Namma Bengaluru : The city of first timers
Reminiscing about Bangalore where I moved almost a year back.
It has been little over a year since I moved to Bangalore. Previously, I had written about the city. And how I feel it is a collection of Islands. Over the year, I have come to know about some more eccentricities of the city. But before starting it, I want to clarify that largely I have lived in the central - central eastern bubble. So, most of my experiences come from it.
Bangalore is the city of first-timers. In India, I doubt there is another city where most men and women come to stay for the first time, away from home. Notice, I have mentioned men and women, not boys and girls. And by virtue of that, this city witnesses a lot more things. The first cooking burn, the first true sense of independence, the first long-distance, the first heartbreak and whatnot.
This experience might be unique to me, but since moving here, I have been meeting many old friends and acquaintances for the first time after passing out from university, college and even school. There are some school friends who used to live like 3-4 kms away from my home but after leaving the school (in 2012), I have hardly had any contact with them. But have met them here. The same thing has happened with college and university friends too. I even have gotten in touch with the guys with whom I was not very close back when we were in the same class. My best friend from school has also moved to Bangalore recently. And come to think of it, now I have more friends and acquaintances living here than in my hometown Kolkata.
If you’re a coffee aficionado, then this is a great place to be. In every 500m or so, there will be a eatery that will sell filter coffee. After having them for almost a year straight, I can’t drink the so called instant coffee. Even when I was back in Kolkata, I was searching for places to have filter coffee.
One thing that I have always done is make comparisons with my own city. I think if you have a frame of reference, you’ll end up doing it anyways. I think the biggest difference between Bangalore and Kolkata is that this city is quite ‘chill’. Kannadigas living in Bangalore are a lot less entitled than Bengalis living in Kolkata. There is a chance that many will close this tab now but it is is what I have inferred so far. I think there might be a reason for that. A lot of Kannadigas who currently live here weren’t born and brought up in this city.
And when it comes to the biggest downside, Bangalore lacks the 3 big Ms of Kolkata badly: Mach (Fish), Mishti (Sweet) and Mutton. All 3, on an average, are quite sub par here.
At the end, it comes down to the trade-offs when you think about living in a city. So far, this city and the people I have dealt with have been kind enough. I don’t know if I could have settled down in another city with so much ease like this. Time to start learning Kannada. Namma Bengaluru!
"One thing that I have always done is make comparisons with my own city" -> in part 2