Good morning, Bangalore. The temperature has dipped in ‘namma oru’ and so has my bad temper. The climate has a direct co-relation to my mood. I have even started good-naturedly waving at boorish honkers in peak-hour traffic with a genial smile on my face. I think they are more shocked at my behavior than I am. I have the dubious distinction of breathing fire from my nose when angry.
The original ‘Dragon Lady’ of Bangalore! That being said, I think that our city has an innate magical quality that permeates the air. The citizens are more often than not, of a genial temperament and to be fair, the incidents of violence and general bad behaviour are much less pronounced in our city than they are in the other big cities of India. Bangalore is a natural choice for re-location.
Think about it. People from all over the country have moved in droves to our city, leaving their own beleaguered cities behind. It is a fallacy that mostly IT professionals move into our city. People who come here want to stay for keeps. It isn’t a transient place…people like to call it home! Now it is a totally different matter that sections of the people that migrate don’t necessarily follow our rules. Bangaloreans are basically non-confrontational and laid back.
The older Bangaloreans remember that the 1pm to 4pm siesta break was sacrosanct! Everything was closed, business establishments, eateries and even your local chemist. One never dared get sick nor have an emergency between the 1pm to 4pm witching hour! The doctors or police would give you ‘the eye’! But jokes apart, the children who are raised and study in our city are a notch above the rest. It is not a secret that Bangalore boasts of some of the best educational institutions in India.
Be it schooling, under graduation courses, medical colleges, management and engineering courses…east or west Bangalore is the best! There is no doubt that an average Indian parent will sell their souls to give the best education to their kids, the focus on the overall quality of education in our city is unparalleled! I am sure I will receive howls of protests over my unabashed support of the ‘quality over quantity’ mode of education (which is rule here rather than an exception)… but give me an opportunity to explain. Perhaps the ambiance of the city, with its genteel manners and cosmopolitan air gives our children that certain ‘edge’. I have travelled and worked the world over and everywhere I have always been able to identify children who lived and studied in Bangalore. They are erudite, smart, have a great sense of humour and are inordinately polite!
I am super stoked when I run into my children’s friends. They are all doing exceedingly well in the pursuit of ‘living life’! Anutha Shetty and Nimrita Genomal, along with Alisha and Adnan Furniturewalla and Anees Khan are a case in point. Anutha has graduated from a prestigious university in London in Cosmetic Science; she now runs a fabulous bakery, ‘Love and Crumble’ which is hugely successful. Nimrita has been a top shot marketing executive with Google and Qua in Hyderabad and Mumbai, and is now on a sabbatical to figure out her next quantum leap. Alisha is a top notch celebrity manager in Mumbai after completing her MBA and doing a host of jobs that she was passionate about.
Adnan too after completing his under-grad in the US returned to co- start a production company. Anees rose to a senior position in a top bank in Bangalore and Mumbai and now has charted his course in an artistic space where his soul stirs as he goes to work every morning. These kids I can name, but there are so many I can’t fit into a mere column. I’m thrilled they know the difference between living versus engaging with life!
Till next week. Ciao