Book Excerpt: Cubbon Park- The Green Heart of Bengaluru by Roopa Pai (part of our city-history series)
1 min read
An exclusive excerpt from Cubbon Park- The Green Heart of Bengaluru by Roopa Pai (Published by Speaking Tiger, 2022)
- ISBN-13 : 978-9354472183
- Publisher : Speaking Tiger
- Language : English
The Watchers
I do not know why government officials have so much love for colonial-era rulers. The world over, imperialists’ statues, like those of Lenin and Stalin, are being torn down, and here we want to restore Victoria’s statue. This is a serious assault on our sensibilities, and we demand nothing less than moving the statue, along with two others, to a museum.
—Vatal Nagaraj, former MLA and Kannada activist, in a report in the Bangalore Mirror, published 15 April 2014
Which luminaries a city chooses to honour with full-size statues in its premier public spaces can tell you a thing or two about that city and its people. Are the most prominent pedestal-toppers rulers, politicians, religious leaders, soldiers, movie stars, sportspeople, entrepreneurs, litterateurs, scientists or social reformers? Are a variety of social groups represented? Does the city choose to erase those parts of its history it considers repugnant, or does it move forward with a calm acceptance of what has been, acknowledging all the influences that have shaped it?
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