Leaving home and coming down to a new place is always a difficult thing. But leaving home to come down for your first job just takes it to a whole new level. The usually disregarded buzzes of mom and dad, relatives and everybody else on the DO’s and DONT’s of office life can actually scare a newbie to death in this case. This was precisely the phase I was in when I was coming down to Bangalore for my first step into corporate life. Such was the extent, that for a period of time, it even overpowered the fact that I would get to see new places, meet new people, make new friends, probably stare at hot girls and a lot other things which are usually a 21 year old guy’s driving force.
My first official tour of Bangalore came on the 2nd day of my arrival, and, accompanied by my “protectors” (as my dad and his friend liked to call it), set out to explore the riches of the city. The two day long excursion took me to different corners of the city where I came across big shopping malls, 5 star hotels, fancy apartments, posh restaurants, widespread roads, AC buses to the roadside stalls, 1 room dormitories, brick houses, roadside thelas, uncemented roads and tempos giving me glimpses of its developed cosmopolitan life as well as the rough and tough Indianized way of life. This two day “joyride” confused me as to how a city with so much variance managed not to tear itself apart. It’s not that variance does not exist in other metro cities. But its (variance’s) high growth rate gave it an entirely new perspective here.
The next few days turned out to be hectic, only to begin with me rushing to catch an auto, skipping traffic signals in a vain attempt to get to the office on time, and ending with me waiting for an auto back home while looking out at its (the city’s) rollercoaster life. Before I realized it, a month had passed.
Today, after the countless fights that I’ve had with the auto drivers, after the countless friends I’ve made, after the countless girls I’ve stared at, after the countless times I’ve missed getting down at my bus-stop, and after my numero lunches at different eateries in the city, I’ve finally realized why this city still stands strong.
Though how perplexed it may sound, the answer to this question comes from the city itself. It comes in the form of a reassuring smile it gives you when you are upset, it comes in the form of a helping hand it gives you when you are lost, comes in the form of reassurance when you are troubled, company when you are lonely, support when you are low, courage when you are broken and many other things that it personifies.
I’m not saying that it makes life a bed of roses. In fact, it tortures you, tantalizes you, irritates you, fails you, and makes life unfair for you. But, even after all that, it still provides you hope, a sense of homeliness, and a feeling that that no matter what happens, it is there to support and guide you.
It’s that mystique that resonates all around the place, giving it its charisma and its charm.
It’s the same aura that keeps the bond between it and its inhabitants alive.
This is its enchantment, its magic.
