The Little England

By Sindhu Manoj

Gold wasn’t the only reason why the English chose to live here in the pre independence era. It was more because of its pleasant weather and picturesque surroundings that made them pitch their tents here until they left Indian soils after we were an independent nation, taking away a lot from here and leaving a bit of them here as well. The gold reserves in Kolar Gold Fields situated in Karnataka is what I’m referring to. The huge reserves were discovered by the British mining companies as early as in the late 1800s and ever since they did, many shafts appeared in this region for mining the precious yellow metal. The raw ore needed to be refined and processed as well to bring out the gold into a form that can be used. So, then came the processing units. All this happened over 100 years under supervision of English mining companies who brought in the latest available technology of those days to mine, collect, process the ore and discard the waste which was a muddy paste rich in many other minerals, now surrounding this ghost town affecting its natural environment in a vastly negative manner. What remains from the gloriously rich place today are many such shafts and a ghost town which speaks of its rich and beautiful past. 

Once India was a nation, the mines continued as the Bharat Gold Mines and just like the British had done, employed a vast number of the locals as miners for they had been used to this now. The miners lived in tiny rooms in and around the shafts and the higher officials now lived in the huge English bungalows now made convenient as officer’s quarters by some rearrangement and make overs due to their massive size. The mine was amongst the deepest and farthest spread underground and had more gold reserves left. However, the fact that the reserves could not be replenished made the government to open up another industry in KGF called the Bharat Earth Movers Limited. And that was what brought more people like my Dad to this tiny town with a golden past when he joined BEML in the late 1960s. My Mom soon joined him in the early 70s and here begins my journey along with my sister; a beautiful journey in this amazing place filled with lots of memorable childhood moments and adventures.

The British had left a part of their lifestyle and culture, along with their grandeur in the form of huge English bungalows, community halls, churches, schools, railway lines, hospitals and some of them had even tied knots with the locals leaving a fairly good population of the Anglo Indian community as well, here in KGF. 

One wouldn’t be surprised if we found a barber or a butler here who spoke to us in English. The locals were pretty well versed with English and it was not treated a foreign language here. The influence that the British culture had on the people and their lifestyle as well as the look of the place gave it the name : The Little England. And how apt that is, one can relate to more, as I take you through my memories of this place ever since I remember, closely etched to my heart. 

Now, the mines area in the 70s belonged to the Bharat Gold Mines and we lived a few miles away initially in the tiny town of KGF and later moved in to the newer settlements of BEML, called BEML Nagar.

Since there were no schools close to BEML Nagar then, my parents chose to send me to an Anglo Indian Kindergarten in the mines area and later to the all girls St Joseph’s convent school, also in the mining area until my third grade, when a Kendriya Vidyalaya was started in BEML Nagar which became my Alma mater for the rest of my schooling until I completed grade 12. 

Kolar Gold Fields was also a place with multiple cultural influences . Although it was geographically in Karnataka, it was so close to both Tamizh Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. So most locals, now including us had the special privilege to learn multiple languages apart from my mother tongue Malayalam, like Kannada, Tamizh and Telugu. I’m highly indebted to the diversity of this little golden town that shaped us up as individuals who loved and respected the rich and varied heritage of all the people who lived here. 

BEML Nagar was a mini India. We lived in the quarters the company provided to my Dad and often had neighbours who were from different parts of India making it a blend of rich cultural heritage and exchange of the same during festivals and celebrations. We celebrated all festivals together, right from New Year to Pongal, Yugadi or Vishu, Lohri or Baisakhi, Holi or Easter, Onam to Diwali, Ramadan or Christmas in our community halls or clubs. These made more amazing memories for us to cherish for a lifetime. 

The Kolar Gold mines, although amongst the deepest active mines during the 1970s, finally ran out of any more of the shiny precious yellow metal in the later 1990s leading to ending of operations. This was exactly the period of our childhood. My earliest memories are from the house we lived in Swarnakuppam, later renamed Swarna Nagar. It was from here I started my schooling and where we welcomed my little sister to our family. The following pages are from my memories from our life here during the last quarter of the century. 

By Sindhu Manoj