THE DIARY OF Z

Home to the largest concentration of expatriates in any Indian city, this is indeed the “united colours of Bangalore”.   Multitudes of skin colours, facial features, styles of dressing, languages – it’s all here, in this city of all play and all work.

What makes this place so appealing? For starters, its culture of acceptance and welcoming weather. Even if it’s the peak of summer, cool breeze is ensured because of its location at 919m above sea level.

It’s a place where you feel cut off from India and yet a part of it. If the central business district (MG Road and neighbouring areas) is westernised – Pizza Hut, KFC, Google, Yahoo, Standard Chartered, Citibank - the bustling local business district of KG Road stands for all things Indian – a thriving Kannada film industry called Sandalwood, a line of middle class businesses, wholesale merchants and middle class homes. It’s this feeling of attachment and detachment that keeps you company throughout your stay in Bangalore. It is no wonder that many who came as visitors have made it their home.

The city allows you to time-travel. At one end, you have thousand-year-old heritage buildings on Resthouse Road, and at the other, towering glass structures like Intel’s on Airport Road that seem to reach out to the heavens. If one is a celebration of all things British – monkey top window roofs (to prevent monkeys sitting on them), sweeping driveways, pubs, bungalows and English street names (Prince Street, Langford Town, Charles Campbell Road), the other is the Silicon face of Bangalore.

Located in the south-eastern part of the south Indian state of Karnataka, Bangalore is India’s third most populous city after Delhi and Mumbai. It is surrounded by the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

With the boom in software, bio technology and business process outsourcing, nobody would have had any inkling that it was once called the ‘town of boiled beans’. Legend has it that when the Chola King Veera Ballalla ruled south India, he lost his way on a hunting trip in 1120 AD. In his desperate search for directions, he ran into an old lady in a forest who offered him shelter for the night and served him baked beans for dinner. To show his gratitude to the lady, the King is said to have built a town and named it Benda Kalooru which means ‘town of boiled beans’. Hundreds of years later, a local chieftain Kempe Gowda designed this town in 1537 and gave it its modern shape. From Benda Kalooru, it came to be known as Bengaluru. During the British rule, Bengaluru became Bangalore because they were more comfortable pronouncing it this way. Curiously enough, the city was sold for just Rs 3 lakh by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1687. He sold it to the Wadiyars who ruled the adjacent Mysore at the time.

Today, this city of baked beans has emerged as the preferred choice of multi-national companies representing the entire gamut of industries, from pharmaceuticals, telecoms and apparel manufacture to IT, airlines and medical tourism.

Not too long ago, being sent to work in India was considered a ‘punishment’ posting, with a ‘hardship allowance’. Today, getting an India experience is becoming increasingly significant for foreign executives who recognise its tremendous growth potential. What’s more, Bangalore is now considered a veritable training ground for anyone who wants to make it in the world of outsourcing.

The word ‘Bangalored’ (which means, losing jobs to India due to outsourcing) is also assuming a new meaning. With Bangalore becoming the global back-office, it’s only a matter of time before it starts off-shoring consumer services like legal, nutrition and educational services.

Lost your job to outsourcing? Why not move to India and get it back? That seems to be a funny aside circulating among expats in Bangalore today. From a population of around 2000 in the 1990s, it is currently at 14,500, and is set to cross 21,000 in the next two years, according to the Foreigners Registration office.

Drop anchor at lounge bars like 13th Floor on MG Road or Taika on Church Street any evening of the week, and locals will find themselves a minority. Some popular expat hangouts include Nrityagram in Hessaraghatta (http://www.nrityagram.org), a school that showcases the seven classical Indian dance forms. One and a half hour away from the city, it has a village ambience - mud buildings, local materials and Indian architecture. Lush greens, leafy trees and vegetable gardens make your stroll all the more peaceful. For a small fee, you can tour the grounds on your own and observe all the different styles of classical Indian dance. The New York Times calls this concept ‘a modern devotion to a sacred Indian ritual’.

Nrityagram’s next door neighbour is Taj Kuteeram, a resort that showcases yoga and ayurveda. Those who want to stay the night and go on long hikes into the countryside love to call this their home for the weekend. The other expat hangouts include The Golden Palms Spa & Resort on Tumkur Road (spa resort that also includes Asia’s largest swimming pool), Embassy International Riding School in Devanahalli (governed by the rules set by the British Horse Society) and Eagleton Golf Club and Resort on the Bangalore-Mysore highway (rated as one of the top 5 Golf courses in India and, spread over 500 acres, the biggest of its kind in the region).

The truth is that Bangalore just lets you be. You don’t have to bother too much about the way you dress or be unduly concerned about what you eat - because you get all the world’s cuisines right under your nose. With coffee shops at every nook and cranny, you can even have your ‘alone time’ and indulge in people-watching. 

Far from being just a city of today, Bangalore has ancestral beauties in which time stands still. First off the bat is the panoramic Vidhana Soudha, an architectural delight made of granite and porphyry in 1956, and home to the state’s political and bureaucratic activity. Then there is Lalbagh. Spread over 240 acres and laid out by then Mysore ruler Haider Ali in 1740 (Bangalore was then part of Mysore), it is famous for its annual flower shows in January and August that attract hundreds of thousands of people.

The lush Cubbon Park laid out in 1864 is home to a Glass House modelled on London’s Crystal Palace, while the Bangalore Palace was modelled on Windsor Castle, complete with fortified towers and turreted parapets. Built in 1880, it’s a major tourist attraction. And don’t miss 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan’s summer palace in KR Market. Made largely out of wood with embellished balconies, pillars and arches, it was built in 1790 and has a charm of its own even though it’s in a dilapidated state.

The best part of Bangalore is that you don’t have to leave the city to sample the world’s kitchens. The city boasts of cuisines from across the globe. If it’s Japanese, there is Harima on Residency Road (+91-080-51325757) whose clientele has grown to the point that they are sending packed lunches to corporate houses. If you are into al fresco dining, Sunny’s on Vittal Mallya Road (+91-080-41329366) is where you should be headed for Italian, French and American food, home-baked breads and an imported cheese selection. Samarkhand  (+91-080-41113366) on Infantry Road serves the best kebabs and dum biriyani in town. And don’t forget to visit the only Vietnamese restaurant in town: Blue Ginger at the Taj West End on Race Course Road (+91-080-66605660). All of these have won awards, and hold out the promise of retaining their taste and trends for a long time to come.

As far as traditional cuisine goes, stop by Koshy’s on St Mark’s Road (+91-080-22213793) not only for the smileys (fried potato dish eaten with mayonnaise), appams (light rice-flour pancakes) and stimulating conversation. After all, it’s the hub of the literati and the Bangalore equivalent of The Algonquin in New York. You can expect to run into filmmakers, models, theatre persons, writers and intellectuals.

At MTR (080-22220022) on Lalbagh Road, people don’t mind waiting their turn to eat a sumptuous south Indian meal for Rs 75. For a dose of old-world charm on MG Road, a good cup of coffee and scrambled eggs on toast, there’s India Coffee House on MG Road (080- 25587088). Not to mention Vidhyarthi Bhavan (+91-080-26677588)) in Gandhi Bazaar for the best idlis (steamed rice flour cakes) and masala dosas (rice-and-grain flour pancakes) in town.

It’s this blend of the east and west that makes Bangalore so liveable, so cosmopolitan. Take pub-hopping. The city is known as a pub capital and rightly so – there are literally hundreds of pubs and bars in the city. Check out Fuga on Castle Street (+91-080-41511880) for its two-storey dance floor, Hint at Bangalore Central on Residency Road (+91-080-41123557) for its cool lounge and spacious terrace, The Polo Club in The Oberoi on MG Road (080-25585858)) for its alfresco bar, and i-Bar in The Park on MG Road (+91-080-25594666) for its eclectic playful music and exotic cocktails.

Bangalore is known for its silk and sarees, sandalwood, antique pieces and jewellery shops. To get your hands on these, the places to visit are MG Road, Brigade Road and Commercial Street. The Mysore Saree Udyog on Kamaraj Road (+91-080-25583255) is a popular haven besides Deepam Silk International (+91-080-25586191), Vijayalakshmi Silks & Sarees (+91-080-25587937) and Nalli Silks Arcade on MG Road (+91-080-25583178). All these stores have stuff to suit all pockets. For jewellery, nothing to beat the stores on Commercial Street which have a long history in the trade. Some of the older and more famous ones include Ganjam Nagappa & Sons on Infantry Road (+91-080- 22286137) and C Krishnaiah Chetty & Sons (+91-080-25588731) on Commercial Street. For readymade clothes and customisation, nothing to beat M Fazal & Sons (+91-080-25597986) and the narrow bylanes of Russel Market in Shivajinagar. For handicrafts, don’t miss Central Cottage Industries Emporium on MG Road (+91-080-25584083).

Comforting lounge bars, theme-based pubs, international schools, designer retail brands, eclectic coffee shops and a variety of new-age spiritual centres have transformed Bangalore into a truly global metropolis. And it is also a great launching pad for other discoveries in the neighbourhood – like the erstwhile French territory and beach town of Pondicherry or the coffee lands of Coorg, the hill station of Ooty or the land of beaches – Goa. They make for great weekend getaways as they are only an overnight journey away. If you have a week’s time to explore Bangalore’s salubrious neighbours, nothing better than hopping on to the Golden Chariot (http://www.thegoldenchariot.co.in). It’s a luxury train that takes you to heritage, wildlife and beach places around Bangalore – Mysore, Belur, Halebid, Hampi and Goa to name a few. If you don’t have so much time, you could drive an hour and a half away from Bangalore to reach Bannerghatta National Park. Here, you can see butterflies from around the world and watch tigers and lions in their natural surroundings. At about the same distance from the city, find the picturesque waterfalls  – the Gaganachukki and the Barachukki –  cascading 90m down in the island town of Shivanasamudram. Some two hours from the city are the hill stations of Devarayanadurga, standing at almost 4000 feet (1,219m), and Ramohalli where you run into a 400-year-old banyan tree that’s spread over four acres.

That’s the city of the future… with many companions from the past and the immediate present to keep you company for a long time to come.

(This piece appeared in SilverKris, the inflight magazine of Singapore Airlines)

Comforting lounge bars, theme-based pubs, international schools, designer retail brands, eclectic coffee shops and a variety of new-age spiritual centres, have all transformed Bangalore into a truly global metropolis.

Whoever said happiness cannot be bought didn’t know where to shop. From kiddy rides to water slides at the many amusement parks to karaoke sessions where you can croon away to glory, Bangalore offers a variety of ways to rewind, reboot and restart for people of all age groups. You can go rock climbing at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium if you don’t want to do the real thing. You can bowl away to your heart’s content, drown your sorrows in a glass of wine at the many pubs and lounge bars or engage in a free fall that defies gravity at the nearest bungee jumping site.

If you are in the mood for entertainment, you could even go dizzy, zooming around go karting tracks, learn the latest bhangra dance, get into the rhythm of salsa and ballet, round off those rough edges with classes on personality, grooming and etiquette, go bazookas at a simulation video game parlour or puff away at a no-caffeine hookah lounge. All you need is an open mind and a spirit of adventure and everything else will take care of itself. If nothing else, you could boast of knowing the difference between a canter and a jump at the Bangalore Turf Club or best, become a linguist and be as much at home with Spanish and French as you are with English and Hindi.

TAKE A CITY WALK

To begin with, there’s nothing like the Bangalore Walk to get introduced to the city. Conducted every Saturday and Sunday, the three-hour walks are one of a kind. Take The Green Heritage Walk by Vijay Thiruvady. In the words of writer Girish Karnad, “It’s a nature walk that brings to life history, environment, botany, culture, landscape architecture, gardening and food - unpeeling an unknown Bangalore.” On the other hand, The Victorian Bangalore Walk traverses history from the fall of Tipu in 1799 to the turn of the 20th Century. The growth of the cantonment is traced by visiting 19th Century churches, public buildings and stately homes. Hear stories of Bangalore’s famous British residents, and discover what made Bangalore tick in the 19th Century. If you really want to understand Bangalore, what makes it tick, why it is what it is, walk through Victorian Bangalore. Visit bangalorewalks.com for more details.

SPORTS FREAKS

Find more joy in flexing muscles? Go ahead and make it to the nearest cricket pitch and play to the gallery, hop over to the lawn tennis stadium and do a Roger Federer or get the kick back into your life with American football by joining the Bangalore Rugby Club. Sit on a high horse and do the rounds of the Bangalore Amateur Riders’ Institute or take a swing at the golf course. Beyond the city’s boundaries, you could commune with nature. Take a coracle ride down the river Cauvery and experience the adrenaline rush when the boat does a 360 degree turn or take a dive in the sky from a microlight aircraft and land on the ground with the help of a parachute.

FUN UNLIMITED

Indulging in some music therapy is just what the philosopher ordered and Bangalore has it all. Western or classical, music or dance, you could do a salsa, learn the nuances of jazz or serenade your partner with ball-room dancing that can add to your grace quotient. If guitar classes don’t make you spin with joy, you could tease the ivories on the piano or drum up enough money to take your entire family out to watch a film at PVR’s Gold Class that allow you to watch the film lying down – they have the world-famous reclining seats from Laz Boy. If you are bored of the saas-bahu soaps on TV and want to get away from the routine, you could learn sculpting a la Demi Moore in the film Ghost. Or better still, become an artist by signing up for a class in drawing and painting. If you want to entertain people at parties and get-togethers, you could learn tarot and handwriting analysis. Not only will these tweak your intuition but also give you a solid grounding in the art of reading people’s minds (or atleast you can pretend to). But if you want to get real, then watch just about every good drama in town.  Keep an eye out for plays in the newspapers and make it a point to see them. You have no idea how some of them can be very cathartic.

PUB HOPPING AND PEOPLE WATCHING

With so many malls and coffeeshops in the city, there’s much room to indulge in some healthy people watching. It’s perfect when you want your ‘alone time’ and still want to be part of the crowd. At the city’s lounge bars, you can let yourself be to the accompaniment of music that ranges from hip hop and retro to rock and live jazz. With subtle lighting, cool ambience (entering one such pub off Brigade Road is like stepping inside a spaceship), Zen-like surroundings (a lounge bar on Church Street has water dividing the restaurant section and the bar), some lounge bars simply know how to set the mood. And you only have to go with the flow.

The pub themes vary depending on the music they offer and the kind of crowd they attract. The music ranges from hip hop and retro to rock and jazz and they even bring in live bands. For some, the USP is loud music and special nights. From a ladies night to a retro night, some pubs offer something different every week. There are also pubs which are more of places to be seen rather than places for connoisseurs of fine liquor. On their own, Bangaloreans drink beer but when they are out to entertain others, they make sure it’s the wine that flows. Many lounge bars try to create a space for social drinkers — people who come in to enjoy their drink, not to get high. But the best part of the city? It has pubs and lounge bars where even single ladies can walk in and have a drink without feeling uncomfortable.

If you are bored with pub and lounge hopping, you could try party hopping. The trick is to attend the dullest party first and move on to better pastures. By the time you are done with it, you would be hitting the bed only after sunrise.

SITE-SEEING

Begin your journey with Vidhana Soudha. Built of granite and porphyry, this architectural delight is home to all the political and bureaucratic activity in Karnataka. It is the seat of the Secretariat and the State Legislature. Close to it is Cubbon Park, a 334-acre park laid out in 1864. Dotted with statues, giant bamboos, flowerbeds, natural rock formations, it is also home to a Glass House originally modeled on London’s Crystal Palace. You can follow this up with a visit to Lalbagh. Laid out by Mysore ruler Haider Ali in 1740, it is spread over 240 acres. Take a stroll by the 30-hectare lake in the early mornings and late evenings to avoid the harsh sun. If you are a first time visitor, hire an electric car whose driver-cum-guide will show you around the park and regale you with its historical significance. Don’t miss the annual flower shows in January and August that attract lakhs of people. Climb the rock mountain and take a look at Bangalore from the top, it’s euphoric.

Your next stop should be Tipu’s summer palace. Situated near City Market, this dilapidated palace built in 1790 is made largely out of wood with embellished balconies, pillars and arches. However, Bangalore Palace still retains a lot of its grandeur. Built in 1880 at a cost of Rs 10 lakh, it was modelled on Windsor Castle, complete with fortified towers and turreted parapets. It is now rented out as a popular venue for functions such as weddings, music concerts, trade and consumer fairs and film shoots. Some other must-visit landmarks include Bull Temple in Basavanagudi, ISKCON temple in Rajajinagar, the 65-feet tall Shiva statue on Airport Road, the Visveswaraiah Industrial and Technological Museum on Kasturba Road, the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium on Raj Bhavan Road and Gandhi Bhavan on Kumara Krupa Road.

WEEKEND GETAWAYS

If you want to step out of the city for the weekend, here are a few must-visits. There’s Bannerghatta National Park for the butterfly park, tiger and lion safari, Shivanasamudram for its waterfalls during July and August, hill station Devarayanadurga, Hesaraghatta for its boating and windsurfing opportunities, Ramohalli for the fabled big banyan tree spread over four acres, Shivaganga hill for trekking and mountain climbing, Channapatna for its wooden toys, Mekedatu for its picturesque locale where river Cauvery offers an awe-inspiring sight and Kolar Gold Fields, the world’s deepest gold mine. If you want to visit any of these places, one call to a tour operator or even a car rental service should do the trick.

SOME MUST-DOS

1. Bangalore has a lot to offer in both western and classical music and dance. If guitar classes are not your thing, you could go for piano or maybe the drums. If that isn’t it, you could try attending classes in painting, salsa, hip-hop or even ball-room dancing. Bangalore has a cookery class at every nook and cranny. So you can learn how to cook or make some new stuff. Start with basics, tea, maggi, dal, chawal, macaroni and cheese pasta and then try your hand with chocolates, cakes and dishes. You can also learn how to make candles and perfumes.

2.     Opus off Sankey Road is not only a restaurant and pub serving the best of Goan food, barbecues and cocktails in an outdoor setting but also serves as a platform for budding singers to showcase their vocal cords. Every week, wild karaoke nights are held to beckon the best upcoming musical talents in town. Not just that. You get to play Pictionary, Taboo, Boggle and Scrabble. With happy hours extending from 12pm to 7pm to the accompaniment of live music, entertainment is served up in more ways than one here. For a bottle of beer, it costs Rs 100.

3.     Paintball: Started in the US, Paintball is a sport in which participants eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with paintballs (spherical gelatin capsules containing primarily polyethylene glycol, other non-toxic and water-soluble substances, and dye) shot from a compressed-gas-powered gun, commonly called a marker. A game of paintball usually involves two opposing teams seeking to eliminate all of the other team’s players or to complete an objective, such as retrieving a flag. An average, non-professional game of paintball usually lasts around five minutes to half an hour. The uniqueness of the sport is that any one can play regardless of skill, age, gender or fitness levels. For more details, visit www.yuyutsa.com.

4.     Omkar Hills: Just a five minute drive from Rajarajeshwarinagar off Mysore Road, Omkar Hills is home to the world’s second biggest clock tower, the first being the Allen Bradley’s clock in Michigan, USA. Omkar Hills is both a tourist spot and a multi-religious forum amid enthralling forest environs. At each hour, the clock, made by HMT, makes a unique loud sound of conch followed by the ‘Omkar’ sound five times and rings the bell that many times, matching the hour it indicates. Omkar Hills has the Sarvadharma Samanvaya Mantapa, an all-religion pavilion built under a 600-year-old banyan tree. This serves as a silent zone for peace lovers who come here for meditation. Call 2860 2586.

HISTORY OF BANGALORE

In the 1st Century AD, Bangalore was a pit stop on the overland trading route between the west and east coasts of India before becoming a weaving centre in the 12th Century.  In the 13th Century, Hoysala king Veera Ballala II called it ‘Benda Kaalooru’ or ‘Town of Boiled Beans’.  In 1537, Kempe Gowda built the fort city of Bangalore. Later Bangalore fell to the armies of Adil Shah, the Sultan of Bijapur, who later gifted it to Shahji Bhonsale (Shivaji’s father). In 1687 AD, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb captured Bangalore only to sell it for a pittance to the Wadiyars. Bangalore was briefly ruled by Hyder Ali and later Tipu Sultan before going back to the Wadiyars. In 1831 AD, alleging misrule by Krishnaraja Wadiyar III, the British took over the Mysore administration. In 1881 AD, Bangalore was returned to the Wadiyars.

WHEN TO GO

Bangalore is good through the year. If you are visiting during the peak season (Jan-March), you would have to book your hotel rooms three months in advance. The best time to find accommodation is the summer months of April, May and June.

BEST BUYS

Bangalore is known for its silk and sarees, sandalwood, antique pieces and jewellery shops. To get your hands on these, the places to visit are MG Road, Brigade Road and Commercial Street.

DID YOU KNOW

In 1905, Bangalore became the first city in south Asia to be electrified. The first light bulb was switched on in City Market.

In 1940, Bangalore became a US Airbase. Businessman Walchand Hirachand sets up Hindustan Aircraft, a unit to assemble and repair American WWII aircraft, which later became Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

Jayanagar was the largest residential layout in South Asia, when it was inaugurated in 1948

Mysore State was renamed Karnataka in 1973

Bangalore’s first flyover is the one built at Sirsi Circle in KR Market in 1999

Infosys is the first India-based company to list on a US stock market, the NASDAQ and Wipro Ltd is the first Indian company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Reva, India’s first electric car was conceived and launched in Bangalore in 2001.