Bangalore

People have asked for more information about Bangalore. I'll try to describe it from my perspective and from what I know, which hardly scratches the surface.
High-tech Bangalore
Most Americans know Bangalore as the city where all our tech-support calls go. Someone with an Indian accent and an American "name" (like Michael) will try to talk to you in American English, possibly with some success, but often not. Many international corporations have out-sourced a lot of work to Bangalore. They include Dell, Honeywell, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Yahoo and many more. While most of it has been IT-related (Information Technology), companies like Wyeth have outsourced some work here, which is, of course, the reason that Ann and I are in India. Bangalore was a good choice for this out-sourcing because it has a lot of universities and a highly educated English-speaking work-force. The jobs created were high-paying by Indian standards, though much less than American and European standards. As a result, Indians flooded to the city. It is a boom town, with high-rises and international-caliber shopping and dining. The population has doubled in 20 years and is now over 6 million. Sadly, the infrastructure has failed to keep up.

Trees and Trash

Bangalore was once known as The Garden City. There were some beautiful parks with amazing trees and flowers. Much of that is now gone. The parks have mostly been trampled to death, the trees cut down for housing and roads and the flower gardens have disappeared. It's sad.

As with all Indian cities, nice houses are often adjacent to empty lots which always become garbage dumps. Trash is thrown in the street where it is swept daily by women, who are true "street sweepers" using two short brooms. Most is hauled away on push carts but some is collected and burned in the gutter. Cows find food in the garbage.

New buildings and slums

Our apartment is sort of a gated community with easy-going guards on duty 24 hours. Behind our building is an empty lot. It is filled with garbage, where dogs, cows and pigs eat their fill. There are some people living in a few huts. About 500 feet away, on the other side of the lot, there is a slum, a real slum of crowded, thickly-packed, tin-roofed huts. It has been there longer than most of the buildings around it. It even has a name, Urs Colony, and it's on the map. Past the slum on the other side of the street there is a modern high-rise building. Next to the slum are nice, middle-class houses, in good repair with fresh paint and shady trees and plants on the roofs. (I will have much more to say about rich and poor in India in a later post.)

But....

But for all that, it's a great city. If you're looking for manicured gardens, go to London or Portland, OR. If you're looking for peace and quiet, don't go to any city. Don't look at Bangalore for what it isn't. Instead, open your eyes and see what's here. And it's the people. The people are wonderful. I've never met an Indian, here or in the United States, who wasn't friendly and kind. In order to survive in a crowded city like Bangalore (or New York) I think most people put on a sort of scowl and don't look at you, but almost without exception, if I smile at someone, they will smile back. And everyone appears to be very hard-working. The people in Ann's office-place work long hours without complaint. I see people involved in construction who have very hard physical jobs working in the hot sun. Auto rickshaw drivers put in long, long days to make their income.

I like Bangalore. I like the people. I think I even like the climate (though it is a bit hot for me.) I'm comfortable in the traffic (so long as I don't drive.) The city has its problems, mostly due to growth and the influx of new money. I don't know if it will overcome its problems; most of India experiences the same political, social and economic problems (or should I say "chaos"?) But I am enjoying Bangalore, especially our little neighborhood. And there are still nice gardens in the city.

Tomorrow: Animals in India