Nearly a year ago when I landed in Delhi/NCR (after I sort-of ran away to Bangalore two years before that) I was on the brink of crying. Life in Bangalore was heaven. Beautiful weather, great and cheap food, lots of trees, cycling to office and many other places, meeting so many other young people and also not-so-young people doing very interesting things apart from home and office! Noida was the total opposite -- horrible weather, bad food, few trees, no question of cycling, not much scope of walking, and so on. Of course, this was nothing new to me -- I had lived in Noida for 3 years previously. But I am not a tough guy, and surviving in the land of cheats was way unsettling for me.
To be truthful -- and this is what most of my friends don't know since I don't talk or write about it -- there is something in Delhi which was absent in Bangalore. Hindustani classical music. Specifically, my guruji, who reinvented my musical self and gave me a love for life. I knew I would be getting to learn again when I was leaving Bangalore, but that didn't seem very important.
One year down the line, I have changed a lot. I am financially poorer than I was in Bangalore, but I am more-or-less as happy. In Bangalore I was inclined towards saving the environment wherever possible. Both I and my better half used to cycle quite a lot, not for long distances though. At home we used to compost nearly all of our organic kitchen waste using DailyDump. We had lots of plants at home. But here in Noida, we don't have plants. I have very rarely considered starting with composting again. And as for cycling -- that stopped a long time ago. Strangest thing is that I am driving now -- and I am finding that I like to drive. At least here, it really feels great sitting at the steering wheel -- like it really feels pathetic trying to walk or cycle here. My old ideas and priorities are vanishing very fast. The most important things in life now are happiness and money, in that order.
Somehow in the last few days, I have developed a different view of life in Bangalore. Compared to other Indian cities (I have lived in Kolkata, Delhi and Noida) Bangalore is paradise. It is unbelievable. Weather, green cover, spirit of the people -- all are amazing. But living in paradise makes one unrealistic. It turns one into a crybaby -- at least it did that to me. Living and surviving in Delhi/NCR is like living in India (the only exception are the unusually good roads), normal India. In someways it is better to live in a more realistic place -- specially if you have some intentions of working with social initiatives.
In a nutshell, I am enjoying life here, driving around, and giving a damn to the environment. Earlier, I was ready to go back to Bangalore at the drop of a hat. Now although I don't deny Bangalore's beauties and advantages -- I seriously question the need to always live in the best possible place. And who will give me the music I am intoxicated with, in Bangalore?
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