BULLEN SHAFT, KOLAR GOLD FIELDS

METAL EMBOSSING SKETCH OF BULLEN SHAFT, KOLAR GOLD FIELDS
DONE BY MR. SRIMURGAN (PEELI) FROM HYDERABAD.

CENTENARY OF KGF MINES - ISSUANCE OF POSTAGE STAMP AND FIRST DAY COVER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CENTENARY OF KGF MINES - ISSUANCE OF POSTAGE STAMP AND FIRST DAY COVER

In order to commemorate the Centenary of the Kolar Gold Mines, the Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department issued a special commemorative Postage Stamp and First Day Cover on 20^th December 1980
Philatelic Stamp Description : The stamp depicts a miner drilling for ore along with representation of molten gold being poured into a mould and a few gold bricks.
The first day cover shows old and new techniques of drilling for ore against a mine head structure.

Stamp Issue Date : 20/12/1980

Postage Stamp Denomination: 1.00
Postal Stamp Serial Number: 0990
Postal Stamp Name: GOLD MINING
Stamp Currency: Rupee
Stamp Type: COMMEMORATIVE
Stamp Language: English
Stamp Overall Size: 3.91 X 2.90 cms
Postal Stamp Print Size: 3.55 X 2.5 cms.
Number of Stamps Per Sheet: 35
Stamp Perforations: 13 x 13
Postal Stamp Shape: Vertical
Postage Stamp Paper: Un-watermarked adhesive stamp paper
Indian Stamp Process: Photogravure
Number of stamps printed: 15,00,000
Stamp Printed At: India Security Press

Farewell Address to Mr J K Walker Superindent, Champion Reef Mine

 

























2. Address presented to Mr J K Walker on the Occasion of School day 26th January 1953 by the President, Madurai Numperumal Middle School, Andersonpet, KGF

 

Address presented to Mr J K Walker on the Occasion of School day 26th January 1953 by the President, Madurai Numperumal Middle School, Andersonpet, KGF

 

SHANDY DAY IN KGF - CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

I have lots of fond memories of the Shandy Day in KGF. When we were young we would accompany my dad to the Market in Robertsonpet as a treat on Sundays. The Market was named as Mahatma Gandhi Market. Sunday was ‘Shandy Day’ and the market was always filled with people. Traders would come in from all the nearby villages to sell their produce. Everything was quite cheap in those days. My dad would buy fresh vegetables and fruit required for the week and we would help to carry the bags.

 The sights and smells and the hustle and bustle of the market as soon as one stepped in was so exciting. It was a joy to see the mounds of fresh vegetables, fruits, bags of pulses, grains, sugar sweets, fried savouries, etc besides shops selling Plastic toys and games for just a couple of Rupees. Choosing what toy to buy with our pocket money of Two Rupees was quite a decision and we had to weigh the merits of a plastic or paper windmill against a spinning top or plastic gun.

After the vegetable and grocery shopping was over, our next stop would be at Aleem Bakery or Omar Bakery for cool drinks and hot chicken or vegetable puffs. (I don’t think they made somasas as in those days) We’d then buy buns and coconut biscuits and muffins to take home. The coconut muffins in Omar’s Bakery were especially nice as the muffins were filled with sweet, juicy coconut shavings and the outer pastry would just melt in our mouths!! The sponge cakes and Fairy cakes too were light and delicious.
Jewel Coffee Powder Centre was just next to Aleem Bakery and my dad usually stopped there to buy the week’s requirement of coffee powder and tea leaves. The smell of fresh,  just roasted coffee beans was just heaven!! With our bags laden with all the stuff that we bought in town, we’d take a jatka ride back to our house in Nandydroog Mine. It was time to wait for another week before we went to the Market again.

GIFFORDS SHAFT CHAMPION REEFS, KGF - THE WINDER ROOM

THE WINDER ROOM - GIFFORDS SHAFT CHAMPION REEFS, KGF

KGF - EARLY LIVING CONDITIONS

During the early years of the John Taylor and Sons Company, the workers lived in Miners lines that were actually Tin shacks with little or no ventilation. They had no facilities and no access to clean potable drinking water, toilet facilities, etc. They just used the open fields to do their business.

The unhygienic living areas also added to the spread of epidemics. Malaria was rampant with the large scale breeding of mosquitoes in the swamps. The illiterate men placed their trust in native medicine men when they fell ill, who promised a quick cure for their ailments, as the medical facilities were not readily available.

A new social evil also took root with the brewing and sale of illicit County liquor or ‘Sarai’ by unscrupulous elements. The miners soon became victims of these vices. They needed to drown their sorrows and relax after their hard and frightening day’s work.

This illicit Country Brew was made by fermenting lots of stuff including old batteries, dirty and polluted water, spoilt fruit and vegetables, molasses, jaggery, malt, mentholated spirit, etc. Sometimes this illicit and spurious brew became a ‘Killer Brew’ and many men succumbed to the reactions brought on by consuming it.

Another social evil that surfaced were the innumerable mobile Gambling Joints. The families of the miners were the ones worst affected by this social curse as the meager earnings of the men were fritted away by gambling and drinking, leaving them to starve.

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KOLAR GOLD FIELDS DOWN MEMORY LANE


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Contact:
Bridget Kumar
Mob: +919845571254
Email: bridgetkumar@yahoo.com

COTTON CANDY (BUDDDHI - KA-BAAL / AJJAN GADDA) AND PANJU MTTAI / BOMBAY MUTTAI

An excerpt from my book KOLAR GOLD FILEDS DOWN MENORY LANE

Eating cotton candy or candy floss is any child’s idea of a treat and as kids we too loved eating cotton candy and staining our tongues and lips bright pink. The soft pink cotton candy was called “Pangi Muttai” The ‘Pangu Muttai’ Man sold the bright pink soft Cotton Candy, in a tin box with glass sides. He carried the box with the help of a strap which he hung from his shoulder. The bright pink cotton candy was neatly arranged in small square blobs in rows in his Tin Box. He would take out the cotton candy carefully from his box and give it to us on pieces of newspaper.

This brightly coloured sweet was enough to entice any child and we were no exception. For us it was like eating sweet soft clouds made by angels and fairies. One blob of this heavenly sweet in our mouths and we could feel the sweetness filling each and every pour as it slowly made it’s way through the entire body. Every successive blob took us closer and closer to heaven. Our tongues would tingle in delight as the soft billowy cloud slowly melted and the residue stuck to our teeth. The Cotton Candy just melted in our mouths leaving us craving for more.

There were three different Bombay Muttai men selling 3 different types of Bombay ‘Muttai’. The word ‘Muttai’ means sweet in Tamil. All of them would call out ‘BOMBAI MUTTAI’ BOMBAI MUTTAI’. These sweet meats seem to have originated in Bombay and hence the name. The sound of the bell rung by the Bombay Muttai seller to denote his arrival was enough for us to grab some money from mummy and rush out of the house to buy this sweet.

One type of Bombay Muttai was ‘Old man’s Beard’ or “Boodhi – ka – Baal’ or ‘Grandma’s hair’ which was like a rough variety of cotton candy very much like human hair. This Indian version of Cotton Candy was also known as ‘Soan Papadi. It was soft, sweet, buttery, and very strongly flavored with ground cardamom. It was cream in colour and its texture was light, flaky, and quick to dissolve on the tongue. The seller carried this sweet in a glass bottle or a wooden box with a glass lid. He was careful not to expose the sweet to the air as it would get hard and lose the hairy texture. He had a collapsible table like contraption which was actually three thick bamboo sticks on which he rested the box or bottle while dispensing the sweet on small bits of newspaper.

Another variety of Bombay Muttai was a very bright pink and white striped candy that was wrapped on a long bamboo stick and covered with a sheet of plastic. The seller balanced the stick on one shoulder and supported it with one of his hands. While walking, he rang a small bell with the other hand. This candy was soft and malleable.

The Bombay Muttai man would take small blobs of this candy and transform it into different shapes such as watches, flowers etc depending on whatever shapes we wanted. He was quite creative in his designs and would complete the design in a few seconds.

The third variety of Bombay Muttai was a much harder variety of the striped candy. These hard candies were wrapped individually in cellophane paper and were usually bright pink or bright red. We’d have to suck them for a long time till they melted completely.

We just couldn’t bite them or break them as they were so hard. The last part of the sweet was sometimes sandy due most probably to the residue from the sugar or jaggery that was used to prepare it. Our tongues and lips would be stained red after eating these sweets.

The Cotton candy and sweets were prepared locally in small establishments and my mum was doubtful about the water used in their preparation and whether they were prepared hygienically. We were therefore not allowed to buy them.

However, this didn’t stop us from buying and tasting these bright pink sweets on the sly whenever we got a chance!! Thankfully we didn’t fall sick after eating it or else the secret of our eating it on the sly would’ve been out in the open and we would have got into ‘big’ trouble with mummy.

 

NANDYDROOG CLUB, KGF - MEMORIES

The Nandydroog Club was quite simple in its architecture and design unlike the KGF Club. However, the Tennis and Badminton Courts were very well maintained and Manickam the Marker always kept the Courts in pristine condition. He spent many hours doing the markings and ensuring the whole court was swept clean.

However, as with all the well loved and fondly remembered landmarks of our younger days in KGF, The Nandydroog Club is now closed and the Tennis and Badminton Courts are unused. There is an eerie silence around the place. The thud of the Tennis Balls are heard no more and Manickam the Marker and Shankar the Bar man died a long time ago.

Our house was just opposite the Nandydroog Club and the Skating Rink. Since my dad was a member of the Nandydroog Club, we were also allowed to make use of their facilities for tennis, badminton, Billiards, Snookers, cards, caroms etc. During the school term we were busy with our school work etc so we didn’t have time to avail of these facilities. However, during the school vocations, weekends and holidays we would play badminton and squash at the club, and also attend the Housie and Bingo Sessions.

The Bingo and Housie Sessions at the Nandydroog Club were such fun. Each of us would get our own Bingo cards which were priced at Two Rupees a card. One of the members would call out the Bingo Numbers and we had to be very quiet and attentive as the numbers were being called out so as to strike out those numbers on our cards.

I still remember the rhyming words used while calling out the numbers – Kelly’s Eye No 1, What Babies do No 2, All by itself No 3, Knock on the door No 4, Punjab Mail No 5, Pick up sticks No 6, lucky No 7, One fat major No 8, Doctors Orders No 9, Downing Street No 10, and so on. It was quite exciting waiting to win. The prizes were for each line, Full house, Jaldhi Five or Quick Five, Bamboo, Kings corner, Queen’s corner and the Jackpot. The Prizes were small gifts or small amounts of cash.

The Club also organized functions on Independence Day and Republic Day. There would be a Flag Hoisting function followed by a cultural programme and light refreshments. We would attend these functions and also take active part in the cultural programmes. On Republic day a Sports programme for the children was always held, and we won many prizes in various events.

The Billiards and Snooker Tables were the constantly in use by the members. Whist Drives, card Sessions and Ladies Meets were also regularly organized. The Bar was well stocked with the choicest foreign and Indian Liquors, Beers, and Soft Drinks. The club boys were kept on their toes by Shankar the Barman who was a strict disciplinarian.

The Nandydroog Club Canteen sold mouth watering snacks like fried groundnuts, fried green peas, chips, fries, sandwiches etc, It also stocked Jams, Cheese, Sandwich spreads, tinned fish, Cream Crackers, Biscuits, etc., and soft drinks like lemonade, ginger beer and orangeade.

These soft drinks were specially made in the Soda factory owned by the mines. The Ginger Beer, Lemonade and Pittalo were delicious. The Soda factory was situated beside the Rescue station and the Swimming Bath just behind our house. It was very easy to order and buy crates of these soft drinks if there was a party at home. Sadly the Soda factory too was shut when the mines closed down.

The Nandydroog Club is now closed and the Tennis and Badminton Courts are unused. There is an eerie silence around the place. The thud of the Tennis Balls are heard no more and Manickam the Marker and Shankar the Bar man died a long time ago.

TYPEWRITING AND SHORTHAND INSTITUTES IN KGF - THE END OF AN ERA

There were quite a few Typewriting and Short Hand  Institutes in KGF during the 1970s till the early 1990s.  The Vani Vilas Typewriting Institute, Neo Typewriting Institute, Rao’s Institute, Venkateswara Institute of Commerce, etc. in Robertsonpet and other places in KGF were some of them. These Institutes conducted Typewriting and Short Hand Classes in several batches a day of one hour’s duration and prepared students for careers as secretaries, clerks etc.  One could hear the very distinctive sound of the old Manual typewriters going ‘clackety-clack’ with so many students pounding on the keys at varying speeds throughout the day in these Typewriting Institutes.

 Learning Short Hand and Typing was synonymous with the desire of the middleclass in those times as a means of better job prospects. The Certificates one obtained after appearing for the Government Exams in Shorthand and Typewriting served as a ticket to jobs in the Public Sector and Government undertakings.

I also attended Typewriting and Shorthand Classes at the Neo Commerce Institute in Robertsonpet, as additional qualifications apart from my B A Degree.  I attended these classes in the evenings after returning from College.  The Institute was owned by Mr. Palani, whose son Prakash was our classmate in College. The Instructors and teachers in the Institute were quite good and prepared us for the Junior and Senior Government Examinations in both Typewriting and Shorthand. I still remember my Pitman’s Shorthand and found it of great use all these years.  In fact my having passed the Senior Typewriting and Short Hand Government Examinations was one of the Plus Points on my own Resume along with my BA and B Ed Degrees!!

Sadly these Institutes had to shut down in the last decade due to the onset of the Information Technology Era. The old manual Typewriters died a natural death, once Computers came into existence. While some of these Typewriting Institutes moved with the times and turned into Computer Education Institutes and Internet Cafes or Browsing Centers, some of them had to shut down as they couldn’t afford to invest in Computers and other equipment. Thus another aspect of our earlier lives also came to an end.

ST MICHAEL'S AND ALL ANGELS’ CHURCH, OORGAUM , KOLAR GOLD FIELDS.

The St Michael’s and All Angels’ Church, Oorgaum KGF was one of the first Anglican Churches in Kolar Gold Fields. It came into existence when the original church i.e. St Paul's Church shifted to Robertsonpet from Oorgaum.

As per early historical records, one of which are the papers presented by M L Griffith-Jones, a Diocesan Lay Reader at a meeting of the Church of England Men’s Society (CEMS) in 1916, a small Church was erected in the year 1894 at Oorgaum in Kolar Gold Fields (where the Compressor House of Bullen Shaft now stands) The Church had just basic infrastructure and was constructed with Funds collected by the rev W F Penny, who was the Secretary of the INDIAN CHURCH AID ASSOCIATION, LONDON.

The Church was dedicated to St Paul and placed under the control of the S.P.G. The first Chaplain was Rev James Sharp. In those early days, the Church could seat around 60 faithful and the evening services were conducted both in English and Tamil.

In December 1901, The John Taylor and Sons Company, London, sent out Rev. L.Giffard Pollard as the Chaplain of St Paul’s Anglican Church. It was during his tenure that he started the ball rolling for a new Church to be built as the existing church had developed cracks due to the sinking of a new vertical shaft (Bullen Shaft) just next to it. It was subsequently decided to build a new Church for the English speaking congregation, while the Tamil speaking Congregation would continue as members of St Paul’s.

Consequently, THE OORGAUM COMPANY took over the old Church building and land in Oorgaum and paid a handsome compensation for it to the S.P.G. The S.P.G then built a new Church in Robertsonpet or New Town (as it was called in those days) on a piece of land given by the Government out of the compensation amount. This Church continued the old name of St Paul’s Church and catered to the Tamil speaking Anglican Congregation of KGF.

The new Church for the English speaking Congregation was built on a piece of land given by the GOLD FIELD OF MYSORE COMPANY, quite close to the KGF Club and a short distance away from the old St. Paul’s Church.

The Foundation Stone was laid on 8^th October 1903. The John Taylor and Sons Company extended much assistance to the building of the new Church. A beautiful brick and stone Church and Parsonage in Victorian Style was ultimately constructed and was named as the “St Michael’s and All Angels’ Church”. The new Church was completed and dedicated on 3^rd march 1905. The Altar, Pulpit and Pews were brought from the old church while a new beautifully carved Teak lectern was installed. The Pipe organ which is still in use in this church was brought from Madras in June 1921. St Michael’s and All Angels Church was now strategically located and had a large English Speaking Congregation who worshipped here regularly.

St, Michael’s and All Angels Church was under the administration of the Church of England from 1905 and all the Chaplains of the church were appointed directly by the John Taylor and Sons Company. After India attained independence, the church was brought under the control of the   Church of South India - Diocese of Mysore in 1947.

St Michael’s and All Angels’ Church celebrated its centenary in the year 2005 and is still maintained in the same condition even today. Located in serene surroundings, it is a Haven of Peace and tranquility.

OORGAUM HALL AND THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE AT OORGAUM , KGF

This is a picture of the Telephone Exchange at Oorgaum taken almost 60 years ago. The clock at the side of the building always showed the correct time. This Telephone Exchange was always busy in the good old days with all the wires humming connecting the various departments and offices in the Mines as well as the Bungalows. It is now unused and locked up like the rest of the mining offices.

In the back ground is the OORGAUM HALL.

Towards the end of the 1890’s motion pictures came into existence and it was not long before the John Taylor and Sons Company began bringing in films for screening in KGF. A separate Picture Hall was built in Oorgaum quite close to the KGF Gymkhana Club and named as the Oorgaum Hall to screen only English Movies and Documentaries once or twice a week,

The Oorgaum Hall was just a basic Hall with a large white screen and a hand operated Projector and wooden benches for seating. It was the era of Black and White Silent Pictures initially and the Silent films were replaced by the ‘Talking Pictures’ only in the late 1920s.

Films of various genres were screened at the Oorgaum Hall. Westerns and Cowboy Films, Historical Extravaganzas, melodramas, Biblical Epics, Horror films, Crime and Gangster films, Romances, mysteries, Comedies, etc  were all avidly watched and enjoyed at the Oorgaum Hall.

KOLAR GOLD FIELDS DOWM MEMORY LANE - PAEANS TO LOST GLORY

KOLAR GOLD FIELDS DOWN MEMORY LANE – PAEANS TO LOST GLORY! is now available on amazon

Pick up a copy of your book today and leave it as a legacy for your future generations.

Contact bridgetkumar@yahoo.com to buy copies of this truly nostalgic book on KGF.

TENENTS SHAFT , CHANPION REEFS, KGF

A very old photograph of Tenents Shaft. Most probably in the early 1900s. Check out the Bullock Cart as well as the old broken down car in front of it. Also note the attire worn at that time.

Tenent Shaft was one of the flagship Shafts of the JOHN TAYLOR AND SONS COMPANY

EGG SELLER or THE EGG MAN

One of my fondest memories of my childhood in KGF, is that of the Egg Man or the Egg Seller The Egg man would come around door to door to sell fresh Country Hen Eggs to people. He had his own regular customers who he visited on specific days. He lived in a village near the Volagamadhi Hills and he’d walk the distance from his village to all the four mines in KGF where he visited his regular customers on specific days in each mine.

The Egg man began his journey every day with around 150 fresh hen’s eggs that he sourced from all the houses in his own village. He carried the eggs carefully in a huge round basket with a long handle which he hung from his shoulder. The handle of the basket was wrapped with a thick cloth which acted as a cushion on his shoulder so that the heavy basket didn’t hurt his shoulder. The old man’s back was almost bent over from the weight of the basket that he carried.

He supplied eggs to our house in Nandydroog once a week i.e. on every Tuesday morning. The first thing he did,  was to carefully lower the basket to the ground and then take out the eggs one by one and place them gently in a big bowl or basin of water, which the Ayah brought out as soon as he arrived.

We children would all crowd around him and watch eagerly to see whether the eggs he placed in the bowl would sink and lie flat at the bottom or rise up. The eggs that lay flat were the good eggs and the ones that rose up in the water were bad so they were immediately segregated and the good eggs were placed carefully in another bowl.

 Every time a bad egg was detected and put aside, the Egg Man’s face would grow longer, as this meant that he wouldn’t get paid for the bad eggs! The price would be then arrived at for the number of eggs that were bought. My Mum usually bought about 3 dozen eggs to see us through the week till his next visit.

These country fowl’s eggs were always smaller than the Leghorns Eggs and also a darker brown in colour. Eating country fowl’s eggs was considered to be healthy and more nutritious than the ‘Farm Eggs’ so my mum always ensured that there was a supply of fresh country hen’s eggs  in the house for us.

This is an excerpt from my book KOLAR GOLD FIELDS DOWN MEMORY LANE

Patrick and Heather Taylor visit to KGF on 9th November 2011 along with Bridget White-Kumar

I was pleasantly surprised about a month ago to receive this email from Mr. Patrick Taylor from the UK.

“Dear Bridget

My name is Patrick Taylor. I am in the process of reading your fascinating book on the KGF. My father, Arthur, a partner in the firm of John Taylor & Sons, was in charge of the mines during my early childhood, when I lived on the KGF for 7 years before returning to England for my education. Now 63 years old, I have never returned to India but my wife and I are coming to the KGF in November. I would be most interested to meet you if that would be possible. I have many happy memories of my early life in India and for me this trip will definitely be a trip down memory lane. It will be greatly enhanced if I can have the benefit of learning from your knowledge of the place that was the foundation of my life. Warm regards
Patrick Taylor

Patrick and his wife Heather were in Bangalore on the 8^th November and the next day I accompanied them on a trip ‘Down Memory Lane to KGF’. We started our trip with a visit to the new exploration site of the Kolar Gold Company at Chickregunta near Kuppam.

We were accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Johnson and Phillip Dingle. Phillip and Mr. Richards made our trip to the new exploration site truly memorable. It was a fascinating opportunity for us of looking into the future and seeing a new Gold Mining area taking shape. It was also a glimpse into the past, as to how the pioneers of our present day Kolar Gold Fields once explored and prospected for gold in a rocky barren area to what it finally evolved into. It was a pleasure meeting Raymond Cruze, Mr Gupta and all the Staff of  Kolar Gold Company. Sincere thanks to  Mr.and Mrs. Richard Johnson, Phillip Dingle and all the other staff of Kolar Gold Company for making our visit to the new exploration site a memorable one.

Patrick was quite nostalgic when we visited the St Joseph’s Convent. The Nuns were so thrilled to have him visit them. They said the ‘son of the house’ has come to visit them. The nuns house at the Convent was earlier the residence of Mr Arthur Taylor, the General of the John Taylor and Company.

Many will recall that  St Joseph’s Convent School was earlier functioning in the premises of St Mary’s Church compound (now Our Lady of Victories Church) in Champion Reefs. The school building was a simple structure with a tin roof. However, due to the massive Rock Burst of Earth Quake proportions in 1952, the St Mary’s Church, the presbytery, the Convent and the School Buildings all collapsed to the ground. Luckily, no one was injured and no lives were lost. But the buildings were completely destroyed.

Mr. Morgan, The Chief Medical Officer of the Company Hospital, rushed to help the Sisters and took them to the Hospital premises. He vacated one of the wards to accommodate them for the day. That evening he arranged for their indefinite stay at the Bungalow of the General Manager of the Mines, Mr. Arthur Taylor in Champion Reefs, who was away in England on a holiday at the time. The nuns were given half of the main house as their temporary abode. Even though this bungalow was huge and quite spacious it was insufficient to accommodate the Convent and the school with so many students. So while half of the main house, the garage and servants quarters were made use of for the Convent, the classes were held under the trees and in temporary sheds.

                                                                                                                    

When Mr. Arthur Taylor, returned to KGF from the UK he and his family shifted to another Bungalow near the Golf Course which now houses the Mining Offices. The   Bungalow and the adjacent land was thus sold to the St Joseph’s Convent Nuns. It became the nun’s living quarters and in course of time an extension was added to it to accommodate the Community. The school slowly expanded and huge class rooms were built around the nun’s house on the land given to the school by the Company.  The old house as Patrick remembered it still in the same beautiful condition today and lovingly maintained by the Sisters of St Joseph of Tarbes

We then went back to KGF and visited various places around Champion Reefs, such as Our Lady of Victories Church, the Champion Reefs Post Office, the Reservoir, the Champion Reefs Work Shops, the Imperial Bakery and the Hospital. Patrick was very sad to see the deplorable state of the Hospital where he recalled being treated for various childhood illnesses and also to have his hand sutured when he cut it while banging on a glass door.

He was also very dejected to see the state of Mr J K Lindsay's once beautiful bungalow. He remembered the beautiful spiral starcase in the house and playing on the lovely green lawns. This bungalow was later the J K Lindsay Memorial School. It was after the school was shifted back to the Parkinson Memorial premises in Oorgaum and the place was lying vacant, that vandals has destroyed the place and stollen everything of value including he doors and windows. The building is now the SC/ ST Association Office.

Patrick also visited the other Bungalow near the Golf Course where his family shifted after their return from their holiday in the UK in 1952. He was however quite sad to see it as it looked quite run down even though the Mining Offices are housed in it. Never the less this house also evoked a lot of Nostalgia and he recalled many happy incidents of his short stay there as he left for the UK in a couple of years. 

St Michael’s and All Angel’s Church was also on his list of places to visit and he was very happy to visit the Church which he remembered going to. He spent sometime in the Church speaking to the Church Representatives Mr. Nathan and Mr. Moses who presented him and me with a copy of the Centenary Souvenir.

 The KGF Club was the highlight of his visit. Mr. Kotnise, the President and Mr. Nathan, Secretary of the KGF Club welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and interacted with them. Patrick was immensely pleased to see the photographs of his Great grandfather John Taylor and all his other Taylor Ancestors displayed on the walls of the Conference Room of the Club.

He and his wife stood under the photograph of his Great grandfather John Taylor in the Main Bar and clicked many   photographs. 

He was pleased to meet Susai Raj, the old Bar man of the KGF Club. Susai Raj is now 88 years old but his memory was quite fresh when narrating various incidents connected with the Taylor Family. 

Soon it was time to leave KGF as the Taylor’s had to catch the early morning flight back to the United Kingdom. With heavy hearts they bid goodbye to KGF and promised to visit again sometime.  I was immensely pleased that their visit to KGF went off well and all the arrangements made by me for their visit were appreciated by them.

 

‘New Imperial Bakery and Victory Confectionery Stores’ in Champion Reefs.

This is a picture of the ‘New Imperial Bakery and Victory Confectionery Stores’ in Champion Reefs which is situated just opposite the Company Hospital. This Store in the good old days, was any child’s delight with huge glass bottles filled with different kinds of sweets, biscuits, toffees, stick jaws, buns etc. The Egg Sweets, ‘Wording sweets’, lollipops, Jujips, Almond Sweets, etc were all so delicious and enticing. Since it was just opposite the hospital, no hospital visit was complete without visiting this delightful place. Parents often had to bribe their kids to take their medicines with promises of goodies from the New Imperial Bakery. Besides these exciting  sweets in bottles, the trays of Mutton and Vegetable Puffs, Buns, biscuits, cookies and other savouries was a gourmet's delight.

Our daily bread was also ‘home delivered’ every day at 4 o’clock in the evening. The ‘Bread Man’ brought the freshly baked loaves in a large Wooden Box tied on the carrier of his bicycle. This bread was delivered from this ‘New Imperial Bakery and Victory Confectionery Stores’ for more than 35 years!! The loaves of bread were always still hot from the oven when he brought them. These loaves were sold whole not sliced and just before dinner every night my mum would slice the loaf and leave it on the table for us. Like the mincing machine, each Anglo-Indian family had their own bread board and bread knife to slice the bread.

The payment for the bread that was delivered every day was done on a monthly basis. Every house had their own page in the ‘Bread Man’s’ long  account book, and entries would be made as to the number of loaves of bread and buns bought by them against the date. During the first week of the succeeding month, the representative of the ‘New Imperial Bakery and Stores’ would make the rounds for receiving payment of the bread delivered during the month.

The bakery also made special Hot Cross Buns filled with plums for Good Friday and our Baker would deliver them along with the bread on Maundy Thursday. We’d have to place an order as to the number of buns required about 10 days in advance. Since Good Friday was the day of fasting and abstinence we normally ate these Hot Cross buns for breakfast and dinner with a little butter.

THE BOMBAY CAMP CRICKET GROUND

The Bombay Camp was the name of the Cricket grounds in Oorgaum KGF.

This Cricket Ground was just behind the First Grade College and close to the Oorgaum Dairy. Cricket was said to have originated in KGF as early as the 1880s when the John Taylor and Sons Company commenced mining operations here. KGF was said to have produced a number of eminent cricketers such as Ren Nailor and John Snaize in the 1940s. Ren Nailor played for the Madras Presidency in those days. Another famous cricketer from KGF was Suri Gopalakrishna who was born in the 1940s and later played for Bihar and Kerala. Bombay Camp has some important history behind it as well. It was actually an improvised airfield during the Second World War and was known as the Kolar Gold Fields Air field. The 1673 Heavy Conversion Unit was stationed here at this airfield. 

This is an excerpt from my book KOLAR GOLD FIELDS DOWN MEMORY LANE - Paeans to Lost Glory. Lots more information about the Bombay Camp Cricket Grounds in my book.

KOLAR GOLD FIELDS - DOWN MEMORY LANE - TESTIMONIAL

Testimonial from R. Sudarshan (Mr), Policy Advisor - Legal Reform and Justice, UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION, BANGKOK, THAILAND.

Bridget White Kumar’s book on the Kolar Gold Fields is a splendid soliloquy on a very special place, which was, once upon a time, inhabited by some very special people. That’s a very good reason for wanting to read this book.


There are also other reasons, besides its special subject matter, why this book deserves to be read. It’s very readable! It stands out as a true tribute to the success of teachers at the KGF Boys School (where both Bridget and I were pupils for four years) and St. Joseph’s Convent (where Bridget honed her writing skills). Bridget’s language is simple, direct, economical and familiar. Her sentences are grammatical and unambiguous. The rich and diverse material in the book is organised in a logical and orderly way. Moreover, this book is evocative of many of life’s simple pleasures – food and flowers, parties and picnics, and entertaining eccentrics. These features should make this book interesting and enjoyable, even for those who have had nothing to do with KGF.

For those who can share with the author her nostalgia for KGF, the special place, this book will be read with familiar pleasure, and re-read to their progeny who cannot any longer experience the place as it once was, full of vibrant life.
KGF now, with the gold gone, has become a ghost town, where stories are told about phantoms that haunt disused mine shafts, red-eyed monsters that sit atop the sodium-cyanide dumps that dot its landscape, and UFOs wait to be sighted.

There are still more reasons, apart from the sheer pleasure of reading a good, readable book, why this book should appeal to those who have no connection with KGF.

At a time of growing concerns about globalisation and conflicts over religion, race, and ethnicity the world over, Bridget’s book brings home to it readers that diversity of races, religions, and languages can actually enrich a community, and need not debilitate it.

KGF symbolized an older variant of globalisation. It has had long-standing links with the London bullion market, and a high proportion of Anglo-Indians, a living legacy of the British Raj. These are only few of the factors which gave the denizens of KGF a cosmopolitan outlook, proletarian pride, and mofussil manners. Bridget’s book brings out vividly the values and attitudes that make it possible for a community to thrive by celebrating diversity, notwithstanding colonial inequities and inequalities of caste.

All this makes Bridget book much more than a good read. It provides nourishment for reflection upon the challenges of our times brought about globalisation that is badly in need of the human essence that pervaded the Kolar Gold Fields.

R. Sudarshan (Mr)
Policy Advisor - Legal Reform and Justice
UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Centre
3rd Floor, UN Service Building,
Rajadamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200 Thailand.

SHAFTS IN KGF

This is a collage of some of the Shafts in KGF.