As of last week, I have completed my move to the technology mecca of India - Bangalore. I have had a lovely 3 year stint in Mangalore. Have so many wonderful memories with the place that the decision to move seemed impossible. But finally we took the plunge.
My waking hours have been shifted to ensure that I experience less peak time traffic. So this means early mornings and early evenings. Not sure how this would impact my Blogging. Hopefully for the best.
First Impressions
I have worked in Bangalore in 2004 and have visited the city several times before and after that. An easy observation to make would be the explosion in population of people/vehicles and the deteriorating weather. Certain areas which were considered “outskirts” like Bannerghatta Road are now prime locations with every major retail outlet you can think of. I am currently staying in Bannerghatta Road.
The traffic jams have somewhat reduced thanks to projects like the Silk Board Elevated Tollway and NICE road. The commuting time at around 8 in the morning is just thirty minutes by office bus via NICE. This is quite reasonable compared to many horror stories of two to three hours of commuting time in certain areas. I would say that shorter commuting times significantly improve one’s work-life satisfaction.
Out of curiousity, I enquired with a lot of people on how they spend their commuting times. Even if it’s one hour one-way, it adds up to around 40 hours of lost time. Most people replied that they either sleep or listen to music. A few catchup on the daily newspaper or rarely a book.
I have opted to take my Infibeam Pi along. It makes the mundane bus journeys a lot more interesting. There is a huge, huge backlog of books that I have always wanted to read. With many free ePubs being available, its always a pleasure to have several million pages of literature and technology at one’s finger tips. I was not a big fan of reading in a moving vehicle (sometimes causes motion sickness). But thanks to good roads, I don’t find reading in the office bus to be much of an inconvenience.
Any move is hardly a pleasant experience. We are still in the process of settling down. The nice thing is that Bangaloreans are quite active in many online communities and it is quite easy to get tips and essential information online. This makes the settling down process a lot easier.
There are my early impressions, but I’m pretty sure that they will change over time.
