Isn't Bangalore/Bengaluru beautiful again?
I've been living in the USA for a while now and like most NRIs I miss Namma Bengaluru a lot. Notice I did not say "home". I don't do that anymore. For now USA is my home where I have my space, my life and I feel most at-home at my home here. But there is that eternal longing to return. There's also that nostalgia when I hear a particular song or eat a particular food but those are just momentary and they pass. I'm pretty sure though, that if I move and make my home in Bengaluru, I will feel most at-home there.
I do make it a point to visit Bengaluru often and after the initial couple of days of just-returned-from-the-states attitude (which I'm pretty sure annoys my sister), I begin to notice how things ARE getting better there. The roads are not as clogged, the people are driving better, there is just a little bit more greenery than the previous visit and the roads are cleaner. I saw more sensitivity among people driving. The "Me first" attitude has reduced and I see more people give way to other drivers so that intersections aren't blocked. I've seen better lane discipline on wider roads and ring roads and I'm pretty sure it'll find it's way to the smaller roads as well. So you NRIs who've just visited Bengaluru and say "Arrey traffic was so bad", I think it's just a habit. I always tell my friends it was better than last time.
I noticed that garbage was being handled well. By handled I mean, that a little tempo comes and collects garbage every morning and I didn't see overflowing dumpsters ANYWHERE! People seem to care about how their street looks as well. And the rain, the rain smelt as good as ever! I can't talk of Bangalore and not mention the rain :-)!
And the neighborhood parks! There seem to be many more parks than there used to be and they are all very well maintained with really colorful and updated playing structures for kids. I was very pleased to see that the park I grew up playing in is better and more beautiful now (and cleaner) and my son enjoyed playing there.
One thing that bothers me most about Bengaluru now is the consumerism that seems to have overtaken it. The hoardings everywhere, the crowds in the malls, the traffic around malls, weekends in and around malls and malls in general. We visited a couple of people this time and it was amusing how everyone gave us directions to their house from a nearby shopping mall. They are the landmarks now. Nothing wrong with that except for the fact that there are malls springing up everywhere.
I was wondering what I should do to entertain my 3 yr old and all the suggestions I got were to visit different shopping malls in the city. I suppose living there and visiting are two different things and people living there of course have other ways to entertain their 3 yr olds. But other than the local parks, which I must not forget to mention were also recommended and shopping malls/events there was little else that I could entertain my son with when his cousins weren't available. I do have to admit though, that this a smaller and more easily solved problem than the earlier traffic woes. So overall I'm very pleased with my Bengaluru and I thank whoever is responsible for this, I'm guessing the Mahanagara Palike, the traffic police and the people. I for one have noticed that Bengaluru is beautiful again!
I do make it a point to visit Bengaluru often and after the initial couple of days of just-returned-from-the-states attitude (which I'm pretty sure annoys my sister), I begin to notice how things ARE getting better there. The roads are not as clogged, the people are driving better, there is just a little bit more greenery than the previous visit and the roads are cleaner. I saw more sensitivity among people driving. The "Me first" attitude has reduced and I see more people give way to other drivers so that intersections aren't blocked. I've seen better lane discipline on wider roads and ring roads and I'm pretty sure it'll find it's way to the smaller roads as well. So you NRIs who've just visited Bengaluru and say "Arrey traffic was so bad", I think it's just a habit. I always tell my friends it was better than last time.
I noticed that garbage was being handled well. By handled I mean, that a little tempo comes and collects garbage every morning and I didn't see overflowing dumpsters ANYWHERE! People seem to care about how their street looks as well. And the rain, the rain smelt as good as ever! I can't talk of Bangalore and not mention the rain :-)!
And the neighborhood parks! There seem to be many more parks than there used to be and they are all very well maintained with really colorful and updated playing structures for kids. I was very pleased to see that the park I grew up playing in is better and more beautiful now (and cleaner) and my son enjoyed playing there.
One thing that bothers me most about Bengaluru now is the consumerism that seems to have overtaken it. The hoardings everywhere, the crowds in the malls, the traffic around malls, weekends in and around malls and malls in general. We visited a couple of people this time and it was amusing how everyone gave us directions to their house from a nearby shopping mall. They are the landmarks now. Nothing wrong with that except for the fact that there are malls springing up everywhere.
I was wondering what I should do to entertain my 3 yr old and all the suggestions I got were to visit different shopping malls in the city. I suppose living there and visiting are two different things and people living there of course have other ways to entertain their 3 yr olds. But other than the local parks, which I must not forget to mention were also recommended and shopping malls/events there was little else that I could entertain my son with when his cousins weren't available. I do have to admit though, that this a smaller and more easily solved problem than the earlier traffic woes. So overall I'm very pleased with my Bengaluru and I thank whoever is responsible for this, I'm guessing the Mahanagara Palike, the traffic police and the people. I for one have noticed that Bengaluru is beautiful again!
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