Bengaluru - the land of booze!

Now this friend of mine loves his lovely home so much, that he rarely likes to travel outside it. Hence, that evening I planned to meet up with a school friend of mine. He was one of my closest friends, but I haven't been much in contact with him for the last 8 years. Recently, through Orkut I got to know that he is situated in Bangalore. It was a reunion after a long time and both of us were quite excited at the first meeting. In fact, as soon as I got into his car, and he put it in reverse, he straight away banged into a Qualis parked behind! Unfortunately, the driver was sitting inside and he threatened to throw a brick at our car if we attempted to run away. We had to wait for a while, while the owner got done with his hair coloring in a salon. Fortunately the damage was just a dent, and he demanded a reasonable amount to repair it. My friend initially asked him to claim from insurance. He flatly refused and asked us to accompany him to the police station in case we refused to pay. I was quite confused by this, since in such a situation, claiming form the insurance is the most natural thing that comes to my mind. Later, what I discovered was that the concept of liability insurance just did not exist, atleast for automobiles. The most common form of insurance that people have is collision insurance, and in case of liability, you are supposed to pay from your own pocket. I am not sure what would have happened in case of extensive damage, but we finally paid the amount that he demanded.


We went straight to Forum, a big mall located in Koramangala. There we met up with another class friend of ours. We shared a few hours reminiscing about our old days. But, what we seemed to discuss more was about our careers. I had remarkably little to say, given that I am still following a linear line straight out of school. Their paths have been more dynamic. After his MBA, one of them completed his masters in aviation from London in eight months, while doing a part time job to sustain himself. Now back in Bangalore, he is a project manager at a software firm. The other friend had met his wife during training at TCS. Now married, both of them work for other companies!

The MG Rd - Brigade Rd crossing: Nightlife of Bangy

Bangalore known as the city of pubs, was true to its name to me. The first night we had a few bottles of foster. I met with a motley crowd of bengalees at his place and they refused to let me go home for the night. Initially there was much hushed discussion about what form of drink to get, because of the presence of a female. Once she left, the bottles came out, and the party began! This seemed in contrast to the states, where atleast talking about liquor is not taboo in front of females!

The burette of beer!

There was nothing remarkable on day 2. The evening was spent at a pub at the MG Road/Brigade Rd area. The drink was served in a tall tower somewhat resembling a burette from chemistry lab! It was a nice place with good ambience and crowd. We had a booking at a city restaurant for the night. We couldn't get a reservation at the best place that they recommended; it had to be booked days in advance!