Bangalore – the garden city of India

Bangalore today is a bustling metro with flyovers crisscrossing throughout the city and the Namma Metro, a metro rail, also added to reduce travel strains and sufferings of commuters.
My association with Bangalore, the garden city of India, dates back to 1975 when I had arrived in the city to attend an interview. In those days, even in Bangalore city proper, those who were not able to speak in the local dialect were viewed with suspicion. The sprawling bus terminus at Majestic that one can see today was not even on the drawing board of the city bigwigs – it was a huge enclosed area with buses parked all along its periphery.
Majestic area and Chikpet were also devoid of much hustle and bustle.
However, over the last forty odd years, the city has transformed dramatically because of an influx of outsiders who have been attracted by the IT revolution that has brought along with it hopes and aspirations of not just Bangaloreans but of India as a whole. Bangalore is affectionately called the Silicon Valley of India and it has attracted foreign investments unparalleled in recent times. Examples are evident all over the city in the form of shopping malls, multi storied buildings and thousands of four wheelers on the roads.
During this 40 year period, I have had several opportunities to visit this wonderful city. My family and I have fallen in love with it. Making Bangalore as the base, we have traveled to various Southern destinations like Mysore, Ooty and Sravanbelagola. And – of course – we have never missed the conducted tours of the city proper. Shopping in the Cauvery Emporium for genuine sandalwood products, or bargaining in Chikpet for Mysore silk saris, or strolling aimlessly on Brigade Road or getting an overview of Ulsoor Lake – the time flies.
It used to be a highly conservative city where non vegetarianism was taboo but, today it offers innumerable varieties of fish, chicken, mutton and egg dishes. Hindi and English are the link languages. The city of idli-dosa has embraced chana-bhatura with equal ease and aplomb. This, in itself speaks volumes for the people of the garden city.
When I came here in December 2002, a flower show was on in the glass house in Lalbagh. It was an unforgettable experience. The sheer variety of flowers and plants on display was mind blogging. The city really deserves its name - the Garden city.
Later, between 2009 and 2010 I visited the city a number of times because my son was employed there and have seen the changes even in areas like Tippasandra and Malleshpalya.

Indian fast foods and the North-South divide

During my first visit to Bangalore in the seventies, I was compelled to have curd rice packed in paper bags at the roadside eateries. In those days, non-vegetarian dishes were taboo in Bangalore and its surroundings. Today, it is not so - practically all hotels and restaurants in the Garden City cater to non-vegetarian customers.
One reason is believed to be the Karnataka Express train that started in 1987 and runs from New Delhi to Bangalore – by virtue of this northern connection, the entry of north Indian business and its cuisine into the garden city was a smooth and, practically, a silent un-noticed makeover.
Then came the IT industry and with it came hordes of young people from all corners of the country, some of them had come from the USA. Thus, Bangalore became known as the Silicon Valley of India and, once a pure vegetarian city, gradually transformed itself into a multi cuisine one with outlets of KFC, McDonald’s, and Dominos springing up overnight.
The southern versions of fast foods are idli, dosa, uthappam, urid wada and upma – these are just a few names that have become popular in practically every corner of India, Bengalis relish them as much as the Punjabis do. Cutting into a three inch diameter rawa idli with a generous topping of cashew nuts and a spoonful of pure ghee gradually vanishing into its innumerable pores is an experience by itself.
The urid wada (spongy, like the soya bean doughnuts I had once tasted in an American exhibition in Calcutta in the fifties) comes in two versions – one, the dry type and the other with an accompanying concoction called sambhar in which tiny bits of pumpkin, onion, tomato, drumstick and brinjal float in a gravy of pulse and tamarind juice garnished with ground coconut.
In the north, the vote invariably goes to chats, golguppas, moong-ki-halwa and different types of pakoras. I specially remember the pakoras made of cauliflower. Large chunks of cauliflower would be dipped in a batter of besan and deep fried in a really large container.
If you tasted one, you would certainly long for another – kya kare, control nehi hota!
Moong-ki-halwa is another favorite of the north – if prepared with an abundance of ghee and garnished with cashew nuts and kish-mish, it converts into a dish fit only for the Kings. I had the pleasure of tasting the delicacy in a roadside stall in Delhi in the seventies and the taste still lingers on in my palate. Similar is the case with the chana-batura – this is dish patronized by the north and I was pleasantly surprised to discover it on the menu-card of Kamat Hotel in Bangalore!
Unfortunately, when I was there in Bangalore in 2010, I discovered that the Kamat Hotel in the Majestic area has vanished and made way for an outlet of KFC.