What is real bengaluru ???

Malgudi series -1

I know many of you would find this a funny question but let me explain to you why it is not so !

When ever you talk to different bangaloreans you will get to hear lectures about what is real bangalore and what is not !  like for example, one may say Majestic is the real bangalore given its proximity to Bus stand, railway station, trading centers like chickpet, cottonpet, avenue road which still controls majority of bangalore's commercial activity,  while the others may disagree and claim  Malleshwaram,  the middle class heaven towards north is the real bangalore given its liveliness, colorful streets, religiousness, educational instititions, street shopping culture , eateries for authentic karnataka cuisine, and  its educated crowd !

Some argue that old bangalore towards south comprising basavanagudi, Jayanagar, VV puram, chamarajpet, girinagar, hanumanthnagar etc; which has its own place in bangalore's culture, literature, theatre, education, tradition, cuisine and much more as the essence of bangalore !

This discussion is not over till we discuss the so called posh bangalore !  wondering what is it ? Most bangaloreans and non bangaloreans use to consider MG Road, Brigade road, Indiranagar, commercial street, Richmond road for weekend hangouts, shopping, dating and celebrations before mall culture started in 2002 with Koramangala forum !

Another portion of central bangalore towards west of chord road comprising of, Vijaynagar, Rajajinagar, Yeshanthpur, Nagarbhavi is relatively new in comparision to old bangalore but keeps low profile and surprisingly no one claims it as real bangalore, came to prominence with concentration of many small scale industries and educational institutions, which other wise was considered outskirts of bangalore, though it was just 5-6 kilometers from city bus stand, Majestic !!!

In the recent years with the rapid growth of the city and extension of bangalore till whitefiled towards kolar, and attibele towards Hosur some may argue that koramangala which was once considered as the end of bangalore as the center of bangalore, given its equal proximity to old bangalore, majestic, electronic city and whitefiled !

So it all depends on what is our reference to call what is real bangalore and what is its real culture.
To experience it and to comment on it, we must know all these intersting pockets or rather facets of bangalore, otherwise it will be like a group of blind describing an elephant !

Namma malgudi

Welcome to NAMMA MALGUDI !!!

 We all have heard of Delhi as the political and fashion capital of India , Mumbai the financial capital , kolkatha the city of joy etc; what do we call Bangalore ??? The garden city ? for which we are not left with many trees except some habitats like Lalbhag and cubbon park , The city of lakes ? for which we notice the terrible state of the dwindling lakes every year to rising real estate, The silicon city ? for which the city is experiencing  a lot of continuous and stiff competition from other cities like Hyderabad etc; The start up city ? for which we are not very certain till when this trend is going to continue before any other city catches up.

Then what do we call Bangalore ? does Bangalore have a culture ? did it come to limelight in the last 20 years ? What is its speciality apart from software , start ups , Climate and gardens ? How are its people ? why is the traffic problem so much and can't anything be done ? How is Kannada the official language of Bangalore and kannadigas the original inhabitants copes up with change the city has undergone ? are they receptive ? are schools costly ? is shopping here very expensive ? do we have any hangouts and eat outs apart from the ones showcased in the newspapers ? Is Mysore the only weekend destination closer to the city ? are kannadigas outgoing ? why is sandalwood not well known ( as per the popular opinion !) ? what is the importance of arts in the life of average bangalorean ? whom do you call a bangalorean ? what is old Bangalore known for ? does marathalli , Whitefield , electronic city be called as real Bangalore ? is Bangalore a safe city ? why is the floating crowd more here ?

These blogs are an honest attempts to break the stereotypes and introduce the holistic view of the city , the way the locals and friends from out side think about one another and the city. The name Namma malgudi is categorically brought into perspective because it signifies the actual culture of the city which even impressed the famous Indian writer in English R.K Narayan to create an abode from the two localities of the city Malleshwaram,the one in the North and Basavanagudi , the one in the south to give rise to one of the fictitious and well known places of Indian literature MALGUDI !

How does Bangalore stand up as a city  ? What is its potential ? What is its uniqueness ? what are its secrets ? What are its murmurs ? how are its citizens ? How creative or mum Bangalore is ? what concerns the city ? what do its most famous citizens think about the city and much more !!!

Being a Kannadiga myself and having spent most of my life between Bangalore and Tumkur ( a city close to Bangalore) its imperative that i may be slightly biased on some issues of concern but that's my point of view which can be countered , trashed or argued to eternity ! The attempt is a two way dialogue beyond just blogging , its helps me put up a kannadiga's point of view , how we see people from outside, where are we mistaken , where are the outsiders mistaken, have we taken things for granted ?