Friday, September 14, 2012

A new eye for this place old

One realizes the real value of an asset when it is lost...



Fortunately for me, I am getting a chance to truly appreciate this city for a whole year before I finally say good-bye.

You see, every time people ask me 'How is Bangalore better than the other cities?', I dryly reply as if on auto-mode, 'For the weather.' It is true. Bangalore has a lovely weather.

When Delhi makes everyone strip naked in the privacy of their homes and lay under the fan like the vitruvian man; in Bangalore, I open the windows, turn on the fan and cover myself with a light blanket. When Mumbai makes people scream in their heads in the sweltering heat and humid, we Bangaloreans sip filter coffee, smell the fragrance of the earth and let a good shower soak our souls. Nearby, Chennai burns and scorches, and we burn them a little more with jealousy when we tell them that it's that time of the year when we switch from light woolens to heavy woolens.

Frankly, I am so much in love with Bangalore's weather that I am dreading my shift to another city in India.

It was in 2005 that I first arrived in Bangalore, that's a good seven years ago.

I was mentally prepared for adversities of any kind. I have heard of harrowing tales of what happens when a single girl lives in a strange city. Bangalore was the first city I ever faced alone. It was also my first tryst with South Indian culture. I imagined myself having a terrible time, getting a culture shock, home-sick, developing eating disorders... All in my over-imaginative mind.

Believe me, the only problem I faced in Bangalore was of eating idlis and dosas; not that it gave me eating disorders but I was not accustomed to eating such food and was quite astonished at people who could eat idlis and dosas at any time of the day. Well...that problem, too, was soon solved and after seven years, my taste-buds have altered so much so that I am an ardent lover of idlis, dosas and all things South Indian and anyone who thinks otherwise can go elsewhere.

Not only have I adopted idlis and dosas, I have bonded with Bangaloreans, enjoyed pubs, strolled in the city's numerous parks, and the greatest of all, managed to befriend quite a few of those notorious, harassing auto-drivers that Bangalore is famous for!

This city absorbed me without question, and I, ignorant me, had been absorbed in my own life, never once consciously appreciating what the city gave me. Now, as destiny would have it, I'm moving out of this city next year.

September 2013, to be exact.

I have exactly ONE year in Bangalore. 365 days only. When I think of it in days, I seriously start panicking. A blink of an eye and 365 days would pass. This city has spoilt me silly, so much so that when I leave it, I might create a small Cauvery rivulet with my tears.

So to help ease my mind and in a conscious effort to truly appreciate Bangalore, I have decided to document my experiences in the city for the next one year in this blog (amongst other things, 'course!). Many a times, I have admired the yellow blossoms that fall on the street in the months of September or the smell of the freshly brewed filter-coffee floating through the air early morning while I dash for work. Every time, I admire them, and then I forget; except this year, after seven years, I shall share it through thoughts and pictures to the world at large.

And while we are on the topic of pictures and blossoms, the violet blossoms (picture above) appear in April and so does the red blossoms (picture below) that lines the streets of Bangalore.


And with this first piece published, I promise to write soon enough.

Cheers!

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