It is so nice to be back in India, in Bangalore. I came so I could attend COMSNETS, a computer networking conference, at which I had organized the NetHealth workshop. Those were great, as was an afternoon spent visiting Microsoft Research. What was best, though, was a chance to visit some of my favorite places, including MG Road, Cauvery, Infinitea, Sampige Road, the IISc campus, and friends in our old IISc neighborhood. Read on…
I spent a lot of time just strolling the streets, and doing some shopping. I watched a Henna artist decorating the arms of this young girl on Sampige road.
The city seems about like it was, but with a lot of new construction. In particular, the overhead metro-rail line, running down the middle of MG Road, has come a long way. There is a huge metro station being built overhead. There are many new shops. Sadly, McDonald’s seems to be popping up everywhere, even opening a shop across from the market on Sampige Rd.
I was disappointed to learn that the India SIM card for my cellphone had been discontinued, because of inactivity, even though I paid extra for a ‘lifetime’ card. I spent a frustrating afternoon in the Airtel shop, shoving my paperwork in front of one clerk after another – using the same pushy style that other customers were using, otherwise I would never get service – but to no avail.
I loved seeing my friends on the IISc campus, including the children, the Apte family, and even the familiar shopkeepers. I stopped in at my old barber to get a haircut. I paused to watch as the troop of monkeys came by. I strolled through the forest in the middle of campus. I ate a masala dosa at the new cafe near the main entrance. I checked out the bookshop, the new dorms under construction, and marvelled at middle of campus where they had cut a lot of the undergrowth. It’s still a beautiful campus.
I took some colleagues from the conference to a neat restaurant in Malleswaram, Halli Mane, for some classic south India dishes. In general, I ate lots of excellent food. Miss it already!
See all the photos!
This post was transferred from MobileMe to WordPress in 2021, with an effort to retain the content as close to the original as possible; I recognize that some comments may now seem dated or some links may now be broken.
David Kotz 