In Bangalore for a second Innings

From Amchi Mumbai to Bangalore!
Yes, six months in Bombay was enough. I got tired of the crowds, the squalor, the commute...
Wonder why people like that city so much. Maybe it's me, that I don't see what other people see.
Anyway, here in Bengaluru for my second innings.
And right away I can say I don't like the laid back life here, or the total lack of road sense in Bangalore's drivers.
But I guess the divine has some reason for bringing me here; will wait and watch for things to unfold.

At what cost this expansion?

As much as I wanted to post regularly to this blog, my time pressures haven't allowed me to. But I will make up for that soon. As for my experience of Mumbai, yes, I like it; but I also am amazed at the scant regard for life - human and otherwise - that this city has. In the first two weeks since I landed here, I have seen more dead bodies than I have in my entire life. And life goes on ...
Well, the city is booming, thanks to the economy. And the people are good, far nicer than the arrogant and vily crowd you will meet in Delhi. But the cost to the environment due to this expansion can't be ignored. Vast creeks and marshlands are being filled up, mangroves are being levelled, and urban sprawls are springing up everywhere. How long can this go on?
I meet people around me who love this life - they just are too happy with the conveniences and gadgets that this urban life and superstores bring. But I wonder how long this expansion can go on without PERMANENTLY damaging the planet.
Of course, I may sound quirky to voice this idea but I can't avoid doing that. There will be price to pay for this wanton destruction and I really worry about that day of comeuppance.

Finally, In Mumbai - And A New Beginning!

So now I am in Mumbai, the great business hub of India, thanks to my former editor and mentor who is now the top man in a leading business newspaper here. Well, first impressions are the best, they say. And I should say I liked Mumbai far, far better than dry and lifeless Delhi with its extreme climate and rude people. I now regret not having taken up a job in Mumbai several years back, turned off by the crowds I confronted here on my first day - a huge jolt for my small-town sense about crowds!
Okay, the place I stay in is in Navi Mumbai, and while I like the place I am also appalled by the environmental degradation that human development is causing all around. Which is why I think I will devote this blog to that cause and also to examine similar such existential issues from a cosmic standpoint - at least from a standpoint more removed from the rush of happenings taking place around me.