Bangalore Blues

Each place has a soul, a fragrance, a certain something that draws and strikes a chord with its people..Its the human sense of a place which transcends the brick, mortar and tar..It is that certain ‘connect’ that each person has with that city.

Its been 6 years in the city and I have searched for that one defining Bangalore factor and I guess I can’t help but pin it to its beautiful breezy weather..the rain gods bless Bangalore each time the Mercury crosses the thresholds of the Bangalorean (a very low threshold at that).

But that apart, it’s a city where word traffic rules hands down! The autocratic rule has made its presence felt so much that it is now the closest synonym of Bangalore. The roads are getting narrower, the vehicles are proliferating and the pits are getting deeper and larger. Each day is a struggle between man, vehicle and the cow on the road for its own space and most days I must confess that the cow finally wins that crucial battle. The flyovers and magic boxes don’t help in any way, the traffic just moves from junction to junction but never disappears…Its almost as if the city is trying to botox itself into a beauty queen, the facelifts and cosmetic surgery just delays or hides the decay for a while but the cracks and wrinkles are here to stay. The natural freshness of the city is tarnished each day with the monstrous concrete structures that mushroom by the minute.  The destruction of its lung spaces are so rapid that Google Maps is finding it difficult to keep abreast. The lakes have been devoured in the mad rush called ‘real estate boom’. I almost feel envious when I hear old timers speak of the Bangalore that was…what remains of its green glorious past is the Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park – the only place where you can hear the birds chirp instead of the loud horn of the ‘road-raged’ driver..and where you can seep in the serine greenery…

The city needs to find its soul soon.. away from the honking and screeching future that it is building for itself. Till then like any person in this city, I wait eagerly for the magical metro that will change this city forever!

No Child’s play

The new breed of Gen ZZZ atleast those singing and dancing their way through the ‘reality shows’ of our times seem to have lost that minty fresh halo called ‘childhood’. They seem more like genetically modified versions of children – glossed up with adolescence, dressed up in adulthood and balancing on the pointed heels of a hybrid of both. They talk big, walk mature and can’t be ‘shut up’! They prefer bollywood to walt Disney and I was even more stunned to hear a four year old laugh out loud at a so-called ‘adult gay’ joke at the movies. That’s the transition that I see right before my eyes.

Of course I can’t take away the talent and super smartness that they bring to the stage. Nor can I hide my amazement at the tech-savvy bundles that we create today. Probably I belong to the Enid Blyton era where enchanted forests and pixies ruled my childhood. But one change that I can see from yesteryears has to be the advent of Indian mythological characters into our play areas. It is quite a treat to hear the little ones cheer for Chota Bheem and throw a tantrum for a Hanuman Gatha – quite a rarity in the Snow White, Lion King filled play rooms of our times.

Its after all Generation Z..they would probably cross all boundaries and hurdles that we have set for ourselves. Is this a yawning ‘generation gapped grandmother’ perspective? The innocence of a 4 year old is his USP and if you don’t have it at 4 you definitely can’t have it back at 40 after you have been through the big bad world! This is their moment to scream out loud, play all day and cherish those carefree moments for the rest of their adult life – it’s a choice worth thinking about?

The Gods must be crazy rich

The unearthing of treasures at Padmanabha temple was more a page out of a fairytale than a news item to my eyes...sparkling jewels, historic ornaments and chests filled with gold coins..and the daily scorecard kept ticking-  finally ending with a big bang announcement that this is the numero uno wealthiest temple on our planet! I was equally dazzled by the piles of cash at Tirupathi temple a few years back and my eyes literally popped out seeing the heavy glitzy gold ornaments of the lord divine. If Richie Rich had a divine 'avtar' it had to be gods at the wealthy temples of India..the money at the lords' disposal is mind boggling and can wipe out the hunger and povery of our nation with a single stroke of the 'sacred' wand! What also amazes me is the amount of cash/kind 'donated' to the multibillion temples around us - a golden chariot here, a silver dome there, the list is endless. The same charitable donor would not part with his penny to the person begging for alms right outside the temple...he may never feed a single hungry mouth in his lifetime..never help a helpless patient get his right to live in a hospital.... but he would and he will surely contribute a fair share of his success with the Almighty! A true divine paradox!