The long awaited India trip went like a whirlwind and before I could realize, the 3 weeks were over. Account for 3 weeks; The onward and return journey -4 days, US Visa interview at chennai: 2 days. Sick: About 1.5 weeks - both me and my daughter together had health issues, 1 day to my office to collect visa papers, 2 days to fix my apartment door lock! - There you go: very few days left. In that majority of the day time would go away in the traffic jam or the commute between the places. But in all, it was a hectic trip. One satisfaction is that of spending some quality time with family and few friends. There were numerous unfulfilled visits to friends and family, unreturned phone calls.
Bangalore in my eyes:
1. Many services are now available at a phone call . You can order food, groceries, mineral water, cab, ironing, plumbing and electrician services, value added services like telemedicine(call your family doctor). Almost everyone has a cell phone and the "missed calls" are the most effective way of communicating with the known people..
2. The prices of consumer goods and eating at restaurants has become very expensive since the last 2.5 years. In one of the Andhra restaurants, carrier meals ( take out lunch or dinner) for 4 people costs Rs.89 while an appetizer like Gobi Manchurian costs Rs.69!
3. Lots of new hospitals and educational institutions. Number of engineering colleges in Bangalore might exceed number of schools in some of the states in the US!
4. Retail revolution: This was predicted back in 2000, that India will witness a major revolution in the retail segment. Malls are there in almost all the upscale residential and commercial areas. I was surprised to see many stores in the fresh produce segment. Though small in size compared to their US counterparts, malls and department chain stores are attracting the current young generation. Most of the malls have huge floating population and the food courts are jampacked with people.
5. Commute: No doubt, commute time has increased multi fold, thanks to the short sightedness of the successive governments. The improved bus service is just inadequate to catch up with the growing human and vehicular population. However some of the major highways like the Bangalore-Mysore road have been turned around and one can reach Mysore in about couple of hours. I will not be surprised if some one starts off a helicopter service for commuting within Bangalore.
6. Airports: The existing Bangalore airport looks more like a typical bus terminal in any Indian city. Thanks to the booming (or now slowing?) IT market, emergence of new airliners - According to a report there are about 150 take offs and landings in one day!... I remember in the early 1980s, there used to be hardly 10 or 15 flights a days - 4 flights to Mumbai(2 outbound and 2 inbound), 2 to Delhi, 2 to Chennai and few more...The visitors also contribute majorly to the chaos. From what I have seen in my own eyes, a local bangalorean set to fly overseas will be seen off by at least 2-3 visitors and there is no upper limit! - I have seen groups of over 30 people sometimes!. I think it is time the government must intervene and stop visitors to the airport :) ( to reduce the proportinate amount of traffic)... Or they can even think of converting the major bus terminals in to airport pickup points!
7. Cars..
Till few years back, one had to go overseas to see the internationally renowned cars. Now all these cars have set strong foot in India and there is no looking back. Expensive cars are now visible almost everywhere. Maruti 800, Santro, Zen are considered to be entry level cars.
There are some more..keeping them for the next post..
