Bengaluru the city of gardens is burning

What is your favourite memory of Bengaluru!?

The cherry blossoms lining the road looks like nature is doing a water colouring and he cherry colour is dripping on the floor and that looks so beautiful from afar!
The road which had become dry since the rain like the proverbial passenger train which was supposed to come to cantonment railway station is still delayed!

The aroma of hot hot Bennai dosa from the thindi mane or the crackle made by boondi as it is place on top of the hot bele bath!
The walks on the large lovely gardens of Lal bagh or if you are a little more posh, Cubbon park! The early morning mist which you see form your balcony and suddenly you feel you are in a hill station!

You think summer has begun and start packing away your thick blankets because it is so hot in the noon and tuck it inside the Godrej Almirah only to rush back in the night when it again becomes so cold that you cannot sleep!

You call up the AC technician to come and repair the AC and it works fine in the morning and by the time it is night you turn it off since you do not need it!

You see the latest salwar suits in Commercial Street and go from one shop to another and see so many dresses only to just have the Chats in the end of the street and leave! Of course if it is pain puri you do not forget to ask for one sookha or dry puri and act as if you have won the biggest bargain!

Then you decide to go to MG Road and Brigade Road and look out for the lates trends and designs, not to buy but to keep it in mind and buy it later from either Commercial Street or Jayanagar 4th block!

In the night you rush to the food street to taste those 99 variety dosa which after tasting a different dosa every time finally ends up tasting the same with varying degree of spice!

The day you do not take an umbrella it rains! The day you take it will neither rain nor will it be hot enough! In any case if you do feel hot you will just take the tender coconut water which should be just small to be in the lesser price bracket but still have some cream or Ganji! Getting that from the smallest coconut after drinking the sweet water is akin to getting the elixir!

Then you decide to buy a computer and rush to SP road to get the required component for your assembled computer and the only way to reach there is by walking! That was of course before you had amazon! But then the thrill of selecting your components and then it getting assembled in front of you and you getting it on is nothing compared to what you get at amazon!

The days before Netflix or Amazon when you used to rush to avenue road to get the lates DVD or CD or MP3 or the game CD and none of it was legal! Just to see one DVD having so many movies used to give you thrill! Now with countless movies and series in Netflix or Amazon you still do not have anything to watch!

One thing which remains the same in Bangalore or Bengaluru is construction! Some bridge or road or college or building is always getting built! The workers mainly from out of city or sometimes out of state will be standing in a queue o get their lunch! Their soot covered hands and face maybe adds little more flavour to the food and many times looking at them gobbling the plain rice and dal makes you wanna rush home and eat that rice and sambar which you refused to eat since it was too simple!

You know it was festival when you see the markets of Malleswaram or KR or Kailasipalayam are full of either big banana leaves or full of flowers of different kind and only then you release what to buy when!

Even approaching the Silk Board junction you do not mind the jam since then you catch up with your WhatsApp messages and call all those friends and relatives who wanted to talk to you just out of boredom and not because they were missing you! Then when they realise that there is no gossip to share the phone call gets short! Even in that if you cross the Silk Board signal in less than three signal change then you know you are going to gave a lucky day!

The ride on Pushpak when you have relatives over to show them that your are cool only to come back in the old bus saving some money! The rare auto rides of those days when by default the meter works but you have to pay one half of meter! That auto driver may be a seventh fail but his mathematical ability to calculate his fare to the last paisa will astound even Ramanujam!

Marriage season or time it is off to Commercial Street or SM silks for getting the best deals in Silk Saree and on the way getting the lunch from the Kamat hotel!
Visit to passport office means that if you finish early you can go to MTR for lunch and wait to get a seat! Your hunger would have already soared by looking at those lucky people who had already got the seat and enjoying the hot rice and sambar!

Avarekkalu season you can go anywhere and expect everything and anything to have that tasty bean! It can appear in vada, or uppuma or even in Bisi bele bath though the best combination is hot Saar with ragi mudde served only with hand! You need a special training to eat that and every house has a small wood block which is strategically placed in the corner of the table which lifts the plate only so much to soak the Mudde but not drown it completely!

Those well maintained parks with road to walk and jogs, those lights of new year and Deepawali, those big banners during temple festivals and the mad crowd at Chinnaswamy stadium or a big function at the palace ground! The destination was not important but the journey was memorable!

This is the Bangalore or Bengaluru we remember. The Bengaluru we love! The retirement paradise! The garden city! The city of malls especially Whitefield which is like new Bangalore now!

And now we are in the midst of a ravaging second wave which is not showing any mercy. The most outside friendly city in the country is now getting hit by this foreign virus. Everyone is helping everyone else! You have people arranging food and oxygen and ambulances and what not!
Helping is a genetic flaw in a typical Bangalorean!

We will survive and conquer this tsunami; all we need is time and hope.

Then all the things we like about our city we can once again enjoy!
Just for the sake one fine day we will take that toy train in cubbon park and enjoy the sights of the city in move having recovered from COVID…

Keep fighting Bengaluru, we are rooting for you…