Whitefield, suspended frozen still in time, <br />A relic of the past, verdant lush green, <br />Nigh far away from urban glare and grime; <br />Nestled in hist’ry was Waverly Inn. <br /> <br />But not ere long it lived in old-world charm, <br />Alluring what with rare mystique beauty, <br />Protestant mores— protected well from harm— <br />From a bustling big brother city; <br /> <br />Its neo Gothic church— century old, <br />Trellis wooden cottages blending well <br />Rich history under its ample fold, <br />Rosewoods, English crockery, dunk old smell! <br /> <br />A rotund man’s romantic interlude1 <br />Lies hidden from archives in dusty hood. <br />___________________________________________________________ <br />In Whitefield, near Bangalore, a settlement more than a century old <br />has been nestled in history and Nature. Predominantly Eurasians and <br />Anglo-Indians lived there. It boasted of Whitefield Club famous for <br />its ball-room dances. Many fell in and out of love there, a fall out of <br />the dances. <br /> <br />Today the old charm is fast vanishing what with multi-storied malls, <br />huge halls, and the hustle and bustle of the Sai Baba ashram; and the <br />place has turned cosmopolitan. Yet, many still cling to the old memories <br />and the make-believe world. <br /> <br />Survived still has this Waverly Inn at the Whitefield that witnessed a <br />conquest1 not recorded by history. Winston Churchill used to frequent <br />this Inn to court one miss Hamilton, daughter of the innkeeper James <br />Hamilton. A fact few might believe. But ‘unknown to most he was an <br />incorrigible romantic’, says Michael Shelden in his recent book ‘Young <br />Titan: The Making of Winston Churchill’. The new generation is still <br />being regaled here with the claims that the place has been the relic of <br />their romance— a rock with the initials WSC engraved in a heart, Cupid’s <br />arrow passing through it. <br />____________________________________________________________________ <br /> - Relics from far | 01.08.12 |<br /><br />Aniruddha Pathak<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-waverly-inn/
