Day 4: City of Contrast

Again, we started the day with another trip checking out the sights and wonders of Bangalore's CBD. Shops, materials, fabrics, sale signs and bargains littered the streets enticing people to buy buy buy. Children selling roses, beggars either holding babies, tins, or their hands out asking for money. Oh the power of money here. It's confronting and saddening. People treat you like royalty or of a higher status, just because i have money, and thats nothing to do with me, it was just that i was born in a country that has a higher dollar; nothing of my doing. A fine example of this is when we had lunch. We were quite desperate to find some food so we found a hotel and ate at the restaurant there. Specifically targeting the wealthy (as every customer was in business attire) we were treated like kings and queens by the staff. We were introduced to the buffet table filled with an array of curries and noodles, salads and desserts. (i always find it hard to eat at a buffet, with the constant reminder that here we are eating so much food whereas others don't even get 3 meals a day). As we sat down, an endless supply of naan came out, a bottomless amount of juice and drink, and just constant service and smiles asking if our food was alright and if there's anything more the staff can do to fill our bellies. All of this experience only cost us $15 per person, peanuts for us, yet, just sheer delight for the staff, as could be told on their huge smile and elation when they saw the tip for their incredible service.

Yet, beyond this affluent lifestyle and the perks and cons that come with it, we got to the see the contrasting side of Bangalore city (which is what i prefer). We purposely and accidentally found the places where wealth and affluence had pushed citizens out of the CBD and into the lower socio economic areas, in our search to find Cubbon Park - bangalore's botanical gardens.

We had the opportunity to escape the city shopping district and went to Cubbon Park, the equivalent of our botanical gardens. The greenery and its silent environment was exactly what I needed; no horns, no crazy traffic, no 'come come good price' or 'i give you good price because you are my first customer' (even though its like 1pm), no materialism or consumerism, just plain nature. It's almost hard to believe that in this concrete jungle there is this park here. Pigeons, chipmunk-like creatures as well as other birds roamed freely and nestled in the lush forestry. Plants, grass, bamboo and other plant life just thrived here. It was magnificent. unfortunately, so did mosquitoes, and with the warning that they may carry dengue fever by Augustine, we couldn't stay long under the shades of the tree.

One image that's seared into my memory was when we were walking past the suburbs outside the city outskirts. Here, apartment blocks were being built and some completed, with a nice colour of paint and aesthetics. Yet there was one building which was derelict, incomplete and just dull and grey. It had no fence no enclosure, just the rooftop and the pillars were constructed. Staring into the building there was an elderly man just sitting on his chair leaning against his motorbike. Yet this was not the memory that hit me, no, it was what was going on beside him. There were three children, a girl (probably 7yo), a young boy (probably 4yo), kneeling on a mat laughing and giggling on the dusty, stoney, dark ground. Oh the joy that comes from the sound of kids laughing. The joy that it brings. But why were they laughing you may ask? well, on the mat, laid a small infant, a tiny baby, who i assume is their sibling. The boy and girl were playing with their sibling, tickling him/her and making them laugh, which in turn made them laugh. although it was a quick snapshot as i walked past, it is something that has stood out for me for the day. The innocence to the world around them, the purity in their joy and laughter, the non existent cares and worries of this world. All they were interested in was loving their sibling. No money, no material influencing them, yet, no money or material could even come close to buying what they had. Oh to be like those kids, to treasure nothing that will rot or waste away, but to treasure something more. And that my heart will follow my treasure and my behaviour and will would follow my heart.