Where Have You Gone, Wind Tunnel Road?

Some may offer deference to the invisible hand of Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, as the cause for technology buildings rising from the ground. For the less religious, the booming Bangalore economy is the energy coaxing these buildings upward. We are not as sure that the spirit of Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, is absent from the relentless deforestation of Bangalore’s roadways.

An outward manifestation of the jobs and money that have flowed into Bangalore is the ever-increasing vehicular traffic. With more cars comes conjested roadways. Boom times are no times for thinking in moderation, so more roadway is created.

The IT boom is taking place in the old British Cantonment section of Bangalore. In the closing years of the 18^th century, Lord Cornwallis, unsuccessful with American colonialists in Yorktown, was wildly successful in his Indian campaign. With his victory over Tippu Sultan in 1799, the British secured control of the Deccan Plateau. The British then settled into a near-continuous peace on the Deccan until their complete departure in 1947.

With time on their hands, the British planted trees that would underpin Bangalore’s claim to be the Garden City. The clever British even planted trees that sprouted their colorful blooms of yellow, red, pink and lavendar at different times of the year to provide a continuous display of color and shade over roadways. When one has an empire on which the sun never sets, one inevitably develops a green thumb.

The empire is gone and, sadly, soon the trees will follow. Age has removed some trees. Those that linger will most likely feel the gash of a spinning chainsaw followed by an uprooting. An asphalt topping will be applied to any woody remnants.

We have watched lazy Wind Tunnel Road slowly meet its 21^st century fate. First the narrow lane bridge near the airport wall was replaced. Width and support for tonnage won out over nostalgia. Working south from the intersection from busy Airport Road, trees have been uprooted and new curbing installed; roadway is not far behind. The last vestiges of shady trees will soon be gone.

Our comments are not meant to convey any sense of righteous indignation. We have watched the same methodical bushwhacking of God’s creation as Atlanta grows to support ever- increasing populations of people and cars. We cannot cast any stones from our glass house.

We are grateful that we were able to have walked under the shade of trees we did not plant. What will be Bangalore’s gift be to its future generations?