It is time to return to my partial roots. Being half-indian, I am guilty of not visiting India for the first 30 years of my life, apart from the layover in Mumbai Airport in 2017. This would be the 21st country I will be visiting. 2 of my friends are residing in the southern part of India & I am really looking forward to reunite again after over 7 years. Bangalore will be the first destination before heading to Chennai for the second half of the trip.
The journey begins on the Singapore Airlines flight under 5 hours. I am truly astonished by the unlimited selection of entertainment options. It was early in the morning & I was wide awake, contemplating for over 15 minutes before deciding to watch Marvel’s Black Widow.
Day One
It felt like a dream. Being 5’11”, I rarely felt that my height was an issue. At the immigration counter, I was surrounded by a group of basketball players who made me felt like a dwarf. They were on the same flight as me & I only noticed one of them who sat across the aisle. A few of them had to step back from the platform to be visible to the camera. What an amusing sight.
It was a Wednesday, & I would be mostly alone before my buddy Vyaas arrives to Bangalore. I took an Uber to the hotel to freshen up. Vyaas had a contact in Bangalore & she had agreed to bring me somewhere near my hotel for dinner. The weather was cooling, there wasn’t any rain in sight & the air quality was decent.
Kannada is the main language spoken in Bangalore, a language I could discern from Tamil or Hindi, but I didn’t understand a word of it.
I almost didn’t make it for dinner due to my lack of observational skills. As I was looking at the map for navigation, I almost fell into a huge pothole. That was definitely a wake up call. From that moment, I was either walking OR looking at the phone, never both together.
Thanya brought me to a casual Indian restaurant & we ordered a few items which turned out to be more than we imagined. The level of spice was slightly higher than what I usually have back home, but there was time to get used to it. Coincidentally, I found later that her dad was flying in from Kerala(their hometown) later that evening.
She told her dad to bring more banana chips from Kerala & she gave me 3 packs of it. Generosity was her second name.
Day Two
I planned to explore a few places on my own, including The Central Public Library. After a delicious Indian breakfast at the hotel, I headed out to Cubbon Park. Booking an auto is the most affordable option in Bangalore, which provided me with a unique experience which I could never get back home.
The roads here operate on common sense, not traffic lights. I am amazed by the coherent flow of traffic during the trip. There were plenty of close calls but I never witnessed an accident on the roads.
Cubbon Park is filled with trees that made the passage of reality seem timeless. It felt peaceful to be aligned with nature.
Afterwards, I headed to the State Central Library on foot. It was just a few minutes from the Park. Upon arriving, I received a phonemail from Vyaas so I hung around the entrance while trying to keep my voice to a minimum. A few moments later, one of the staff shouted “Hey !’ while using her finger to point at the exit of the building. I told myself “fair enough” as I casually strolled outside to finish the conversation. 10 minutes later, I entered the library & felt slightly out of place as I felt like everyone was staring at me. But it didn’t bothered me much as I was distracted by the rustic interior with ladders that could be used to get books from the shelves above. The books were really old, and there wasn’t any with white coloured pages in sight. I spent about 15 minutes in the library before exiting to the lobby area where the staff was. This time round, another lady who I assumed to be another staff, was also present. Both of them were talking so loudly that I could still hear them when I stepped out of the building. I guess the rules only apply to visitors.
After having fast food for lunch, I planned to visit Starbucks to curate Spotify playlists for the various occasions of my daily life. Just a few blocks away, I spotted a bookstore. I didn’t resist and stepped inside to have a look. There was a sale going on. Since I had time, I went into my GoodReads app to check out the books which were difficult to find back home. After a couple of exchanges with the lady in the store, I decided on 4 non-fiction books. After some calculations,
I found it to be worth every penny.
After getting back to the hotel to wash up, I headed to a local snacks & sweets store which was a few streets away. I didn’t take long to decide on what to buy. As I was walking back, a random thought came to me. I wondered if I have enough luggage space at the rate of the purchases I made today. The answer was obvious. At the corner of a street, I spotted a luggage store. Since I already had a rolling luggage, I decided to get a duffel bag which was affordable.
Day Three
It was 11/11/22, the day that I will reunite with my buddy Vyaas. I was told that their train will arrive around 11am. An idea popped up into my head. It would be momentous if I could come to the station & welcome him at 11:11 in the morning. We had great anticipation to make that moment happen. Unfortunately, his train was delayed as the Indian PM Modi was invited to grace his presence at the station in Bangalore. What a bummer!
I checked out of the hotel & headed to the next one, where Vyaas & Kannan will join me in the next 2 days in Bangalore.
They arrived to the hotel 30 minutes later and we had a good chat for about an hour before heading out for lunch. We decide on Kerala food & I was surprised that Beef was on the menu.
We stuck around the building for a while, it was adjacent to a convent. A moment of nostalgia filled the air as I watched the kids playing football barefooted, something that I did during my preteen years.
After walking on the streets for about an hour, I learned something from my local buddies, summarised in the next paragraph.
Crossing the road is an art.
One should casually stroll and lift up a hand to make oncoming vehicles slow down.
Rushing to the other side is not going to work.
Never knew that I had so much power in my hand.
Yes you do, just believe in yourself.
Just another C.O.R.N.Y acronym for you 😉
Day Four
It was 5am, we were awake and getting ready for a day trip to Mysore. I was looking forward to my first train ride in India. I spotted families covered with blankets in the train station. It’s a common sight since India is a huge country & they could just be waiting for their train to the next destination.
The trains had hybrid compartments, which means that the seats could be converted to a small bed for sleeping. We had the unpleasant task to wake one of the passengers to convert the bed to a seat. The journey continued smoothly afterwards. Luckily, I had my eye massager for enhanced relaxation.
We arrived Mysore train station around 10am. After having a wide variety of local specialties(Pongal, Idly, Dosa) for breakfast, it started drizzling. We got into an auto & told the driver to head over to one of the historical sites. We ended up somewhere else. It was outside a travel agency. It took me an instant to realize what was going on. We didn’t have the upper hand obviously, but I’m so glad my buddies handled the situation.
A large portion of the day was spent at the back of a mini bus, also known as the nap station. The highlight of the day was the visit to Mysore Palace. The experienced tour guide told us to remove our shoes & keep in the bus to avoid getting stuck with the crowd. We were walking barefooted on the road & muddy path. To be honest, it felt pleasurable.
Crowd control was nonexistent but I my height gave me a slight advantage in the palace. I wondered what it was like to live in that huge palace in the early 1900s. Royalty isn’t my second name. We managed to pose for some cool portrait photos, thanks to my buddies who also happen to be professional photographers. We visited a temple & cathedral afterwards, before calling it a day.
We were running out of time, so we bought takeout and headed back to the train station. We arrived back to Bangalore at midnight & it started to rain heavily. We squeezed at the back of an auto with our drenched shoes. The moment was uncomfortable but priceless. Upon reaching the hotel lobby, I realised that I misplaced the keycard to enter the room. We approached the staff at the reception and informed him about the situation. As he was keying in some information on the computer, I took out my passport to verify my identity. Before I could hand it over, he just gave us the keycard without question. I looked at Vyaas and he returned the same stare. It was the first time I spoke to that staff, he wasn’t there when I checked in yesterday. I felt extremely uneasy. It meant that anyone could just come into the hotel without any reservation.
Day Five
We packed our bags after a wholesome breakfast. The best item on the menu was the “Muskmelon” juice. It is similar to watermelon but with an orange coloured flesh. I was looking forward to visit Vyaas grandparents & mum in Bangalore later in the afternoon.
Paati means Grandmother
Tatta means Grandfather
Amma means Mother
It was the first time entering a home in India. Seeing the joy in the faces of Tatta & Paati brings me a pleasant sense of warmth(Hygge). The flow of joyful conversations ensued & I’m blessed to taste homemade snacks made by them. It felt like home, away from home.
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