Weather, pubs and food is what describes Bangalore to me. A city which is termed as the Silicon Valley of India, hub of startups in India, headquarters of global IT powerhouses. However, neither of these three remotely relate to me.
Towards the business end of my CA course, I started dreaming, talking about my wish to move out of my hometown Kolkata for a job. Similar to all my brothers who were in jobs, I too wanted a life outside Kolkata. My reason for moving out was that I did not want my weekend to be only about cinema halls and restaurants. Back then my dreams were limited to within India and as such I had listed only one city as my preferred destination - MUMBAI - the city of dreams. During my final year of articleship (mandatory 3-year practical training for CA students), I always ended up having a debate with my Managing Partner over the preferred destination. He always voiced for Bangalore while I kept talking about Mumbai with little success. He used to mention about the endless list of weekend gateways in and around Bangalore and I always uttered Marine Drive, beaches, street food. On top of this, my sister always reminded me - 'You watch, since you so badly want Mumbai you will never get there' - a curse which still haunts me till date. And as it happened - Bangalore it was!
I had to move in with my mother - no matter which part of the world. Onus of my smooth transition fell on my elder cousin who had just got married then. I took a train to Bangalore with all the nostalgia of leaving my home. I remember getting up early that day and touring each room in my house to recollect the memories associated with them. It was a long 29-hour journey to reach the city which would give small wings to my dreams. My brother had kindly come all the way to pick me up. During our way back home he remarked that if I had taken a flight he wouldn't have even bothered to come to pick me up (people who have been to Bangalore Airport would realize the hidden meaning here). For the next 2 months, my brother, his wife and myself - the three musketeers, enjoyed our lives as bachelors, learning household chores incl. washing of utensils, cleaning etc. It's only after coming to Bangalore that I got a hang of Friday night. I was simply overwhelmed with the cool, overcast weather of this city. Simply amazed at the fact that it has to religiously rain every evening, even if for only 15-20 minutes (sadly those days aren't there anymore). Later after my mother shifted as well, for a good 5-6 months we made a point of meeting almost every weekend. It was quite important to make Mummy feel home here. Tirelessly we explored shopping malls, restaurants, nearby weekend gateways. Within a short span of time, my mother had become an expert in guiding us on road as well. We have made trips to Mysore, Pondicherry, Munnar, Thekkaday, Chikmagalur, Tirupati, Madurai, Rameshwaram, Srirangam etc.
In terms of people, language barrier - I have mixed feelings about this place. Mainly migrant, a good number of millennial and mostly self made is what the population made up of. I have come across cold blood, selfish and at times some absolutely gem of a person. Luckily for me I had a school friend working in the same organisation who is probably single-handedly responsible for my change of taste. Folks I met during my CA days and new acquaintances in office made my Friday nights quite colorful. In these years, I have perhaps been to all the pubs near my place - Indiranagar. Most of the times people do understand and converse in Hindi or English. This is in sharp contrast to other South-Indian states where people prefer local language. Perhaps the biggest mystery in Bangalore is to identify the sweet spots of auto-rickshaw drivers who never seem to agree on the drop location. Number and interior design of breweries out here is something which continues to amaze me till now. There are places which are jam-packed even on weekdays as well. Nevertheless, one can keep hopping on to one from place to another as you might find a new place even 50m away. Zomato Gold and Swiggy had quickly become my savior during weekends. It is out here that I have tried other cuisines like Burmese, Mexican, Continental and developed my taste in Italian. Nachos, pizza and paneer tikka quickly turned into my staple food at pubs. Quite a many traditional South-Indian food chains like Nagarjuna, MTR, Udupi Parks etc. serve mouth-watering dishes which can easily be in one's to-do list. Watching movies has become a traditional weekend plan thanks to offers on credit cards and payment gateways.
It's this city which has made possible my foreign trips with the next one eagerly awaited. Despite such favorable weather, party scenes, good food - fact of the matter remains that I am still trying to settle down in Bangalore. It reminds me of an edited Bollywood song's lyrics 'sab kuch yahin hai, yahin hai, par kuch kami hai'. I still haven't managed to emotionally strike a chord with this city.
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