Bangalore Blues

Years ago, when I was about 10 or 11 years old, a mathematics teacher shared a lesson with the class. Keeping aside the usual diction, she asked us to make a count. A count of number of times we used the words thank you and sorry. She added the less we use these words, the more we score on the sheets of life.

However, over the past few months in Bangalore, I saw something very different to what was mentioned at school – the value of understanding and acknowledgment of what others do, knowingly or out of habit, to allow more comfort and joy seep through.

I spent the most hours in Bangalore either working and on the bed. Curiously, the number of hours spent at work were fulfilling, with each member from the small team invested equally, stretching themselves, making sacrifices and recognising each other’s contributions and out-of-the-way help, which was commonplace – putting people first at all times possible, even when business took precedence.

If one has seen Bombay’s rush and Delhi’s frenzy, Bangalore appears to be numbingly quiet and calm (not denying their own wonders). A city where the conductor and the driver of the bus shout at you just to ask you to be careful, as you attempt to jump off the moving vehicle. A city where a youngster in an Audi, allows you to cross first even while your eyes are on the phone and not the road. A city where it rains simply because the temperature shoots up a notch higher. One cannot help being grateful. 

The human emotions run equally parallel as in other cities, the human composition after all warrants only a little peace. But the pace of the city allows more room to them, something you usually experience when you sit by the sea or on the capital’s silent streets or otherwise while being tucked away with people who care about you.

Love and desire brushed past me with full force here, putting me out of my reverie. Once significant things lost significance, desires gave way to absolute essentials and meaning of others’ actions were made a note of.  

The city has sundry people in its fold. Some visited, people who I care about. Over many fired, warm, sparkling conversations, I also met some talented people from different turfs, with astounding stories and I found them indebted too. Weekends, the clichéd joyful days became the norm to indulge in company and the temperature of the city blew quite a few lids off.

I was told that Bangalore is a city that I would really like. I did. Several answers that I looked for after stepping out of Pune surfaced in surreptitious ways. Goodbyes soaked with a thanks or two, made it easier to step out. And as more months passed by, it was pleasing to recognise the basics of investing time, well, every time with a thank you.  

My first picture in Bangalore :)