Monday, November 01, 2004

Bangalore

So much has been said by people from everywhere landing here and finding the pecularities, that whatever I say will be a cliche. Nevertheless, there are many things about Bangalore that I love and there are many things about it that I hate.

Food's just great. It is easy to find a good restaurant, service is usually good and restaurants are usually open till late. It was easy to find a rock climbing wall and hook up with a rock climbing club. I love how somehow there's a lot to do, and there's a lot happening all the time.

I hate how most of the people have little value of time, especially others'. Everyone is on a cell phone all the time. We went to check out a car, and we ended up waiting for hours only to find out the service station is closed because of a holiday. No one shows up on time. Everyone has a kind of a very laid back attitude towards everything, which is nice in a way, I guess. I also hate how all these clubs have a snobbish attitude towards new members. The office people in most of the sports clubs seem to relish the fact there is little for them to do. One particular lady at Bangalore Golf Club, smiled as she told us how we had to get 6 different people to support our membership application and then we had to wait for 20 years to get in. Her desk was empty, and I bet we were probably the only people she had had to interact with the entire day. At Academey for adventure sports, we asked for membership forms, and there was a commotion in the entire office. We seemed to have added excitement to these peoples' lives by asking for membership forms.

Traffic is messy. And a lot of it too. But I still kind of liked driving around. I managed to find a pretty decent car for buying, potentially. Doesn't compare much to the Audi I sold in Seattle, but it'll do.

Besides the things I love and hate, there are all kind of things that are just intriguing. Whatever anyone says, they end it as though they are asking a question. I wonder why. Sports clubs and gyms are always more like resorts, with elaborate lounges, bars, restaurants and even rooms to stay overnight.

Well, that's what the first two weeks of Bangalore were about. I am beginning to read some Kannada, though I can't understand any of it. I can count to twenty though :).

Let's see what else is in store.

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