Bangalore, the great melting pot!

Technology has shrunk the world and made it a smaller place. People are migrating from their home towns to other towns and cities and even other countries to study or to work or simply to settle down into their retired lives.

As for me, I’ve been rooted to Bangalore ever since I first came here in 1960 as a five year old. The previous five years were spent in a dusty mining camp in Gujarat where I was born. The only languages I knew then were Gujarati and Tamil. In Bangalore, we stayed in a small rented house in what was then known as Civil Station in the Cantonment area. My neighbours were Telugu and I was able to pick up some basic Telugu, forgetting most of my Gujarati in the process. My first few years primary school flew by without my acquiring any new language skills. My middle and high school years were more productive; I learnt how to read, write and carry on a conversation in English. Hindi was my second language and I became good at it. For two years we also had Kannada as the third language and I learnt to read, write and speak basic Kannada during these two years. So, by the time I finished school, I had learnt four languages.

Bangalore’s salubrious climate, its warm and gentle people, its peaceful atmosphere, its educational institutions, its many public sector industries and, in recent times, its IT industry, all combined to make the city a powerful magnet. People from all parts of the country came to this wonderful city (and are still coming). Virtually every language spoken anywhere in India (and indeed a few of other countries) can be heard on the streets of Bangalore. Our auto rickshaw drivers, bus conductors, shopkeepers, darshini owners and employees, are all linguists. They are also helping to form Bangalore’s own Pidgin English. Just tune in to any of the FM radio stations and you will hear a masala of Kannada, English and Hindi that can only be called Bangalorean!

This great mixing is taking place not just with the languages, but with food as well. You can go to any of Bangalore’s darshinis and ask for Gobi Manchurian with your South Indian meals! Or you can choose to go with a “silly” paneer, but beware; the chilly power in the paneer can knock you silly! The famed local sweet Mysore Pak takes on a foreign flavour in a new avatar called Chocolate Mysore Pak! Then there’s a branch of a well-known local chain of darshinis in my locality where they serve a memorable stuffed capsicum curry, though the manager there insists on calling it “stupid” capsicum!

Of course, if you are one of the “driven” types, you can sample the “gobi motor”, the “motor masala” or the “aloo motor”! Dumbstruck, are you? Wait till you check out the “dumb biryani”!