Another meaningless monologue

Well, this blog is not in Kannada. Why ? Just because I wanted to write in English.

Anyway, I've become yet another citizen of booming Bangalore. Bangalore has really grown. And even after more than a month since I got back, I feel the same. I've come to see that the traffic is uncontrollable after 9AM. So the wise thing for me to do would be to leave early to beat the traffic. But try as much as I do,I am unable to leave before 9 and so it takes an hour aand a quarter to get to work. Well, I am whining because this is my whining place.

I've been unable to do much reading since I got back - but I did manage to read one Bhyrappa novel - a small one - nAyiya neraLu. It is a very different kind of story and yet quite Bhyrappa-esque. I've begun another one - dATu - and this promises to be a real thought-provoker.

I see that Bangalore has kind of lost its soul in several parts. Yesterday I visited the Forum mall in Koramangala. Koramangala used to be this dull place which was never on the maps of Bangaloreans then. Now - whoa! I just felt like I was in some other region of the world. I could just see people dressed in trendy clothes roaming around the mall. You could be forgiven for thinking that you were in the US or someplace. Only the color of people's skin in the mall brought you back to reality. Which brings me back to Bangalore's soul.

When I think of Bangalore - Lalbagh, Cubbon Park, Vidhana soudha, Malleswaram Market, the Indian Coffee house on MG Road, the Plaza theatre and the Basavanagudi Bull Temple (yeah, I know I am saying the same thing twice) - come to mind. That is the soul, IMO, of Bangalore. A Bangalorean is cosmopolitan and yet traditional and at the same time. This is the paradox. But now the traditional aspect is wearing out and we see the plain cosmopolitan global Bangalore - with its usual share of McDonalds, Gucci Perfumes, Adidas and Van Heusen and the endless list of brands. It is just like any other mall in the world. So what - you may ask - Bangalore has become modern after all ! But what, I ask, is so distinctive of Bangalore ? What is its identity? Well, I suppose I should look at the people selling McDonalds burgers and Adidas sportswear! They are still Bangaloreans, right ? With this hopeful note, I conclude yet another rant.