My journey through the twists and turns of life has lead me to Bangalore, India where I have been living for the past one year. This blog has been relatively silent because life here is non-stop. However, I am now determined to keep this blog rolling because it would be a sin not to capture the hysterical, frustrating, stomach rolling moments I live through each day in this city.
Bangalore is popularly known as the Silicon Valley of India. Yes, we like to pretend that we are way up there with the high tech Californians and yes in a way we definitely are.
The entire city is wired up to the extent that you are never too far away from the world wide web. The airport which is 40km from the city is all glass windows, snazzy coffee shops and yes wireless internet for all the IT peeps who feel completely bewildered if kept away from their keyboards.
The city is equipped with most of the American fast food joints including KFC, Mcdonalds, Papa Johns, TGIF to name a few.The Volvo buses are a huge hit in the city and the infrastructure for a brand new metro system is well underway.
Bangalore is a comedy of errors and although it has its charm, I cannot come to terms with how badly planned the city is.
We have excellent buses, but a whole lot of them, with state, private and public buses occupying 40% of the traffic. Motorcyclists pretty much walk/ride their bikes through the endless traffic which makes the whole point of excellent bus services moot.
Yes, I am one of those frustrated driver(unfortunately adding to the traffic) who spends 1-2 hours just to get though 5kms.
Scattered through the coffee shops, fast food chains and 5-star hotels are inumerous darshans/dabhas that cater to the needs of the common man. While you can easily spend Rs 100 for a burger, you can pretty much survive on a three course meal for just Rs 15. The roads are lined with people eating anything from chaats to the staple diet of Sambhar/Rice.
If you are from outside of Karnataka, you make an easy target for the rickshaw drivers who insist on charging you upto 4 times the normal fare, and it is a struggle to get a rickshaw if you want to travel a short distance.
However, despite the chaos and the many inconveniences you can face in this city, this place kind of grows on you.
Bangalore has its own charm, this garden city has excellent weather and you might just want to take a stroll down MG road on a Friday night with its Neon lights and hip night life or enjoy some amazing food downed with a couple of beers at Koshy’s.
Love it or hate it, this city is not for the faint hearted and once you get used to it you may just never want to leave……
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