None of us can clearly demarcate the time when Bengloor changed to Bangalore and then to Bengaluru but we can know the reason why it did. The stage that colleges and IT boom provided for the youth could be the main reason. It was the initial source for a fire that would grow on to destroy the complete nature of Bengaluru and create from its ashes a new phoenix baby of opportunity, competition, crowd and more. The Irony being that a land which housed pensioners now acted host to the youth from all over the country.
So how was it to be part of the paradise? From the numerous stories i have heard and read i could just brief it to the best extent possible. The old bengloor itself included two main cultures, one of the Anglo-Indians and the other of the natives.
A typical time for a anglo-indian would be hanging out with friends through a plate of good food, music and dance. It also included jam sessions in the afternoon, hangouts at koshy`s or timeouts at “The Only Place” restaurant. The typical areas associated with this culture were austin town, cox town, areas around Residency road and many more.
A typical time for a native would be long walks in lalbagh during the early mornings of a cold and misty Bengloor, breakfast at MTR or mouth watering dosas in CTR or Vidyarti Bhavan, a annavru(Dr.Rajkumar) movie in Alankar theatre or Dilip Kumar movie in BRV theatre. Few theatres of glory in the easter years include Minerva, States, Santosh and few others. It would end with a coffee in Brahmins coffee bar over a beautiful chilled Bengloor weather. The typical areas associated with this culture was Basavanagudi, Malleshwaram, Chamrajpet and many more. Not many know that the frictional city Malgudi of R.K.Narayan gets it name from “MAL”leshwaram and basavana”GUDI”.
And how is it to be part of new Bengaluru? Bengaluru now provides opportunity to all class of society, from the business tycoons like Reliance, UB Group to a common peasant from Uttarpradesh. It also provides education to a huge extent constituting a big percentage of colleges in the entire state or rather country. With great opportunity comes great problems and the problems include over crowded city, traffic jams every alternate street, unpredictable weather and many more.
In what aspects has the change occured? Well practically everything starting right from its name. A colloquially pronounced name Bengloor has got a official touch to it as Bengaluru, a beautiful weather has changed to an unpredictable swings of frustration, empty and trafficless streets have turned into spending nightmare amount of time in day to day travel, few typical Bengloor restaurants and eateries have given birth to innumerous food businesses, hospitable and friendly localites have turned over protective and mainly an uncompetitive life of relaxation has turned into a highly competitive life full of worries and unachieved goals.
Even though we cant see much positive changes to the new Bengaluru when compared to olde Bengloor, the new Bengaluru is still one of the most beautiful cities to live in the world. To keep any person around the world entertained it has huge number of parks, multi cuisined restaurants, shopping malls, eatery and shopping streets, beautiful temples, churches, mosque and gurudwaras, clubs, pubs, disks, palaces, forts, sports, many getaway spots around Bangalore and many more.
We as Bengalurians can only hope to make this city as beautiful as possible and try to retains its unique style which has attracted people from all over the world.