Renaming Mysore Bank

Renaming of the Mysore Bank Building

No more "mysur bank! mysur bank! yarree Mysur Bank?.. iLkoLi" ?

No more asking "mysur bank mele hogutto, KR Circle mele hogutto? "

No more telling "mysur bank hatra sigona. Vishnu Bhavanalli masal dose coffee baarisi, saagaralli first show nodkond baroNa"

When I was a kid this gorgeous looking building on Kempegowda Road, the head office of the home grown State Bank of Mysore was the pride of Bengaluru. Until Jayanagar Complex came into being, until the Public Utility Building (aka 22 story building) on MG Road and the LIC building near General Post Office came up, this 'Mysur Bank' was the most imposing and beautiful building in Bengaluru. To my mind at that time, the presence of such multistory buildings was an indication of modernity. It was an indication that Bangalore too can one day become like those cities in foreign countries or for that matter like Bombay in our own country.

I have walked past this building countless times right from my childhood days. It only became more frequent when I became a student of UVCE which was at KR circle nearby. We used to go to that restaurant (forgot the name) in Kaveri Bhavan complex diagonally opposite Mysore Bank. I remember eating cutlet in that place. We have walked past Mysur bank every time we had to go to Subhas Book house on Avenue Road. Just to clarify I did not use Subhas Guides. We only bought Text books :-) There were also those footpath vendors who sold books titled "Janapriya Kannada Chitragetegalu". Just having one of those song books gave the amateur singer the confidence to subject listeners to the pleasure of listening to his songs.

We also used to visit a store across the bank, where they sold Scientific Supplies. This was necessary for those unfortunate students who broke Test tubes, Burettes, pippets and beakers in the Chemistry Lab and had to replace them

Probably it was in this building that I used the lift (elevator) for the first time. I remember going to the top floor of this building and being fascinated by the view of the tree lined Kempegowda road and of the greenery of the garden city in general.

This building which has been in existence for at least more than four decades was renamed "State Bank of India" as of last week. Even though the name has changed, the name "Mysur Bank" cannot be erased from the lips of bus conductors and the general public so easily.

Oh just to clarify, we don't need to despair. The Mysore Bank building itself is intact. It will be there hopefully for a long long time.

Photo Credit: thehindubusinessline.com.

Here is a link to article on this topic in The Hindu.
http://www.thehindu.com/…/adieu-state-b…/article17746027.ece