Bangalore Buzz: Humidity, History, and a Whole Lotta Chai
okay, so. bangalore. i’m still peeling the city off my skin, honestly. it’s…sticky. like, permanently. i just checked and it's a damp hug out there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. twenty-seven point four five degrees, feels like twenty-nine. pressure’s steady, humidity’s doing its thing at sixty-five percent. you know, the usual.
I’m a touring session drummer, which means i’m used to weird places and even weirder schedules. but bangalore…bangalore is something. i’m here for a gig - a corporate thing, ugh - and figured i’d try to soak up a little culture between pounding out generic background music.
First thing: the traffic. seriously. it’s a living, breathing organism of honking and near-misses. i swear, i aged five years just crossing the street. someone told me that the best way to navigate it is to just…accept it. and maybe invest in a good air purifier.
I spent a morning wandering around *Basavanagudi, which was actually really lovely. Old-school charm, tons of tiny shops selling everything from spices to silk. I stumbled into this amazing little dosa place - MTR 1924 - and nearly wept with joy. Seriously, look it up on TripAdvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g319724-d728788-Reviews-MTR_1924-Bangalore_Karnataka.html. Get the masala dosa. Trust me.
“Apparently, if you don’t haggle at the flower market, they’ll charge you double. And don’t even think about touching the jasmine garlands without asking. It’s bad luck, or something.”
I also checked out the Bangalore Palace. It’s…okay. A bit touristy, a bit underwhelming, but still a decent way to spend an hour if you’re bored. I heard that the original palace was actually much grander, but it burned down. Classic. You can find more info here: https://www.yepbangalore.com/bangalore-palace/.
My neighbors, if you can call them that, are Chennai and Hyderabad. If you get tired of the city’s relentless energy, those are just a short drive away. I’m thinking of escaping to Chennai for a day trip - need some sea air, stat.
Speaking of escapes, I’m currently nursing a chai latte (seriously, the chai here is next level) and trying to figure out how to explain to my bandmates why i’m covered in a fine layer of dust.
“Don’t go near the Vidhana Soudha after dark. Locals say it’s haunted by a politician who lost an election. And he’s not a happy camper.”
I’ve been scoping out some vintage shops too. Found a killer silk scarf at this place called Ranganati - check them out on Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ranganati-bangalore. It’s a bit pricey, but worth it for the quality.
Honestly, bangalore is a sensory overload. The smells, the sounds, the sheer volume of people. It’s exhausting, but also…kind of exhilarating. I’m still trying to process it all. I’m also trying to figure out how to get this humidity out of my hair. Send help (and maybe a dehumidifier).
Oh, and one last thing: someone, who seemed very* drunk, advised me to always carry a small bottle of rosewater. Apparently, it wards off evil spirits. I’m not sure i believe it, but hey, can’t hurt, right?
For more on the city, check out this local forum: https://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/
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