Bustling Bangalore .....

I am from Kakinada, a peaceful semi-urban and semi-rural coexistence that is often publicized as a city but actually suits the definition of a town better. So, my first reaction to the idea of living in Bangalore was that of fear due to my preconceptions about the life in a metropolis. Although I had lived in Hyderabad for four years at BITS Pilani doing my undergrad degree, that experience wouldn't count much because I had seldom ventured out of campus to explore the city. I used to think that people in cities didn't care about one another and treated strangers with disdain. For this reason, I was averse to living in Bangalore - the Silicon Valley of India. But my fears were allayed when I got to know that my friends would also be staying with me as all of us were allotted Bangalore as our Practice school station, which is the name given to the place where Bitsians (that's what we call ourselves) do their internship for 6 months. Thus, I left my hometown with just uncertainty and not fear.

I intruded Bangalore on the fourth of January, 2013. My first impression of Bangalore exactly matched my presupposition. There was heavy traffic even in odd hours. People lived in their own cocoons and did not let the external world disturb them by blocking their visual and auditory senses with smart phones and ear phones respectively. Every day I used to spend at least ninety minutes in the bus travelling. I used that time not to listen to songs like some of my friends did but to observe the people on the bus. My observation turned out to be both a revelation and realization. The realization was that most of my presumptions were actually misconceptions. I realized that I was too naive to prejudge things.

Now coming to the revelation, I have found that the core values of the people remain more or less same no matter which city you consider. The basic moral urges like pity, empathy and sympathy have always been there in the hearts of people. Apathy, which one can make out from the actions done or not done by the city dwellers, is largely because of the severe constraints they are faced with each day. They have so little time and so many things to do. You can see it in their eyes how concerned they feel when they come across someone in a bad situation. Just when they are about to lend a helping hand they are reminded of their time-impediment by either the mobile phone or the wristwatch on their hands. These are common people we are talking about. But there are others who always manage to find time from somewhere or the other despite being as busy as their peers. They are champions in their own right who go the extra-mile to help others, and it is people like them that today's Bustling Bangalore desperately needs.

I salute to all such Samaritans and henceforth going to be one among them.