BanGalore

Back from my trip to Bangalore. The place has its highs and lows. Roads are wide, lesser potholes than other places in India, malls are good, the Airport is classy [international standards] and the young crowd is very switched on.

The people love to fight, witnessed three fights in my short stay [Bang Galore – I think they take their name pretty seriously], the angry young man influence still remains, people love keeping the city clean so instead of pissing on the walls now I see people standing with backs to the wall and pissing onto the footpath. All joints shut by 11 pm [Ban Galore] so did not really get to see the nightlife because there isn’t one. Traffic is a real bitch and there is absolutely no sense of lane discipline or following the rules.

Rickshaw drivers should be kept in a museum because their thinking is ancient and they are a rare specimen. I stopped four rickshaws. The place I had to visit was 5 minutes away by rickshaw hence they did not take me aboard but they went that same way empty. [Now would it not make more sense to make some money going that same distance rather than go there without fare?] Weird! And the two guys who agreed to take me there requested double the fare and refused to keep the meter on. [And the whole point of having a meter is?]

The street book vendors know good English and have decent knowledge about books. That’s encouraging. They know authors, they know how old the books are and they know the classics. It’s always good to see that knowledge seep down to those sections of society. I was mighty impressed with the airport taxi drop. As soon as I called “just call” and procured the number of the Easy Cabs they called me with a few seconds asking if I had enquired about Easy Cabs. I booked my cab drop and within a minute I had the details on my cell sent by the company via SMS. After an hour I get a call from the driver who gives me his name and car number and tells me that he will be there at a particular time and arrives 15 minutes earlier. While the ride is pretty expensive I don’t mind it because they are professional about they way they approach work. Kudos Easy Cabs.