A Fortnight in Bangalore

Inside a bus in Bangalore (Please enlarge and view)

Flower and fruit seller in front of a temple

Gajras

A fortnight in Bangalore. Hmmphh!!! 

"How’s Bangalore? How does it feel?" is the standard way calls and conversations addressed to me start like these days. 

"How does it feel?", well, I don’t know how it feels. I have hardly explored the city (thanks to my nine hour shift of sitting idle in office). Or perhaps, the city isn’t much different from Delhi, hence no ruthless cultural shocks. I say that with caution though. There might not be great many differences between Delhi and Bangalore (not any radical ones that I have felt yet), but every city has its own characteristics. 

I document here a few observables about my experiences in the IT city, before they become everyday things as I get even more comfortable around here.  

Bangaloreans, I believe, are early risers. As I walk down to my office each morning, it’s amazing to see the intricate ‘alpana’ designs in front of every washed porch. Small or big, size notwithstanding, every home will have one without fail. Wonder how they manage to squeeze in time for this custom in the morning madness.  I, in the true Delhi spirit, just manage to reach office in time for my 10.30 a.m. shift when all I have to do is get ready, eat and leave. 

Then there are the flower sellers. Every corner will have one. No, they are not like the florists we have in Delhi. These vendors sell some typical pungent smelling flowers which look like roses; I am not sure what they actually are. If my ignorance to South-Indian culture be pardoned, I suppose decorating their homes and hair with these flowers is one practice typical South Indians can’t do without. Every evening as I come back, I find Shanti (the caretaker in my PG) with a fresh fragrant bunch of gajra in her hair, ready to serve dinner. 

Coming upon to food. I am not a foodie but I have strong taste buds. Fortunately, they are on sabbatical these days. Yet, I can fill pages if I start writing the good, bad and ugly of the food. For now, I think I will restrict myself to mentioning that people down here need to understand there’s a life beyond ‘arhar dal’ and mustard seeds (rai). C’mon, who puts mustard seeds in Chinese noodles??!!

Language! How can I do without going into the minor details of it (blame two years of Linguistics education for it). I have hardly learnt a word of Kannada yet. But, I have come up with a few tricks of my own to deal with the everyday language problems. Everybody is a ‘Saar’ (Sir) here, especially the auto-wallah. Call him ‘Bhaiya’; he would get to know you are from north at once; nothing can save you from being taken for a ride then. So, “Saar MG Road hog beku?” it is! By the way, auto-rickshaws here are not "autos" but "ricks". Another trick to try and conceal your north Indian roots from the rick-guy is to try and put up fake a South Indian accent. All you need to do is add a phonetic ‘w’ in the first syllable and an extra ‘a’ at the word boundary. So it’s not Kormangala, it’s Kowarmangalaa .  Similarly, it’s not Forum, it’s Fowrama. And voila! :)
I am hell scared I would develop a thick South- Indian accent soon. While still in JNU, a phonetics research scholar had already branded me for having a ‘strong south Indian' way of talking when I had never traveled beyond South Delhi then. 

Another thing that amuses me is how people claiming not to know or understand Hindi much ardently watch Hindi Saas-Bahu sagas here. Balika Vadhu is one I recall, which is very popular. Many others on Star Plus are also fondly watched and discussed but I didn’t try hard to find out their names. 

This is about it for now that has come as really striking during the 15 days that I have been here at ‘Namma Bengaluru'.  Will keep on posting more interesting experiences as soon as I will be subjected to them. 

[Disclaimer: The goods and the bads that I've mentioned here do not intend to offend any city or its people. These are innocent observations and perspectives from someone who’s new to the city. Resemblance to any person or a way of life is solely for the purpose of illustration]