My Tryst with Bangalore
Tryst /trist/ n. meeting, esp. a secret one of lovers.
Don’t let the literal meaning misguide you. This is the closest word that describes what I feel about the Paradise City, Bangalore.
Bangalore has always been my dream destination in life to me, a lad from a small town in Kerala. It was a kind of dreamland where there are gardens everywhere and beautiful buildings in every direction. One of the biggest doubts that I had when I was just six or seven was whether it is ‘Bankloor’ or ‘Blankoor’. Well, after extensive research I have found that it is ‘Bankloor’ after all.
One of the first visits to the paradise came during some trip with the family. All I remember is seeing some huge old buildings that looked like palaces and all roads lined with trees adorning yellow flowers. Then there were other trips from school which only increased the admiration for the place.
The teenage years saw me coming to Mangalore for doing PUC and making occasional trips to Bangalore, getting mesmerized by the beautiful gals while negotiating the MG Road/ Brigade Road crowds with my jaws hanging permanently. These quests were furthered during the days in Engineering College when the ultimate idea of having fun was to hop into a bus heading to Bangalore and stay there till you run out of money.
Life is fast and I found myself getting kicked out of the college for the crime of completing the course. However hard I hated my college during the studies, it was really painful to leave the place for good. After a few months of doing miscellaneous courses of all kinds, finally I came to the decision that I need a job. Where else to head other than Bangalore, the IT capital of India? So I packed my bags and left to Bangalore, the City of Opportunities.
I am one of the most fortunate job hunters I have ever heard of. Landed in the job in three days! The story goes like this : I come to Bangalore one fine morning, attend a party in the evening, someone talks about an opening in this company, send the resume then and there itself, next day afternoon gets a call to come for interview, attends the same on the next morning, and receives the offer letter by noon. Bangalore is the land of opportunities, indeed.
In the first few weeks, whenever I got free time, and during weekend, the impulse was to go to FORUM or to Brigade Road and to merge with the crowds. But after the initial bliss, I started noticing that the place was too crowded even to breathe. So nowadays weekends are either at home or some other place that is not that crowded.
Another experience was riding the bike to and from office. The place I hail from doesn’t have a tenth of traffic as Bangalore at any time. And the way I ride has been altered to suit the conditions prevailing here, just for the sake of survival. Furthermore, I have had an accident here, leading to a traffic case which has shown me the dual nature of the Police force out here. From one side they were extremely polite with me throughout the procedures and from the other side guzzled down a large sum of money as bribes. In my place the cops would have imbibed the same kind of money and yet would have treated you like a rat.
Another aspect that I used to miss at my home was the activities of the biker club that I am a member of. It has chapters all over the country, but the ranks of the Kerala chapter was meager and that meant almost no activity. But come to Bangalore, the main hub of the club in the south, I enjoy all the fruits of becoming a member. Weekend rides, hanging out with fellow clubbies, meets and what else…
People are complaining about traffic and pollution, but I don’t think it is anywhere close to Mumbai. Most of the roads are still lined with trees which bloom making the city look like bride ready for wedding. There are even air-conditioned Volvo City Buses which you don’t find anywhere else in the country. I love this city, where you hear at least a dozen languages at any place you go. I love Bangalore because she accepts anyone who come to her and make them her own. I love her because she still has the charm and beauty of a maiden even with the millions of people that she holds.
- Issac Cheriyathu
Tryst /trist/ n. meeting, esp. a secret one of lovers.
Don’t let the literal meaning misguide you. This is the closest word that describes what I feel about the Paradise City, Bangalore.
Bangalore has always been my dream destination in life to me, a lad from a small town in Kerala. It was a kind of dreamland where there are gardens everywhere and beautiful buildings in every direction. One of the biggest doubts that I had when I was just six or seven was whether it is ‘Bankloor’ or ‘Blankoor’. Well, after extensive research I have found that it is ‘Bankloor’ after all.
One of the first visits to the paradise came during some trip with the family. All I remember is seeing some huge old buildings that looked like palaces and all roads lined with trees adorning yellow flowers. Then there were other trips from school which only increased the admiration for the place.
The teenage years saw me coming to Mangalore for doing PUC and making occasional trips to Bangalore, getting mesmerized by the beautiful gals while negotiating the MG Road/ Brigade Road crowds with my jaws hanging permanently. These quests were furthered during the days in Engineering College when the ultimate idea of having fun was to hop into a bus heading to Bangalore and stay there till you run out of money.
Life is fast and I found myself getting kicked out of the college for the crime of completing the course. However hard I hated my college during the studies, it was really painful to leave the place for good. After a few months of doing miscellaneous courses of all kinds, finally I came to the decision that I need a job. Where else to head other than Bangalore, the IT capital of India? So I packed my bags and left to Bangalore, the City of Opportunities.
I am one of the most fortunate job hunters I have ever heard of. Landed in the job in three days! The story goes like this : I come to Bangalore one fine morning, attend a party in the evening, someone talks about an opening in this company, send the resume then and there itself, next day afternoon gets a call to come for interview, attends the same on the next morning, and receives the offer letter by noon. Bangalore is the land of opportunities, indeed.
In the first few weeks, whenever I got free time, and during weekend, the impulse was to go to FORUM or to Brigade Road and to merge with the crowds. But after the initial bliss, I started noticing that the place was too crowded even to breathe. So nowadays weekends are either at home or some other place that is not that crowded.
Another experience was riding the bike to and from office. The place I hail from doesn’t have a tenth of traffic as Bangalore at any time. And the way I ride has been altered to suit the conditions prevailing here, just for the sake of survival. Furthermore, I have had an accident here, leading to a traffic case which has shown me the dual nature of the Police force out here. From one side they were extremely polite with me throughout the procedures and from the other side guzzled down a large sum of money as bribes. In my place the cops would have imbibed the same kind of money and yet would have treated you like a rat.
Another aspect that I used to miss at my home was the activities of the biker club that I am a member of. It has chapters all over the country, but the ranks of the Kerala chapter was meager and that meant almost no activity. But come to Bangalore, the main hub of the club in the south, I enjoy all the fruits of becoming a member. Weekend rides, hanging out with fellow clubbies, meets and what else…
People are complaining about traffic and pollution, but I don’t think it is anywhere close to Mumbai. Most of the roads are still lined with trees which bloom making the city look like bride ready for wedding. There are even air-conditioned Volvo City Buses which you don’t find anywhere else in the country. I love this city, where you hear at least a dozen languages at any place you go. I love Bangalore because she accepts anyone who come to her and make them her own. I love her because she still has the charm and beauty of a maiden even with the millions of people that she holds.
- Issac Cheriyathu
posted by Domestic Avalanche at 8:29 AM
2 Comments:
Hi, Da,
Gud work,
But try to put my name somewhwre in the blog.and make me very popular.
Thanks.....
Dinto
hi,
good poem i liked it.
please tell me how did u do this....
bye
cherrit..
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