Day 87-90: Bangalore — IndefinitelyOOO

Spoiler. This might be our new favourite city. I suppose you could say they had us at ‘home of micro brewing in India’ but we loved this place even more in the flesh. Sometimes the stars just align in a place and whilst our trip to Mysore suffered a little because of strikes which closed restaurants and limited some transport options, Bangalore welcomed us for Republic Day – a national holiday e.g. party time for Bangaloreans and the annual much hyped flower show … visited by what looked like the whole city.

Bangalore or Bengaluru (its new name the locals don’t much get on with) feels different from all the cities we’ve visited so far. It feels modern and young and busy – but less in a chaotic way and more a vibrant one.

Another upside which helps in really getting a feel for a place is the abundance of Ola drivers in Indian’s big cities – which means we can easily get to the slew of yellow starred places we’d plugged into Google maps – Bangalore has no shortage of places to go. And not just bars! As it turns out we weren’t only here for the beer … but the horse races at the century old turf club (I was one of two women there); the giant Nandi statues and temples in the parks with tree branches laden with bats… and the food. We have never queued more regularly outside places – teaming with people waiting to be served Thali out of silver buckets. But yes, also the beer.

It’s Indian’s tech capital and you can feel the youthfulness, the fun. Admittedly we were there at the weekend, over a big national celebration but there was a real buzz to Bangalore – which we loved and drank up. Let’s see how Mumbai measures up.

Another city, another completely new vibe. Bangalore is well known as India’s tech hub and it feels more modern – more familiar – than anywhere we’ve visited to date. The nature of the tech industry means that Bangalore is heaving with young people; smart, ambitious and with time, energy and income enough to enjoy themselves. We hit the town and drink craft ales in hipster bars. It’s a national holiday and the city’s fashionable young professionals, boys and girls, have packed out the bars in raucous groups – a very good time is being had by all.

Throwing ourselves into a weekend of entertainment, we spend a day at the races. It’s a little less familiar than the experience at home. For one, there’s no drinking. For another, there are no women. But there’s racing and betting and the mood is jovial; Helen picks some winners. I don’t. We leave a little lighter in the pocket but in good spirits.

The eating is good, too. On a recommendation, we go to a local institution, the Mavalli Tiffin Rooms, or MTR to the crowd of locals queuing outside in the scorching heat a full hour before the doors open. Once they do, it’s a mad rush to swarm inside and hand over a handful of rupees for a ticket for a set lunch. Diners are fed in shifts and swept out the back door en masse every half hour. A little unsure of what we’ve ordered, we are assaulted by squads of waiters, bare-legged and uniformed in lungees and pinstriped monogrammed shirts. Enormous salvers of breads and tureens of curry and daal are hoisted around the dining room and our metal trays are filled and refilled with food as delicious as it is unidentifiable. We don’t get close to finishing and, bellies groaning are unceremoniously herded out through the kitchens and onto the street with the rest of the satisfied crowd. Like Bangalore as a whole, it’s a boisterous whirlwind of people enjoying themselves and as elsewhere in Bangalore, we enjoy ourselves enormously. After weeks of slow moving, it’s the perfect reintroduction to city living. A good thing, too, as next up is Mumbai.