If you have gone past the MG road-Residency intersection in the Central Business District, Mayo Hall, a colonial-era government complex, partly hidden from the bustling traffic by trees is bound to grab your attention. The complex, housing government officials, notary offices and court complexes is always a hive of activity, buzzing with lawyers, typists preparing notary statements and many others. There are also small canteens, serving meals and snacks for those who visit the complex. Lawyers rush around, shouting instructions in Kannada, Hindi and English, while typists key in statements, rent agreements and lease deeds on old typewriters and the occasional computer. Mayo Hall also houses a museum dedicated to Kempegowda on the first floor.
Tourist magnet
The complex, built to honour Lord Mayo, the fourth viceroy of British India and was inaugurated in 1883 and is an architectural marvel. It is adorned with chandeliers, Greek cornices, Tuscan columns, stone arches, wooden floors and beautiful furnishings that make it a popular haunt in the tourist circuit as well.
Lawyer Ganesh Shivaswamy says, “I am a fifth-generation lawyer. Mayo Hall has undergone many changes over the years. In the pre-Independence days, when my grand uncle Rajadharmaprakastha Justice AR Nageshwar Iyer was a judge, Mayo Hall was the court for the Civil Station. Appeals went to the Madras High Court and to the Privy Council.
Smooth ride
“My grandfather, AR Somnath Iyer, was a lawyer then. He went on to become the Chief Justice of Karnataka. He used to talk about arguing a case in Mayo Hall. They had to pay a toll to enter the Civil Station. When he arrived at Mayo Hall, the Principal Judge, a British officer had finished work and had just mounted his horse to go for a ride.
“My grandfather argued before him when he was still on the horse! Subsequently, the court officer was summoned and the order of injunction was dictated with the officer on the horse. He soon galloped off for a ride.”
Ganesh adds, “Though the legal profession is often fraught with discord, that is not the case at Mayo Hall. Perhaps it is the years of camaraderie or the fact that it is a cosy building compared to the large City Civil Court complex.
Celebrating brotherhood
“These are assumptions, but there does exist a brotherhood among lawyers that continues to this date.
“My stint at Mayo Hall commenced as soon as I enrolled. I was the Mayo Hall junior in the office. It is only now that I have gravitated more to the city court. Practising at Mayo Hall was like working in a time gone by. This is the only court in Bengaluru, which has remained the same — both the High Court and City Civil Court buildings have changed. The bygone ambience is preserved only in Mayo Hall. I like the old furniture, especially the witness stand with the word Witness carved on the wooden floor. I always wondered what that box had witnessed through the years.”
The pigeons listen in
Ganesh points out, “The lazy summer afternoons in Mayo Hall were particularly delightful. The heat would cause most cases to be adjourned. The distant arguing of an advocate would make you rather sleepy. I was always delighted to see the pigeons (which somehow always found their way in) were more attentive to the goings on than most of the people!”
A walk in wedding
Author Dev Prasad has his special Mayo Hall memory. “It was many years ago, when I was a bachelor. I was walking down Brigade Road when I was asked by a young man if I could help him out. I agreed and went with him to the Mayo Hall complex. There was an office that conducted registered marriages.
“The boy explained that he and his fiancé belonged to different religious sects. Since their parents opposed the marriage, they decided to go in for a registered wedding. However, they did not take into account the need for a witness. I was asked to take up that role and did it gladly. I was happy I could contribute in my own way to an inter-religious marriage. That has been my main memory about Mayo Hall.”
Where we discover hidden and not so hidden nooks and crannies
