Bangalore Blues

The rain outside stopped for a breather, and then started again, this time a little subdued. My second week in my new home went by pretty uneventfully. For the last two weeks I am comig to terms with Bangalore and its ways. Six years in one city makes you get used to doing things in a way and then comes the change and you tend to become resistant to it. Change however is the only constant in life as the wise men say. Here are some of my observations about this city. First the pros. An absolutely fantabulous weather that wraps this city in a cosy bed of roses. Mornings are sometimes sunny and sometimes cloudy but never too hot. evenings are invariably cool and sometimes very cold when compared to other Indian cities with almost its daily quota of rain. This weather according to localites is very cliched. The Pub culture here is probably the best in India. You are almost assuraed of having a good time on the weekends if you visit them. Especially for the music they play. The crowd is a healthy mixture of young and middle aged people with a sprinkle of foreigners. The food is decent if you know the right places. Thanks to some of my friends I have only had decent and good food in this city as of now. The other remarkable fact about this city is that it is a safe place for women. Here a lady can actually travel after 10 pm without getting raped unlike Delhi. Now for the Cons and there are quite a few of them. The only half decent mode of transportation in this city is an Auto if you do not have a car. The fare is something I have never seen before. It is like travelling in a chopper. Next comes the language. people understand hindi and english pretty well but are quite reluctant to speak the national language for some very wierd reason. And of course then there is the traffic. Getting stuck in a traffic jam for an hour or more is very common and the seasoned crowd here takes it very casually. All in all a pretty remarkable place to be in if you like diversity, the question though is for how long.