(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!
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| Do you see the network of branches! Picture courtesy: ringsofsilverpv |
Want more?
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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!
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