Vagabond's blog
The casuality of being a child of parents in the armed forces is that either you are born in the best of the places in India or it's one of your stops enroute. Exactly like me. honestly, I rue the fact that while I was born in Bangalore (then all green and clean) my dad's posting brought me to Chennai. Then in the grip of an MGR aura. School, College and jobs later, I returned to bangalore last week.

And thanked my Dad rightaway. Majestic to Indiranagar - Rs.400 for a call taxi. And no, I did not lease it . Just rented the damn rickety car. The guy at the wheel has the cheek to offer me a 'government' receipt. The next 45 minutes (for a 11 kms ride) was a test of my tensile strength. I remember reading a T-shirt a girl was wearing that read "I have one nerve left. And you are standing on it". No, I was not the reason. But at that particular point, it could well have been a description for me. Well, 45 harrowing minutes later, I emerged unscathed and in one piece.

And then from one meeting to another in Bangalore favourite transport, the bug shaped auto. The drivers skills have to this day made me wonder if they are not better suited to dirt track racing. Scraps, dents, fissures et all. To give the devil his due, autos in bangalore are a lot more cleaner that those in my domiciled town. And along with this unchecked vehicle proliferation, is the fact that a lot of bangalore has grown...except for the roads.

Curiously, minus the grand glass and steel edifices, parts of bangalore still manages to zealously cling to a world harping back to the British era. Like the Cantonment station. The only bangalore station during the British era, the colonial aura is still untouched. You still wait for your train under canopies built in stone older than perhaps my father. Or the Commercial Street. Still the perenial favourite of Bangaloreans for anything from pins to piano. The old world charm is still evident...in spurts and thankfully.

If bangalore has lost some of its quaint laid back places, the bangalorean has quietly discovered some more. Yes, the commute is given. But then, place like villages beyond Whitefield or past Marthahalli. You'll discover a new bangalore here. A mirror of the past with allthe amenities of the present. Farmhouses by the dozens. Each one worth a visit. And the pleasing locals to help you around. Just ask "Solpa, help madi" and it shall be done. Just the place and atmosphere to refresh before you hit the work grind on Monday morning.

So, am i happy being a non resident bangalorean? Yes, without doubt. With all its failings, bangalore still has that 'pull'. As we marketing guys call it. To different people, it could mean different things. To me, it's always home.