Bungalow One

Amble in a historic city at leisure

Curl up with a book in a quiet corner 

Rest in the shade of an orchard

Dine under a canopy of stars

   
Bungalow One was built in 1869 by an Englishman, James Cleburne. It has been a cherished family home for three families since then. Three generations of our family have lived here since 1946.

Allahabad is a perfect example of a historic city coming to terms rapidly with changing India. Bungalow One is a reminder of the leisurely life and simpler ways of a bygone age.

Located in Civil Lines in the heart of Allahabad, the private compound comprising the main house, garden, orchard, and vegetable patch is a restful retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city.  In addition to being a tranquil base from which to explore the city, it is an ideal place from which to watch the world go by.

Bungalow One is home to our family, three dogs, and numerous squirrels, birds and butterflies...   

"Allahabad means 'City of God'... I got  a more compressed translation: 'Godville'... I saw the English part of the city. It is a town of wide avenues and noble distances, and is comely and alluring, and full of suggestions of comfort and leisure... The bungalows (dwellings) stand well back in the seclusion and privacy of large enclosed compounds (private grounds, as we should say) and in the shade and shelter of trees."

Mark Twain, Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World (1897)   


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"Today I am in Allahabad... The British Allahabad, which now exists only for the benefit of a few educated Indians, takes in the military and civil cantonements, the race course, the clubs, and the university. The Muslim Ilahabas is well represented by Akbar's great fort, which lies three miles to the east of the city... The ancient Hindu Prayaga can be observed in the parched, dusty, but joyful faces of tens of thousands of pilgrims coming to the city on the Grand Trunk Road--some in buses, tongas, ekkas, and bullock carts, some on bicycles, horses, and even elephants, but most on foot, patiently trudging, with loads on their head, as if they had been walking for years."


Ved Mehta, Portrait of India (1970)