Blues

After a tiring day I come back home do my homework then I wait for the most exciting part of the day my dad takes me on his lambretta to MG road, me standing in the front of the scooter I can smell the freshness in the air and it’s such a relieving experience. This can be exciting for any young boy going out with your dad especially when the weather is so pleasant. We reach MG road and there are hardly people on the road we reach zero traffic Ulsoor to MG road in 5 mins. I get my favorite cone ice cream and we take a walk on brigade road and MG road my dad showing me around all the shops. We were connecting like adults he was not holding my hand the reason I couldn’t get lost in the crowd because there wasn’t one.

This was the same thing we used to do every day throughout my childhood days. People who are reading this must be wondering what I am writing about right now is it my DAD. Well I wanted to write about someone that my dad introduced me to when I was born BANGALORE.

Bangalore the place where I was born so were my dad and mom. Garden city that’s what Bangalore was called like everyone says “nothing like the good old days” those were the days when MG road was covered with trees right from Ulsoor and a trek for a small kid can be walk from Ulsoor to MG road without any assistance. Those were the days when the minimum amount for an auto was 4 rupees and the auto drivers were actually friendly. People were friendly you could speak to anyone and there was no discrimination everyone was a good guy.

I still remember the day my brother was born. Walking was a favorite pastime for me with my dad and we thought lets walk from Ulsoor to CMH road where the hospital was and I was really excited to see my little brother and my mom. It was October and the rains had just finished their magic and the whole city looked like it had just gone for a laundry. Well the sewerage system of Bangalore was actually fine those days the municipality was called Bangalore city corporation (BCC). So we are taking this walk and my dad stops to take a smoke and he lets my hand go and I see this big puddle of water and I go straight for it and jump into it the joy it gave was just unimaginable.

The scene today when I go to MG road or brigade road there are peddlers on the road there is no parking place the road is clogged with traffic people are shouting at each other it gives you such a dreaded feeling about the place. You take a walk on CMH road its blazing hot and dust all over the metro construction going on has done more damage than help to US. All my favorite friends whom I used to meet on the way from school all those beautiful tree are now down and dead and new shops have come up brands are ruling the city now.

Back then people were respected for what they are now people are respected if he is wearing Adidas or Nike. City is run by retail stores and super markets. Not that I am too old but the youth nowadays are out of the charts where has that innocence gone that we had when we grew up which has totally gone away. The education system has changed upside down all the public schools have now become international schools. All the fun the kids now have is on computer games rather than scraping your knees on the ground when you have a fall while playing some arbitrary game. Globalization has some serious side effects it has changed our lives upside down.

Once Bangalore was a pensioner’s paradise now a pensioner can’t even dream of settling down in Bangalore the cost of living has gone above the budget they had for retirement. There is no mutual respect when you walk on the road if someone bumps into you by mistake it could actually end up in a fist fight which could be ended in a simple sorry. I hope the times are changing for the greater good for Bangalore.

Wish I had a rewind button like those old VCR’s I would want to go back to those good old days of Bangalore. The fresh breeze on my face, the dust free air, friendly people, tall trees and pleasant weather all that Bangalore was known for. :-)