Overall, I would say that it went according to expectations, though there were a few surprises thrown in. Week1 is in the books!

(A) Car accident(s) within one week:

Both happened in one day. The driver is a local guy who speaks Malayalam! How about that? He is pretty decent except when he starts mouthing off about local landmarks etc., flaunting his knowledge of the city. The first one was when the entire traffic swarm sudden-braked for no apparent reason and we missed (by millimeters) altering the shape of the vehicle in front. But alas! The scooter behind us came crashing onto our car. It took me around 30 minutes to get over the “Scratch on brand new car” frustrations. A few more like this and I will be in a perfect place mentally for future accidents 🙂

The second incident was when a young man was trying to cross a 2-way street at Marathahalli during super-heavy traffic. He got on to the divider and for some reason, immediately jumped back. Our car gave the guy a good whack and for a second we feared the worst. The amazing thing is that he just got up and walked across the road as if nothing had happened!

If this is how all accidents are resolved, I think I will get to love Bengaluru traffic!

(B) Malls:

Boy, every week, a new mall is popping up. I have already seen Ads for 2 new Malls. The Malls all look nice, but they are way way over-priced. But it is fun to walk around and enjoy the ambience and food courts. Yesterday, we had some fantastic Amul icecream. We are searching for the major purchases and are in the process of giving a darshan to every single major mall in the city. Some of the so-called malls are pure junk, selling junk, but at Rolls Royce price.

The security in such places is fun to observe. There are 3-4 guards at the entrance and there are some body scanners and hand-held scanners. When I pass through, there are beeps all over the place, but the guards just wave me through! I wonder why I dont feel that “secure” inside these malls …

(C) Cuisine/Food:

This is one area in which I am confident Bengaluru wont disappoint me. I have been making a list of “must visit” restaurants, based on suggestions from friends, newspaper articles/reviews etc. We will start exploring the options once we settle in.

So far, based on my friends suggestion, we have tried Hyderabad Biryani chain. Though it looks tacky (reminds me of the good old days in Hyderabad) and service is a bit gruff, the food is Yum! Biryani is one of my favorite dishes.

(D) Weather:

We are all getting used to it. Considering that this is supposed to be peak Summer, we are doing okay. We are a bit apprehensive about the rainy season though. All the dust, construction and general mayhem on the roads does not auger well for a smooth monsoon.

Mosquitos. Well, this takes some getting used to. The kids have all bulked up, due to the bite marks. Since we are currently staying on a higher floor, it is not too bad. Still, all it takes is one or two mosquitos to spoil the party. Once we settle in, we have some ideas/plans to deal with this menace.

Now, on to Week2 …

Adios