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I HAVE LIVED IN MALLESWARAM FOR THE LAST 98 YEARS...

Many residents began the conversation by saying “I have lived in Malleswaram for 98 years/85 years/almost 100 years,” which would surprise us since they looked too young for that! By this statement, they meant to convey that their families had lived in the area for 98 years, but their use of the phrase, “I have lived” was telling, since it implied a sense of belonging that had trickled down generationally. The MRWA, too, in the spirit of preserving memories of their childhood, organized village game events where they passed on games such as Gilli-Danda and Kabbadi to the next generation. Similarly many of them were conducting the same business their family had been doing for years. The priest, Sutram Kiran Shastry, at Sri Kanyaka Parameshwari Temple (colloquially referred to as Vasavi Temple), for example, told us about his grandfather, Sutram Subramanium Shastry and his father Subramanium Shastry. His family had been priests at the temple for the last 70 years. He himself had worked for AXA, a French insurance company since 1998. Last year, he resigned to, in his words, “do puja and seva to god to continue the entire generation’s work which my father and grandfather wanted to do here...minimal people have this kind of generation thing which we have here.” Laxman Kumar, an owner of a Puja shop and member of an 80 member family located in Malleswaram, also spoke about how his family had always owned different shops in the Malleswaram area, and how, as business owners in the area, they were planning public service drives to celebrate 100 years of residing there. Even within the informal flower vendors outside the temple, at least three of them stated that they were Malleswaram residents and that their mothers also sold flowers in the area (though not in the exact location).




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