Milk delivered in glass bottles, his father and uncle getting up pre-dawn to start work in the bakery, and as a young boy, returning from school to relieve his father at lunch time — are just some of the memories VF David, proprietor of Fatima Bakery, has of the idyllic days of his childhood.
BENGALURU - KARNATAKA - 30/04/2019 : Products from Fatima Bakery, one of the oldest store near Vellara junction, on Hosur road, will be making way for the construction of the Vellara underground Metro station which is part of the Gottigere-Nagawara line under Phase 2, by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), in Bengaluru on April 30, 2019. Photo: K Murali Kumar / THE HINDU
“I spent my whole life here; I don’t have any other activities,” says David, who is now in his 60s.
The bakery was opened in 1957 on Leonard Road near Johnson Market by VP Francis and his brother VP Thomas who moved to the city from Kerala.
BENGALURU - KARNATAKA - 30/04/2019 : Products from Fatima Bakery, one of the oldest store near Vellara junction, on Hosur road, will be making way for the construction of the Vellara underground Metro station which is part of the Gottigere-Nagawara line under Phase 2, by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), in Bengaluru on April 30, 2019. Photo: K Murali Kumar / THE HINDU
David says, “When my father wanted to start the bakery, the statue of the Lady of Fatima was brought to Bengaluru from Portugal. He saw it and decided to name the bakery after it.” The bakery shifted to its present location in 1959 and Thomas went on to open All Saints Bakery around 12 years later.
“My father, who passed away in 2010, and my uncle were simple and hard-working people. They never even wore a watch. Interestingly, they only wore white throughout the year.”
The iconic Fatima Bakery, which also houses a supermarket, will close in around a month’s time as Namma Metro station is set to come up on Hosur Road. The threat of closure has been looming over the bakery for the last two years, but David says he cannot stave it off any longer.
In the meantime, a smaller outlet will open on May 3 opposite Sacred Heart Church. Work is also going on to get a bigger place ready at the entrance of Bannerghatta Road. This is in addition to the outlet in Koramangala.
Bangalore:20/12/2008:** FOR ASHOKNAGAR - Neighbourhood **Fatima Bekary for eating out- at Ashoknagar for Christmas in Bangalore. Photo: V_Sreenivasa_Murthy.
This new building will house a supermarket and manufacturing unit (at present, the unit is located behind the bakery) where all the delicious products that Fatima Bakery is known for will be made: loaves of milk and brown breads; spiral and garlic rolls; mini burger buns; jam and cashew biscuits, coaster-sized tea biscuits; mini coconut cookies; apple cakes, and fresh pineapple and chocolate cakes. And, of course, their best sellers can’t be forgotten — rich plum cake, chicken and mutton puffs and samosas.
The bakery began by selling bread to the huge Anglo-Indian population in the area. Even now, bread is one of the popular items with 300 loaves baked every day though David says the numbers have dipped. He adds, “We have been supplying bread to the Indian Coffee House for the last 50 years. We also supply bread to Ocea International Hotel.”
BENGALURU - KARNATAKA - 30/04/2019 : Products from Fatima Bakery, one of the oldest store near Vellara junction, on Hosur road, will be making way for the construction of the Vellara underground Metro station which is part of the Gottigere-Nagawara line under Phase 2, by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), in Bengaluru on April 30, 2019. Photo: K Murali Kumar / THE HINDU
He says that with news of the closure spreading, he has been receiving many calls from people abroad and gets to listen to people reminisce.
“Bangalore Military School (Rashtriya Military School) and Baldwin’s school are nearby. So, people who are about 70 or 75 years now, used to come buy apple cake from here when they were young.”
“The military school has a reunion every year. Once they heard we may be closing down, old students came bought apple cakes and took selfies too. They recalled the old days, what they ate and so on. It seems that sometimes when they didn’t have money, my father would give them things on credit. So, such stories came out.”
As for what he thinks about all the old city landmarks disappearing one by one, David says, “I feel that if the next generation supports us then we can still grow with the same name. We can do very well by selling traditional food items and even start branches here and there. I’m hoping that my son will be interested in carrying forward my father’s legacy.”
