Bangalore’s Lalbagh book review: A whiff of nostalgia  

Express News Service

BENGALURU: For as long as he can remember, art historian and curator Suresh Jayaram has been walking through the lush green covers of Cubbon Park and Lalbagh. It’s no surprise then that Jayaram’s second book is based on one of the largest lung spaces in the city, Lalbagh, and its changing landscape. Bangalore’s Lalbagh: A Chronicle of the Garden and the City, which hit the stands last week, brings along with it a touch of nostalgia, especially for old Bengalureans who have watched the city change.

“I was fortunate enough to grow up between two popular parks. Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. I’ve been looking at nature from a curious lens for as long as I can remember. It’s an obsession,” says Jayaram, whose first book was GH Krumbiegel- Whatever he touched, he adorned. It delved into German botanist Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel’s legacy in the context of the Mysore State and his vision of urban ecology. 
In his latest book, Jayaram not only documents his memories of Lalbagh, but also puts in place a historical perspective. “It’s not just a dry narration. As a visual artist, my idea is to look at nature in an urban context,” he says about the book that is published by  the Visual Arts Collective Trust.

Hailing from a family of horticulturists, Jayaram viewed the book with the lens of ‘finding one’s identity in a growing Bengaluru’. Through the book, he goes down memory lane, recalling family picnics to Lalbagh, where he’d climb trees and have a jolly good time. “I have pictures taken at Lalbagh from over the years. It’s so evident that almost everything has changed. For example, you can no longer have a picnic there because you can’t take outside food in anymore,” Jayaram says.

Reading the book is like walking through the breezy green space. Be it rocks that are centuries-old or the instillation of new statues, there’s been a significant change in the landscape itself. “Lalbagh has a brilliant archive library which has documented the plants and its botanical significance. This greatly helped in the research of the book,” he says.

Jayaram worries that Bengaluru is losing its ‘Garden City’ tag with the growing urbanisation. “Not many know that Kempegowda and Tipu Sultan had a major role in building the gardens in Bengaluru. The trees are depleting, being cut down and we’re only thinking about adding more flyovers and metro lines — Bengaluru has gone beyond the Garden City now,” he says.

We may no longer be able to cut grass and feed the deer at Lalbagh like Jayaram used to, but Lalbagh is still a space where people can come together and find solace. “There’s always a group of women at Lalbagh who gather regularly and share their stories. If you’re passing by, you’ll hear people discussing politics, prices and the pandemic. It’s a place which is a keeper of stories and secrets,” he says.  

(The book, priced at Rs 1,000, can be purchased on Amazon)