BANGALORE
Lately, there have been some things that I've started realizing.
Bangalore is a beautiful city. And I mean mostly old Bangalore, the inner city.. not the new sprawling city. I was taking a bus ride yesterday to meet Asra's betrothed... through the city, in the evening, just as the sun was setting and I realized how much of the city I seem to have internalized without even realizing that I have. So now I wonder-
- if maybe I love plants so much, cz of all the parks that line my city. I never realized that the park on MG Road was so pretty, till yesterday from the Auto, and the yellow lamp lights cast its glow over the flowers that had been rooted in cirlces around a figurine of Gandhi statue. Not to mention the setting sun, and the collective sigh of millions of people as the days' heat showed signs of dissipating. And the stretch of road frm Queens to MG Road... I've never seen all the trees dotting the area... and I wonder.. (and if anyone who's reading this knows, tell me please), is there another park in there? And let's not even mention Lal Bagh Gardens.. and Coles Park and all the other smaller parks that line the city. They are beautiful.
- and i realized that the whole city is quaint. We have beautiful houses that speak stories of the rich n well to do from the early part of the last century. Huge mansions, some still well taken care off and others sprouting weeds all over them ( I imagine the houses are sitting there, cz the children that grew up there are fighting a court battle, trying to figure out who owns how much). And these mansions are just so beautiful, with winding stair cases, n windows not only barred, but also with little awnings protecting the house frm the sun n the rain. Areas like Fraser Town, Cunningham Road and Queens Road are a beautiful example of these houses. Buildings like the Gangarams Buiding, Higgin Bothams... that whole stretch.. I mean, that building or line of buildings have been there since the Britts were around. And its amazing how well the newer shops have integrated into their own buildin. N i wanna go to that coffee shop on that stretch too..
-Bamboo Bazaar on the other hand, seems to show the other side of the city, with houses so small, depicting the life of the not so well to do. Its a very beautiful place too. Bamboo Bazaar, I'm guessing gets its name because of all the furniture shops there in the vicinity. Some of the shops work with iron, where melders meld out chair supporters, some work with wood, carving out doors n dividers while others work with bamboo. And the fascinating thing abt the whole place that it's very easy to tell which shop works on windows of what material. Cz essentially these shops are small rooms.. and all around the room and stretchin into the street are the tools of their trade. The door shop will have a hundred different types of doors stacked one on top of another vertically.. so on ur way to see the shop keeper who works in a small room surrounded by, essentially his purpose. The shops that work with bamboo.. have metres high bamboo sticks stacked up one on another.. till there are hundreds of tall strong bamboo stalks stretching out. It's amazing.. a bamboo forest in the midle of the city
- And someone asked me the other day why i came back to Bangalore. I gave them the story of how I had to come back to India. And then they clarified and asked again, why Bangalore? Why not Chennai, or Hydrebad or Jaipur or Delhi or Pune or Mumbai? And the first thing that popped out of my mouth, which surprised me as well, was that there isn't any other city in India that I would like to live in. Where I'd be comfortable getting lost, cz eventually I would know the way. Where I can take busses late, and know that should anything happen, there's a relative right arnd the corner in whom I can rely on for help. As Bhav sys, I have a relatve in every corner of Bangalore.
LASTLY: TOMMOROW IS WOMAN'S DAY. HAPPY WOMAN'S DAY LADIES... I actually have a lot to say abt women and India... mostly abt hw we get to pay lesser tax than the women, abt how men have to give us seats in busses, n hw in courts, esp family courts n in police stations, a woman's word is a lot stronger than a mans'.
N hw this respect is extended half heartedly cz at the same time, much of the male populace continues staring, groping, feeling, n touching women on the roads, in temples, in clubs, in busses. But I won't. Cz it's nothing new, So CHEERS to all!
Bangalore is a beautiful city. And I mean mostly old Bangalore, the inner city.. not the new sprawling city. I was taking a bus ride yesterday to meet Asra's betrothed... through the city, in the evening, just as the sun was setting and I realized how much of the city I seem to have internalized without even realizing that I have. So now I wonder-
- if maybe I love plants so much, cz of all the parks that line my city. I never realized that the park on MG Road was so pretty, till yesterday from the Auto, and the yellow lamp lights cast its glow over the flowers that had been rooted in cirlces around a figurine of Gandhi statue. Not to mention the setting sun, and the collective sigh of millions of people as the days' heat showed signs of dissipating. And the stretch of road frm Queens to MG Road... I've never seen all the trees dotting the area... and I wonder.. (and if anyone who's reading this knows, tell me please), is there another park in there? And let's not even mention Lal Bagh Gardens.. and Coles Park and all the other smaller parks that line the city. They are beautiful.
- and i realized that the whole city is quaint. We have beautiful houses that speak stories of the rich n well to do from the early part of the last century. Huge mansions, some still well taken care off and others sprouting weeds all over them ( I imagine the houses are sitting there, cz the children that grew up there are fighting a court battle, trying to figure out who owns how much). And these mansions are just so beautiful, with winding stair cases, n windows not only barred, but also with little awnings protecting the house frm the sun n the rain. Areas like Fraser Town, Cunningham Road and Queens Road are a beautiful example of these houses. Buildings like the Gangarams Buiding, Higgin Bothams... that whole stretch.. I mean, that building or line of buildings have been there since the Britts were around. And its amazing how well the newer shops have integrated into their own buildin. N i wanna go to that coffee shop on that stretch too..
-Bamboo Bazaar on the other hand, seems to show the other side of the city, with houses so small, depicting the life of the not so well to do. Its a very beautiful place too. Bamboo Bazaar, I'm guessing gets its name because of all the furniture shops there in the vicinity. Some of the shops work with iron, where melders meld out chair supporters, some work with wood, carving out doors n dividers while others work with bamboo. And the fascinating thing abt the whole place that it's very easy to tell which shop works on windows of what material. Cz essentially these shops are small rooms.. and all around the room and stretchin into the street are the tools of their trade. The door shop will have a hundred different types of doors stacked one on top of another vertically.. so on ur way to see the shop keeper who works in a small room surrounded by, essentially his purpose. The shops that work with bamboo.. have metres high bamboo sticks stacked up one on another.. till there are hundreds of tall strong bamboo stalks stretching out. It's amazing.. a bamboo forest in the midle of the city
- And someone asked me the other day why i came back to Bangalore. I gave them the story of how I had to come back to India. And then they clarified and asked again, why Bangalore? Why not Chennai, or Hydrebad or Jaipur or Delhi or Pune or Mumbai? And the first thing that popped out of my mouth, which surprised me as well, was that there isn't any other city in India that I would like to live in. Where I'd be comfortable getting lost, cz eventually I would know the way. Where I can take busses late, and know that should anything happen, there's a relative right arnd the corner in whom I can rely on for help. As Bhav sys, I have a relatve in every corner of Bangalore.
LASTLY: TOMMOROW IS WOMAN'S DAY. HAPPY WOMAN'S DAY LADIES... I actually have a lot to say abt women and India... mostly abt hw we get to pay lesser tax than the women, abt how men have to give us seats in busses, n hw in courts, esp family courts n in police stations, a woman's word is a lot stronger than a mans'.
N hw this respect is extended half heartedly cz at the same time, much of the male populace continues staring, groping, feeling, n touching women on the roads, in temples, in clubs, in busses. But I won't. Cz it's nothing new, So CHEERS to all!
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