Namma Bengaluru – Too Used to You!

It’s a dull day once again. There has been no sun for the past two months or more. I wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that I have forgotten how sunshine feels like.

As I look out of the window, my mind ponders and the same thoughts start pouring in all over again. Have I outgrown this city? Is this about the weather? Well, the rest of India is envious of us. So what? It’s so dull and dreary. No, I think it’s the traffic that wastes so much of my time or is it just the monotony of life?

It’s been seven long years since I came to this city. And, it’s the longest I have lived in any place outside my hometown of Shillong.

‘Namma Bengaluru’ – as we lovingly address the city meaning ‘Our Bangalore’ has mostly been good to me.

Unlike most people, my moving to Bangalore wasn’t a planned one, it just happened quite by chance. When I landed here, my intention was to stay for a year and leave. Instead, I ended up settling down here. And, it’s not just me, many others who have made Bangalore their home will tell you the same story.

I had moved in to Bangalore from Hyderabad, where I had spent just nine months. Hyderabad, the city of Nizams, is a great place. I loved the city but things did not work out for me probably because I hated my job and I missed home badly. Bangalore was more like an escape and I thought it was my stepping stone to go back to Kolkata where I had lived before Hyderabad for a little more than two years and where I had friends and relatives.

I was ready for a Hyderabad-like scenario in Bangalore. But, within a month of being here, I started feeling very much at home. Caring friends and helpful neighbours made settling down really easy. Soon after, my sister and a close friend also moved to Bangalore. And, three of us have had some of the best times of our lives together – movies, theaters, pubs, outdoors, you name it and we have done it.

However, in the recent past, I often feel stifled and bored here. The city seems to have no life and it feels very robotic, monotonous, and lonesome. Sometimes I even contemplate if I should go to some other city. But when I try to think of an alternative no place comes to mind. I can only think of Shillong but that wouldn’t work – there are no jobs for us.

In a scornful mood, I despise the traffic jams, the consistently depressive cloudy weather, the mall hopping culture, the expensiveness of everything, the crowded streets, the potholed roads, and so on.

At other times, I admire the inclusivity of the city, the live and let live culture, the job opportunities, the professionalism at work, the more greenery compared to other cities, the filter coffee, the juice stalls and bakeries in every lane, and so on.

I haven’t been successful in clicking the squirrel in my balcony, its too fast but it looks just like this (P.C: Shabby Garden)

Once again, I look out of the window only to find the squirrel that keeps visiting my balcony every now and then.

And, my thoughts about the city disappear.

The squirrel reminds me of the flock of parrots that pass by sometimes, the chestnut tailed gorgeous jet black bird that fascinates me, the melodious cuckoo calling out, the sweet chirping tiny sparrow-like birds, the raven that perches majestically over the ledge, and then I find myself saying – I’ve gotten too used to this place, do I really want to go?

Chill, it’s just a seven year itch, says my sister.

Post in response to Day-7 prompt'Seven Year Itch!'for Bar-A-Thon: The Blogging Marathon