Whitefield: Between a colonial past and a post-liberalisation future

The stolid-looking, grey-bearded gentleman has a piercing gaze, one that seems to follow us as we file past his photograph hung on the thick walls of the Whitefield Club. “That is a picture of Mr. White,” says Deepa Peck, a long-time resident of Whitefield who is leading us on a heritage walk around the neighbourhood.

Most people new to the city associate Whitefield with the IT hub, upscale malls, vehicular congestion and never-ending water woes. But the suburb also has a long history dating back to 1882, as Deepa, who developed a keen interest in the locality’s heritage since her husband’s family, the Pecks, was among the earliest inhabitants of Whitefield, constantly reiterates. According to her, the man in the photograph, David Emmanuel Starkenburgh White, after whom the area is named, founded Whitefield then on land granted to the Eurasian and Anglo-Indian Association by Chamrajendra Wadiyar X, the Maharaja of Mysore.

Farming never took off

Back then, Whitefield was envisioned as an agricultural settlement, with the early Whitefielders referred to as the settlers, explains Deepa. Whitefield was built in two concentric circles: the Inner Circle, consisting of wedge-shaped residential plots, at the centre of which was the Village Green, from which four radial roads lead to the Outer Circle, comprising larger tracts of land with residences, she further explains. “To the east was the Main Road with residences on either side,” says Deepa, adding that the initial idea of a self-sufficient farming settlement never really took off, partly because of water scarcity. “Water problems are nothing new here. It has been a problem since 1882,” she remarks wryly. Also, “most of the settlers had little or no agricultural background.”

At that time, the Whitefield Settlers Association, headed by Mr. White, was the sole governing body that looked after the affairs of Whitefield – long before it came under the Panchayat, and today, the BBMP. “However, with the advent of apartments and gated communities, each having their own RWA, the Settlers’ Association didn’t have much relevance,” states Deepa, who currently holds the office. In fact, at the last AGM, it was decided that the Whitefield Settlers’ Association would amalgamate with Whitefield Rising, a citizen’s movement in the area, since “it seemed better to be under the aegis of a larger, unifying umbrella.”

The idea for this walk goes back to a project done as part of Gully Tours City Explorer, the walking tour company’s annual flagship programme, which seeks to create more ambassadors for the city. “As part of the programme, participants were divided into groups and asked to design a walk on any given topic,” says Dr. Gayathri Talapula, who is also part of the walk. “Our group chose Whitefield because some of us live here, and we’ve always been intrigued by its past.”

Research into past

As part of their research, the group explored the older areas of Whitefield, like the inner and outer circles, visiting some of the old houses and speaking to the people living there to get “all possible information about the past of Whitefield,” says Gayathri, who, with her group, designed the heritage walk. During their research, they met Peck, who is deeply interested in the legacy of Whitefield and takes people on these small walks. Gayathri wishes to launch the Whitefield walk officially later this year.

Some of the other stops we make include the small but lovely Memorial Church, consecrated in 1886; the quaint Perfect Peace, one of the first few bungalows to be built in the area, today owned by inventor Paul D’Souza and his mother; the larger Our Lady of Lourdes Church behind which is a stately hillock meant to represent Calvary; the run-down remains of Meer Saheb’s General Store and Waverly Inn, neglected and overrun with dense undergrowth.

Talapula admits to being rather intrigued by the “spicy” legend linked to this inn: it is believed that Winston Churchill, who lived in Bengaluru back then, often visited the inn to court Rose Hamilton, the daughter of the innkeeper James Hamilton. “Of course, there’s no evidence of it, but I think everybody wants to believe that story,” she says. “It is a pretty interesting link between the Prime Minister of the U.K. and Whitefield.”

Between past and future

Vestiges of the old Whitefield have managed to cling to the few historical buildings still in use here thanks to its long-term residents’ constant attempts to preserve it. For instance, the Whitefield Club, founded in 1905, was renovated in 2006, with great trouble being taken to maintain the look of the façade to match that of the original building.

Then, in 2005, residents rallied to preserve the historic Whitefield Memorial Church from being damaged due to road widening plans. “The authorities don’t seem to care about our history,” she says. But this is a rich heritage. How can you destroy it?”

The constant tussle between Whitefield’s old identity as an Anglo-Indian settlement and what it is today, an IT hub filled with people for whom this is a layover stop and not a destination, clearly saddens its long-time residents, Peck included. “While words such as ‘progress’ and ‘development’ usually have a positive nuance, residents feel that ‘development’ in Whitefield seems quite the opposite,” she says. “

Instead, roads are being widened haphazardly while the water issue has become more significant than ever before as the supply cannot keep up with the demand for this basic resource. Large gated colonies and commercial establishments, many even illegal, have mushroomed and continue to sprout across the neighbourhood, taking over what was once a quiet, residential area. A few residents are actively involved in trying to improve issues facing Whitefield, but many don’t want to get involved. “They come here for employment and will, probably, then return to where they came from,” says Deepa. “Very few of the original families are left here now.”

Victim of its own success

However, when the International Tech Park (ITPL) came up here in the late 90s, Whitefield residents actually welcomed it, remembers Deepa. “Till then, others would talk about how we lived in the boondocks! But things did improve with the advent of ITPL and other companies in and around Whitefield,” she remembers. “It generated employment, not just for techies but also for locals, so it was welcomed.”

Whitefield, like the city of Bengaluru itself, appears to have become a victim of its own success. “The resources and infrastructure are woefully inadequate to cater to the burgeoning population and the feverish ongoing construction happening all around,” explains Deepa. Take, for instance, the constant water shortage in the locality. “While drilling borewells is technically banned, new ones are being drilled every few days,” she says. “We inform officials, but the drilling continues.’

Slew of illegalities

But she and other long-term residents who care about the place continue to fight the good fight in their own way. “We are rallying to preserve the character of the Inner and Outer Circle areas, which have been classified as Residential Main areas as per BBMP’s Zoning, and no commercial establishments are permitted here,” she says. “But it is a constant, uphill battle with officials themselves turning a blind eye to such illegalities.”

It is why she believes that walks like this, which expose people to the hidden heritage of the neighbourhood where they work, live in or traverse through, are very important. “When you have these walks and talk about the history and heritage of the area, some awareness does set in – and they realise that Whitefield is so much more than just a place where one stays for a while in a 2-bedroom apartment!”