Bengalooru thumba sundaravadighe – Bangalore is beautiful

(Transliterated from Kannada, the local tongue – one of 15 official languages).

I’ve been in Bangalore a week as of today, and already I’m feeling fairly at peace with this city. Putting aside the systemic issues for which the people themselves cannot be held responsible (a lack of infrastructure and sufficient GDP per capita), it’s a great place.

I had a day and a half in Singapore on my way here, which made for a nice transition. I stayed near the main shopping district in a very active part of town, and it gave me the chance to adjust in a place that was a little foreign but still very modern, clean, English-speaking, etc. When I was there, I remember thinking that it’s the feeling of missing the little things that make a place seem strange. Like napkins – practically no where I ate in Singapore (except for Starbucks and nice restaurants) had napkins. There were several other idiosyncrasies, but on the whole, I felt that the whole city was extremely affluent and westernized – so much so that I was disappointed. As I was waiting in the Singapore airport to board for Bangalore, I thought, “I hope India is different enough.” I was really hoping for an unquestionably new experience – something that would put me out of my element. And I was afraid that (with all of the tech growth and westernization) Bangalore also wouldn’t be enough of a departure from my daily routine.

Oh, what a pretentious American was I. Stepping off the plane (a little groggily, the jet lag having kicked in mid-flight), it was clear things were different here. The airport is old and dirty, and the lines to get through customs and down to the luggage were pretty long. The luggage took about 40 minutes to come out on the conveyor belts, even though we were the only flight there. Actually, it was all pretty smooth. I changed some money (Rs. 43 to the dollar) and walked down the ramp to find the driver who was supposed to have my name on a placard. And then I stepped outside…