Cupid Doesn't Love Cubbon Park Anymore

This is a retelling, in our own words, of the Deccan Herald report (June 2012).

Removed from the maddening roads and the moral police, Cubbon Park once offered Bengaluru's love-struck couples unbeatable serenity, privacy, and refreshing silence.

Then the city's explosive growth invaded the green expanse, with noisy vehicles occupying every inch of the roads crisscrossing the park. The lovebirds beat a hasty retreat. But years later, they could get a second chance — if the Horticulture Department's new plan gets going.

The department finalized an action plan to develop 92 acres of neglected area inside the park, planting over 150 varieties of flowering plants and trees with wide lawns. "We have also identified tree varieties like Perfume Tree, Shorea Talura (Jalari in Kannada), Mesua Ferrea (Suragi in Kannada), which are known to spread fragrance up to two kilometres. Saplings will be planted this month," M. Jagadish, the department's Deputy Director for Cubbon Park, told the Deccan Herald.

The privacy mattered. Nitin and his fiancee Chitra used to visit the park at least thrice a week before giving up. "There is no corner left in the Park where you can escape the vehicles and the noise they generate," Nitin said, noting that the road stretch between Balbhavan and the Central Library — earlier a walker's path — had been opened to vehicles for Namma Metro works, increasing traffic in recent months.

For Sunandha Iyengar, a senior citizen and morning walker, memories of the park as a lovers' paradise go back to the 1980s — to Mani Ratnam's debut film Pallavi Anu Pallavi, whose famous song "Naguva Nayana Madhura Mouna" was shot in Cubbon Park. "Today, when I visit Cubbon Park, I see hardly any lovers," she said. Couples strolling hand in hand had become rare.

Jagadish confirmed that vehicular movement had risen by at least 13 percent after the Metro work began, though he disputed that couples had stopped coming entirely — they had retreated to the fringes, particularly near the High Court and the Central Library. He was confident the park would regain its glory within eighteen months, once the new plantings flowered — and that once Metro work finished and road stretches closed again, the quiet would return.

Love might bloom once the green cover is restored. Cupid should love it.

Source: Deccan Herald