Outside the service apartment where we are now staying, traffic becomes this honking, snarling, fumes-spewing creature at certain times of the day. If we step outside the gates (which we sometimes do to get to the Foodworld across the road or to Namdhari’s, an organic market that is a short stroll away) we have to dodge vehicles, skip over stray piles of garbage and circumvent the open sewer at the corner of the main road. All this while trying not to inhale. Walking outside in these parts can be a nerve-wracking experience for the uninitiated. Long-time residents saunter across the main road, quietly confident of not getting run over by the bus hurtling towards them at full speed. But we can't share their confidence. And there is a very good chance, at this time of the year, that we might get caught in one of those surprise Bangalore downpours that starts without warning and departs after an impressive sound and light show.
So we usually turn to the auto, that boon and bane of Indian city life, to get to nearby places. Rs. 20 takes us to Richmond/Divyashree Park, the neighborhood playground, and Rs. 40 will fetch us a trip to Brigade Road for an afternoon of shopping.
But you can’t depend on autos all the time as the kids and I found out one evening after hopping into one to get to the city’s famed Cubbon Park. After five minutes at the Park we concluded that the place was grossly overrated and headed towards an auto lane at a nearby traffic intersection to catch one for our ride back home. But auto after auto zipped by us ignoring our frantic waving. They were all carrying passengers and the few that stopped were instantly grabbed by others in the lane who zeroed in on their ride with complete disregard for the waiting order. We finally had to call B. at work to come and rescue us from an area Subway where the kids chomped on paneer tikka and aloo tikki subs to recover from their “auto-less” trauma.
Still, though you may have a hard time believing it after all this, the collective family experience so far has been largely positive. (Read posts by other members to see how). But life in the heart of Bangalore city is definitely not for the faint-hearted or for those of us who are used to being on autopilot in the peaceful predictability of a US suburb.
