(Took this from my Blog I had written on Blore the other day )
?It was the best of times , it was the worst of times? ? A Tale of two cities? ? C Dickens
It was a cool balmy night when I landed at the HAL Bangalore airport the 21st night of December (2003 ). I was forewarned by friends that it would be pretty cold down in Bangalore but for me it was just about comfortable. The flight from Mumbai landed before time and very soon the cab I had hailed zoomed across the deserted ( yes deserted at 9 PM on a Sunday night !! ) Bangalore roads.
This wasn?t my first visit to the garden city ( why its called so even now beats me ) but then this was not just another visit. I had come down to permanently settle in a new job and finally end my life as a vagabond . Over the course of last fifty months , I recollected during my eventless 2 hr flight , I had changed residence over 15 times in 4 different cities. It was high time I was told to drop anchor and what would be a better choice than my home state , just a 7 hr drive my native ( good old Mangalore ! ).
The first days were spent in a way similar to how a new bride would have felt initially at her in ? laws place ? Insecure, idle moments spent in recollecting the earlier good times and feeling clueless in an alien place. Thing began to look up only after I invested in buying my own mode of transportation. Its sad that the public transport infrastructure is in such a mess that most of the citizens have to take recourse buying their own vehicles.
For a Mumbaia coming to Bangalore, he or she would be in a for a mini culture shock. People here are very showy even though in financial status they would be a pauper compared to their Mumbai brethren. Its Common in BEST busses to see upper middle class housewives brushing shoulders with the labor class. In Blore such a sight would be a rarity. The apathy of the BCC is legendary ! Times Bangalore must have spent reams and reams of newsprint highlighting the in-competencies of the Municipality.
A certain Mr Kerry Packer had remarked that Bangalore is all wired up. Wired up all right ? Besscom wires entangled with cable TV wires or live electric wires dangling dangerously in the open. NDTV Pollution watch must have had their figures all screwed up. I have no doubt in mind that Blore has the highest SPM count on ALL days. The first 20 days spent in traveling on public transport I used to return home with a giddy feeling .
But the worst is yet to come. The vehicular traffic is a nightmare . My initial few days at the drivers seat were spent in terror , fright and all unimaginable human emotions of the worst kind. But very soon I also mastered the art of driving on Bangalore roads. Rule No 1 ( The ONLY Rule ) is too disobey all traffic laws. Smooth sailing is guarantied ! Bangalore has many sobriquets to its credit ( and discredit ). To add two more to the list :
The City of One-Ways and The City of No-Parking Signboards. So new comers be forewarned !!
Bangalore on a rainy day ? Ooops that?s another big nightmarish story. Would mention in another blog . Enough of Bangalore bashing for a day. But there?s another beautiful face of Bangalore too! Watch out for this space!

 

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