The school where Sir MV studied

One of the greatest Indians-Sir M.Visvesvartiah, was born in Muddenahalli near Nandi Hills in Chikaballapur district.

There is a museum about Sir MV and also the school where he studied. Over the years, Muddenahalli has become a place of pilgrimage for students and engineers, all of whom want to feel a slice of history that goes back to the life and times of Sir MV.

But what many do not know is that Bangalore too has a connection with Sir MV. No, I am not talking about the houses he resided in Bangalore or the offices he held.

It is a High School he went to in Bangalore and apart from school authorities there are very few who know about this.

After finishing his primary school in Muddenahalli, a young Visvvesvaraiah enrolled as a student of the United Mission School on Kalinga Rao Road in Bangalore.

The school is in Sampangiramanagara and it is located in the heart of the city and just behind the Unity Buildings on JC Road.

The old school has a sloping roof of flat clay tiles and impressive verandah is filled with  tiny wooden benches.

Class rooms with high ceilings surround the verandah and there is a square garden in the centre. This is the same United Mission High School that the young statesman studied for some time.

The beautiful school building is today dwarfed by the tall Unity buildings on one side and the Gothic Corporation building just across the road.

When Visvesvaraiah studied here, there was neither the Unity building nor the maddening traffic on JC Road. There was a huge lake just across the Corporation building and it was called Sampangiramanagar Lake.

Lalbagh could be seen from the school verandah as there were few buildings. The only other building of note nearby was the Bangalore Club whose compound could be seen. Visvesvaraya learnt his basics here at this school.

The United Mission School even then was among the oldest of the educational institutions in Bangalore. It was started by London Missionaries in 1834 and it was initially called London Mission School. The name was later changed to United Mission School.

Apart from Sir MV, the school’s alma mater includes two erstwhile Chief Ministers of the State, K C Reddy and Kengal Hanumanthaiah and one Dewan of Mysore State-Sir Mirza Ismail.

Kengal Hanumanthaiah, apart from statesman-engineer Sir M Visvesvaraya.

After his study here, he enrolled at the Central College and completed his degree before moving to Poona for further education in its College of Science.  Sir MV has been an inspiration for generations of people. Would it not be appropriate if students were made aware of such facts and encouraged to visit such places. At the least, they will be aware of one of the most fascinating aspects of our heritage.