Being Bangalored

And finally the famous Bangalore weather has decided to make itself known. The mornings are pleasantly cold, inducing sleep which does no good to a lazy bum like yours truly who believes donning a fitness band & taking a walk can make her lose weight. But let's save that for another story. The days are sunny & mildly humid with a cool breeze blowing all the time. And evenings are marked by thundering clouds that burst open on a whim & leave the city stranded in traffic jams. I think it's a plot, these traffic jams are perhaps the only time, the IT folk of the city get to experience the beauty of the rain.

I thankfully live only 1.5-2km away from my office which gives me the liberty to take a walk back in the drizzle. But it is advised to stay away from the pavements in Bengaluru for you never know which 2-wheeler might honk you off it on to the dangerous road, where buses & cars fly around almost like the Knight Bus ( that's a Harry Potter reference you GoT-brained git).

Power cuts happen a lot during the rain. And I happen to live on the outskirts of the eastern part  of Bengaluru. PG owners here don't believe in the concept of installing a power backup because you know...it's Bengaluru. Rarely you'd find rooms with ACs or coolers in them, because again...Bengaluru. Until a few weeks back, when temperatures reached 44-45 degrees, this was a nightmare for my spent-3-years-in-Gurgaon-AC-PGs  wala body. But now I've joined the "It's Bengaluru" bandwagon as well.

Food here is not always idli-dosa-sambar as many believe. Sure you'll find a lot of those, but then round the corner there'll be this little 'litti-choka' stall, or a 'Kolkata kathi-rolls' & even 'Punjabi tadka' dhabba. My favourite is the golgappa stalls, because unlike the NCR golgappas with their meetha paani & suji wala puchka, here I get the Odia taste with the proper spiced up paani & deliciously filled up atta puchka. And for all those complaining about the quintessential coconut oil, here's a fun fact-it's healthier than the refined oil we generally use in cooking.



Pic source: eventshigh.com

Last year when I'd visited Bengaluru for my cousin's marriage, a rather long discussion had crept up amongst her friends from NCR & B'lore about which city has the best pubs and breweries. I'd say both the cities have their own charm in that department. Pubs here apart from closing earlier on weekdays, also are not always equipped with a dance floor. But the crowd here is good. Of the 4-5 places I've been to, never have I seen anyone have a drunken brawl or behave rudely. Although the popular places are sometimes so crowded you have to take care of your elbows not hitting anyone by accident!

People are very friendly. They mostly mind their own business. They would gladly help you out if you've lost your way. You'd find a few of those over zealous folks who if given a chance would make people get a visa to enter Karnataka, with the criteria being how well you speak Kannada. But you find such idiots in every state anyway.

So far so good at Namma Bengaluru...

Pic source: Youtube.com