The reasons why many call Bengaluru home are various. For author Roopa Pai, choosing one reason may be tricky. “I am a proud third-generation Bengalurean. The city has been a living, breathing, benevolent presence in my life from before I became a writer,” recalls Pai in the light of her new book, Becoming Bangalore (Hachette India, ₹599).
Usually known as a children’s book author, Pai believes the book to be a friendly guide to understanding how Bengaluru became the city it is today, diving into its geography, leadership, citizen activism, entrepreneurial mindset, culture of science and education, and more. Reflecting on it she explains, “The key takeaway, especially for residents, whether they are old Bengalureans or have newly arrived, will be an appreciation of how special Bengaluru is, despite all its very real urban and infrastructural issues. That appreciation, I hope, will help readers look beyond the potholes and inspire them to do their bits to improve the city, as generations of Bengalureans have done before them.”
Pai’s first book on the city was a travel book called Ticket Bengaluru, published in 2005, one she wrote after returning to Bengaluru after a dozen years of staying away. “Twenty years and 36 books later, it feels appropriate to have launched my second book about the city,” she notes. By the time the book was bound, it became more than a compilation of columns to a personal journey for Pai, as she says, “Many other elements have been added to it – my memories of growing up in the city, additional trivia from history, readers’ responses to my columns, and more. My editor Vatsala Kaul Banerjee and I thought these elements would add a personal touch, and make it resonate with other Bengalureans, old and new.”
For Pai, the process was also filled with surprises as she wrote the book. “It has been a joy to write these columns because although I do know quite a bit about the city, I have had so many ‘a-ha’ moments during my research,” she says. “I did not know the history of the seemebadanekayi (Bangalore brinjal /chow chow) and how it came to be cultivated in Bengaluru as recently as the end of the 19th century. It was experimentally grown in Lalbagh at the end of the 19th century by a director of horticulture called James Cameron before it went mainstream and became part of Kannadiga (and South Indian) cuisine,” Pai explains.
Because the book is a compilation of columns, Pai notes how finishing the book was organic without any predetermined plan. “When I thought about what makes Bengaluru different from other cities, apart from the sense of freedom and liberalism people experience here, was its trees. The joy that unites Bengalureans when the pink tabebuia is in bloom or when the gulmohar bursts into bloom is a very Bengaluru thing. Bengaluru continues to be the city of magnificent trees, parks and flowers, which is why I chose to divide the book into sections by flowering seasons,” says Pai.
As she reflects on the book further, she shares an interesting compliment she received. “A reader said on Facebook that the book was ‘Janata Hotel’s masala dosae, Ganesh Prasad’s vade and gatti chutney, Sona Caterers’ ghee roast, and Amma’s filter coffee all rolled into one’. Could there be a better, more heartfelt compliment,” Pai expresses happily.