'Bangalore was a romantic place'

Manna Dey had relocated here from the City of Joy a decade ago. One of the reasons perhaps was because he courted his wife Sulochana here. Another reason: "We made Bangalore our home in 2000 as my younger daughter Sumita stays here,'' he had said.
Bangalore welcomed him with open arms. He was flooded with concert offers. But his romance with the city dates back to the early 1950s when he lived in Bombay.He had to sing a duet at a cultural programme with Sulochana Kumaran, whose mother tongue was Malayalam. He met her and in an instant, he knew she was his soulmate.
Love blossomed. Sulochana's father decided to settle down in Bangalore. "Thus began two years of separation. Every day of those two years, we wrote letters to each other,'' Sulochana recalled.
Mannada couldn't live without his Sulu (as he lovingly called her). So he used to come often to Bangalore. And they'd visit Lalbagh, Cubbon Park and other places. "Bangalore was so serene, with a lot of greenery. A most romantic place but today, it has turned into a concrete jungle,'' they'd reminisce.