Trip to the IT city

In the past 1 month, 1 thing that has been constant in my life is travelling and most of the times it was to Bengaluru . Whats more, I was on my way there on the 1st day of the new decade!!!
The first thing that always surprises me on reaching Bengaluru is the humongous bus stand(dude!! It has 25 platforms for city buses alone). The 1st two times I got lost. Now after going there quite a few times I have gotten a fair idea about it.

Bunked in at my cousin's place (RT Nagar). After staying in a hostel for 3 years I was of the opinion that hostels are noisy. But staying in the house with my 2 nephews (1 aged 7 yrs & the other 9 months) I found out that my definition of noisy was all wrong. hehe....
For the 7 days i stayed there I became a kid... played silly games with the 7 year old, tried talking to the younger 1 by imitating his baby language.. goo goo gaaa gaaaa & other variations. playing, laughing, frieking out.... I became a part of the kid gang.:P. Had the time of my life.
1 evening I decided to go out for a walk.. I love long walks in unknown places....so i put on my gear (basically took my i-pod) & left for my conquest. I started walking in some random direction. As I walked I could see many human forms walking along but they were all Black or white . Black burqas & white pathan suits. In my jersey & shorts, I was feeling uncomfortably underdressed specially coz of the "is he from outer space" stares that the people were giving me. The streets were crowded, hawkers cracking their throats, auto-rickshaws revving, cars blaring, drivers swearing & what not( I was reminded of my hometown)... The streets were lined with “beef biryani” stalls. I wonder how many cows would satisfy the requirement of so many stalls.

After regular visits to a few shops around the house I had started having conversations with the shopkeepers. We talked a lot, even with their broken Hindi, we could understand each other perfectly. They told me about the place, the problems, the festivals. I told them what I had seen in Bengaluru & how it was different from the other places I visited. I somehow felt like a welcome traveler in this new place. The people stopped staring at me with my i-pod. I became a part of the busy bazaar( at least I felt like that)
Whenever I had come to Bangalore earlier, I had spent my time in the M G Roads & the UB city’s & primarily KFCs in various places. Not that I didn’t have memorable events in those places. Me & my friend had lost our way & had reached a street lined with hookers near M G Road. And on top of that I was wearing a Superman T-shirt which earned me the misfortune of being called Shaktimaan by a hooker. We ran away faster than shaktiman or even superman could have. I have never been that scared in my life. But later it became the incident on which I have laughed the most with my friends.

This time I experienced different side of the city & it left a very happy corner in my heart. The warmth & friendliness of the people. Have to mention the awesome home food that my sister in law cooked. I cant thank her enough.

While going back, I was feeling a bit sad. I reached the bus stand an hour early. Normally before I left I used to have KFC & then get on the bus. But this time when I reached, I just didn’t feel like having it. Normally I always wished that I could have stayed a few more days & roamed around the different malls in the city. This time also I wanted to stay back, but nt for the malls, but for the fun I had with the kids, the home food & the people I met……