Bangalore Buzz: Relocating to India

chillibreeze writer — KC Komal

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It’s been a year since we moved to India. Even with a family as determinedly enthusiastic as us, the novelty was wearing off. The notorious Bangalore traffic, the lack of outdoor options for the kids, the small daily frustrations were getting to us. To complicate emotions we made our first trip back to California after moving here, and it was hard to meet friends, and see old haunts and realize how much we missed them.

But home is still where you rest your head at night, and after 6 weeks of being in hotels, we were looking forward to coming back to Bangalore. It was odd realizing that in a year, Bangalore was, indeed, home. We realized too that we weren’t shopping as much as we thought we would. Yes, sneakers, clothes, books and toys were on the list, but when constrained by luggage restrictions we again found that we did indeed get a lot of stuff here, and only personal preferences were dictating our shopping.

So we came back from our vacation renewed and recharged and reaffirmed our determination to have fun, and treat Bangalore again like the new and exciting place we had moved to and I started looking for things to do again. First, it was time for some retail therapy! Having critically re-assessed the state of the malls in California (yes, they had somehow managed to survive without me) I decided to hit some of the more eclectic boutiques in the city. Contemporary Arts and Crafts on Victoria Road was a treasure trove of Indian, but not overwhelmingly ethnic things for the house. Not far from it were little boutiques like Eka and Artifacts that had loads of quirky, fun and modern stuff. Art galleries were next, and I hit a quite a few with a couple of lunching buddies filling the afternoons with laughter and companionship. Girl time!

Next we went exploring the world again. A long 4 hour drive to Belur and Helabid, a few hours there and then 4 hours back again was a trip worth doing, but only for the stalwart. If I had to do it over, I would make it a weekend. The road was flanked by lovely emerald green fields, and looked a lot like the sugarcane plantations of Hawaii. The temples were charming, the one at Belur still an active temple with daily worship. Halebid is a rather well preserved ruin on the bank of the Kaveri, and the lawns around the temple perfect for picnicking on. The carvings are exquisite, but even at this so-called cooler time of the year, it became uncomfortably warm and I would definitely time this to avoid the summer. What was more exciting was a little jewel near Mysore, the Somnathpur temple. Intricately carved, less noticed by tourists, and a gem of architectural symmetry, I thought that if I had the time and the inclination to do just one Hoysala temple, it would be Somnathpur.

While in Mysore, we went to the Mysore silk factory. Clacking looms and humming winders, this was a deafening experience that I would recommend ear plugs for. We had to go past the showroom to the back, sign into a visitor’s book, and were let into the factory. There was no one to show us around, but the workers looked at our eager faces and with a lot of sign language and a very little English, managed to explain what we were looking at. Apparently the place where they unwind the silk from the cocoons is elsewhere, but watching the rather rough, pale cream colored bales turn into sheets of gleaming silk was a fun trip. Next time, I mean to hunt out the sandal wood oil factory also somewhere on that road! So with a little effort we shook off the returning blues and are back to being enthusiastic Bangaloreans again!

Nuts and Bolts:
Contemporary Arts and Crafts: 2nd Cross Victoria Layout. (080)4122 5512
Eka: 19 Gangadhar Chetty Road, Ulsoor. 2554 4371
Artifacts: 33/17 1st Cross, Victoria Layout. 2556 4931

 

 

—About our writer:

"KC refuses to limit herself to one label. Among the many hats she wears are: Full time mom, part time writer, teacher, chef, art collector, gardener, quilter and extremely good vacationer. She has lived in Northern California for close to 20 years and has spent most of those years stopping frequently to smell the roses and plant some lavender. After two decades in Silicon Valley her husband will be working from Bangalore. KC has two children, a 12 year old daughter and an 8 year old son.