Of course i love you Bangalore

Most of those who know me know how loyal i am to Mumbai; i ain't categorized as a mallu or south indian despite my last name - i am a true blue Mumbaikar...So what happens to this true blue Mumbaikar when she moves down south to a territory where Rajanikanth is idolized and worshipped, hindi is spoken like a foreign language, the street food - vada pav, open cheese mysore dosa n cuttin' chai do not exist, restaurants..clubs.. and everything else shuts at 11 30so as to deny me my night time cravings of burji pav, cheese pav bhaji, dabeli and masala chai .... she complains !!!

am she wrong to do so ??? No; not at the start at least but has she grown to love the city.... who's questioning that ?? My initial few days was filled with complaints - people don't speak hindi here, transport system sucks, everything shuts early, nothing to do here, things move so slowly around here .. blah blah n more of that ..

Now let's be honest most of these issues still continue to haunt me but why has the love for this city grown ?? B'lore has its own charm, it's a newer melange of people from various parts of the country - most of whom are brought by the almighty IT industry, the weather is soothing - not too harsh; winters feel like winters when everyone's wrapped in blankets, shawls and sweaters.. the sudden spring showers to cool you off; it taught me some new skills - haggling with the rickshaw guys; trying to decipher the Kannada language and getting the locals to understand my half hindi-english + hand gestures.

It taught me to live in a big city by myself but most of all, it brought this very awesome plethora of friends in to my life.. friends who have also left home and are living alone; who are also lovin' their independence and want to live it up every moment.. B'lore gives its people that chance to stop for a second and look how things are going on; things don't rush by in a mad rush. It's 3 years since i moved into this city - i cried my eyes out when i first saw my parents leave; n now the thought of ever having to move back; those tears are gonna come rushing back again !!!