“This is not a book of intense study or a very scholarly effort, it deals with history in a light-hearted way,” says Bengaluru artist Paul Fernandes of The Great Bangalore Morph: From Kempegowda to Covid, which he has co-authored with Bengaluru-based writer Chicku (Meena) Jayadeva.
As part of the Unboxing BLR Habba, a show featuring drawings and illustrations depicting the rich history and essence of Bengaluru was unveiled on December 9, at the Bangalore International Centre (BIC). The exhibit, titled Bangalore Then and Now, serves as an extension of Paul’s book.
Past and present
The exhibition and book take one on a journey through swathes of time, with glimpses of the city’s past, present, and possible future. Starting from the story of Bengaluru’s founding when it was under the governance of a Chieftain of the Yelahanka Prabhus, it is a journey through the city’s many avatars – from a sleepy pensioner’s paradise and garden city to a cosmopolitan wonderland of snazzy pubs with draft beer on tap, and through the ‘IT boom’, which made Bengaluru the poster child of successful globalisation.
The exhibition also shows how Bengaluru became India’s fastest-growing city, expanding chaotically in all ways and directions; for better or for worse, followed by the takeover by a virulent virus – COVID-19.
Speaking to The Hindu, Paul says that the COVID-19 pandemic was part of the morphing of Bengaluru, and easily got included in the book, “It started off with trying to record the change we saw in Bengaluru, through drawings. We came to the understanding that the book was complete, and suddenly we were plunged into the world of COVID-19. That’s when I started drawing about what was happening around us, and Chicku started writing about it. And we suddenly realised that it was a continuation of the morphing of Bengaluru, so it got included well in the book”.
Extended project
Paul says there was never a deadline to finish the book, but it took him close to six years to complete it, “There is never a time period you can specify when you are creating art. I remember Chicku would call me and say, ‘do you think we could be ready by December?‘ And all I would ask ‘Which December?‘. So, it is a long project that can not have a deadline until you have understood what you are hoping to achieve from it. It has taken 5-6 years at least.“
Peppered with interesting facts from now and then, The Great Bangalore Morph chronicles the historical, geographical, social, economic and cultural growth of the city. To make it easy to navigate, the authors break Bengaluru’s history into three distinct periods: Days of Yore, More Familiar Times, and 2019: The Year Our World Changed.
“In Days of Yore we look at a very colourful, long and eventful history of the city in the thousand-plus years before independence. In the middle section we look at glimpses of life as the city morphed, pretty much as we have seen it. There are images of the first electricity pole that came to Asia in Bengaluru and what happened to it through time. And the final section is 2019: The Year Our World Changed, the period in which COVID-19 hit Bengaluru and the rest of the world,” he says.
For the young
Paul’s idea was to provide a very simple idea of Bengaluru’s morphing over time, and not make it too heavy a book to read. “The book uses mild humour to sometimes look at a difficult subject. My interest is to take this book to young people in a very simple and entertaining manner and not ask them to read deeply, because these days people do not have time to read deeply,“ Paul added.
Working with Chicku Jayadeva was rewarding, says Paul. “She is able to take a very raw thought, and really give it all the time and strength it needs to become a full thought. It is wonderful working with her, she gives it all the research and information the idea wants before it becomes ready to draw. That is her skill,” he says.
The book The Great Bangalore Morph: From Kempegowda to Covid is priced at ₹1,800 and is available on apaulogy.com and at the aPaulogy Gallery in Richards Town. The book is also available for sale at the exhibition in BIC, Domlur. The exhibition is on till December 13.
