  lakes

With  an  abundance  of  shade

And  tree-fringed  boulevards

Like  South  Parade.

 

The  cheerful   smile

Of  the  Convent  nuns

Would light  up  your  day

Like  a  thousand  suns

The  blushing  purple

Of   Jacaranda

Did  greet  the  eye  from

Every  verandah

 

Oh!  where  have  you  gone

My  old  Bangalore ?

Breakfast  at  Koshy’s   after

Sunday  morning   Mass

And  off  to  the  jam-session

To  woo  the   lass

Blazered   school  boys  on

Their  weekly  walks

And  giggling  school girls  in

Their  frilly  frocks

 

Oh!  where  have  you  gone

My  old  Bangalore?

Gone  are  the  days  of

Languorous  denizens

Replaced  by  hordes  of

Nerdy  netizens

 

Gorgeous  gardens  with  the  greenest  of  grass

Buildings  ravaged  by  time  and  fate

Now built-up  facades  of  steel  and  glass

Of the MNC’s   and  the  Conglomerate

 

Oh!  where  have  you  gone  my  old  Bangalore ?

Thronging   crowds  at  monstrous  malls

Clogged   gutters  and  traffic  that  crawls

Undisciplined   vehicles  driven  pell-mell

Transforming  the  city  into  a  living  hell

 

Chaos  of  the  Metro  and Mono  Rails

Chopped  up  trees  and  current  that  fails

Flooded   streets  and  fallen  poles

Encroached  pavements  and huge  pot-holes

 

Racuous   music  from  blaring  mics

The  cacophony  of  drag-racing  bikes

Packs  of  stray  dogs  barking  in  the  night

Foraging  in  the  garbage  of  urban  blight

 

Cement   ghettos  of  high-rise  apartments

Rampant  corruption  in  Government  departments

Scurrying    neighbours,   uncourteous  and  faceless

A  monument  to   man’s   thisworldlyness

 

Oh!  where  have  you  gone  my old  Bangalore ?

Frazer Town is now Pulikeshnagar

And Palace Orchards is Sadashivnagar

Ulsoor Lake is now called Hallasuru

And even Bangalore is now Bengaluru

 

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Aubrey Millet studied Economics in Loyola in Madras (Chennai now) and went on to obtain a Masters in Business Administration from XLRI, (Jamshedpur). A career in Marketing followed, ending as General Manager in a major Automotive Battery Company. He then founded and ran his own Consultancy and Training Firm. Currently, he is Professor of Marketing and Human Resources in MVJ College of Engineering in Bangalore. He represents India in International Scrabble tournaments and contributes research papers and articles to Management Journals in India. He can be contacted at millet.aubrey@gmail.com