It has been more than two weeks that I am here in Bengaluru. The decision of coming here was taken all of a sudden without any preplanning. And now I have a lot of interesting events to mention.
I hired a taxi from the airport to reach Kormangla. Hardly did I know at that time that the journey was supposed to take more than an hour. As the numbers being played by most of the radio stations were in Kannad, starting a conversation was the best option left. Everyone has his own domain of questions and how different this domain can be is evident from the things we inquired each other about. ‘What is the current price of petrol in Delhi?’ he inquired. However it was a general question, I had to admit my ignorance as I didn’t know it. What I asked was ‘Mumbai is named after Mumba devi, Kolkata after Kali Maa so what is the story behind naming this place as Bengaluru’? Well he was a ‘Paanchvi pass se tez guy’ not ignorant like me and he told me a story that goes like this…….
Bahut samay pehle ki baat hai, ek raja tha. Uska rajya dur dur tak faila hua tha aur praja bhi use bahut chahti thi. Ek baar woh yudhh mein sab kuch haar gaya. Who bhukha pyasa idhar udhar bhatak raha tha. Khane ko kuch na hone ki wajah se usne ek budhiya se madad mangi. Usne use daal mein pani milake koi vyanjan diya jise ‘Bindakalor’ kehte hain. Baad mein jab raja ne dobara apna rajtantra prapt kiya to jagah ka naam ‘Bindakalor’ rakha. Jab angrez aaye to it became ‘Bengkalor’ then ‘Bangalore’ and finally we know it as ‘Bengaluru’.
Within an hour I reached Kormangla, and went for sleeping as it was already late. The very next day started brought with itself a whole new set of experiences. Kannad being the mother-tongue of people here, they don’t understand much of Hindi. So whenever I do have to search for an address it becomes pretty difficult. However, people here are very helpful and they find out some way or the other to solve this problem. And if they fail to understand you, what follows is an innocent wink of eyes in an expression of the fact ‘bole toh humein Hindi nahi aati!’ But this winking is so childish and so innocent that it makes me unconditionally happy.
How can I forget to mention the delicious food of this place? The typical South Indian food! Earlier I had tasted only ‘Idli sambhar’ and ‘Masala dosa’ but now I can name many of them. In a small restaurant the menu comprises of : ‘Sambhar Idli’, ‘Sambhar Vada’, ‘Pongal’, ‘Curd Rice’, ‘Rice Bath’, ‘Lemon Rice’, ‘Masala Dosa’, ‘Plain Dosa’, ‘Rava Masala Dosa’, ‘Onion Dosa’, ‘Uttapam’,’ Sev Puri’, ‘Khakra Bath’, ‘Plate Meals’………………….
‘Chai’ jo mujhe bahut pasand hai who to yahan kuch jyada hi badhiya milti hai.
Also, the weather of Bengaluru is very fine. Neither very hot nor very cold, it is just moderate. You never know when it is going to rain. I think that’s what sets Bengaluru apart from other big cities: especially Delhi. Even if it’s a long tiring day you don’t feel exhaustive. All in all it’s really a cool place. It has got some really good places as well. One can easily pass his free time there. The most happening place is ‘Forum-the mall’. Well, it is just like all other shopping malls but being in the middle of city it is always busy and lively. Bengaluru has got a lot of gardens also. I too visited one of them. It is known as ‘Lalbagh’ and has got a lot of points of attraction. At the entry there is a statue of a Maharaja, nearby which you get to see a ‘Floral Clock’. Apart from this the garden also has a ‘Glass House’ and a small lake.
Aray haan radio se related ek baat toh main batana hi bhul gaya, the restaurant I have my dinner at has a radio and at times I get to listen Kannad songs. Though I can hardly understand them one of them is everyone’s favorite. Its music is really nice and it goes like ‘Nindanhale………Nindanhale…..!! ’
