Welcome to Bengalooru!
The move was reasonably hurried. I had two days to pack, say my "sayonaras" (in Ashaben Parekh style) and eat as much of Amma's fish curry and rice before I got the heck outta Bombay and into my new home of Bangalore (Side Note: Do I only live in cities starting with B? What does this mean? Next stop- Barcelona? Brasilia? Belgaum?)
It's weird moving to a city where you have no roots at all. At least with my move to Bombay from Boston, I was coming back to my hometown. Here it's a total new frame of reference. No more Linking Road, hello M. G. Road. No more pani puri, hello "soup-bonda"!
Looking for a place to live is obsessing me so much the last few weeks that I've almost stopped obsessing about being single! That's an achievement indeed..I've decided on a place, on a budget and now I'm being picky. I am 30 - I wanna live like a 30 year old does (on a TV show maybe!) All you Bangaloreans (Bangalorites? Bangalorekars?) reading this post, I'm moving to Indiranagar...it's the closest thing to Bombay I can find here. And for you Bombayites, it's sorta like Lokhandwaala, Juhu Scheme and Bandra has a drunken threeway and then gave birth to something with the characteristics of all three....and named her Indiranagar! So till I find an apartment here, I'm living in the B'lore equivalent of Kandivili..for a Bandra boi - a fate worse than death.
Here's a quick reckoner (I'll have to check this often) of things I like about and don't like about my new city:
1. Like: 13th Floor, Maya and Cosmo Village
Dislike: The fact that all these bars shut down (!!) at 11.30pm!
2. Like: Spiga, Herbs and Spices, 1912
Dislike: The fact that no restaurant here can make a good Pav Bhaji!
3. Like: The awesome weather
Dislike: The fact that it will never rain hard enough for me to get a holiday from work!
4. Like: The tree lined avenues at Cubbon Road and Malleswaram
Dislike: The fact that there is almost no public transport here!
5. Like: The small town feel of much of the city
Dislike: The fact that it means everyone sleeps with the same group of people!
There will be many more I'm sure..I'm still finding my wings here. It would help if I had a bunch of folks to show me around here and hang out with. So far I'm reduced to hanging out at India Coffee House on M. G. Road drinking a coffee and watching the world go by...would be nice to do that with a bunch of people!
Till then, I have to figure out if this blog name needs changing..but then again, No. I love my Bombay far too much to wanna do that. So till then, "hog Barthini" all you lovely people!