The House Vignesh Stepped In First

Technically, Vignesh did not step in. He was a 6 months old baby when he entered the Basaveshwara Nagar house in 1991. His mother carried him in amidst a joyous welcome by us.

Vignesh was born in Chennai. Around the same time, I moved, along with my parents from Tumkur to Bangalore. I had been paying Rs. 650 as the rent for a 2 bed room apartment. So, I had settled for a 1 bed room apartment at Basaveshwara Nagar paying a rent of Rs. 1,000 per month. This was called an "outhouse" in Bangalore parlance at that time. 

Nostalgia

Recently, on 19-Feb-2025, we happened to go to Basaveshwara Nagar on an errand. Before returning to our base we wondered whether we could go back to where we stayed 30 years back. We were curious to see how the house looked now. There were many memories associated with that house and its surroundings. We knew that there was a corporation park in front of the house. The park is bound to be still there, if not better. 

We set the Google Map to look for the park. We found it without much difficulty. We revisited the street after 32 years! We were getting goosebumps. The house, the park, the milk booth and the temple were all still there.  There are many memories associated with this house. Here are a few from the top of my mind.

Vignesh Arrives

Year 1991. I remember that night my father and I were pacing the Bangalore City Station platform where the train from Chennai was to arrive.  On that day, the train carried an important person, small, but important - Vignesh. Uma was coming to Bangalore with her parents and Vignesh. We were delighted when they alighted. We went home in two auto-rickshaws. At home he received a warm reception from my mother who was waiting eagerly for Vignesh.

About The House

The house is not very far from the main road that connects to the West of Chord Road. There is a corporation park opposite the house. There is a milk booth a few feet away. There is an Amman temple with a km from the house. The park looks better now. The temple seems bigger and better now. We moved out of the house by 1993 to move into our own flat. 

The entrance was through a small gate and a narrow passage. This is the photo we took today (19-Feb-2025). I can still see Vignesh standing there holding the gate fascinated by the vehicles, people, dogs and crows.

There was a small space in front of our portion. I used to park my two-wheeler (IND SUZUKI AX-100) there. Of course, it was a plaything for Vignesh when it was parked and the engine was not hot. 

Bulb Burst

I remember the day the incandescent lamp in the bed room exploded. Uma gave a loud shriek, picked up Vignesh and bolted. The owner had previously used his electrical knowledge and had replaced the fuse wire with a copper wire. This resulted in the fire-work when there was a power surge. Uma and Vignesh re-entered the house only after the owner retired the copper wire and refitted the fuse wire.

Vignesh's First Motorcycle Ride

It was in this house where Vignesh started his first bike ride! One day, before going to office, I playfully got him seated on the motorcycle's fuel tank. He sat squarely and also grabbed the handle bar firmly. That inspired me to drive the vehicle a few paces. He sat steadily and enjoyed the ride. Then, I took him for a ride around the park. From that day, driving him around the park once before leaving for the office became an unbreakable routine. Till 1997, the petrol tank was his seat. 

The Park

Whenever Vignesh grew restless, one of the Vignesh-handlers used to carry him to the park situated opposite our house. My mother used to sit on the mound of sand. It was customary for Vignesh to dig into the sand and send the sand flying. As a result, my mother used to return home with more sand on her head than in the Chennai beach.

The park, as it stands today.

The Hand Pump

The park also had a hand pump. While it was meant for watering the plants, we used to augment our water storage with water from this pump. On a day when there was no corporation water supply or when there was a water shortage, we used to march to the park with pots and pans. 

I find that the hand pump is gone. 

The Temple

This was a favourite spot while carrying Vignesh out for fresh air. I don't remember the temple being crowded. During the day time, Uma or my parents used to bring Vignesh here. Though the temple would be closed, the gates would be open. Ideal place for Vignesh to sit around and watch the crows and sparrows.

Vignesh Completes One Year

We celebrated Vignesh's first year completion with the traditional Ayush Homam in this house. Brother's family and my in-laws from Chennai attended the function. Sandhya Sringar, featured in this photo is one of my friends and a colleague from TVS Electronics.

Lakshmi Goes Missing

Panic gripped us when we could not find Lakshmi anywhere. She was a small girl. We were worried that she might have stepped out and would not have got lost. Someone ran up to the terrace. Some of us searched in the park. Search was made in all the streets nearby. Finally, mother went up to the terrace again. She discovered that Lux was asleep hiding behind a mattress left on the terrace for drying up. It was assumed that the kids were playing hide-n-seek and she hid herself behind the mattress only to get lulled into a slumber. We were relieved when she woke up and blinked not knowing why people around her were shouting in joy.

Vignesh Gets his Ears Pierced

As a part of the custom on his first birthday, we got a goldsmith to get Vignesh's ears pierced. I could not bear the sight of Vignesh's ears pierced. It seemed that nor could Vignesh withstand the pain. He cried so much that we relieved his pain by removing the ear-rings. 

Work

I continued to work in TVS Electronics R&D while I stayed in this house.

The Landlord and the Landlady

Initially the landlady was quite amicable. She even gave oil baths to Vignesh. The otherwise sweet landlady turned abrasive when she learnt that we were building our own flat. When we vacated the house, we were delayed by a day as the truck failed to turn up and I had to book another one. Meanwhile, this decent woman threatened to throw all our items out. This had happened when father and I were running around to book a truck. Mother got incensed. She threatened the landlady of dire consequences if she dared to lay her little finger on any of our items. The tigress got a bit taken aback and removed her beastly presence from the scene. We did not hang around the next day whether she would really throw us out. So, we exited our last rented house with a bang! 

The landlord was almost a non-entity in the house with the landlady calling all the shots. He turned unpleasant when I wanted the advance money back while vacating the house.  I stood in front of his house and shouted demanding my advance back. He came out, his face contorted with wrath and gave my money back. All this unpleasantness to return MY money!

The Sump and the Pump

There was a single sump below the staircase. We were depending entirely on the corporation water supply. The sump was of half the size of the overhead tank. This meant that to fill the overhead tank to the brim, the sump had to be filled and pumped twice. My poor father took this arduous task selflessly on himself. He would get up at 1 AM, check if the sump was full, switch on the pump and wait for the second iteration of sump filling and pumping. He would resume his sleep at round 3 AM. While he was away, this job naturally fell on me.

Booked Our First House

On my mother's insistence I started looking at the real estate advertisements in the Deccan Herald News Paper. Mother also scanned all the advertisements. Finally she spotted the advertisement that eventually led me to buy my first flat in Nagarabhavi for a princely sum of Rs. 2.75 lakhs. The Basaveshwara Nagar house was also the last rented house we stayed in.