Bangalore Days

Hi all!! I’m back.. I hope all of you who read my blog haven’t forgotten me coz I stayed away for so long. I am someone who believes that if you stay away from someone’s life for long, they will start getting used to your absence and when you are ready to go back, they might not even want you. Showing attitude also has its limits. Oops! I’m not here to preach. But I was a bit busy with work that even though I had loads to share, I did not even have the time or energy to spare. Don’t worry, I haven’t been promoted as the MD of the company I work for or anything, but being a fresher, I had to learn my job.

So, I left Bangalore! :( I once had a WhatsApp status which said “I hate Bangalore” but now Bangalore has taken revenge for that. I’ve fallen for it !! And like they say, “Things get better towards the end” When I started liking it , I had to leave. But I think I will go back someday, coz I feel Bangalore will call me back(Blah!that sounded dramatic :D ) And people, I’m addicted now and would need rehab to get out of it! Addicted to being alone! And rehab is going back home! (Note: I have no other addictions. This is for the kind information of the so-called society, whose opinion matters the most :P ) I’ll explain this later.

I’ve learnt that we evolve over the years. Things which we once thought or principles we held to dear life would later end up being utter nonsense.

There was a time when I did not want to take up a job ever in life, because as I termed it, I wanted to be under the protective umbrella of my parents and then directly be transferred to the umbrella of my husband and I didn’t want to go in the sun during the transition. So I decided to remain a student after my engg degree..

There was this time in life when I was dependent on friends, mainly from college. I wanted to drink water-Call a friend. I wanted to submit my record-Call a friend. I want to bunk classes- Call a friend. I needed someone for anything and everything. I was so dependent that I couldn’t even imagine a single class of the day which I would be attending in the absence of Deepthi or Aparna.

I duno..but life had other plans. For a girl like me who was pampered and cared for to the extreme by my three besties, life had a bumpy ride ahead when the only person who genuinely cared for me was Gayathri PK(that’s me ;) ) And for a girl who didn’t want to go out in the sun, I was made to walk in the scorching sun! But like they say(they who?) experiences make people stronger.

I remember a time when I cried daily coz my best friend talked to someone else more than me. I can’t even relate to such a past.  I do agree that I am still possessive about people who are mine, but crying for something so silly?? Hahaha!!

As I have observed my evolution, I was growing more self-sufficient over the years..and staying away from home helped.

I remember the first time I traveled alone by bus, my Dad followed the bus to see if I was safe and that I got down at the right stop ;) and now I travel alone from Calicut to Bangalore and every single time I get down at a new place :P that too at 5 in the morning and walk around searching for the bus stop ;)

So even though transformation was happening to me, I felt it myself after coming to Bangalore.

My friend Remya has once told me, “Your true character is not the one which you show when you are with your family and when you are getting pocket money from them, but it’s the one you show when you have your own money and no one to question your actions.”

I love this city. It does not question you and you do not have to answer to anyone but yourself.

When I step out of my house in Kerala, I have to answer a minimum of three peoples’ questions which goes like, ”Where are you going?” or “Why are you going? ” or “Are you going alone? ”

And because I don’t want to tell people that I am going shopping ALONE, I tell them that I’m going to a friend’s place.(Whichever friend that is, she would have got fed up of me by now, coz I visit her so often!) I agree that the world’s not a safe place for a girl, but in broad daylight if a girl can’t go out all by herself, that’s like taking her birth right from her!

Here in Bangalore, no one knows you and no one bothers about you. That’s a blessing at times.

I’ll tell you how life goes on here. You mind your own business.My best friend over the past   months has been my headphone and my Candy Crush. It keeps your company(as long as ur so called "smart" fone has charge in it) I get into a bus and stop my music player only when the conductor asks me where I want to go. Once I have my tickets then I shut all the doors and create my own world in the bus. Every single person I see in the bus does that. They shut out the world around them. It’s either their laptop or mobile phone which helps them in this process. I remember making a lot of friends during my bus journeys when at home, coz there if you have your headphones on, people will look at you like you’re an alien :P

Another boon here is as majority of the people around you don’t speak your language, you can speak as loudly as you want in the fone or to ur friends. No one understands and no one knows you to form an opinion about you ;) But once I was bitching about some batchmate over the fone, as I was sure that the person sitting right next to me doesn’t understand Malayalam, and when I was about to get down from the bus I saw three of my juniors who looked like they have heard the entire conversation. Moral of the story: Look before you leap :P

As you’re on your own, you get this guts or courage as you have to take care of yourself and atleast to others you have to look smart and confident and courageous. At times I laugh at myself when I think of what people would think of my expression which screams,"I own the place!". But I see mirrors all around me as every single girl in the bus would be having the very same expression!Do all of them own the bus? Or is BMTC a joint venture by all their parents? :P

Be it day or night, no one cares about the other person. I’m sure that in my hometown if you see a girl walking alone at maybe 9pm, people tend to talk or at least wonder what she’s doing roaming around so late. But maybe because Bangalore is this software hub, people are always working. Morning shifts, noon shifts, UK shifts, US shifts..what not! You see people working in the  bus. And even when they are supposed to be on holiday. I remember seeing my cousin attending calls from clients , on a Saturday even though it was a holiday and her little son could not understand why Mommy was working from home!

Workaholics everywhere.. So maybe that’s the reason people don’t care. As they don’t have time.

Then another thing about Bangalore or any big city is the food we eat. I’m sure KFC would have made a huge profit with my contribution.. Eight months and my live revolved around KFC.  I know the entire menu by heart and even their prices! (No wonder I look like a buffalo now and I earlier looked like a pig!KFC-Its finger lickin good :P ) Then came Mc Donald's. I still remember how excited I was to go to Mumbai when I was a kid as they had McD and at that time Cartoon Network always had ads of McD and their Happy Meals and that clown. But after going to Bangalore, every other street has a McD!!! And gradually you get bored of their menu. Also there r  n number of chat stalls open on the road sides and even though I get sick most of the time after having their pani puris, I go again and again :P (Don’t ever think my room has a really cool washroom as I am inviting diarrhea ;) )

And also, when you go to a mall, for shopping or to watch a movie or even hangout, you end up eating and none of it is healthy food :D You know its not good for you but I get tempted by their combo offers- Buy a hyderabadi biriyani and get a chicken leg piece absolutely free!! What an offer! ;)

And they have mouth watering pastries and ice creams and you lie to yourself- nothings gona happen if you eat this one day of the week, the rest of the days you have to eat office canteen food(I usually have a North Indian meal, which includes a sweet and oily food-all which are high on calories :P ) 

I think it’s the case with majority( who are not “figure conscious” ) Malls are the only hangout places in Bangalore with the exception of Lal Bagh and few similar places where you wouldn’t go  every weekend. And if you don’t know the map of the mall, you end up eating junk food :P

Then I got addicted to window shopping. One basic necessity according to me to show off among the corporate crowd is to learn a few Brand names :P so that you don’t have you mouth wide open when people say these names ;) “Hey, I bought a Vera Moda top yesterday” (Did you get it from Commercial street? (Street with roadside stalls where you get things a low rates)) “Is your top from Melange?”(Mailanji???(mehndi in Malayalam)) “Ohh… I bought a pair of shoes from Catwalk, got them cheap..just 3000 bucks” (I could buy 6 kurtis for that amount :P )

Every single time I was a part of such conversations, I had a blank face and these can really shut my mouth! I am totally illiterate about a lot of things but this topic makes me lose my sound and I end up nodding to anything and everything people say :P So we made it a point to learn a  few popular brand names so that we don’t look stupid ;) You know what chinos mean? Or jumpsuit? I didn’t know any of these. Now I do ( :P )

We got addicted to window shopping. I have tried out all brands( but never bought one ;) ) That’s the best thing about these malls. You can try out all their clothes and walk out without even buying one from them :D

The next past time in a city like Bangalore is watching movies. You get holidays only during the weekends which we spend in some malls. Most weekends we watch movies. We have wasted money watching the movies with the worst reviews. But the happiness you get when tears come from your eyes after laughing is priceless.. One such movie- Samsaram aarogyathinu hanikaram, shocked us to the extent that we couldn’t utter a single word after the movie and we were speechless when asked for the movie review :P But you feel soo proud seeing your favourite Malayalam stars in the form of posters in a state where they don’t belong to. Seeing Lalettan Mammukka and my fave Nivin Pauly among Allu Arjun, Vijay and Shivraj Kumar.

And you can see people in such clothes that you have just seen in some fashion magazine or on TV. And I feel I was the only person to be staring at everyone dressed fashionably :P (I’m a country fellow!)

There are a lot of pubs too…But I feel you need guts to go there..And you need someone who has gone once to pubs who knows the etiquette. You wouldn’t want to get embarrassed coz you duno how to behave there ;)

I once went for a movie then lunch and shopping later. All alone ;) It was one of the best experiences of my life. I didn’t have to deal with the stares of people when I sat all alone at a table in KFC. No one had the time or patience to look into the lives of others!

The sense of freedom you feel in this city is beyond words. I became one independent lady, thanks to the life there. I come home alone(which is not a big deal) I still remember how I postponed coming home as I was scared to come alone by bus. The same me ended up being so confident that I came home every weekend for four weekends together ;) Im such a superstar..

And one of the best things that happened to me when in Bangalore was my roommates..the best you can ask for, the ones who accompany you for anything and everything. Be it to watch the worst movies of the world, or eat unhygienic or junk food, late night walks( for us late night means before 10pm) shopping expeditions chats which extend throughout the night and evn skipping baths for one or two days! Life in Bangalore would never have been the same without these girls.

Now after I have left Bangalore, I do miss it at times – when I get tired answering to the questions of people around me ranging from “What are you doing now?” to “Why aren’t you getting married?”

When I was there I was safe from all these, I hardly see anyone when I come home :P And my parents had to answer all these questions :P

Every person should stay alone in some city for a small period of time, it will influence their character in some way or the other. If we take care, it wouldn’t be damage for sure.

And if you want you can show of by mixing a bit of English to your mother tongue when you speak to people as you are from Bangalore and such things are expected from you ;)

This is my suggestion to show off to show offs :P

Don’t bother!

 I am like this only :)