Swati Ramanathan, 42
Co-founder, Janaagraha (citizen’s movement)
There are many wonderful things about Bangalore. We are multicultural, multi-class and multi-commercial. Almost anything grows in our soil. There’s an abundance of flora and fruits—orchids, oranges, apples, mangoes; and we have the largest export house for roses.
We have some of the best academic institutions in the country. We have two incredibly large parks in the centre of the city. The best part of the city is that there are gullies in every area, including places such as Kumara Park, Koramangala, Chickpet, Fraser Town and Cox Town.
Not everyone knows that Bangalore was affected by a plague in 1898 and the two well planned layouts of Malleswaram and Basavanagudi were born in the aftermath of the plague. I liked the book Deccan Traverses: The Making of Bangalore’s Terrain (by Anuradha Mathur and Dilip da Cunha) because it gives a history of the tanks in the city with beautiful maps.
I’ve grown up in Bangalore. My family comes from Kutch in Gujarat, but my father settled here in the late 1950s. After doing my undergraduate degree here, I studied design at Ahmedabad, went abroad with my husband, had children, did my Master’s and worked there, before returning to the city. Today, Bangalore is my home, part of my history and who I am.
Bangalore was a sleepy town that was suddenly thrust into international limelight, with a surging economy and all the associated pangs of growth—the absence of planning, traffic jams, loss of heritage areas and deteriorating quality of life. It has the ability to grow outwards unlike Mumbai, but is doing so without care.
I wish we had integrated transportation systems, sensible platforms for participation and urban plans which could be implemented. Still, Bangalore is at the crossroads, and is certainly not a dying city.
Arun Pai, 38
Founder, BangaloreWALKS
Bangalore has always been positioned as the “city of the future”. Many things which India is famous for globally stem from this city—be it the iconic Infosys, Wipro and Biocon, or brands/business models such as MTR, Café Coffee Day, Reva and Air Deccan, or civic movements such as Janaagraha and BangaloreOne. Thousands of immigrants and expats are eager to shift base here, and the pressure on real estate prices/housing indicates that there is something right about it.
Though I’m a Bangalorean, I moved out at the age of 18. I lived and worked in Chennai, New Delhi and Mumbai and London, New York and Orlando before returning home in 2004. I have vivid images of Bangalore being a sleepy pensioner’s paradise, though it now represents the vibrancy, youth and progress of 21st century India.