Namma vooru, Bengaluru

I live in Bangalore, in my opinion, despite all the complaints and the ruckus, the best place to live in India. Maybe I don't have much scope for comparison, because its the only place I've ever lived in India but still! I have travelled quite a bit, to Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Chennai and I have my own opinions on each.

Mumbai is insanely fast...a great place to visit and party, but I think I might go crazy running around with that intensity in such humidity!

Hyderabad, at this point to me, does not appear to have much character outside of the insanely delicious biryani. There are not many hangouts, and the once magnificent monuments such as Golkonda fort and the Char minar are in need of a lot of attention. I did have a fabulous visit though . Safdarjung museum is a treasure trove of exciting things and a real fallback to a previous area. Ramoji film city was a great way to spend the day and really exciting to actually see sets from specific movies!

Delhi is amazing for shopping - there's nothing you can't get there, nor any budget thats not workable. The chaat's and snacks are yum, definitely not the kind of flavours you'll find here in Bangalore - jalebi in Karolbagh, or paneer tikka in Sundernagar - slurp! However, moving around in Delhi if you;re not fluent in Hindi is a problem. People will be trying to take you for a ride at each and every corner and safety is an issue. Part of what I like about Delhi is the fact that fashion trends are much more up to date and you can wear a lot of interesting things without getting any stares, however this is also fueling the slightly superficial elements of society.

Chennai is madness! Although yes, the infrastructure is better than Bangalore's, firstly there's no way to get around without knowing Tamil. People have been downright rude when they realise you're not from around there, although I do have many great tamilian friends! Chennai doesnt offer much to do, very few hangouts and nowhere much to shop. A good place probably for planning day trips as a lot of amazing culture does surround the area for example to Kanchi to see the saree making or the famous temple. Madurai temple is the most beautiful and inspiring temple I've ever seen.

Now I'm not saying Bangalore doesn't have its problems, because it sure does, but at the end of the day, I've not met anyone from anywhere who's not been able to adjust in our beautiful city! :)

To blog or not to blog

So blogging seems to have hit the world in a huge way. Some blogs actually have practically a cult following. It's crazy. I've seen some of the really popular blogs, and I'm not really sure what they write about, but it seems to work for their followers. I suppose the same can be said about books. You never know what qualifies as a best seller, and what it is that appeals to the masses. It's something worth an analysis in fact! I've heard that blogging is truly an art and I must agree. Anyone can write a bunch of nonsense and post it on a site. But not anyone can write something somebody else looks forward to reading. And if thats not an art I'm not sure what is. Its interesting though how fast our mediums are changing. From real books to e-books, from editorial columns in papers to online blogs.

Imagine what would happen if the internet just stopped working some day. Would we be able to go back to our "hard copies" and "snail mail" or just sit stunned until the net is back? I can't remember the last time I went to a post office or bought a stamp. Must be eons ago. I mean even if I sent something who would bother looking at it? I almost never get any mail except from banks,etc, so I pretty much assume the rest of my mail , even if genuine, must be junk. So oops and sorry to anyone who sent me a letter or a postcard recently, thats the reason I never replied!