Mumbai and Bengaluru. Two cities which are very similar, yet worlds apart. They are like two siblings who share same interests, but their personal favorites and areas of expertise in those fields of interests are at odds with each other. For a start, both cities have had their original names changed to new ones, having a local flavor. Both cities are epic centers of the two major fields that are generally considered the pillars of a country’s international standing; finance and IT (though of course Pune is fast catching up with Bengaluru now). Both cities have people coming from all over India to rake in the moolah. Both cities face a lot of traffic problems, and both have their roads clogged up due to ongoing Metro constructions.
This is where the similarities end though. Mumbai – despite all the noises made by certain political parties – embraces all new comers immediately without any reservations. In Bengaluru, on the other hand, the new comers have to embrace the city. You will be hard pressed to find a decent vada pav tapri here, but you can be sure to find an Idli Sambar tapri in Mumbai. Some of the very first things that you will notice on entering Mumbai are the crowds, the filth, and the boiling temperatures; unless you happen to come on an early morning in the middle of the winter season. Whereas in Bengaluru, the most noticeable things are the pleasant weather, the neat surroundings (at least they are neat and clean compared to Mumbai), and the relatively sparse crowd. For someone who wants to live in the city, and yet wishes some quiet and peace, Bengaluru is the place to be. The relaxed and easy going life here is in complete contrast to the hustle and bustle of Mumbai. Though the old timers do tend to say that Bengaluru was a much better city 5-6 years back. The same can be said about Mumbai too I guess.
As I mentioned before, Bengaluru is a pretty laidback city. And this applies to all aspects of life here. It's not just the way people live here, it's also the way people carry out their businesses, the way they work, and the way they travel that is laid back. In Mumbai, if you do not have change to pay to a shopkeeper, they will scurry around to find some change; either from their gulla, from other shopkeepers, from rickshawallahs, or from the roadside panwallas. In Bengaluru, going out to for shopping is like wooing a girl. If you want to buy anything, you better have the right change in your pockets, or else be ready to be turned down by the shopkeeper (I have actually had this happening to me). Despite this laidback lifestyle, the drivers here can be pretty aggressive - though they still do not pose any challenges to the drivers from Delhi of course. If Mumbai's traffic problems arise from over-congestion, Bengaluru's arise from some of the stupidest driving I have ever seen. Imagine a truck driver driving down the wrong side of a narrow two-way lane just to avoid the traffic on the right side. He ends up creating traffic on both sides of the lane. Breaking of traffic signals is a common sight in a lot of cities. But generally you tend to break traffic lights only if you are sure not be caught in the traffic coming from the green light lane.
The most striking facet of Bengaluru is the divide of the classes; or rather how it is so visible. In Mumbai, it is often difficult to differentiate between a person working for a prestigious organization from person working in a call center. Most often than not, they will use the same mode of transport, have their afternoon tea at the same tapri, and both will end up having arguments on the same trivial issues. In Bengaluru however, the IT engineer uses a different mode of transport than say, a salesman. And this divide of the classes is also mirrored in the modes of transport available here. The BMTC* has six different bus services running in Bangalore. The normal buses (Parisara Vahini) - which are almost similar to our own BEST - the slightly better luxury buses (Pushpak), the G-buses (I still haven't been able to find out what the G stands for), and the luxury AC buses (Vayuvajra). You will never see a high level executive travelling in the normal bus, and you will very rarely see a common worker travelling in a better bus. In Mumbai, a person-holding-a-high-post-in-some-big-company will leave his house wearing formal clothes with the shirt sleeves rolled up as if he were going to beat someone up, his tie nicely folded up and tucked in his shirt pocket, with a suitcase in hand. He will get to his regular railway station (or bus stand), and when his usual train (or bus) arrives, he will get in with a great deal of gusto, and a great variety of swear words should he encounter some resistance. He will spend the rest of the time either reading a newspaper, chatting with his regular travelling group, or else having a heated argument with someone. A Bengalurian (I hope I am using the correct phrase here) working in a posh IT company, on the other hand, will catch an AC bus, or a rickshaw, and will get to his office without any struggles. The one similarity in this vastly dissimilar situation is that both the Mumbaikar and the Bengalurian, when they reach their respective offices, will be absolutely slick and clean. The Bengalurian because of the relatively effortless mode of transport, and the Mumbaikar, despite all the adventures that he has.
Another big difference between these two great cities is nightlife. Mumbai has one, Bengaluru doesn't. In Bengaluru, the weekend usually starts at 1900 hrs on Friday, ends at 2300 hrs on the same day, starts again at 1000 hrs on Saturday, end at 2300 hrs on Saturday, and follows the same schedule on Sunday. In Mumbai, the weekend begins on 2100 hrs on Friday and does not end till 2359 hrs on Sunday. One of the first things that my onsite manager told me was, "Do not stay out after 2300. Unless you are ready to pay lavishly to some cabbie." Even the bus services seem to get paralyzed after 2300 in Bengaluru.
All said and done, both cities have their own charm, their own fallacies, and their own atmosphere. And anyway, these are just the first impressions. More to come yet. Before signing off though...just a little incident that I encountered during my first weekend. I was in the Garuda mall - which happens to be the biggest mall in Bengaluru - and was waiting to order some food in the food court. I was just having a look around the food court when I saw two women - mother and daughter apparently - staring at a big television kept in one of the corners. From the look on their faces, I assumed that some bad news was being relayed on the news channel (and they usually have CNBC on here, which is no crappy channel). So I just leaned over to my side to see what was being broadcast and saw the main headline: “Rakhi Sawant to dump Elesh”. Well I guess some things just don't change anywhere.
This is where the similarities end though. Mumbai – despite all the noises made by certain political parties – embraces all new comers immediately without any reservations. In Bengaluru, on the other hand, the new comers have to embrace the city. You will be hard pressed to find a decent vada pav tapri here, but you can be sure to find an Idli Sambar tapri in Mumbai. Some of the very first things that you will notice on entering Mumbai are the crowds, the filth, and the boiling temperatures; unless you happen to come on an early morning in the middle of the winter season. Whereas in Bengaluru, the most noticeable things are the pleasant weather, the neat surroundings (at least they are neat and clean compared to Mumbai), and the relatively sparse crowd. For someone who wants to live in the city, and yet wishes some quiet and peace, Bengaluru is the place to be. The relaxed and easy going life here is in complete contrast to the hustle and bustle of Mumbai. Though the old timers do tend to say that Bengaluru was a much better city 5-6 years back. The same can be said about Mumbai too I guess.
As I mentioned before, Bengaluru is a pretty laidback city. And this applies to all aspects of life here. It's not just the way people live here, it's also the way people carry out their businesses, the way they work, and the way they travel that is laid back. In Mumbai, if you do not have change to pay to a shopkeeper, they will scurry around to find some change; either from their gulla, from other shopkeepers, from rickshawallahs, or from the roadside panwallas. In Bengaluru, going out to for shopping is like wooing a girl. If you want to buy anything, you better have the right change in your pockets, or else be ready to be turned down by the shopkeeper (I have actually had this happening to me). Despite this laidback lifestyle, the drivers here can be pretty aggressive - though they still do not pose any challenges to the drivers from Delhi of course. If Mumbai's traffic problems arise from over-congestion, Bengaluru's arise from some of the stupidest driving I have ever seen. Imagine a truck driver driving down the wrong side of a narrow two-way lane just to avoid the traffic on the right side. He ends up creating traffic on both sides of the lane. Breaking of traffic signals is a common sight in a lot of cities. But generally you tend to break traffic lights only if you are sure not be caught in the traffic coming from the green light lane.
The most striking facet of Bengaluru is the divide of the classes; or rather how it is so visible. In Mumbai, it is often difficult to differentiate between a person working for a prestigious organization from person working in a call center. Most often than not, they will use the same mode of transport, have their afternoon tea at the same tapri, and both will end up having arguments on the same trivial issues. In Bengaluru however, the IT engineer uses a different mode of transport than say, a salesman. And this divide of the classes is also mirrored in the modes of transport available here. The BMTC* has six different bus services running in Bangalore. The normal buses (Parisara Vahini) - which are almost similar to our own BEST - the slightly better luxury buses (Pushpak), the G-buses (I still haven't been able to find out what the G stands for), and the luxury AC buses (Vayuvajra). You will never see a high level executive travelling in the normal bus, and you will very rarely see a common worker travelling in a better bus. In Mumbai, a person-holding-a-high-post-in-some-big-company will leave his house wearing formal clothes with the shirt sleeves rolled up as if he were going to beat someone up, his tie nicely folded up and tucked in his shirt pocket, with a suitcase in hand. He will get to his regular railway station (or bus stand), and when his usual train (or bus) arrives, he will get in with a great deal of gusto, and a great variety of swear words should he encounter some resistance. He will spend the rest of the time either reading a newspaper, chatting with his regular travelling group, or else having a heated argument with someone. A Bengalurian (I hope I am using the correct phrase here) working in a posh IT company, on the other hand, will catch an AC bus, or a rickshaw, and will get to his office without any struggles. The one similarity in this vastly dissimilar situation is that both the Mumbaikar and the Bengalurian, when they reach their respective offices, will be absolutely slick and clean. The Bengalurian because of the relatively effortless mode of transport, and the Mumbaikar, despite all the adventures that he has.
Another big difference between these two great cities is nightlife. Mumbai has one, Bengaluru doesn't. In Bengaluru, the weekend usually starts at 1900 hrs on Friday, ends at 2300 hrs on the same day, starts again at 1000 hrs on Saturday, end at 2300 hrs on Saturday, and follows the same schedule on Sunday. In Mumbai, the weekend begins on 2100 hrs on Friday and does not end till 2359 hrs on Sunday. One of the first things that my onsite manager told me was, "Do not stay out after 2300. Unless you are ready to pay lavishly to some cabbie." Even the bus services seem to get paralyzed after 2300 in Bengaluru.
All said and done, both cities have their own charm, their own fallacies, and their own atmosphere. And anyway, these are just the first impressions. More to come yet. Before signing off though...just a little incident that I encountered during my first weekend. I was in the Garuda mall - which happens to be the biggest mall in Bengaluru - and was waiting to order some food in the food court. I was just having a look around the food court when I saw two women - mother and daughter apparently - staring at a big television kept in one of the corners. From the look on their faces, I assumed that some bad news was being relayed on the news channel (and they usually have CNBC on here, which is no crappy channel). So I just leaned over to my side to see what was being broadcast and saw the main headline: “Rakhi Sawant to dump Elesh”. Well I guess some things just don't change anywhere.
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