Heritage house

One step beyond the gates and you will have stepped into a world where time has frozen. You may half expect to see women in gowns and men in tailcoats stroll past you as you walk through this idyllic sanctuary in the heart of Bangalore. Not unusual at a place so steeped in history and so rich in tradition. The heritage of the Bangalore Club has been carefully guarded and kept alive by its members through the ages. While showing me around the prim and green premises, Colonel KD Murthy (Retd), the CEO and Secretary of Bangalore Club, said, "This is like an oasis amidst the concrete jungle. The members, some of whom are third and fourth generations, have jealously guarded this treasure."

The then…
When India’s map had the Kingdom of Mysore instead of Karnataka, and South India came under the jurisdiction of the Madras Presidency, a British resident had been posted in Bangalore to look after affairs in this region. The Main Clubhouse, which is about 150 years old, one sees in the Bangalore Club was his home, and the other buildings, quarters he used. Around 1863, the resident moved to the now SBI on St Marks Road. But it was not immediately that the British could convert the premises into a club for their exclusive use. In fact, it did not even belong to the British for a while. A local trader bought and owned the property in between.
Then, British troops began to be stationed in the city and they requested for permission to use the premises, which was, of course, granted. They formed a racket (an older version of squash) club, and so, an informal club for the British soldiers functioned from 1863 to 1868, the latter year being the formal inauguration of the Bangalore United Services, or BUS as it was popularly called, Club. BUS Club was meant only for the British.
Colonel Murthy recalls, “Back then, the club stretched to Agram on one side and Cubbon Park on the other. It was sprawling and they even had a polo ground. Now the area is about 13 acres.” But the decorum in those years disallowed women, children and servants to enter the Main Clubhouse, the colonel said while showing me around this grand old building. He pointed out old swords and guns that hang on the walls, the exquisitely maintained rooms with a regal air and the men’s bar where women are still not allowed, maintaining the tradition.
But women and children were not kept from enjoying the refreshing luxuries of the club. Colonel Murthy showed me the Annexe that stands opposite the clubhouse, a walk across a passage beautifully shaded by creepers. The Annexe had a ballroom, which is still unchanged, wooden floor, chandeliers et al. The Annexe has been renamed Brigadier Hill Annexe.
“Brigadier Hill was the commandent of the MEG during partition. When the government disbanded all British clubs during Independence and retained only the Officer’s Mess, the brigadier wrote to the government not to dissolve the BUS, only to reorganise it. Thus was formed the Bangalore Club. Brigadier Hill, who opted to stay back and serve the Indian Army, was the longest serving president from 1943 to 1963,” said Colonel Murthy.

The now…
While the club has held on to its rich inheritance of culture, customs, sports and practices, it has moved forward with times, and we mean in its social actions. Bangalore Club is more than just recreation and aesthetics. It is about responsibility, about which not many are aware. What Colonel Murthy showed me was truly an eye-opener and inspiration. The club has taken up practices which helps man as well as his environment.
“There is not a single incandescent light in our premises. Everything is CFL and we are gradually introducing LED lights as well, which will take a little time as LED is expensive,” Colonel Murthy said, showing me the street and room lights. Like incandescent lights, the club has done away with all geysers too, getting warm water only through solar heaters.
And water does not go to a waste here. The laundry water is recycled and used in gardens, rain water (which falls on the ground and the roofs) is harvested through the many recharge wells, through which the water seeps and directly increases the ground water level of the entire area. In fact, even waste does not go to waste here. The club has tied up with the NGO Sahas to sort garbage (from the source itself) into biodegradable and non-biodegradable. While the non-biodegradable waste goes for recycling, the degradable refuse is further sorted and turned into organic manure in a converter in the club’s own backyard. Plastic has been nearly banned here as the club asks members to bring their own bags for shopping. If they don’t the club uses only a specially manufactured degradable version of polythene. The club also recycles e-waste and tetrapacks that members bring.
In another initiative, the club has appointed a teacher to tutor their ball boys, three of whom will appear for the SSLC in private this year. And the elderly are being given computer lessons, which would help them access e-bills and save paper.
The club looks much like it used to in the movie ‘Passage to India’, based on EM Forster’s novel. But what is a lesson for us all is the quiet and responsible progress that it has enshrined in itself.