BY
MURALI MURTHY
Bengaluru aka Bangalore is a land of opportunities, from hospitality industry to IT industry, it's belly is big enough to accommodate and provide employment to millions.
While it's just a place of work for all imports to earn a living, this is our home, this is where we were born and this is where we belong.
We love everything about Bangalore, because it's our city and we could be biased with the love for our City. But if so many lakhs of Indians keep migrating to city each year, there must be something good about it.
Well, there are lot of goods and is ideal for anyone to adapt.
Bangalore has always been known for its perfect climate through out the year.
Summers were never too harsh, nor were winters or rains.
Ofcourse, with climate changes all around the world, even Bangalore is seeing lot of variations from past few years, yet much pleasant compared to any city in India.
Once a true Garden City, with lots of trees and those Boulevards in almost every locality was a Bliss.
The city's growth, population explosion, has obviously necessiated road widening, flyovers, Metro lines making way for the trees and greenery.
Yet We are proud of our huge lung spaces - Lal bagh & Cubbon park. The glass house, the putaNi Train, Mango Mela, Flower show, good long Morning walks associated with these Green patches is still alive even today.
K.R Park, Bugle Rock and a good walking park in almost every locality, Ulsoor Lake, Yediyur Lake, Hebbal Lake, Sankey Tank still gives some sense to the Garden City.
Earlier the divide was just between South Bangaloreans Vs North Bangaloreans, now there is a new split - East Bangalore.
A visit to places like Koramangala, Indira Nagar always felt strange and out of place. Now a visit to the newer / greater Bangalore feels like it's not even Bangalore with so many Apartments and can hardly hear people speaking in Kannada.
Yet, we all live in harmony because of our accommodative nature, as we learn to speak their language. Even shop owners, cab drivers and cart vendors trying to speak with the "Kannad Gothilla" gang in broken hindi/English.
South Bangalore still has the old Bangalore charm with not much of High rise buildings, apartments. The Basavanagudi, Gandhi Bazaars, the DVG Road has retained the culture and local flavours.
In the same breadth, Malleshwaram has preserved It's authenticity. The flower market, Sampige roads are a pleasure to visit and relive the old Bangalore charm.
The Doses at Vidyarthi bhavan, Idli Vade with Sambar at SLVs, Idli Vade with Chatni at Brahmin's Coffee Bar or the filter Coffee at MTR or any other joint, beNNe Dose at CTR, Idli Vade at Veena Stores, We have always loved their food and still are our favourite places that we frequent even today.
We probably have the most no.of eating joints than any other Indian City. The no.of Darshinis we have in our City probably outnumbers a Vada Pav corners in Mumbai.
There is no dearth of dining option as We are spoilt with choices of Cuisines and luxurious dining.
VV Puram changed the definition of street food in Bangalore. The Avarekal Mela there got the approval stamp from the Senior citizens as well to eat out.
Kallekai Parishe in Bull Temple, Ram navami in Shankar Mutt are few of the local things that we have grown up doing and Love to visit them even today.
The Pub culture in the City has a 4 decades history, with the old school Pubs like Downtown, Guzzlers Inn, Pub World were the favourites in good old days. The Pub culture is now slowly making way to the Brewery culture, which we have gladly embraced.
The cultural diversity is so much so that Ganesha Habba, Ugadi, Sankranti, Deepavali, Holi, Durga Pandals, Karaga, Christmas, New Years, Eid, Ramzan and Dasara are celebrated by every Bangalorean with same vigour and joy.
The colourful, lively streets of MG Road, Brigade Road, Jayanagar, and Commercial streets are something my wife, my friends and sister Love to visit on any day.
Single screen Theatres is something that we miss these days. Some of the iconic Theatres where We frequented so much in our college days - Rex, Plaza, Symphony, Santhosh, Sagar, Cauvery, Urvashi, Uma talkies, Nanda. Only few of them have survived the Mall culture.
We have been blessed with so many nearby spots for a short break, family outings or a short drive. Be it Nandi Hills, Kanakapura, Magadi, Mysore, Coorg, Bannerghatta We always had a place for a getaway.
Naturally, Bangalore being the IT Capital with 1000s of Software Companies, Startups, it has evolved as a multi-lingual, multi-community cosmopolitan city.
And with such growth, the notorious Traffic is a curse no one can escape from.
Yet, we are proud of Bangalore which has still retained the old charm, kept the local flavour, culture and heritage intact.
