Shayon's Labyrinth!

Firstly, let me wish you belated Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year!!

Bangalore (or should I call it Bengaluru?), officially known as the Silicon Valley of India, is the city of dreams for many a software professional. What entices all the more is the temperate climate in the city, thus earning it another name, Switzerland of India.

Landed in this mega city on the 30th of November, ’09, and the first thing I was greeted with was the ‘jalebi’ language. Yes, that’s how I address the Kannad script. No personal offence meant, just a light-hearted jab at the way Bangaloreans show utter disregard to both English and Hindi, pasting every single sign board around the city with the jalebi language. They didn’t even spare the buses. How in the world is a common man supposed to figure out where a bus is headed to?

However, I must admit, my ride in the city has been much smoother than what I was led to believe, by my peers who had visited the city much before. The utmost scare of mine was the notion that the common man in Bengaluru always refuses to converse in Hindi, even if they know how to. And that they are highly intolerant towards those who are oblivious to the native language. However, the very first day in the city and I found people actually responding back in Hindi, even when I talked to them in English. I couldn’t believe my ears. What more, even among the common men, I have found almost as many non-natives as the other ones. The very cigarette vendor round the corner, my regular one, is from Uttar Pradesh!

The food! How can a discussion about a city conclude without the mention of the kind of food it serves? Firstly, I must warn you that if you plan to visit some of the roadside food joints, which are quite rampant here, then you must forgo the idea of getting a whole table to yourself. Here, people just get their asses comfortable at any goddamn seat they find empty. It doesn’t matter whether you were there first or whether you are still having your food at the same table.

That said, I find the food really cheap. Just the other day, I had visited quite a decent pub, with a friend of mine. After starter, drinks and dinner, we managed to rake only Rs 1,200! Yes, I was ecstatic Plus, Bengaluru has a tradittion of serving Meals. It is basically an assortment of roti, rice, rasam, daal, 1 dry and 1 wet vegetable, curd and a banana. Banana? Yes, I know what you are thinking. Apparently, Bangaloreans love bananas. Even the road side paan wallah here shall sport a bunch of bananas, that’s up for sale. I have noticed a lot of my colleagues to just grab a fruit or two, after their lunch’s done. ‘Must say, a great alternative to after-lunch smoke! Anyway, speaking of Meals, there are two kinds of meals available in most of the restaurants – Mini meals and Full meals. The only difference between the two being Full meals is unlimited while Mini meals is not.

The city, I have found, is a lot tolerant to alcohol. While one shall find a lot of people drinking right on the roads, most of the wine shops here have an extension where people simply get seated and enjoy the drink. Even if any wine shop doesn’t have an extra room, you shall find people drinking right in the shop, giving two hoots about other customers.

Bangalore is an early sleeper. Hailing from Mumbai, I had always found Delhi to be devoid of a night life. Sadly, Bangalore sleeps even earlier. 10pm, and you’d find most of the restaurants already scurrying for the last orders for the day. I was most surprised when all the outlets in Forum, one of the best known malls in the city, started closing down by the time it was 9pm!

Anyway, despite everything, I think I like the city. Every city has a charm and quirks of its own, and Bangalore is no different. 2 things I dig for, the most, is the city is one of the cheapest I have been to, and the weather is simply mind blowing. I doubt if anyone ever buys an air conditioner, here.

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Bangalore, City, Report, Review