Queen Elizabeth’s Bengaluru connection

Elizabeth II, late Queen of the United Kingdom during her reign of 70 years and 214 days visited the then Bangalore, capital city of Mysuru state with her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh in 1961. The visit coincided with the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Bible Society of India and Ceylon as Bangalore happened to be the headquarters.

Warm welcome at the airport: Jayachamrajendra Wadiyar, hitherto the Maharaja of Mysuru princely state and later taking over as the Governor of the independent Indian state welcomed the royal couple at the airport on behalf of the state government. The Maharaja presented the queen with a bouquet while the Mayor representing the city garlanded the Prince.

Hindi translation presented: To commemorate the occasion of the 150th anniversary celebrations of setting up of the Bible Society of India and Ceylon, the queen was presented with a copy of Hindi translation of the Bible. It was then pronounced that Hindi was one of the 125 languages in which the Bible was read in India.

A favorite holiday place: Bangalore located 3,000 feet above the sea level was not just praised by the Britishers’ for its enjoyable climate as a hill town but over a period of time the bustling city had transformed itself into a favorite holiday place as well. As has been the case ever since the city came into being to all those coming to Bangalore making Lal Bagh a must visit, it was no exception to the royal couple either.

Queen plants a sapling: The royal couple went around the city in a motorcade to visit the Lal Bagh, dubbed as the finest botanical gardens in the entire country even in those times. By planting a sapling Her Majesty commemorated the visit. She then goes around the picturesque place to experience the beauty first hand.

Woman presents a Mango: While on a round to various stalls to showcase the paradise of fruits and to her surprise a woman presents her with a Mango fruit, which she politely accepts. The visit to the Horticulture show befitting her visit at Lal Bagh turned out the visit to Mysore one of the pleasant memories according to the Queen.

Public reception at Vidhana Soudha: The royal couple was also accorded a public reception at the Banquet Hall of the stone marvel Vidhana Soudha. Earlier, during the day the royals had their photos snapped, standing before the Vidhana Soudha, reminisces N Jagannath Prakash, veteran journalist and former bureaucrat. He is also reminded of his legendary journalist father G Narayanswamy also in possession of one such photograph. A Kannada film on the Queen’s visit: The King and Queen also made it a point to visit another favorite hill station, Nandi Hills on the outskirts of the city during their short journey.

Interesting it may look; later a Kannada film by the title ‘Kurabara Lakkanu Elizabeth Raniu’ was released during the early seventies wherein a village lad comes to Bangalore in order to have a glimpse of the Queen.

-Manohar Yadavatti

When Punjab Chief Minister's Son Was Paraded On Underwear

Year, 1959, Place Amritsar. Some Indian Army Officers & their wives went to the Railway Station to see off one of their colleagues. Some goons made lewd remarks against the women & tried to molest them. The Army Officers chased the goons who took shelter in a nearby Cinema Theatre. The matter was reported to Commanding Officer Col Jyothi Mohan Sen. On learning about the incident, the Col ordered the Cinema Hall to be surrounded by troops. All the goons were dragged out, the leader of the goons was so heady and drunk with power; he was none other than the son of Chief Minister of Punjab, Pratap Singh Kairon, a close associate of the then PM, Jawahar Lal Nehru. All the goons were stripped to their underwear, paraded in the streets of Amritsar & later interned in the Cantonment. The next day, the Chief Minister became furious & tried to release his son from Indian Army's incarceration. Do you know what happened? His vehicle was not allowed to go into the Cantonment a...

Basavanna: Equality, Humanity and Human Rights

Bengaluru: Akshaya Trutiya is the birthday of Lord Basaveshwara or Basavanna, the 12th-century revolutionary poet and religious reformer who rebelled against all blind beliefs, practices and rituals of Hinduism. It also goes to his credit of bringing God to one’s palms while simultaneously and vehemently opposing the tradition of visiting temples and places of pilgrimages in search of the almighty. Interestingly, unfortunately, or sadly what his followers or disciples have been doing all along would be another separate topic for discussion and better to forget for the time being. A Hindu Protestant: Dr Godwin Shiri, former Director of Christian Institute For The Study Of Religion And Society (CISRS), Bengaluru, during an informal interaction, opined-“Basavanna can be aptly described as a Hindu Protestant as he was in the forefront of opposing blind beliefs”. Influenced by Buddha: Mallikarjun G Kelagade, former Director of the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) kee...

Dharwad's Arya Durga, Rukmini and Saraswati...: From Nothing to Crores and Crores...

Bengaluru: Arya Durga Kirani Stores, with Rukmini and Saraswati outlets, are household names for all those residing in and natives of Dharwad. It was a humble and austere beginning, dating back a few decades, thanks to hard work, sincerity, and trustworthy behaviour with customers, the business flourished and grew in leaps and bounds in an unimaginable proportion. Started working at the age of eight years! The owner, late Gajanan Vitthal Shetti, was primarily from Ankola in the North Canara (Karwar) district. Ankola, a coastal town, is renowned for its Salt Satyagraha during the freedom struggle movement. The financial condition of Shetti's family was too critical, making it too difficult to meet even the basic demands of day-to-day life. He began working at a ration shop while he was only eight years of age and continued working until he became 15 years old. Mahalakshmi Hotel boomerangs: Then Gajanan Vitthal Shetti came to Hubballi to do business. He came with his father, Vitth...

MY Articles

Search This Blog