Summary: (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/Cecy_profile1-150x150.jpg)Kora Chandy (http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/03/01/stories/2004030102340300.htm) was Bangalore's chronicler of 20thc. In this interview Chandy's daughter Ceclia (Cecy) Anthrapar talks about how her father developed his interest in the old, charming city. Trained as a lawyer in Kerala, he came to Bangalore (http://kamlashow.com/blog/2012/05/16/bangalore/) in 1930 and worked for the British residency and then went to work in the Bangalore's High Court. He helped TP Issar chronicle Bangalore's architecture history. But now that old, charming Bangalore has faded and given way to a new city that is in a hurry to play catch up with other metros. "He would have been totally lost in this new city," Cecy points out. Chandy (http://www.maheshbhat.com/port/portraitwebgallery/pages/35.html)wrote extensively about old Bangalore in City Tab (that no longer exists) and The Hindu. He researched and knew the stories and anecdotes of many of the charming old buildings (http://asia-major.com/reviews/jana/mayohall.html), homes (http://www.oocities.org/athens/Olympus/5024/cubhot.htm) and streets in Bangalore's cantonment area. Places like Golden Threshold (http://asia-major.com/reviews/jana/birds.html) and Victoria Hotel no longer exist. And in the last few years Bangalore's famous monkey top homes (http://kamlashow.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/TajMonkeyTop.jpg) have disappeared at an alarming rate, and in their place stand tall, modern apartment buildings. His interest in the history of Bangalore was planted in the 1930s by his former boss Sir Trevelyan, British Resident of Bangalore. From 1930s till the end of the century Chandy spent all his free time collecting and sharing information about Bangalore. Sir Trevrlyan later become the British Ambassador to the Soviet Union during the Cold War period. Chandy worked for Mysore Residency Office from 1930 to 1947, and then as Secretary of the Civil Station Municipal Commission from 1947 to 1950. From 1950-1963 he worked as the Deputy Registrar of the High Court and then retired. He was given the powers to register Christian Civil Marriages.
