#CubbonParkUlisi or The Weight of Public Opinion

Yesterday, Team #HeritageBeku decided an impromptu meetup/.#concerncollective at #CubbonPark. The online #petition change.org/CubbonCourt had just crossed 10000 signatures in 5 days.

Cut to today- a sunny Sunday morning with lots of people in the The Park.. #CubbonParkUlisi Posters are up, some have made & brought their own. there are dancers, skaters, walkers and dogs and the #GoGreencycling group is a riot of a color. Joggers, dog parents walk up to ask questions and interact. The sun is out and the day & people are buzzing.

The powerful ‘#WeightOfPublicOpinion’ was perhaps the overriding theme that underlay ‘#HowGreenWasMyPark meet up at Cubbon Park today. The old fashion weighing scale or #tarazu set up - with #CubbonParkUlisi on one side and #IDontCare on the other- was a powerful visual showcase of public sentiment on a beloved lung space.

#CubbonMemoryProject ..It was great to see small groups of people sharing their memories, heritage stories of the park, clearly anguished at the onslaught of construction. Photos expected soon. Check out #ArundhatiNag’s heart tugging pic with her granddaughter in the Park ; and #SGVasudev with his..

#HeritageExpertise The ploggers, walkers, cyclists, poets, painters all flowed through while Heritage Luminaries who are Cubbon Park experts like Mr Satya prakash Varanashi, Arun Pai, Suresh Moona, Aliyeh Rizvi and Bimal Desai spoke to various small groups about Park history and fascinating snippets as well . An impassioned Bimal Desai harked back to their original #SaveCubbonPark campaign in 1998 and the avoidable tragedy of being back two decades later to rewrite the same story. It was somber to know that this dark history was repeating itself. Naresh V Narasimhan weighed in as did Mr Raghunandan (he also brought his vintage friend Swami - and I’m afraid due to centenarian status , we slightly broke the law to do so 😉) Suresh Moona’s fascinating insights on the Cubbon Park fountain, it’s history & it’s dedication to - parrots- caught our attention. Tune in to more! But the formidable Centenarian Freedom Fighter Shri #Doreswamy at the dais who spoke with such impassioned simplicity, toughened our resolve to always be #guardiansofheritage.

#NextGen The #Parikrma School children in their earth uniforms of bright green, listened to the stories , happily chorused out #CubbonParkUlisi, held us spell bound with their young wisdom and desire to be change makers. We loved their spontaneous rap song written on the fly! You should listen. A cyclist said ‘ I got goosebumps listening to them ’ These kids give us HOPE.

This is the city we know and we helplessly love & as so many of us lingered in the bright sunny Sunday commons, as a part of a larger Bengaluru ethos, the need to sustain it just got some steel. Our Bengaluru is not as strong as we think and she needs us . The discreet bicycle tring-tring & the bird sounds, lazy buzz of bees in the Park took us back in time, reinforcing that feeling .

The #seriousmessage that went out was the need to avoid triggers to such citizen outpourings like this , by having the much overdue #HeritageLaws in place & the necessary #heritageguidelines in the #TownAndCountryPlanning Act. #HeritageBeku & other groups have made this earnest request repeatedly in letters and in the Draft #RMP31response . We don’t know why there is such ominous inaction. This MUST move forward now .

#CubbonParkUlisi #NammaCubbonPark #HeritageBeku #HowGreenWasMyPark

#helping #CubbonPark #HeritageBeku #ConcernCollective #Heritage

Op-Ed, Deccan Herald How Green was my Park

‘Overdue ‘Heritage Laws’ must be put in place, and the Draft Revised Master Plan 2031 mentioning heritage guidelines must be passed. If we are to preserve any soul left of the city for the future, we have no choice but to do these quickly. The recent news of a seven-storied high court annexe coming up within Cubbon Park has shocked many of us. There was that same sinking feeling, the feeling of helplessness that we beleaguered Bengalureans seem to feel again and again. Without getting into the hows and whys of this specific decision and the irony of it, there has been such a constant erosion of our shared public spaces and green belts over the years that we seem to have permanent scabs where wounds used to be. The much-loved Cubbon Park has been the cynosure of many acquisitive eyes and has already shrunk 30% in the last century, from 300 to 197 acres. As it provides one of the few lung spaces in this beleaguered city of ours, the citizens’ collective angst is palpable. However, we can’t keep reacting, in the absence of processes and guidelines. ‘Heritage Beku’ set up an online petition which has already gathered close to 5,000 signatures, and calls and messages started mounting, queries were unanswered. We, as a citizen heritage group, tried to reach the petitioners, the chief minister and other stakeholders, but yes, it was the Diwali holidays. Comparisons may be odious, but one cannot imagine Hyde Park in London or Central Park in New York being similarly encroached upon even though they form part of bigger mega-cities than Bengaluru. People would just not stand for it, though every real estate king knows full well the value of those pieces of real estate. For that matter, you can’t even build a higher house or balcony if your neighbours object to their loss of view. So, why are our heritage buildings and green spaces so dispensable? It’s not the lack of trillions of dollars in the economy that make us less developed; it’s the lack of respect for our shared heritage, spaces and ecology among other things. Look around at any heritage fort, temple, building, park and you will see the tenuousness of its existence. That stings. It must change. Over a decade ago, when the Metro was being built on iconic, beloved MG Road, and many begged the BMRCL to ‘bury the Metro’, there was little collective energy or belief in the tenuous citizen voice. We just didn’t know enough and we didn’t know how, even if we cared, we were the victims, and the city started crumbling in front of our eyes. We will never let that happen again. Given the court’s ruling banning any construction in Cubbon Park, that this seven-storey annexe, which is also a security risk, given the VIP area, has been allowed, and a heritage building over a 100 years old will be razed to make way, the outrage and anguish are rippling out in ever widening circles as we speak. We have moved towards a faceless era of glass, cement and concrete. Bengaluru’s green cover has come down to 3%, according to the Indian Institute of Science. Look at the state of Delhi and its problems with air pollution and you will know that that day is not far off in Bengaluru. There is no joy in this prospect, unless one is a manufacturer of air purifiers or gas masks. However, it’s not the powers-that-be that are solely responsible for this sad state of affairs, private greed and our disregard for everything outside oneself is endemic and is as much a cause. So, from scratching ‘X loves Y’ on ancient relics, to throwing garbage when a dustbin is around, to hacking trees when they come in ‘our way’, it has been a part of our troubled cultural ethos, and an insidiously powerful lassitude. This proposed construction is symbolic of the many other constant erosions and knife-thrusts we face to our city, its greenery and its heritage buildings. As a city that now has its share of awakened citizenry, such actions fortunately don’t pass muster without comment, censure or protest. The fourth leg of democracy is alive and kicking in Bengaluru. This wasn’t always the case in the past, which is why the monstrosity of the overhead metro on MG Road exists as a sore reminder of what might be, if the right questions are not asked in time and we do not engage democratically to stand up for our city. The angst of the many stakeholders has to be addressed and better answers found than concretizing what’s left of Cubbon Park. However, we trust that the courts will certainly apply themselves to the macro issue at hand. I hope and pray that wiser counsel will prevail with the involvement of the many intelligent and sensitive people that are collectively part of this decision, or should be. Someone said they would probably have to show their grandchildren the statue of Sir Mark Cubbon and one solitary tree, in a tall sea of concrete and glass buildings, and tell them, “Look that’s Bengaluru’s famous Cubbon Park.” It’s a dark, sombre picture, as is the humour. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. ‘ (The writer is a CXO search consultant and Founder, Heritage Beku) https://www.deccanherald.com/archives/edit-page/how-green-was-my-park-772485.html #CubbonParkUlisi #ProtectCubbonPark

#community #team

Cbn Prk 2047

How one tongue in cheek but stinging picture, can anchor a feeling, a campaign, an ache .

A cartoon, maybe, but the smile is crooked. This picture is far too real, too portentous.

#NammaBengaluru #NammaCubbonPark

Thank you Nala Ponnappa

#CubbonParkUlisi #SaveCubbonPark #HeritageBeku

#cartoon #NalaPonappa #Satire