Road Trip

Yesterday was a road-trip of sorts, what with traveling from one end of the city to the other. But I must admit that I actually liked this road-trip, even though before I (or rather, we - my parents and I) set out, the prospect appeared a little daunting. My parents were here for the long weekend, and they really wanted to see the ISKCON temple in Bangalore. Now our apartment is near Whitefield, and the ISKCON temple at Rajaji nagar, and the distance must be a good 35-40 kilometers at least. Anyways, since we do not have a car (yes, in these times of rising fuel prices, we're amongst the lucky few ;) ), we decided to travel by the BMTC buses. Now I haven't traveled a lot by the BMTC (that's the government bus service), and honestly, I didn't consider it a very viable option either. So far, that is. But after yesterday, I've become somewhat of a convert! Yes, to the fold of people who would vouch for public transport. Well, so we set out early in the morning. Now there is no direct bus to Rajaji nagar, so we took the bus to the Shivaji nagar bus terminal, and decided that we would change buses there. Now, being a Sunday, the buses were a lot less crowded than usual, as were the roads. And luckily I got a seat by the window. For a change the sights of the city, which otherwise are a blur as we zip by on our motorbikes or cars, started holding my attention. The same streets of Bangalore which other wise seem so drab, seemed to come alive. A man selling potted plants by the road. The cobblers by the road-side getting ready to ply their trade. Kids running through the roads. Construction workers getting ready to start the day shift on the Metro Rail Project. The names of the areas which in spite of being in the city for just over two years now, were just that, names...  Up until now. Now as the bus found its meandering route through the city, I saw the city that really is Bangalore. Honestly, this is the best way to see a city, to explore it. Hop on to a bus, and then just soak in the sights, sounds and the smells. And suddenly, before I realized it, I was in love with the city. With its streets, the very streets which I'd often curse for the horrible traffic jams. Now instead of the car or truck or bike in front of me, I saw the tree-lined streets (alas, some of these very trees may be felled for the Metro Rail), and the various establishments that dotted them. All very mundane, and yet, today the ordinary seemed different. May be because I never stopped to look at the so-called ordinary goings-on. As in Davies' poem (Leisure), 

What is this Life if, full of care 

We have no time to stand and stare?- 

Indeed, yes, we scarcely have time to really see, observe the city around us, and the city within the city. And this road-trip gave me a chance to do that. Observe the city, hitherto almost unknown. And most of the route to Shivaji nagar, and then on to Rajaji nagar was through old parts of Bangalore. The city of Bangalore as it was 8-10 years ago. And so there were the wide avenues, tree-lined, old stone buildings rising up not more than three stories from the ground. The stone buildings harking back to the period when Bangalore was a pensioner's paradise - going about it's business in a slow, leisurely way. None of the concrete eyesores that we see today, filling the sky-line. Well, they say the journey is more interesting than the destination. How true it was, yesterday. Scarcely had I imagined that this trip would show me a different face of the city I've lived in for the last couple of years.