Teeming Bangalore

This is my 5th visit to Bangalore over the last 35 years. My eye-balls cannot take in anymore. What was a small cantonment town, where we would find a lot of retired officers in cozy and comfortable bungalows, leading a laid-back life, undisturbed and serene has become a 21st century metropolis with all the expected features. The contour of the city, the skyline and the demography has evolved to take on a cosmopolitan and global outlook. Bangalore has perhaps the largest English –speaking middle class out on the streets. Be it in the Malls, metro train or restaurants it’s the young, confident and educated who have taken over. With eateries all over, I often wonder whether they eat home food at all, which makes me worried about their health. With consumerism high, garbage disposal seems to be a humungous problem and this I guess applies to all cities. Where have the aged gone? Do the young have time for them? Or have they become chefs, maids and ayahs to look after their grandchildren while the double income parents go out to work. Bangalore is a great city; let’s hope the seams don’t burst!

Wedding

Ramesh’s mind was a tempest as he tossed in his bed till the wee hours of the morning, not getting a wink of sleep. He couldn’t accept the truth. The chiseled teeth of pain gnawed at his heart and he felt defeated and deceived by the family who had left for the wedding. His daughter, Ragini ,was getting married to her childhood sweetheart against his wishes.

 Over the years Ramesh controlled the household  with a heavy hand, building his business empire brick by brick, meticulously and with intelligent application which enabled him to wield power over his men, created awe in his family and at times influenced the Government.  But to-day he laid crushed emotionally, and physically exhausted, and wondered where he had gone wrong.

Ramesh’s daughter, Ragini was different. Ferociously independent, she lived life on her own terms often breaking the rules laid down by her father. Lovely Ragini, the youngest in the family was going to pronounce her wedding vows to the boy Ramesh abhorred. Lowly in birth and breeding, he was no patch for Ragini, the astute one, who would have befittingly inherited his business. With tears glistening ,he lovingly recalled one day  when in a red-and-white striped dress Ragini picked  up the broom to sweep the floor .He chided  the servants for letting her do so . A broom in her hands was not to be.

He had great plans for her.  She would inherit his business world. He would teach her every rule of his trade. Her gaiety and laughter filled every nook and corner of the house; her very presence compensated his not having a son.

Ragini’s passion for her sweet-heart, Biraj, was frightening. She possessed him like a witch, twiddling him on her thumb, getting things done by him, planning his life and getting him educated with her pocket money. She dreamed of him as an erudite partner, well-heeled in society .  He already had the Charles Bronson look, rugged and handsome .With a little grooming he would turn many a head. Above all he was loyal. And now, the icing on the cake which Ragini could not resist was the plum job that he got for himself in a coveted company. She had made up her mind .She was going to marry him despite her father. She left home to be wedded to her beloved leaving her father shattered.

On the wedding date Ramesh stirred out of bed, despondency weighing heavy on his head. A cold shower, however, woke in him an innate energy that he always possessed. Like a lion stirred out of his stupor, he sought solace for the grief that he nursed. A wedding in the house was what he sought .He  placed an order for an extravagant variety of delicacies with the caterers.An array of flowers that included every hue of lemony yellow decorated the pandal, a canopy of sweet smelling rajnigandhas were put up at the entrance,  musicians were brought in ,neighbors and friends were invited . Ramesh was going to get his faithful servant of twenty years, Tuphan, married to his beloved Maya, the pale, moon-faced girl from the orphanage.