Going around Circles, going round in circles

Bangalore’s circles today exist in name only. South-end Circle, Richmond Circle, Hudson Circle, Irwin (Shivashankar) Circle, D’Souza Circle, Gopala Gowda Circle and Vani Vilas Circle no longer exist as roundabouts but are all just intersections.Some of them are not even known by their original names any more. These circles have been literally mowed down over the years. With increasing traffic, they were seen as impediments and were initially shrunk in diameter and eventually removed.Bangalore is characterised by ‘circles’ from where several roads radiate in different directions, like the six roads at Southend Circle and Hudson Circle and five at Vani Vilas Circle and Richmond Circle. Traffic from these five to six roads converged at the circle and went their own ways after going round the circles.Soon, with traffic density increasing, the roundabouts turned vicious circles.And some of these roads were made one-ways and at some places, circles made way for flyovers, underpasses and ‘magic boxes’.And soon, these circles were seen as obstructions and removed and traffic lights installed to regulate the flow of vehicles. But while they were there, these circles were landmarks on their own.Their perimeters were made of ornamental cast iron grills painted in silver, enclosing within them lawns and flowering plants like cannas and tended to by gardeners.Some had fountains too and the ones at Vani Vilas Circle and Irwin Circle boasted majestic and ornate cast iron lamp posts at the centre. The circles were really the centrepieces of the city’s roads and each had a character of its own.While the Hudson Circle was known for its size, owing to the great streams of vehicles that converged on it, the Vani Vilas Circle was all grace.With the advent of the flyover here and traffic lights at Irwin Circle, Basavangudi lost two of its most stately roundabouts. Though Basavangudi still boasts parks or playgrounds at the Tagore Circle, Madhava Rao Circle, Armughan Circle Subbarama Chetty Circle, Sajjan Rao Circle and Ramakrishna Square, concrete shrines have taken up precious space at Sajjan Rao Circle and Subbarama Chetty Circles.The authorities seem to have realised the utility of circles and brought back the K R Circle roundabout, though it is a pale shadow of its original. The majestic Ashoka Pillar too, installed during the opening of Jayanagar extension around 50 years ago, stands defiantly, resisting change. Vehicles no longer go around circles in Bangalore, but given the maze of oneways in the city, one wrong turn and the motorist is left going round in circles.