It’s been nearly two weeks since I was in Bangalore but the impressions it made and the thoughts that it provoked continue to resonate. We were in town primarily to visit our friend Manoj and whilst it’s perhaps doesn’t have a great reputation as a tourist destination I was very interested to see a city I’ve heard so much about when working, as I do, in the IT industry. Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India because of its position as the nation's leading IT exporter and it also home to many other hi-tech industries, including aerospace, telecommunications, and defence organisations. It’s the third biggest city in India, growing fast than any other and aspires to be the very definition of modern 21st century India.
We arrived early in the morning after another epic train journey just as the city was beginning to wake up. Manoj had met us at the station in his Tata SUV along with his good friend Ahmit whose house we’d be staying at during our stay. Ahmit and his wife Pooja had generously insisted that we stay with them, despite already having Manoj a guest until work on his new apartment was completed. It also happened to be Ahmit’s birthday and we were already invited to celebrations at the house and a birthday meal at a local restaurant. After picking us up at the train station we were stopping by at one of Ahmit’s good friends to pick up supplies for the party. As we drove across town my first impressions differed to what I expected, it was quiet on the roads (but we were assured that it was soon be gridlocked), the air seemed fresh and noticeably cooler than Varkala (despite it being hot for Bangalore) and the skies were bright blue. After a quick chai at Ahmit’s friend’s house (a Judo champion in the Indian Army) we were made our way back to Ahmit’s house in Whitefield and sure enough the traffic had begun to ramp up and our progress was much slower. Unlike most places we have been the traffic was made up of predominately modern cars along with buses, bikes and super-charged rickshaws. The roads themselves were far wider, the surfaces for the most part good and complex one way systems were in place around the city to deal try to mitigate the traffic. The buildings we passed were a mixture of ultra modern offices and malls and the kind of buildings you’d find in a typical Indian town. Signs of construction were evident everywhere, from new roads, new buildings and the new metro train system. I’d imagine that you could observe the changes to the city in a time frame of weeks, rather than years.
Once we made it back to Ahmit’s home we met his wife Pooja, who welcomed us with a delicious Indian breakfast of partharta, curd (yogurt) and chuckney which is just the sort of family hospitality we have come to expect from people in India. What was more unexpected was Pooja excusing herself to take part in a work meeting since she was working from home today by taking advantage of the option to telecommute to the office. This immediately dispelled one of my preconceptions about what the work culture might be like here in Bangalore. I somewhat ignorantly thought the norm would probably involve very long hours restricted to office. I cannot say the what the norm is but I found it interesting to listen to Ahmit, Pooja and their other friends discuss what the “work culture” of a particular company was like. The kind of things that were on offer seemed to follow a blue print straight out of the real Silicon Valley, even going as far as providing beers in the office on Friday afternoon. There is clearly a competitive job market with companies attracting talent in just the same way as they do back home and they are keen to stand out to people like Ahmit and Pooja who are as a couple represent the very essence of the rapidly growing middle class working in hi-tech industries.
After having breakfast and time to freshen up with a much needed shower Ahmit and Pooja took us out to lunch keen to introduce us to some new south Indian dishes and perhaps not intentionally expose us to another aspect of the new modern India, the shopping mall. Again, these malls follow a blue print perfected in the US. In fact, once inside the pristine air-conditioned building full of designer shops it was hard to tell I was still in India. There were still a few tell tale signs though, there was an excessive presence of man-power as there always seems to be here. Where you might see one security guard at home you saw three, there was even a guard for solely for the purpose of escorting you in the lift. Also, the food court where we were heading, was serving up all manner of Indian snacks, meals and drinks. If only the food in the average UK shopping mall was as good as the dishes we tried here. It was also interesting to see, after reading articles in the British press, how India was embracing the western culture of consumerism. During the afternoon Maren and I took a bus into the centre of the city, to the heart of consumerism in Bangalore, MG Road and after getting off the bus we found ourselves outside another huge mall, with British high street icon Marks and Spencer housed in the bottom right hand corner. Somewhat ironically Maren and I discussed the issues of how the world, faced with increasingly scarce resources, will cope with such demand over an iced frappe latte. We’re nothing if not hypocritical.
We were back at our host’s house for Ahmit’s birthday celebrations. A large group of friends had been invited around for Indian style o’derve (a steady stream of deep fried snacks), along with drinks, including the beers and whiskey that we had picked up in the morning. Guests were notably punctual and the house was soon full with the loud and happy conversations of Ahmit’s friends. After being introduced to many people, the house separated into two rooms, with women in one of the bedrooms and the men (plus Maren) in the living room. Drinks flowed freely, though not all alcoholic, as many of the guests including Ahmit and Pooja do not drink. After a few chats and discussions with the party guests, it’s clear that whilst some aspects of western culture have been adopted, Indian culture is still very strong. This is after all a country of over a billion people and aspects of western culture will no doubt be absorbed, modified, discarded and adapted they see fit. I had several conversations about cultural differences and whilst I may share the same kind of career with many of those in the room, we are still worlds apart on many subjects, like marriage. Conversations were however not argumentative but simply inquisitive and whilst I would find it difficult to adopt all aspects of Indian culture (and sure the same goes for our Indian friends) there is a lot to learn from and respect about how they lead their lives.
After several rounds of drinks we made a fashionably late appearance at a local restaurant which specialised in Punjabi food from the north of India for a taste of the kind of food Ahmit and Pooja are used to back home. As we spoke to Ahmit’s friends it seemed most if not all of them were, like him, originally from north western states that make up India’s part of what is now referred to as Greater Punjab. This is common in Bangalore, with much of the population now made up of migrants from other parts of India having been attracted by jobs and careers opportunities. However, people like Ahmit and Pooja only see themselves as temporary residents, they clearly miss living back home and being close to their family, something that is so important in Indian culture. Bangalore, whilst a part of India is sometimes just as foreign to them as it is to us. For example, it surprised me to see them and other Indians often having to speak to each other in English. With Bangalore well below the Hindi Belt, it is often the only common language. Ahmit and Pooja told us, when they have the opportunity to take similar jobs back home they’ll leave Bangalore.
Manoj on the other hand is looking at making Bangalore a more permanent home. The following day, after another big breakfast with a seemingly endless supply of paratha, we took a drive to Manoj’s new apartment which was nearing completion. This was another glimpse of the scale of Bangalore’s growth, his apartment being one of hundreds in several luxury tower blocks and part of a development that included a huge shopping mall, entertainment complex and restaurants. New developments like this are happening all over Bangalore and I was reminded of the kind transformation London docklands has undergone over the last few years. In fact, as I looked out of Manoj’s balcony, I thought back at how I’d looked out of my friend’s (Taz) new apartment in the docklands just before I left the UK.
Afterwards, we headed back into town to visit a couple of Bangalore when known institutions for a taste of the old Bangalore. The first was for afternoon coffee at the Indian Coffee house, which has been serving coffee, in the south Indian style, for generations. Whilst their normal venue was under refurbishment, there was still numerous photos and memorabilia hanging from the walls showing the history of the cafe and the waiters still wear traditional white uniforms, with large belts and a purple turban that wouldn’t look out of place in the time of the ?Raj? The second was a visit to ?MTR?, a restaurant serving my now favourite south Indian eating experience, Thali. This restaurant also goes back many generations and there are pictures on the wall showing how it has played host to visiting dignitaries in its time. After paying for a ticket, you wait in large waiting room for the next service. Once everyone is shown to a table and sat down, a steady stream of rice, dahls, chutneys, curries, yogurts, salads and finally deserts are served to everybody in the room on metal thali plates. Ahmit counted 17 different items brought out to us during the course of our meal and once again we were full to bursting having thoroughly enjoyed all our food.
During our last day in Bangalore, we decided to do a little preparation for our visit to Sai Baba’s main ashram in Puttaparthy by visiting the ashram in Bangalore just down the road in Whitefield. Disappointingly there was very little going on. With Sai Baba rarely resident here these days there aren’t many people who are staying in the complex, but it still gave me a little glimpse as to what I might expect. I’ve read about ashrams for various spiritual gurus over the years, but having never really seen a picture of what one looked like, my image of one had until recently been left largely to my imagination. Just the word ashram for me conjures up some kind of hippy commune, set in idyllic surroundings with building, perhaps just shacks and tents that blend into their natural environment and are isolated from the rest of the world. However, having heard stories from Maren’s visit to see the hugging mother, Amma and a couple of pictures online I realised that this wasn’t really the case. When I got to Sai Baba’s ashram in Bangalore my original image was completely shattered. After being dropped off by a less that knowledgeable rickshaw driver who constantly had to ask people on the street for directions, we were dropped off at the gates of Sai Baba’s ashram located next to a busy road and on-ramp to a highway. Far from a peaceful oasis, the concrete complex was made up of a large covered area where people could gather for satsang (chanting/prayers) and darshans, a large multi-story building providing accommodation for devotees and a large mansion which was no doubt where Sai Baba and his entourage would reside if in town. We didn’t spend much time there, just stopping for ten minutes to meditate in the open satsang hall as we were instructed to when leaving our shoes at the gate. Afterwards we had a quick walk around and left. I was a little disappointed, but now I had some idea of what to expect and the staff running the place had been warm and friendly which was reassuring.
We returned home in the late afternoon to get ready for our final dinner which was going to be part of our saying thank you to Ahmit, Pooja and Manoj for being such good hosts and making us feel so welcome whilst we stayed with them. However, when Ahmit and Pooja returned home they had bought us gifts for us to take home which made it impossible to repay them for all their hospitality. However, if they were to ever come to London it would also be impossible not to return the same hospitality, so they will always be welcome. Similarly, if Manoj’s new job at IBM ever takes him through London (it’s seems he’ll be travelling aboard either to the US or Switzerland regularly) he’ll have somewhere to stay if he chooses to do so.
So that almost brings to a close our trip through southern India. I’ve learnt so much about the country over the last couple of months and seen all sorts of sides to life here. This is undoubtedly one of the most interesting times in India’s history, with massive change happening across the country as it strives to become one of the economic if not political superpowers of the world. It has a deep history rich in culture, steeped in tradition and revering of spirituality, but it is now on the path to become leader in modernity, looking to dominate hi-tech industries and keen to be seen as power in the region and the wider world. Change seems to be everywhere, with new money pouring into all aspects of life. As a country it seems to be in some ways young and old at the same time.
The young minds of today have a great sense of pride at their recent achievements as economic reform and investment has paid off with remarkable results and this in turn has led to a strong surge in nationalism. They are brash and bold, perhaps even a little cocky and arrogant, which you might expect a young nation to be. This has the potential for good and bad, with the politics in India right now leaning heavily to the right and dominated by Hindus, their reaction to issues concerning Islamic terrorism and old feuds with its neighbours are causes for concern. It’s clear that bad blood between India and Pakistan is still as strong as ever. It also sees itself in direct competition with China to become the dominant Asian superpower and whilst there has been co-operation on trade, thorny political issues such as India providing sanctuary to the Dala Lama and China’s aid to Pakistan mean they are far from good friends.
However, to go with those young minds, India still has a wise old soul. There is wisdom to be found in the many religions that exist here and have existed together, for the most part, in peace. I recently read about small population of Indian Jews who migrated to Mumbai around two hundred and fifty years ago. Few remain now, having been enticed to move to Israel, but one resident in the book remarked that “this is the only place in the world where Jews have not been persecuted”. People consider the UK to now be a multicultural society, but in comparison with India, it seems rather superficial especially when it comes to the respect of other religions when our society is now largely secular and devoid of spiritual life. There is also an optimism and joy about life here that so often missing at home. You haven’t seen people enjoying themselves splashing around in the waves until you’ve seen a group of Indian lads do it. Cynicism and bitterness are generally in short supply, even amongst those who have far less than the poorest of us back in the UK. I believe that much of this is due to their value systems based on their traditions and religious beliefs.
I hope that in the frantic change that the country is undergoing, which can be scary and unsettling, it doesn’t forget some of its old values that already made it such a great country, especially as it wields increasing power. With its enthusiasm of youth and its wisdom of age it shouldn’t have to learn some of the lessons that Europe learnt the hard way as they became industrial and technological powers.
Pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.lander/Bangalore
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