In this blog: the Las-Vegas of temples, a pint of real ale, and a big juicy beef steak (in India, really).
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Beef and Ale
After the fantastic day of Holi celebrations, Nick and I met with Suresh again that night - both of whom I'd met at Honey Valley a week or two before (see previous blogs) as well as a friend of his, and they showed us the local nightlife of Bangalore. After a couple of Kingfishers at The Monkey Bar - a trendy bar in the middle of the city - we went a few miles across town to a German-style brewpub, where they brew real ale in house - a relatively new idea in India, and a really smart and impressive place. For a real ale fan like myself, who'd only been able to find lager for months now, I was a happy man. Not only this, but the pub also had steak on it's menu, which Suresh and I shared in a strange couple-like manner that could only seem normal in India. In trendy, affluent Bangalore where less people adhere to Hindu norms, eating beef is not quite as sacrilegious as it sounds, and whilst it was a bit on the stringy side, after over five months without eating steak I was pretty delighted nonetheless.
Computer City
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| Bangalore's pavements are terrible |
If you've ever spoken to anyone in a call centre in India, which I'm fairly sure you have, it's highly possible they were sat in an office in Bangalore, since the city is the IT capital of India - a multi billion dollar business which actually stretches way beyond calls centres into outsourcing software, accountancy and suchlike. There are some exceptionally talented people in India, and if they don't get headhunter to go and work in the US they often seek their fortune in Bangalore. The city reflects this and is relatively modern, green and pleasant by Indian standards, though still a bit rough around the edges.
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| Secreteriat building |
After the high of the day before, followed a day of catching up and planning ahead on a few things, after two weeks away from civilisation. I also said goodbye to Nick who headed off to work in Thailand for a few weeks. On my third day in Bangalore it was back to business however, as I went to see the city - not the most exciting in the world but worth a look anyway. I tracked down a hire bike to have a good look around; the only decent one I've been able to hire in india so far - and headed off on a big loop through the central Cubbon park, past momentous state government building, the high court, Bangalore palace, and a nice city lake. I chanced upon the military memorial park, which as well as the commemorations had some examples of Indian military hardware - tanks, bridge layers, a fighter jet, and even a space rocket - the latter two both built in Bangalore.
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Bangalore is India's high-tech
hub - both jet fighters and
space rockets are made there |
The nice thing about cycling in India is the lack of enforced rules, so riding on (the awful) pavements and sneaking down the odd one-way street added to the fun. The suburban streets were quite green and pleasant, with tree lined high streets in between. I managed to find the ISKCON temple that I'd heard about - a strange building that looked like a holy version of Las Vegas - traditional temple facades set around a great big glass pyramid, with an interior clad almost completely in polished granite. On the path in were many small shrines, one with a looped recording chanting 'hare Krishna', inside, monks waved brushes in the air in a symbolic manner, and everywhere you went there was merchandising and food stalls. It was a pretty barmy place, until I saw the plans for their next Vegas-style temple, with a 500ft tower as it's centrepiece. All very bizarre, but interesting nonetheless.
Country Club
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At one of Bangalore's 'exclusive clubs' with
Suresh (R) and his friend Lokache (L) |
I arranged to meet up with Suresh again that night, and along with a couple of different friends of his, he took me to a place I can only describe as a country club in the city - where all the well healed Bangalorians go for badminton, swimming and afternoon tea. It's a members only place with lifetime membership at £13k, but we fortunately got signed in as guests of his friend. It was smart without being too pretentious, and we sat outside in the open air food court, buying small dishes such as Goan fish, masala chaat, and lemon chicken to share, and having a few beers. It was the first time I'd experienced the more upper-class part of India, and gave me a whole different perspective to this very diverse country. A fine end to a fun few days.
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| Astronaut? |
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