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Hyderabad Literary Festival (Online): In Conversation with Suresh Jayaram and Nancy Adajania
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Rashi Mishra
7:00
Hello and welcome to the online session of Hyderabad Literary Festival, moderated by Amita Desai. Today's panelists are Suresh Jayaram, artist and author of the book "Bangalore's Lal Bagh: A Chronicle of the Garden and the City" and Nancy Adajania, cultural theorist and curator.
7:07
7:16
Nancy Adajania opens up the panel by discussing Suresh Jayaram's new book "Bangalore's Lal Bagh: A Chronicle of the Garden and the City". She describe's the book as an "urban and ecological history". The book brings together a lifetime experience. It further explores the multi dimensional nature of Bangalore’s gardens.
7:19
On being asked the forms of research that went into the making of this book, Suresh Jayaram tells that it's very important to know that the archive or the research of this book started in 2000. "I had fellow artist's working with me. Every time I approached archive, they thought I was doing a Phd. It is very difficult for us to approach the archive due to the red-tapism involved but sources and friends helped out," he adds.
7:20
7:22
Jayaram moves on to describe that oral history from his grandparents are one of the many sources involved in compiling this book. Personal archives, family albums, historical archives were involved. Also, a lot of first hand research involved spending time at the garden as often as possible that encouraged the conception of this book.
7:24
The panel moves on to discuss the book's emphasis on the progressive vision of rulers of the garden city- Bangalore between pre-colonial and colonial period and their contribution in town planning.
7:26
7:30
Jayaram answers that the first reference to this city goes back to Kempegowda who installed a kind of watchtower at the hill at Lalbagh which is one of the most prominent insignia's of the city. Then Haider Ali, who was inspired to make a "charbagh". Later, Tipu Sultan encouraged the planting of Apples in Lalbagh as a method of atonement for punished convicts.
7:34
"Vani Vilasa Sannidhana, the regent queen established the Indian Institute of Science despite her short term," mentions Jayaram. "She was someone who was very eager to acquire modernity," he adds.
7:37
Adajania takes onto discuss the visual mapping of the book and how it depicts historical pictures closeup and sudden air shot pictures. And how little thing such as the gardening tools, the local gardeners and farmers are described in detail.
7:39
Jayaram elaborates that one of the first directors of Lalbagh Cameroon who brought in a lot of South American vegetables, such as the "Bangalore Brinjal". "Here was a kind of a small narrative that talks about the directors were bringing in many different cash crops from many parts of the world in Bangalore because of its climate. So there was a constant conversation happening between the mali's of Lalbagh but also the farmers," he says.
7:42
"It is important to have these anecdotal narratives to peppers my book to bring in the personal into the book such as my encounters with Rajamma," Jayaram opines.
7:47
Jayaram tells that 'Javaraya' was the first few trained directors and was responsible for the apple tree in the garden. He further shows the family history through photographs, which were taken in a colonial studio. "What's interesting is the matriarchal setup where the women stand during the photograph and the men sit," he states.
7:50
7:52
Adajania questions the author on how his family came to Bangalore and his family’s contribution to the multi-lingual and multi-ethnic garden.
7:53
"It is very significant albeit personal that I come from a multilingual family. I did not have a specific mother-tongue. The cosmopolitanism of this city resulted in us speaking many of these different languages with those around us," he answers.
7:54
He further adds that the Karaga festival has a connection with the local dargah. This relates to the significance of Draupadi in the South really brings to the fore the cosmopolitan nature of Bangalore.
8:00
Adajania enquires on the threat that Lal Bagh faces today due to hyper-modernisation. To this, Jayaram answers that the only threat seen is vandalism and public negligence. These aren't threats to the land. Littering is a huge problem that must be regulated.
8:01
8:03
Answering to an audience member, the author says that the place is called "Lal Bagh" because Haider Ali's mother was called "Lalbi". Also, the other word in Urdu for "dear" is "lal". Further, the colour of the roses in the garden is also "lal". It is because of the multiplicity of these oral histories that it is called "Lal Bagh".
8:04
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8:08
8:09
Amita Desai, the moderator, puts forth the question of balance between government patronage and regulation. Jayaram describes that 20% of Lalbagh is still wild and the rest is all landscaped.
8:10
"In terms of government, there are lot of rules and regulations that have to be followed. Almost 100 people work there and there are spaces that create laboratories that acclimatise insects and other fauna. They act as this wire media between the government and the farmers," he elaborates.
8:15
"We enjoy the Garden City, Bangalore, today because someone planted a tree long back ago," concludes Jayaram, by reading the last excerpt from his new book.
8:16
That's all from today's session. Thank you for joining us.
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