I traverse the subcontinent to arrive in Bangalore during monsoon
I traverse the subcontinent to arrive in Bangalore during monsoon
I had doubts about coming to South India in August; all the climate charts show hot temperatures and monsoon rains. But I have friends here in the south and I have been in the mountains a long time; it feels like it's time for a change. The Rough Guide to South India is declares upfrontly only to come in the winter months. But I have to take any advice with a grain of salt; it seems every place I think of going I hear "Don't go" and "Go". There seem to be no hard and fast rules about when and where to go.
Things felt different just climbing on the Jet Airways plane last night. We were served coffee and a South Indian dinner. As I stepped off the plane the air felt warm and slightly humid, but no torrential downpours. My friend Anu said that Bangalore doesn't get too much rain during the monsoon. This morning it is overcast and not too hot.
The plane flights yesterday were the first time I've left the ground in six months. Everything else has been train, bus, and foot - mostly bus. I flew almost the entire length of the subcontinent of India, from north to south. It felt detached to consume so much distance so quickly and smoothly by air.
The Delhi-Bangalore segment was at night. Once we left Delhi the lights of the city quickly turned to black. I didn't see lights below again until just before we reached Bangalore. I don't know why a country of one billion people is so dark. I imagine it is a lack of electrification in the countryside. More likely, the countryside is electrified but power is shed and after a certain hour, such as ten or eleven at night, none of the villages are receiving power.
I have thought of visiting South India long before I left on my travels. The first Indian movie I watched properly, in a movie theatre, was based in Tamil Nadu. Kandukondain Kandukondain has prejudiced my perception of South India long before I ever arrived here. I have an impression of flower gardens, lush countrysides, and smiling, quiet people, We'll see if this place is anything like that. I also expect to see Aishwarya Rai sadly leaving her ancestral home as she did in the Tamil version of Sense and Sensibility.
Bangalore is eight million people and one of the fastest growing cities in Asia. It is famous now as the Silicon Valley of India. It is supposed to be now the opposite of rural tradition, a taste of Western culture of restaurants, pubs, and coffee shops.
I traverse the subcontinent to arrive in Bangalore during monsoon
