A man's identity is seldom
defined by him alone. It is largely influenced by his tastes, his
friends and quite importantly, by his place of stay. The existing social and
cultural mores of his place of stay deeply affect the mental and emotional
pipelines of an individual. Unsurprisingly, this link that we share with cities and
villages has been glorified on numerous occasions by authors and film-makers across
the world.I am a metro-man. I have never lived in a village for more than a few
months, so I can never relate with the flowing peacefulness of sleepy paddy farms and gushing brooks behind
the street. As much as I can love them for their ability to recharge my mind
and body, I can never connect and more importantly emote with them on
the long term. I love the frenetic pace and hurried lifestyle of the city. I
know it's bad for me, but it is the set of cards I was dealt with and I am
largely happy about it.
Hence in every metro I have lived in, I try to identify
myself with a certain aspect of the city. I try to alienate what I love and
hate about that city. This process of
'getting to know' the city underpins my relationship with it and determines how I will
remember the city after I have left it. In Chennai, Calcutta and Trichy, I
could find that little part of the city and its cultural scene which left a deep
mark on my psyche. And last weekend, I decided to search for that connection
with my new home - Bangalore.
As with most good things in my
life, my search began with The Hindu. Saturday's edition shared
a sombre article about a famous Bangalore bookstore 'Page Turners' of
Penguin shutting down in December and offering great discounts as a final
punch.A s someone who has been concerned with this worrisome trend of 'bookstore
deaths' (and
blogged about it too!), I wanted to visit this store at
least once before it shut doors for good. So after my morning cuppa, I left
for a long journey, traversing across the town to reach this
store in M. G.Road. The journey reminded me of my first and most frustrating
opinion about this city - the transit times. Agreed, I do not stay in a very
fortunate place. Office timings demand of me to stay very far
away from Bangalore City itself, hence every time I want to visit the City, I need
to plan for at least two hours of Travel Buffer zone! While this is
undoubtedly an irksome thing, its unavoidable nature makes me try to spend that time
in a fruitful manner. I now use these long bus journeys through concrete jungles
to catch up on my favorite podcasts or with my reading. Thanks to the
luxuriously comfortable A/C buses, these bus journeys provide with a very comfortable
setting for some 'alone' time. Hence, I no longer cringe at these long bus
rides.
I finally reached M.G.Road after
more than one and half hours on two buses and found a place that
defied Indian stereotypes. Undoubtedly the most 'happening' few streets of
Bangalore, M.G.Road and its adjoining Brigade Road were a sea of tourists and
foreigners shopping door to door at stores
boasting the latest international
designs and brands. Even though I have traveled and shopped abroad, this
exotic scene of international-ness transplanted upon crumbling
buildings, garbage on the street and awful traffic, lent a very awkward smell to this
scene. But I was star-struck none the less. While these streets do not remind
one of the 'Old Money' of Parrys Corner at Chennai or Marine Drive at
Mumbai, they did have a very vibrant and pulsating sense to them. One could clearly
see the 'New Rich' that Bangalore has incubated as part of its meteoric
rise from a sleepy, retirement city into India's Information Age capital. These
are people who have broken into the upper echelons of money and
status through their education and hard work alone and are eager to show it off!!
Amidst this wave of nouveau riche ITians, I could also see the staple images
of India - beggars and street dogs. But none the less, M.G.Road and
Brigade Road gave me plenty to see and admire.
As I was searching for 'Page
Turners', I ran into an old friend - 'Higgin Bothams'. Anyone who has
lived in Chennai or has traveled through
Central Station or Meenambakkam
Airport, would be familiar with Higgin Bothams.
One of the first and most
aristocratic of Chennai book stores, its iconic store
on Mount Road is as much a part
of Chennai's important sites catalogue as the
Egmore Museum and Marina Beach. I
vividly remember traveling to this store once a year with my
father and my elder sister for
our family's annual books purchase. We used to
rack up on a number of books on
finance, accounting and such for my father,
Nancy Drews for my sister and
some Tinkles for good old me. Higgin Bothams
Bangalore reminded me of its
Chennai cousin. It had the same nonchalant, humble
exterior with a disinterested
store clerk and dull settings. It this age where
even book stores are demanded of
to be 'pimped-up', Higgin Bothams presents a
refreshing sense of disdain at
whether you buy a book or not! Very refreshing
indeed!
I finally found 'Page Turners'.
In fact, the store was very crowded! Clearly a number of
Bangalorians had read the same article and had shared my enthusiasm. I weaved my
way through the crowds and discovered some amazing books! Penguin being one
of the largest publication houses, 'Page Turners' had the best titles
across all genres! I simply could not help myself and ended up splurging a sizable
chunk of my just-received monthly pay!
After my book drive, I resumed my
walks through the side roads and gullies. One might wonder why I
did not make this trip along with a friend or a bunch of friends. To be honest, I
had already visited M.G.Road and Brigade Road on more than one occasion with my
friends, but I have this theory that the special bond that one shares with
a city can only be found when alone. When you don't have the constant
interruption of conversation, thoughts and bantering, your mind tends to explore the
surroundings and your senses start to perceive more than the bare minimum. This
lends into this ethereal connection that we feel towards any place. To
exemplify, when I used to live in Calcutta, I used to take the Metro often by myself
to travel to my mom's office near Park Street.
As a middle school student, these
trips were very exciting times as I fancied myself to be a 'Big Man' to be
allowed to travel alone. After reaching the 'Maidan' Metro Station, just as I
used to get out through one of the exits, I used to run into this vendor who
sold baked beans, puffed rice and onions in the form of a local delicacy
called 'Jaal Muri'. Every time, I used to stop and buy a small pouch of this
delicacy and eat it on the way to my mom's office which was a couple of blocks
away. To this day, I remember the vivid smell of slightly old onion and masala of
the Jaal Muri. It is one of the many images that come to my mind when I
recollect my times at Calcutta.
After walking around for a few
hours, I decided to travel back home through a circuitous but
more fun route! I took the Metro from M.G.Road to Baiyapannahalli. The Namma Metro
Project, although a work in progress, should be a source of pride not just for
Bangalore but for the whole of India! It is a beautifully maintained mode of
transport with a friendly and helpful staff and well thought-out logistics. It
was concrete evidence of India finally taking her baby steps towards a superior
way of public commutation. One thing which really
fascinated me during my Metro ride was the attitude of my co-passengers. Unlike the usual disdain and
arrogance with which Indians treat public transport, my co-passengers
seemed to regard the Metro with a certain respect, even fear one could say. A father
severely reprimanded his son for jumping on the leather seats and trying to
pull a poster on the wall and another person even offered his seat for an
elderly gent, all very new and unusual scenes in Indian public transport! Although
it is early days for Metro Project, I really hope that people continue to
maintain this sense of deference towards the Metro.
I finally reached home after
another bus ride from Baiyapannahalli. I was tired and
my legs were sore from walking for more than four hours but I had come back
much wiser about my new home. Bangalore is a really beautiful city. It is a
city filled with young people like me, filled to
the brim with ambition and in
some cases with compassion. It is a city with money flowing in from all
quarters and it is a city which is opening her horizons to the world. It is no
longer just the IT Capital of India but also the Youth Capital of India. The
infectious sense of optimism and happiness that the young educated Indian
possesses is evident in every shopping mall, multiplex and office in this
city. It is a city where its hard to be unhappy. Yes it suffers from crippling
traffic problems and some law and order concerns, but as with young
people, you tend to move on and look beyond these flaws. Bangalore is at the
vanguard of a New India, one that is rising with each quarter of positive growth.
But I would like to believe that they are not just interesting in piling money,
they are also giving back through their money and time! Bangalore newspapers
are valiantly pushing for the views of this new class by demanding better
garbage-disposal, traffic control and policing from the Municipality, NGOs are
flushed with volunteers who are willing to give back on weekends and
holidays and finally millions such as me are blogging and documenting about the rise of this
city and about the New Indians who are fueling growth so that the rest of India
can shrug off its slumber and become a part of this rise.
