Bangalored !!!!

(This article is dedicated to all the wonderful people of a beautiful place called - Bengalooru)

Well, I got "Bangalored" in the year 1996, soon after my graduation. Ever since then, I've witnessed a sea of changes not only in Bangalore, but also in many of us, the way we have become so mechanical, the way we we have got used to the poor infrastructure at Bangalore, way we have got used to longer travel time to office and also there have been lot of changes in what we discuss when we meet people.

So, here is my own version of changes Bangalore has witnessed in last 13 years or so !!!

1996 to 1998

I used to stay in RT nagar alongwith my two classmates (Harsha R.A and Harsha R.A) in a small room. We used to pay 1000 Rs / head as rent, which at that time was considered to be too high. Well, that was just the beginning. Many people like us got "Bangalored", many more houses were taken, much more rent was demanded and given. During those days, general discussions in our friend's circle used to be around which IT company one worked for, what technology one is working on, who went for higher studies etc. General public in Bangalore was looking at IT sector with lot of respect. I even remember instances where traffic policemen even left some of the traffic offenders free, just because they worked for some big IT companies in Bangalore. 

1998 to 2001

Few years passed by. Around 1998, the IT sector was getting more business, lot more people started coming into Bangalore. Y2K was the buzz word. 

We had moved to BTM layout (Harsha, Anil, Tushar, Ajay and me) around that time. Our subject of discussions changed to "USA". People started visiting US either on a project OR left their jobs in India and relocated to US. So, invariably our discussion was around who is visiting US, who is leaving the job etc :-) 

During this time, occasionally we used to have some traffic jams, but it was mostly restricted to some parts of Hosur road. Travelling on two wheeler was still safe. During this period, I also bought my own vehicle (a black Kinetic Honda) for the first time in life. Well, during that time, the race for the bikes was only between Hero Honda splendor and Suzuki Samurai. Most of my friends had either one of those bikes.

General public realized that IT was here to stay, already some dissent started in people, complaining about rapid growth of city, shooting real estate prices etc. Hmm... it was just the beginning... People of Bangalore was to witness a big big surge in real estate in the coming years.

2001 to 2003

Little bit fast forward, come 2001. Most discussed topic used to be "marriage" and traffic jams. Every leave taken in office, every absence to meet up friends during weekend had some suspicion that "Kuch Kuch ho raha hain". Well, by 2002 most of us had got married. And ofcourse, traffic jams spread like virus. Hosur road was the most dreaded road. BTM layout got affected as well, government started building fly-overs that seemed like a never ending story. Most of the people also changed jobs. So, it was a time to "start a new zindagi" for many of us, either with our spouse or with new job.

2004 to 2007

Time for people to get "responsible" :-) Many of our friends had their kids, people bought house / site, people changed jobs at will. Invariably the discussion during this period was around house, kids and traffic jams :-) When two people met, usual discussion was around which road to take at what time and which one to avoid. It was also time to explore each possible route, however small the road is to commute to office and back. Real estate prices doubled, tripled and what not in these years. General public in Bangalore started hating IT guys. IT guys were not "favoured" anymore with police :-) IT guys took all the blame for the mess in Bangalore. There was a popular saying : "If you throw a stone in Bangalore, it will hit either a dog OR an IT guy."

2008 till date

Slowdown !!!!!!!! Its the latest buzz word. Who has lost jobs, how much did we loose in stocks, when do we see an end to recession... Uh... these are the hot topics !! 

On the traffic jams, some roads indeed got the facelift in last few years, also government was considerate enough to make those alternate roads better. So, it is not as bad as it was few years back. And of course, most of us also have got "mentally prepared" for longer travel times, so that also helps :-) 

Future

Metro rail, more flyovers, junction-less / signal free main roads.... list of promises go on.... let us wait and see... 

As they say "Change is the only constant thing in life", so change is here to stay. Lets hope everything changes for better :-)