Beautiful Bangalore!

Books, Bookstores, Beaches, Birthdays, Best Friends, so many things but for me it is Bangalore

"But you should come to Bangalore!" Yes, most of my conversations with my friends start with these words. It doesn't matter if they live in the US or if they are in Australia or if they are from back home. When the opportunity to write a post beginning from the alphabet B came up, almost instantaneously, I said "Bangalore!"

Books, Bookstores, Blossoms, More Blossoms, Beautiful weather, Beautiful people, Big parks, Badass Pubs, Brigade Road! So much more.

I wasn't always a Bangalore fan because at that point I had never lived on my own and I didn't know what it meant to 'love a city'. All the movies I watched glorified Bombay and I didn't think the IT capital of India had anything to offer that was breathtaking. A few years later, I was proven oh so wrong.

I love this city! I know not everyone resonates this feeling. I know this city makes people feel like outsiders. But even in those outsiders you find a connection. Something that you can find in common. The autos suck. There is no "street food". Agreed.

I love this city of bookstores, as a reader it always is reassuring to know that a I am no more than 10 minutes away from a bookstore. I have spent long hours at this beautiful bookstore called blossoms. To anyone who has been in Bangalore and hasn't been to Brigade road and more importantly to Blossoms is no friend of mine.(not really, but little drama). Speaking of Blossoms, Bangalore is a city that is always blooming, consider it as an horticultural experiment by the British who grew trees that would blossom at different times of the year, leaving the city in a constant state of spring.

I came to this city about 4 years ago, I haven't for a moment regretted it. Bangalore gave me a very deep sense of belonging; belonging to nowhere which in its essence is what I love. I love the Bangalore anonymity. I was sitting by this tiny cafe on MG Road at 3 in the afternoon and reading. I didn't recognise anybody, nobody recognized me either. There was some song and dance that was happening near by, people were celebrating. I was eating my food. This kind of getting lost is very liberating.

One day in the hostel, I was bored. I had nothing to do. It was a few weeks in Bangalore and I hadn't gone to too many places apart from say CKP, Brigade, Commercial Street and other places around where I lived, so one fine morning I woke up and decided to walk out of the hostel and take myself some place. I went to the planetarium, and a book exhibition, cafes, parks... not that it was 'amazing'. But it was nice. I was warming up to the city. Bangalore is filled with interesting places. The whole cultural experience is pretty great. You'll have artsy stuff happening, poetry recitals and then say have a band playing for you. You'll have your sports fan cheering someplace and you'll have the food lovers binging on food next door. At any given point you'll be in the company of either photographer, musician, writer, book lover, marathoner or cyclist.  

Today when I think about Bangalore, I can't help but smile. It is a city that taught me to live on my own. It gave me all that I was looking for. A city that gave  my friends, my identity and my job. I am truly Bangalored and I have no qualms about living here. Bangalore makes me happy. The idea of Bangalore makes me happy.




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This post is being written as a part of the A TO Z Challenge. My theme for the AtoZ Challenge can be read here. To know more about the AtoZ Challenge itself click here. 

Apart from it being totally awesome. I wanted to participate in the challenge because I need to see if I can write everyday from 2 months in a row. And this time I'm doing the whole commenting, posting, reading and writing as well! So this 2 AM writer will have very little sleep and mostly lots of coffee!

"It's a good thing to tell yourself about the good things in life."

Cheers.