The Sunday Cubbon Dog Park located opposite the State Central Library in Bengaluru is a popular, fenced off-leash area for dogs and pet parents. Every week, hundreds of people can be seen walking around with their pets or sitting on the benches while their pets socialize with each other. Did you know one of these benches overlooked by most people has an interesting connection with the history of our state?
Text by Arvind Krishnaswamy
On Sunday mornings, Cubbon Park turns into Canine Park. The fenced park area opposite the red-painted, neoclassical structure of Seshadri Memorial Hall is filled with wagging tails of dogs of all shapes and sizes. With roads inside the park free of vehicles, dogs are everywhere, straining at their leashes and leading their owners into the Dog Park. As the popular proverb goes, every dog has its (Sun)day!
It resembles a chaotic carnival, as some dogs are chasing each other, others are circling around, sniffing curiously. A few dogs are wandering around looking lost amidst all the frenetic activity. Regular dog parents are catching up with their friends. A group of volunteers are gathered there to promote responsible pet parenting, human-animal coexistence and an adoption drive amongst many other activities. A few puppies have Adopt Me scarves around their necks and a boy is frantically pleading with his father to take one home with them.
Amidst all the buzz, if you walk towards the Century Club wall, there is a circular stone bench hugging a tree. The bench has elegant, curved seat supports but has been propped up by additional stone pieces. Clearly, time and lack of maintenance has taken a toll and it is crumbling in some places. What is interesting are the three words LADY BANERJI SEAT on the edge of the bench. If you have seen it, ever wondered who Lady Banerji was? Why does she have a seat with her name in Cubbon Park?
This story definitively answers the first question and arrives at a conjecture on the second.
The very beginning is a good place to start as the song in The Sound of Music went. Going back to the mid-19th century, Sashipada Banerji was a well known teacher, social worker and a leader of Brahmo Samaj, a reformist movement of the Bengal Renaissance times. During Sashipada’s visit to London with his wife, their son was born on October 10, 1871 in Bristol, England. For this reason, they named him Albion Rajkumar Banerji. Albion is the poetic or literary term for England of ancient or historical times. The boy grew up in India, eventually graduated from Balliol College, Oxford and joined the Indian Civil Service or ICS (the British predecessor to Indian Administrative Service or IAS). The Indian Civil Service was the face of the British Raj for the common people of India of the time. It was a relatively small but exclusive, elite group of administrators. Until the 20th century, it was restricted to only British officers. Later, it was opened to Indians, but the selection was tightly controlled through a competitive examination held in London. These officers were appointed to all key posts and were basically the extension of the Viceroy. The starting salary in ICS was estimated to be around ₹600 per month in 1920, when a gram of gold could be purchased for ₹1.50!
Cubbon Park in the 1920s
On March 12, 1898, A R Banerji married Nolini (Nalini as spelt in Bengal) Gupta, daughter of Sir Krishna Govinda Gupta. K G Gupta, a barrister-at-law, was a prominent Bengali social reformer of the 19th century and the sixth Indian member of the Indian Civil Service in 1873. Being part of an elite governing class, it is said that children in ICS families were treated like royalty. Hence, it can be safely assumed that Nolini would have enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle and access to good education.
A R Banerji became the first ICS officer to be appointed as the Dewan of Cochin in May 1907 and he held this position for 7 years. Nolini was involved in literary activities, assisting in publication of an ethnographical survey of the Cochin State. In June 1907, Nolini Banerji was elected as a Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, following in her father’s footsteps. This institution was established in 1823 to primarily focus on Asian arts and literature (Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Rabindranath Tagore were notable fellows of the institution). Nolini Banerji was seen as a “lady of social charm and of literary aptitudes” by Henry Bruce, a British missionary and writer who toured Cochin during this time. His book also notes that she was writing a “History of the Jews in India”, though there is no record of the published book.
In 1914, A R Banerji was invited to be part of Sir M Visvesvaraya’s cabinet in Mysore as the first councillor (as ministers were known in those days). The family moved to the state and Nolini became socially active in Bengaluru. In October 1916, Indian Ladies Club was started in a rented building called “Apple Villa” on Lalbagh Road with a strength of 40 members. Later, it was relocated to a building on Palace Road, next to Carlton House. Nolini Banerji was its first President and she led this post for ten years before she was succeeded by Lady Mirza Ismail. According to a letter written by the secretary of the club, she “steered the Club through its first ten years of life with an experienced hand and the Club thrived and prospered under her guidance”. It was evidently an elite group as there were only about 50 to 60 members during this period and they met three times a week to enjoy badminton, ping pong and bridge besides a monthly “Musical Evening”.
In 1918, Sir M Visvesvaraya founded the Century Club at Cubbon Park. In 1919, A R Banerji became its third president and held the post for 3 years. In his book “Through an Indian Camera”, Banerji himself wrote that it was started in difficult conditions of society that prevailed in 1918 and ladies were initially not admitted into the club.
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Later, A R Banerji served as the 21st Dewan of Mysore between March 1922 to April 1926. In this position, he administered Mysore in the name and under the direction of the Maharajah. He was known to be a strict administrator and was conferred the title of Rajamantra Dhurina (“expert in statecraft”) by Maharajah Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. Dewans were paid even more handsomely with salaries estimated around ₹3500 in the 1920s besides official residences, transport and other perks. In 1925, he was knighted and became Sir A R Banerji. Nolini was allowed to use the courtesy title of “Lady” before her surname and she became Lady Banerji.
Lady Banerji was also involved in other popular activities of the time like gardening and participating in the annual flower shows held in Labagh. In 1925, she won the largest number of prizes at the show for her fuchsias, heliotropes, balsams, double petunias, pansies, verbenas and sweet peas. Later, a “Lady N Banerji’s Rolling Cup” in her name was awarded during the annual Lalbagh flower shows for many years. Being part of the ruling class, it is quite certain that she would have had a retinue of gardeners who would have played a big role in these achievements.
The practice of having prominent people on corporate boards has existed for many decades and Lady Banerji was on the board of The Asiatic Government Security Life Assurance Co. Ltd, a life insurance company started in 1922. The company had its offices in the Asiatic Building which is well known as the heritage landmark Janatha Bazaar building on Kempegowda Road.
While there is no documented story or records on why Lady Banerji had her own personalized seat in Cubbon Park, it is most likely that this would have been done during the time when Sir A R Banerji was the Dewan and a member of the Century Club. Perhaps it was part of the privileges accorded to the elite ruling class with wealth, social standing, and influence.
After retirement in 1928, Sir A R Banerji and his wife Nolini travelled to Persia, Egypt, East Asia, Europe, Russia, USA and Central America for 12 years and eventually chose to settle down in Bengaluru at the end of 1940. Records show their residence address as 9, Crescent Road (a cross street on Hare Krishna Road, near the infamous, bumpy Shivananda Circle flyover).
Sir A R Banerji gave a speech at the silver jubilee celebration of the Century Club in March 1943. He again became its president for a second time in 1946 for a year. The Banerjis had one daughter Comolata, who was born on December 25, 1899 at Ramnad (Ramanathapuram), in Madras Presidency (now Tamil Nadu). She excelled in music and was an internationally recognised composer and pianist. Comolata provided music for dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar’s famous ballet Krishna and Radha.
Sir A R Banerji passed away on February 25, 1950. There are no obituary records of Lady Banerji. But, she is immortalised with her name etched in stone in the most famous park of the Garden City.
