A day in the life

The time is half past 8 in the morning and a red Volvo (an Indian version) stops and a horde of people descend.. looking to cross the road.. I am one among that horde… I glance sideways and suddenly I see I am not the only one.. similar groups of people are waiting to cross that road and run along to start their day in one of the software technology parks of Bangalore..
This is me.. The Antagonist.. amongst a horde of software engineers going to earn their proverbial bread,,
Its been this way since I gave up using my own mode of transport and started depending on the oh so reliable (no satire here, it is really very reliable) public transport in the city of Bengaluru.
A year and half in this city and I have definitely learnt a lot of things during my stay here..
First and foremost.. the normal human tendency to yell at the locals.. be it pune or Bangalore or timbuktoo.. the locals are the most irriating lot and by the locals I don’t mean the regular set of people who live there day in and out.. it means the particular set of fanatics who think they own the place… by that I have postulated a law which states that.. “the average kannadiga.. is an idiot”. He doesn’t understand simple logic or instructions… people coming from outside.. mallus.. telugu.. tamil.. and the saffron attired bearded bozo’s community.. and the local urban Bangalore populace come and trample upon him and he’s still happy… but I guess he cannot help much.. the time for upgradation has long gone..
I guess the same will happen to the local populace of pune one day.. (which I most definitely and fondly wish it does) due to my strange hate hate and more hate relationship with the average puneite… (Veeru , The Wise One and Watson excluded from this list… they’re humans not puneites and even if they were they’re way above)
Secondly.. during Karnataka rajyotsava.. don’t ever argue with anyone especially if you have a vehicle with an MH passing… you’re most likely to be on the losing side…
Thirdly… while hiring an auto.. quote the 1/3rd price of what the auto driver says.. and 99 times out of 100 after a little haggling he’ll happily take u there.. this is coz even that 1/3rd price is in the range of 100% inflation.. and you thought Chennai was the king in that…
Then now shifting to the “engineer” breed of people.. they’re worse than even the average kannadiga… with a sub zero iq.. and an inconsequentially programmed life.. (if you call that a life).. the average engineer in this city believes he’s doing a miracle.. reading out specs sent out from onsite for us to chew on.. and has his customary cup of coffee .. lunch .. smoke.. and ends the day at end.. on a typical Friday in bangalore whether its mails or sms’s the most commonly asked question is …
“what are your plans for the weekend”
and the most customary greeting is
“happy weekend”…
What’s a happy weekend?? That’s the most irritating part.. and what do you find them doing on that oh so pleasing weekend?? Sleeping till noon.. conserving energy to read mails and speak in English for the next week… it’s a vicious cycle this..
Yeah there are those enthusiasts who actually head out… cycling.. hiking.. biking.. many other ings.. other than sleeping.. tv watching.. and b***ing… but that’s a very abysmal number.. but I guess theres still hope as long as these people are there…
The pub capital of the country.. and yeah.. there are still a few pubs on brigade and MG Road that have that old aura on them.. where you can chill out for a drink.. and spend some quiet time with yourself… :)..
This is to cut a long story short.. that a year and half in this city has given me the way ahead… a long way to go still… but once you are in bengaluru no matter what the people .. no matter what the climate (which is fantastic by the way) it starts growing on you.. but then there are ahmedabad and delhi that have already grown on me.. so I guess this’ll take time.. but yeah.. its one of those cities I’d love to settle down in… apart from the other 2…
And despite all this… the community of “engineers” that haunts the major part of this place… have a sub zero iq.. nothing can change that.. not even Bangalore…

.. to be continued…

-Antya