Bangalore aka Bengaluru

An Awesome city with mediocre management.

The earliest memory of Bangalore I remember is the LalBagh. And tangy Grilled chicken (For some odd reason). I was in awe of the city. The weather was perfect, the people were nice and the food was amazing.

Even though I did my undergrad in Hosur, hardly 20Kms away. It always felt like a different world and I hardly ever visited until my last semester.

After I grew up I visited Bangalore in 2019 to attend my first ever Software Engineer interview. Started at 4:30 from my college to reach Hosur bus stand by 5:30. and then catch the earliest bus from Hosur to Banglaore. With only Google maps in my hand and no idea whether to get down in Silk board or Madiwala and in the final moment of confusion getting down at Silk board because it felt like almost everyone got out there.

I was a weirdo kid with a head full of dreams and no idea what a sort or a search means. Suffice to say, I didn’t get the job. Coming back home in the same route, defeated and unable to bear the shame, spending almost 2 hours for a 20 km travel. I did this routine for 4 times in the next 2 weeks.

It would be another 2 months before I got my first “internship”. This was funny because pretty much I was the only person in the company who was interning after the completion of the course.

I did pack everything I owned from my college in 2 small suitcases, bid farewell to the hostel and took the bus to bangalore.

I stayed in a PG in Koramangala for 6 months. Morning walks used to be the best, the slight mist and the dead silence. Even more incredible was the time I would spend locked-in, just hours and hours spent in front of the screen, thinking about code. Probably why my relationship with my girlfriend was hitting an all-time low.

One thing that used to be weirdly shocking is the number of people who looked like they were wearing brand new clothes every day. Like, how can so many people on the street always be wearing dress like they’re going to a party? Took me a while to learn that, other than my nerdy ass, everyone comes to Koramangala to drink

After a short stint as an intern I converted it into a full-time job. For 6 months, every day I ate 1 Shawarma from the same hotel near Sukh Sagar. I was a creature of habit. Nothing else mattered to me. I was in love with the city. The number of nerds in the offices were mind-blowing.

I then moved to HSR. It was a kick ass place if you wanted a lot of shops and very nice apartments. This was my first apartment. Hours and hours spent dealing, negotiating and begging uncles and aunty’s in OLX and Quikr for Sofa, table, fridge and decent kitchen equipment. Took me a decent 3 months before I could stop asking guests to sit on the floor.

HSR was probably my most formative period. I read too many books in that apartment, and found an awesome friend. Spent covid there, alone in my apartment. I used to also host a lot of my friends who were searching for job here. At any given time I had anywhere from 3 - 6 people staying with me.

Bangalore During Covid was the best. I’ve laid in the middle of HSR main Road, without even a single vehicle passing by. I’ve walked and walked and walked for 15 Kms from HSR to Electronic City. Just because I felt like walking. There was no dust to think about no cars to be afraid of.

I remember driving from HSR to Electronic City and back, in my bike without ever touching the handlebars even once. It’s hard to imagine even blinking for a second in that road, which is always clogged with 100 different vehicles.

After Covid, Stayed at a friend’s place in Electronic City. The difference between Electronic City and HSR was very stark. HSR was place for “middle-class” bachelors, who prefer an apartment and a lot of shops. Electronic City was a place for bachelor’s who wanted to save money. The number of PGs you can find in Electronic City alone is insane, especially phase 2. The number of tea shops is directly proportional to the number of PGs.

I then, moved back to Koramangala in 2021. This was the best apartment I could’ve chosen. It was closer to the Military forest than any apartment I’ve seen. Suffice to say the nights were still. It was incredible the amount of green I could see from outside my apartment. Although it was a cramped one-bedroom apartment, built in a wonky way. But a super isolated place with greenery 270° of the view.

2022 was Indirangar and a lot of Badminton. By this point, a lot of school friends had moved close by and we meet every day for tea and badminton. The food in Indiranagar is as good as it gets. Most of my food explorations started here. I had my first Sushi here, my Most expensive meal (At the time), first Bao, first Ramen, first macaron, first tiramisu, first Tres Leches, first Lemon Tart. A lot of firsts.

I biked almost everyday from Indiranagar to Koramangala. It was 1 hour of biking. I used to dread the koramangala to indiranagar bridge. It’s insanely steep and splits at an angle which is hard for a biker to maneuver. And if you hit the peak timing 5 - 7. It’ll be an hour and a half of traffic. I still liked the biking. Not so much the layer of dust on my face after standing in the traffic for so long.

And, 2023 was adieu Bangalore. I started the year with applying to CMU and ended the year with landing in Pittsburgh. I was not happy to leave, but was glad I had a great time when it lasted.

Food, Food, Food

Shawarma - Al Taza near Koramangala, second to none. I’d kill for one right now. I stayed very close to the place and would have shawarma from them, whenever I feel down. I sometimes crave it.

Benne Dosa - DVG Benne Dosa in Electronic City. The best Benne Dosa I’ve had. Impossible to beat the amount of ghee they use with the Dosa and the potatoes and chutney used to be just perfect.

Konkan MG Road - Best mangalorean food. I’ve had the best fish curry and neer dosa here. Although very spicy, I would still opt to go there.