Banggalore

The redeeming feature of Bangalore is its weather. A Feeling of ‘just-rained’ persists throughout the day – kind of being on a perpetual high, but essentially dry (pun intended). It can kind of get to you I think, since coming from cities where the sun is bright, the absence of direct sunlight on a continuous basis can tend to make rooms dependant on artificial light or even a little cold and damp, if not made properly. However, the weather, is amazing.

I may not be in a very good position to talk about anything else of the city, but I can definitely say its dusty like, like, well, like rolling in dust! By the time I returned to the guest house, my white shirt would have streaks of brown, not to mention the collar – ugh! The traffic is horrid, mainly because of the deplorable roads. People are plenty, as are software companies. The conference was a little far from the city, with international participants from world-renowned companies. The ministers of the country and leading company heads made stellar promises in air conditioned conference rooms, to the media and to us, the participants, in formal clothing. Surrounded as we were, by the ‘beautiful people’, the promises seem real, achievable, though irritatingly only Blore based (I mean, c’mon! there’s more happening in other parts of India than Blore!). Until you stepped out of the exhibition center. Sudden stark reality hit you on the roads – and you wondered. Brain there may be, ecology may support you, but the will is questioned, looking at the infrastructure. Software afterall, does not require an R&D center with millions of dollars worth of investment in fixed assets. Biology however, does rely on all that, and more. Here you need to, to start with, transport more than just human beings. A city where many people decide to work from home and have irregular work timings just because of traffic and travel timings, cannot really be expected to be a perfect location for normal industries. Or can it? One really doesn’t know till the event happens does one? And the wheels of government work in mysterious ways.

My earlier visits to the city were purely social, and with no deadlines to meet, and just one main area to hang out in, were no big issues. I daresay they still are not (Abad was a small city too) and I have it from very reliable sources that a yr long stay in the city can make you quite in love with it.

Managed to meet a couple of frnds, and try and make the most of the event… overall a pretty pleasant trip. Just makes the weather in Bombay seem horrible. Sigh. Here I was not even feeling it thanks to the boiling frog syndrome, and a few days there, and im spoilt for a week or more!

At least the clouds make the skyline here interesting. Not to mention the sea.