I cannot believe it has already been a year since I moved back to Bangalore. How time just flew!! It feels like just yesterday that we moved back to this city. I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on how the one year in Bangalore has been.
I must say the city has changed a lot and not always for the best. It has become extremely populous compared to when I left it in 2012. This has also contributed to an unmanageable traffic situation in most parts of the city. In a way I am not surprised by this as the city still presents itself as an attractive hub for jobs and start-up that people from a big part of the country migrate here every year. My brother told me that every year, the city's population grows by 38%!! Now that is really huge! I am surprised that the city, being completely unprepared for this unplanned growth, is still surviving.
This being said, now that the Government and city administration has noted this, the efforts made to improve the infrastructure of the city to cope with this kind of growth is not catching up or able to keep pace with the growth. I hope they are doing something in the background to prevent the city from crumbling under the gigantic growth.
When I left the city, it was clean and green. While there is still quite a bit of green cover in the city, it is rapidly depleting to make way for growth. It is nice to see the citizens coming together to save the greenery. So, the administration is working towards translocating the trees. I just wish all the green is just within the city so that people living in the city can benefit from it. Due to the growth, there are a lot of vehicles on the street contributing to some heavy pollution. I think the increase in greenery would serve to benefit the city massively.
I do not know how many remember that in 2014-2015, Bangalore was the cleanest capital in the country and raked 7th in the list of cleanest cities in the country. Don't believe me, read this. However, in 2018, it is probably right in the bottom of the list. The garbage disposal system is currently not meeting the city's needs. Though a lot of initiatives have been introduced like waste segregation, ban on plastics etc, their implementation is not effective. Also, I have come to understand the city's administration has some budget and resource issues due to which the garbage pick-up is not regular and there is open dumping in several places in the city. I think this is something the city administration really needs to work on and really fast.
The other area of focus would be provision of clean and safe water to the citizens. The amount of water supplied to the city is not enough, increasing the dependency on water tankers. I do not want to talk much about how important water is and why there is a shortage. I think we all know by now, why.
What I love about the city is the vibrant vibe it still possesses. There are so many interesting and unique events all across the city all through the city. People love going to these and so do I. There are so many affordable food joints in almost every nook and corner of most localities and they offer a large variety too.
The other thing that I like is, each locality is quite self contained. Vegetable shops, groceries, schools, hospitals, parks etc are present in all localities and are easily accessible, usually by a short walk. Fortunately, this aspect of the city has not undergone any change and has in fact, improved for the better.
A big change in the transport sector is the introduction of fast and reliable Metro in the city. Though a bigger network is required for this rapidly becoming massive city, it is work in progress and hope all the other lines are ready soon. In most of my metro journeys so far, there have been tremendous crowds in the train. Sometimes it surprises me that there is still enough oxygen inside the trains to keep everyone from fainting.
The well-loved mild weather of Bangalore is still in tact. Though it has become slightly warmer than before, it is still quite cool and amazing. It has been raining on most days in this last year, keeping the temperature under control.
The city seems to believe in early to bed and early to rise. While most shops are open until 10pm, many close by 8pm. In the mornings, if you are in the neighbourhood park around 5am, you will find it bustling with walkers and joggers and you can see the same in the gyms. When I was in Hyderabad, the newspaper and milk delivery seldom happened before 7:45-8:00 am, but here, it is available by 6:00-6:30am in the morning. Only after moving to Hyderabad, did I realise that Bangalore is a city of early risers. The pace of life may not be comparable to that of cities like Mumbai, but is definitely fast paced compared to Hyderabad, which comes across as a very laid back city.
These are my initial thoughts about the year that went by. If I think of anything else later on, I will update the same in the comments section. As you may have noticed, it is a mixed bag of experiences so far. Whatever the experience maybe, I love living in the city, despite its flaws and only a Bangalorean would understand what I mean!
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