Namma Bengaluru!
It did not take me more than 3 seconds to decide on the title of this post. It had to be something in Kannada, and what better than this phrase - which anyone who has stayed in Bangalore for more than a month would understand. ‘Namma Bengaluru’ means something like ‘Apna Bengaluru/Bangalore’. And, if you are one of those who doesn’t understand this phrase, then you must be really bad with languages, even worse than what I am (I haven’t learnt any Kannada , apart from 3-4 words/phrases – one of them being Kannada Gothilla – meaning Kannada nahi aati).
This post is meant to be all about Bangalore (atleast the idea is, I don’t know how it turns out), I owed one to this city. There have been umpteen times that I have decided to write something about Bangalore, and have even started writing a few times but all were unsuccessful attempts. I think this is the right time to key down this post, finally! The earlier times, the only reason why I was not able to complete the post was because every time I was confused about what to write and how to put it down. This time, I’ll put down everything that is coming into my mind from the day my transfer to Chandigarh was approved till the day I reach Chandigarh. Ahh… just as I am about to start writing again, I realize I don’t have enough to write, again!!! I give up, I just cannot describe the 2.5 years here, its way beyond my capabilities, I guess :) So, it will be more of a description of the last few days only, and I have purposefully decided to cut down on the senti stuff. So, here it goes -
11 AM, Wednesday 12th Jan –
My transfer to Chandigarh has finally been approved and I will be joining Infy Chandigarh from next week. I inform my bro about it and he is happy to hear the news. Next, I shoot down a mail to Pankaj, Rahul and Saurabh that I would be shifting as early as the coming Friday, and they are not happy to hear that I would be leaving and that too so early. I myself wanted atleast 1-2 week notice before being transferred, just so that I could plan out the last few days in Bangalore properly :). What followed in the mail were a few angry words from all of them for going on such a short notice and a few senti ones too.
The excitement of moving closer to family was clearly overshadowed by the disappointment of moving out of Bangalore, away from friends. I know many people who just hate Bangalore, and I was definitely not one of them. Most of the time what people say is – “The only good thing about Bangalore is its weather.” But, not for me! I love the city, and there surely has to be much more than just the weather to make me fall in Love with this city. Ok, the ‘falling in Love with the city part’ I just wrote it because it looked nice :P. I am most definitely a Delhite at heart and Love Delhi, just for what Delhi is – my Hometown, and the place I have lived more than 20 Years. But, that does not mean I do not like Bangalore. I have spent more than 2.5 years in Bangalore and these 2.5 years have been memorable. It was the first time that I stayed away from home alone. I was lucky enough to get good room mates who I hope would be friends for a lifetime! The freedom that came with living alone and with a steady salary is something which can never be matched :P
I wanted to leave on Friday itself or early Saturday, just so that I could travel to Chandigarh with my brother who was going to travel on Saturday afternoon. But, Saurabh, Rahul and Pankaj did not let me. To be honest, neither did I wanted to travel before enjoying my last weekend in Bangalore :) So, I willingly bowed to the pressure and booked my tickets to Delhi on Sunday morning, giving myself enough time to do some shopping in Delhi on Sunday and then travelling to Chandigarh on Monday morning.
The party started on Wednesday evening itself, and continued till 4 AM on Sunday! Home, Tundey Kabab, McD, LOR, Club 99 and Wonder La!
3:00 AM, 16th Jan – It’s almost time, the cab would come at 3:30. I booked the cab for early, even though my flight was at 7 AM (just wanted to be on the safer side). All of us were tired after coming back from Wonder La, but I was in no mood of sleeping. So, I planned to sleep in the flight only. The realization of the Bangalore journey coming to an end was still sinking in, I was sure that I am going to miss these days badly. The freedom, the fun and the friends – I was going to miss it all. The cab driver called, and I gave him the directions. The last drink was just about to finish, all my bags were packed and I was ready to go. It’s 3:30 and I was down, and all my stuff in the cab. We asked the driver to take one last picture. The crazy people I lived with – they got a katori filled with uncooked poha and asked me to throw it – lol - for the ones who don’t understand this tradition, when a bride gets married and is about to leave in the doli she throws rice while taking her final steps towards the doli – so these idiots made me do this too. They had plans to throw coins as well when the cab leaves (another tradition), but somehow the non crazy sense prevailed and they finsished it off just by pushing the car – just like it is done to the doli. I was in the true sense of it LOL!!! The driver was also laughing seeing us do all that idiotic stuff :D
The drive to the airport was pretty smooth, and I reached their quite early, so had to wait some time before the check-in started. The journey to the airport was quiet and the roads empty.
6 AM, 16th Jan – waiting for the Boarding to start. The check-in was pretty hassle free; I had only around 2 Kg extra in my baggage (much lesser than what I initially thought it would be). So, I dint need to pay any extra charges as the airlines usually do not mind the extra Kg or two. I boarded the flight at 7. As I was severely deprived of sleep for the past few days, and due to the tiring Wonder La trip yesterday I thought it was best to take a nap. I slept off – and when I woke up next I was at Delhi airport.
9:00 AM, 17th Jan – en-route to Chandigarh in Kalka Shatabdi Express, the temperature must be around 10-12 degree C. To be very honest, among the few things which I used to miss in Bangalore, winters were one of them. I missed wearing my woolens in Bangalore. I reached Chandigarh, at 11 AM, and go out to take an Auto to my Grandparent’s home, where I will be staying during my stay in Chandigarh. As soon, as I get out of the station, Autowallahs surround and ask, ‘Kitthe jaana hai?’ in the typical Punjabi accent. I remember the first day I landed at Bangalore airport, it was the same scene outside the Airport, the only difference was, they were saying, ‘Saar? Auto? Kahaan jaana?’ in a typical South Indian accent. A smile came on my face, Kannada se seedha Punjabi :) I’ll get used to the Punjabi accent now.
Sometime later in the week, a few days after joining office at Chandigarh – I have now realized, that I’ll miss Bangalore. Well, it is certainly not the weather – and it is definitely the freedom :D. I now have people who enquire why I was late from office, and how was the day at office. But, as they say, there is a time for everything – probably it is now time for being answerable. I enjoyed 3 amazing years of complete freedom, with no one to tell me that it is time to sleep, and if it is time to go to office. I slept when I wanted, I woke up when I felt like, I ate Maggi at 3 AM, I went out whenever I was bored at home, I never had to ask anybody if had to plan a trip over the weekend, I never had to tell anybody if I would come home late – in short, it was complete freedom.
And, No! Bangalore was not just about drinking .. just to set the record straight.
Bangalore, you were AWESOME! Stay that way, until we meet next … Until then, stay at 25 degrees Celsius all year, I’ll miss you during the Summers up here :P
This post is meant to be all about Bangalore (atleast the idea is, I don’t know how it turns out), I owed one to this city. There have been umpteen times that I have decided to write something about Bangalore, and have even started writing a few times but all were unsuccessful attempts. I think this is the right time to key down this post, finally! The earlier times, the only reason why I was not able to complete the post was because every time I was confused about what to write and how to put it down. This time, I’ll put down everything that is coming into my mind from the day my transfer to Chandigarh was approved till the day I reach Chandigarh. Ahh… just as I am about to start writing again, I realize I don’t have enough to write, again!!! I give up, I just cannot describe the 2.5 years here, its way beyond my capabilities, I guess :) So, it will be more of a description of the last few days only, and I have purposefully decided to cut down on the senti stuff. So, here it goes -
11 AM, Wednesday 12th Jan –
My transfer to Chandigarh has finally been approved and I will be joining Infy Chandigarh from next week. I inform my bro about it and he is happy to hear the news. Next, I shoot down a mail to Pankaj, Rahul and Saurabh that I would be shifting as early as the coming Friday, and they are not happy to hear that I would be leaving and that too so early. I myself wanted atleast 1-2 week notice before being transferred, just so that I could plan out the last few days in Bangalore properly :). What followed in the mail were a few angry words from all of them for going on such a short notice and a few senti ones too.
The excitement of moving closer to family was clearly overshadowed by the disappointment of moving out of Bangalore, away from friends. I know many people who just hate Bangalore, and I was definitely not one of them. Most of the time what people say is – “The only good thing about Bangalore is its weather.” But, not for me! I love the city, and there surely has to be much more than just the weather to make me fall in Love with this city. Ok, the ‘falling in Love with the city part’ I just wrote it because it looked nice :P. I am most definitely a Delhite at heart and Love Delhi, just for what Delhi is – my Hometown, and the place I have lived more than 20 Years. But, that does not mean I do not like Bangalore. I have spent more than 2.5 years in Bangalore and these 2.5 years have been memorable. It was the first time that I stayed away from home alone. I was lucky enough to get good room mates who I hope would be friends for a lifetime! The freedom that came with living alone and with a steady salary is something which can never be matched :P
I wanted to leave on Friday itself or early Saturday, just so that I could travel to Chandigarh with my brother who was going to travel on Saturday afternoon. But, Saurabh, Rahul and Pankaj did not let me. To be honest, neither did I wanted to travel before enjoying my last weekend in Bangalore :) So, I willingly bowed to the pressure and booked my tickets to Delhi on Sunday morning, giving myself enough time to do some shopping in Delhi on Sunday and then travelling to Chandigarh on Monday morning.
The party started on Wednesday evening itself, and continued till 4 AM on Sunday! Home, Tundey Kabab, McD, LOR, Club 99 and Wonder La!
3:00 AM, 16th Jan – It’s almost time, the cab would come at 3:30. I booked the cab for early, even though my flight was at 7 AM (just wanted to be on the safer side). All of us were tired after coming back from Wonder La, but I was in no mood of sleeping. So, I planned to sleep in the flight only. The realization of the Bangalore journey coming to an end was still sinking in, I was sure that I am going to miss these days badly. The freedom, the fun and the friends – I was going to miss it all. The cab driver called, and I gave him the directions. The last drink was just about to finish, all my bags were packed and I was ready to go. It’s 3:30 and I was down, and all my stuff in the cab. We asked the driver to take one last picture. The crazy people I lived with – they got a katori filled with uncooked poha and asked me to throw it – lol - for the ones who don’t understand this tradition, when a bride gets married and is about to leave in the doli she throws rice while taking her final steps towards the doli – so these idiots made me do this too. They had plans to throw coins as well when the cab leaves (another tradition), but somehow the non crazy sense prevailed and they finsished it off just by pushing the car – just like it is done to the doli. I was in the true sense of it LOL!!! The driver was also laughing seeing us do all that idiotic stuff :D
The drive to the airport was pretty smooth, and I reached their quite early, so had to wait some time before the check-in started. The journey to the airport was quiet and the roads empty.
6 AM, 16th Jan – waiting for the Boarding to start. The check-in was pretty hassle free; I had only around 2 Kg extra in my baggage (much lesser than what I initially thought it would be). So, I dint need to pay any extra charges as the airlines usually do not mind the extra Kg or two. I boarded the flight at 7. As I was severely deprived of sleep for the past few days, and due to the tiring Wonder La trip yesterday I thought it was best to take a nap. I slept off – and when I woke up next I was at Delhi airport.
9:00 AM, 17th Jan – en-route to Chandigarh in Kalka Shatabdi Express, the temperature must be around 10-12 degree C. To be very honest, among the few things which I used to miss in Bangalore, winters were one of them. I missed wearing my woolens in Bangalore. I reached Chandigarh, at 11 AM, and go out to take an Auto to my Grandparent’s home, where I will be staying during my stay in Chandigarh. As soon, as I get out of the station, Autowallahs surround and ask, ‘Kitthe jaana hai?’ in the typical Punjabi accent. I remember the first day I landed at Bangalore airport, it was the same scene outside the Airport, the only difference was, they were saying, ‘Saar? Auto? Kahaan jaana?’ in a typical South Indian accent. A smile came on my face, Kannada se seedha Punjabi :) I’ll get used to the Punjabi accent now.
Sometime later in the week, a few days after joining office at Chandigarh – I have now realized, that I’ll miss Bangalore. Well, it is certainly not the weather – and it is definitely the freedom :D. I now have people who enquire why I was late from office, and how was the day at office. But, as they say, there is a time for everything – probably it is now time for being answerable. I enjoyed 3 amazing years of complete freedom, with no one to tell me that it is time to sleep, and if it is time to go to office. I slept when I wanted, I woke up when I felt like, I ate Maggi at 3 AM, I went out whenever I was bored at home, I never had to ask anybody if had to plan a trip over the weekend, I never had to tell anybody if I would come home late – in short, it was complete freedom.
And, No! Bangalore was not just about drinking .. just to set the record straight.
Bangalore, you were AWESOME! Stay that way, until we meet next … Until then, stay at 25 degrees Celsius all year, I’ll miss you during the Summers up here :P
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