Love and Peace galore- Bangalore!

(Now that I finally sat down to share something, technology bugs me and doesn't let me share some beautiful pictures I took during my stay in Bangalore. I just can’t write without mentioning the lovely trees of the place and hence I am borrowing some pictures from the web; would share mine when I understand the workings of my smart phone! :P )

This write up was long overdue but every time I intended to pen down my thoughts on how the city felt to me then, the feelings changed. In this stay, the longest ever here, I experienced every possible emotion I could. I came here at a time when I needed solace the most and did the place disappoint me at all? No, Sir! The city changed flavors and its treatment of me, according to my moods. Initially, I resisted the changes that the shift of my sister’s residence brought. It meant no thick trunked and beautifully branched out trees but a long and tedious commute to my favorite hangout places and lots of dirt and concrete of the new construction sites mushrooming around. This isn't ‘my’ Bangalore- I told my sister.  I missed the fine balance of glitz and serenity which I have always associated with this city. I can hardly believe that at one point I even wondered why I even came here in the first place!

Do you see the network of branches! Picture courtesy: ringsofsilverpv

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Look at the canopy!  It feels terrible to know that SO many of them were cut in the name of development. I would have gone bonkers had I seen this city twenty years back in all its glory! Picture courtesy: dustinfreeman.org

I saw the same lacuna here as in other cities and felt I lost my Bangalore forever. The city challenged my comfort zone when I started looking at it for professional reasons. It looked competitive, charged up with meaning and made me struggle. And why not; I was no longer looking to spend a vacation here. I realized that my perspective has shifted and the city reacted to this change. I found my work back home and it is then that I connected with my beloved city the way I love- a book in a café or a beautiful park in the mornings and evenings. I was back to my vacation mode and the city took me in its comforting embrace again. J In many ways, it is a city like any other but for me it has a distinct personality of its own. It lets me be, gives me time and space to clear my head and makes me grow as an individual. May be I love it more because I have wonderful people as my sister and mentor here.

I achieved what I had to during this stay and now that it is nearing its end, I have mixed feelings of melancholy on leaving this behind and excitement for the new life waiting for me when I go back. In the past few weeks, I had a peaceful closure to many things in my life and this city and its people have a big role to play in it. Closure it might be but I am not done with this city yet. J

Dear Bangalore, I hope and wish that from now on, you wouldn't receive me for clearing my head and seeking comfort but rather be delighted to meet a strong, sorted friend in me, visiting to share and give all that she has received.  

Bye for now; Love Always! J

P.S. I now have to dig out the positives of Delhi and its cousin cities; I am sure they aren't that bad!

Thank You!

As much as I usually crib about my life situations, it keeps dawning on me how easier certain things have been and how privileged I am to have them. I am bursting with gratitude towards things, big or small, people, situations who have knowingly or unknowingly made themselves available to shape up my life which I enjoy today.

• First and foremost, this platform which helps me express myself freely and the reason of it all- IPK. Thank you for coming into my life and letting me have an unusual experience of getting glued to, writing about and meeting wonderful people through you. You helped me navigate the most challenging phase of my life. Thank You.

• Thank you, all friends I made through PK wall. Each one of you in your unique, individual capacity has made me see life, people and myself in a different light. This process has been one of my biggest takeaways in recent times.

• Thank you, mom, especially my brother, my friends for giving me my space and patiently bearing with me through some of my worst behaviors.

• Thank you, Dad, for giving me a materially comfortable life that makes a lot of things easier to deal with.

• Thank you, Bangalore, for coming to my aid when I needed some peace and clarity the most.  (I’ll express my admiration and love in a more elaborate manner soon :D)

• I thank a certain Master for gliding into my life and messing me up so that I can know my innate strength while dealing with it. Peace out.

• I thank the lady who stole my purse a few days back; your actions undoubtedly not admirable, still gave me some very valuable insight into my life.

• I thank my erstwhile driving instructor for not teaching me the basics of the clutch pedal! Without you, I would never have been SO fearful of driving and would have had an easier life but that’s ok; an easy life wouldn’t have given me the opportunity to see my fears straight into its eyes. An advice though- don’t mess it up for someone else! Everyone doesn’t need to deal with your driving instructions. :P (Anyone want to learn driving? Enrol for Maruti Driving School...they are awesome; wish I had them before.)

• Thank you God for cushioning me ALL the time. You are all I need. 

• Lastly, I thank myself for choosing to bring changes, to hold onto optimism and faith in a time when it felt it has ceased to exist.

 Love Always! J