I have been 'blogging' so to speak for a while, but haven't really experienced the blogosphere the way I now wish to. I usually write corny/emo/brown blues poetry on the regular blog of mine. Of late I have been visiting blogs maintained by friends old and new, and have been feeling the terrible urge to have a space to rant, ramble, scream, mumble whenever I need to without bothering anyone (I'm guessing if anyone's reading this, they are doing so out of a personal choice which absolves me of my responsibility of not irritating them). Hence I've decided to turn a new leaf and become, from an occasional blogger-poet, to a hopefully more regular blogger-mumbler.
I hail from the City of Joy, in India. I live, for most of the year, in Hyderabad. And now I'm looking for work (actually means to a livelihood) in Bangalore, as a Tax Consultant. Or rather soon-to-be(fingers crossed) tax consultant. I don't know how people refer to Bangalore, but in my vocabulary there are very few nice terms for it. Lest I offend anyone, I shall stick to those few things about Bangalore that I like. The best, top of the list, would be the weather and the streets.
To provide some background I live about 4 kms. from the place of my work. Mornings see me rushing out of a 3 story Paying Guest facility to catch a colleague who is kind enough to lend me a ride to work. At work I usually spend 10-11 hours everyday, attempting save a lot of really well to do people a lot of money. Hopefully I'll get better at it, and also lose any remaing bits of a concience. But we digress. Back to the 4 kms. Now after sitting for 10 odd hours in the same place I feel the inmitable urge to take a walk. Also the fact that Bangalore has practically no decent public transport system to speak of, encourages the fact that I cover the aforementioned distance on foot.
My usual route is to walk down Lavelle Rd. into St. Marks Rd., where I hold my life ransom, so as to cross in front of Koshy's into Church Street. Thereafter I come out into Brigade Rd. where I turn a left and head straight down through Commercial Street till Mosque Rd., Fraser Town which has been my temporary place of residence for the past 3 weeks. I like roads, actually streets. I like streets, they somehow make me feel organically connected to the body of the city. They make me one even with an alien settlement such as Bangalore. Lavelle Rd./St. Marks Rd. form a bit of the upper middle class portion of town, where from you hit the eternally crowded Brigade Rd. (except when I work late. this city practically empties out by 11pm. shame!) . After that its a straight 40 minute strut down the 'shadier' Commercial Street which hosts practically everything that is neccesary to be middle class. From a open-till-late Subway to Ration shops and jewellry stores (in one of which I had got my ears pierced when I was 19 and drunk out of my head). In that entire stretch one gets to see a very prominent Muslim population, which is especially visible due to their women actually upholding the wearing of burkha more than Muslim women in any other place that I've been to. Actually I think there are more women in burkhas on Commercial Street than there are in Old City, Hyderabad. Fraser Town again blends into the upper middle class society with 2 alcohol shops open till late at night, just in case you've got them blues again! Not to forget some brilliant eating joints which arent too heavy on one's wallet.
As pointless as the above description sounds, this walk I mention has become one of my favourite activities during my short stay in Bangalore. I love the streets I walk here, and the weather Gods have mostly been kind to me. As I finish submitting this I shall go on another one of these walks that raise eyebrows from most of my collegues with responses like, "oooh! long walk man" or "hey! you dont need exercise. i won't say you're healthy, but you're not fat man" or simply a wide eyed "why??". I find a smile as the only response I can manage at the end of a full day's work. My daily evening walks are my only time with myself and with this city, not my city, yet my only companion.
I hail from the City of Joy, in India. I live, for most of the year, in Hyderabad. And now I'm looking for work (actually means to a livelihood) in Bangalore, as a Tax Consultant. Or rather soon-to-be(fingers crossed) tax consultant. I don't know how people refer to Bangalore, but in my vocabulary there are very few nice terms for it. Lest I offend anyone, I shall stick to those few things about Bangalore that I like. The best, top of the list, would be the weather and the streets.
To provide some background I live about 4 kms. from the place of my work. Mornings see me rushing out of a 3 story Paying Guest facility to catch a colleague who is kind enough to lend me a ride to work. At work I usually spend 10-11 hours everyday, attempting save a lot of really well to do people a lot of money. Hopefully I'll get better at it, and also lose any remaing bits of a concience. But we digress. Back to the 4 kms. Now after sitting for 10 odd hours in the same place I feel the inmitable urge to take a walk. Also the fact that Bangalore has practically no decent public transport system to speak of, encourages the fact that I cover the aforementioned distance on foot.
My usual route is to walk down Lavelle Rd. into St. Marks Rd., where I hold my life ransom, so as to cross in front of Koshy's into Church Street. Thereafter I come out into Brigade Rd. where I turn a left and head straight down through Commercial Street till Mosque Rd., Fraser Town which has been my temporary place of residence for the past 3 weeks. I like roads, actually streets. I like streets, they somehow make me feel organically connected to the body of the city. They make me one even with an alien settlement such as Bangalore. Lavelle Rd./St. Marks Rd. form a bit of the upper middle class portion of town, where from you hit the eternally crowded Brigade Rd. (except when I work late. this city practically empties out by 11pm. shame!) . After that its a straight 40 minute strut down the 'shadier' Commercial Street which hosts practically everything that is neccesary to be middle class. From a open-till-late Subway to Ration shops and jewellry stores (in one of which I had got my ears pierced when I was 19 and drunk out of my head). In that entire stretch one gets to see a very prominent Muslim population, which is especially visible due to their women actually upholding the wearing of burkha more than Muslim women in any other place that I've been to. Actually I think there are more women in burkhas on Commercial Street than there are in Old City, Hyderabad. Fraser Town again blends into the upper middle class society with 2 alcohol shops open till late at night, just in case you've got them blues again! Not to forget some brilliant eating joints which arent too heavy on one's wallet.
As pointless as the above description sounds, this walk I mention has become one of my favourite activities during my short stay in Bangalore. I love the streets I walk here, and the weather Gods have mostly been kind to me. As I finish submitting this I shall go on another one of these walks that raise eyebrows from most of my collegues with responses like, "oooh! long walk man" or "hey! you dont need exercise. i won't say you're healthy, but you're not fat man" or simply a wide eyed "why??". I find a smile as the only response I can manage at the end of a full day's work. My daily evening walks are my only time with myself and with this city, not my city, yet my only companion.
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