Why I love Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore)

A nutcase's guide to Bengaluru
Where: In Karnataka, India.

How to reach:
For Indians - get fantastic marks in your XII exams, get into a super-duper engineering college, and get campus-recruited to a Bangalore IT firm.
For Foreigners - Check if your national carrier has a direct flight to Bangalore. If not, don't bother. Indian roads are not meant for your 'developed' likes. If you're from Africa, don't bother: you're not welcome here.

To stay: If you're in IT, the Leela and Taj near the Airport and in Cantonment; if you're not, you'll get any number of cheap lodges around KSRTC Bus Stand and Majestic Circle.

To eat:For ITwallahs, any number of fancy restaurants in MG Road / Brigade Road / Residency Road area. For aam junta, Any number of eateries ending in Sagar, where you get cheap coffee and masala dosa. If you do not seek the welfare of your tongue, try the number of Andhra restaurants (no offence meant to them). Must trys: Corner House (Residency Road) for its ice-cream, and Agra Sweets (Malleswaram) for its basundi and Dharwad peda.

Dos:
(1)Shop on MG Road, and buy silk sarees and books.
(2)Lounge in Cubbon Park.
(3)Watch movies.
(4)Fight with a rickshaw-driver. This is the best way to obtain a working knowledge of the Kannada language necessary in Bangalore.

Don'ts:
(1)Drive
(2)Watch Kannada movies (The Kannadigas don't watch them)

Must-see:
(1) Visveswaraya Technological Museum
(2) Lalbag for its roses
(3) Kalasipalya and Chickpet for the real Bangalore

If you're religious minded, of the excessively pious kind, there is no shortage of temples. If you're not, and prefer other goddesses, there's Carmel College.

Day trips: Jayanagar, Whitefield, Peenya and Yelahanka. You're lucky if you can reach these places in a day.
If you have more time and stamina, visit the far more lovely and polite Mysore.

Tips: Wear swimwear, over it rainwear, and over it winterwear, and carry a big bag. Bangalore can be hot, wet or cold as it pleases, so don't trust anyone's prediction of the weather.

Extras:
Visit the Indian Institute of Science, the roots of scientific research in India.


Visit Deve Gowda's house, to find out why Bangalore is so beautiful.

Try the food at Shivajinagara Bus Stand canteen, if you want to test your stomach's endurance.

Comments

samudrika said…
There is another way of getting to Banglore even if you dont have enough marks for an engineering degree. Get yourself a masters degree and then get into one of the many Esteemed Institutes for a Ph.D. Of course the caveat here is that you wont have the money or the time that the place demands!
Ozymandias said…
Well, Samudrika, that was how I got to Bengaluru, when I joined IISc, and then TIFR!
Braveheart said…
Is this last snap Deve Gowda's house??? This can have some pass by Vidhan Soudha without noticing it, I reckon. I prefer Vidhan Soudha, nonetheless.

-- Akshaya
Ozymandias said…
No Akshaya, it isn't. It is the hallowed IISc main building, the beacon of India's hopes!

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