Visiting Bengaluru

{trees from the IISc campus}

This past weekend I flew down to Bangalore for a short 30-hour visit. Prior to the trip, I had done some asking around and Googling to see what there was to do and see in the city and decided that with the time I had, I would prioritize spending time with my cousin who lives there, whom I hadn't seen in five or so years, and forego visits to palaces, gardens, and the like. But in a short amount of time, we manage to fit in an amazing amount of beautiful things to see and eat.

{insanely beautiful sunset from the rooftop}

I got into Bangalore Saturday afternoon and after a quick bus ride from the airport, I met my cousin for coffee at a place called Anand Bhavan. While most people around us were there for lunch, neither of us were particularly hungry and the perfectly sweet, hot South Indian filter coffee was enough to satisfy us. After coffee, we took an auto to her apartment, an adorable place with plenty of windows, a balcony, and access to a rooftop, which provided us a stunning view of the sunset, stars, and bats flying around. After some tea and toast and the stargazing that followed, we headed out for dinner at a microbrewery called Arbor Brewing Company.

Arbor was heaven. The ambiance alone was amazing; think long wooden tables, hanging lightbulbs, and plenty of cool signs lending to an industrial-chic sort of vibe. And it just got better from there. Their beer menu is extremely diverse and well-crafted (pun sort of intended), and I first opted for Smooth Criminal, an ale brewed with lavender and honey that managed to be perfectly smooth and light rather than overbearingly sweet. Later in the evening, I got a glass of Michael Faricy's Irish Stout, which tasted more like delicious black coffee with undertones of dark chocolate than actual beer. And their music selection was on point, too. I couldn't pick out more than bits and pieces from the size of the crowd that had gathered on a Saturday night, but every now and then my cousin and I found ourselves commenting on the songs playing. Speaking of the crowd, it really seemed like the place to be. The girl sitting next to me assured me that this place was well-known for their pizza, and my friend from GW, who is from Bangalore, seemed impressed that I had gone there as well. And if you couldn't guess from the fact that this post sounds more like a restaurant review than an actual travel post, I was in heaven.

{my beautiful cousin!}

But wait—I haven't even gotten around to the food yet. I'm a huge foodie, and that combined with the fact that I grew up in North Jersey has made me quite the pizza snob. I won't touch any of the garbage that considers itself pizza in DC (with the only exception being Pete's New Haven Style Apizza) and have very strong opinions on sauce consistency, sauce-cheese ratio, and crust thickness. After a plate of seriously satisfying nachos, my cousin and I ordered the Garlic Goat Cheese pizza. Instead of sauce, it came with plenty of goat cheese, parmesan, mozzarella, roasted garlic, green onion, roasted sunflower seeds, and a hint of honey. And honestly? It was good. I'm not going to go out and say it was the best I've ever had. I've been to Italy and my region of New Jersey knows what its doing when it comes to pizza, but in a country where Amul has an apparent (and in my opinion, undeserved) monopoly over the cheese industry, I was damn impressed.

I also seriously appreciate attention to detail. I've been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter twice, and possibly my favorite part about the place, even beyond the rides and roller coasters, is the attention to detail. I'm not going to describe too much and spoil things for those who haven't been yet, but to give you an idea, everything in Diagon Alley IS DIAGONAL. DIAGONALLY. Isn't that great?! Anyway, so another thing I loved about Arbor is the attention to detail. Their menu is loaded with references to historical periods, TV shows, music, movies, and more. It's seriously witty and I actually sat down and read through the entire thing. Very dorky, yes. But when a menu is written better than some of the crap you've read for class, you appreciate it.

My cousin and I started Sunday very leisurely, the way all Sundays should be spent. We had a breakfast of toast and tea, along with a slice of cold pizza each, and headed out into the city for some souvenir shopping. We then had lunch at Burrito Brothers—the tortilla was undercooked, but overall the burrito did not disappoint—followed by ice cream at Corner House. I got Rocky Road and Caramel Crunch, and my cousin picked up Fig + Honey and Chocolate Europa. And after the scooter got a flat-tire (and was fixed in a quicker and more cost-friendly fashion that I think one would have to deal with back in in the U.S.) we drove through the campus of the Indian Institute of Science, which was much more beautiful than either GW or HCU can claim to be.

{insane trees}

After a quick nap back at my cousin's place, I headed to the airport, marking the end of a trip that was tons of fun and way too short. As I've already said, I really only went to Bangalore to see my cousin. She's incredible to talk to about anything and everything, and our time spent together was so easy-going and fun even though we hadn't seen each other in years. But even still, I really loved Bangalore. It may be more than a bit presumptuous to say so, but I definitely liked Bangalore more than Hyderabad. I love being where I am, but Bangalore has an incredible climate, tons of greenery, and plenty of places to go for good food. But as I thought that during our time around the city, I was just reminded about how I have to put in more effort into my time both here in Hyderabad and DC. I have such little time left in both cities, and hope to make the most of my stay in each. So if you have any must-visit spots, send them my way and I'll try my best to check them off my list.

 Until then, here are some more photos from my trip:

{the street my cousin lives on}

{the neighbor's house}

{view from the top}

{I made a new friend!}

{auto repair shop aesthetic strong}

 

{house built around a tree}

{look closely; there's a tree coming out of a house}

{where we sat for ice cream}

{my cousin's place is filled with gorgeous fabrics}

{cutest door I ever did see}

{sunset still beautiful even without the color}

~ V

10 Things I'm Grateful For

{Buddha statue from our a Tibetan monastery I visited this weekend}

Before this week, my friends and I had found ourselves in a bit of a funk. With classes cancelled, we were slipping into a routine of doing very little and feeling bored and unproductive. This past week has been a near complete shift, and I've found myself being not only more productive but also just generally happier and in a better mood. I'm big on appreciating what you've got and believe happiness comes from gratitude, from making a point to consciously appreciate and be thankful for both the big and little things in life. So here are a few things I'm grateful for this week and from my time so far:

1. New friends: This weekend, my program took us to Mysore and we had an amazing time (travel post to come soon!). Our trip was incredibly well-organzied and hassle-free, and as much as I loved sightseeing and exploring different aspects of a new place—the food, the sights, the language, the geography—I really just enjoyed spending time with my friends. In our group of sixteen, I genuinely like everyone and hadn't been able to spend real time with each student since our orientation at the beginning of our time in Hyderabad. I loved that we were all able to spend time together during our trip, and I was able to have some great conversations with friends that reminded me that beyond the food and the sights and souvenirs, traveling really is all about the people you meet.

2. And old friends: I've been able to keep in touch with several friends back home and even heard from a friend from high school who I hadn't spoken to in months. It's natural to lose touch with time and distance, but it's nice to remember that even if you don't talk for months on end it you can reconnect without the lapsed time becoming an issue. This is especially comforting when I miss birthdays and big campus events and FOMO hits me hard.

3. Family: At the same time, I'm so happy to be living with my aunt and uncle. Full disclosure, I expected at least some awkwardness beforehand. Isn't that normal when you're living with people you haven't seen in nearly seven years? But my uncle appreciates food as much as I do and has endless recommendations for places to go in the city. And when my friends and I went out to a karaoke bar recently, he came along too, which I really appreciated. Sometimes an age gap can make things awkward, but my uncle treats us like people rather than kids, and makes an effort not only to get to know me but also my friends. My aunt and I have the best conversations about anything and everything, and I finally have a workout buddy. I'm generally an open book, but it sometimes takes a while for me to fully open up to people and I'm amazed at how much I've been able to share with her so far. Living with my family has been amazing, and it's an opportunity I'm so grateful for.

4. Dance: I've mentioned before that my Kathak classes have started, and as humorously bad I am trying to get my feet to move as fast as they need to during class, I like going home and being able to practice the moves to music that I enjoy. At the same time, during our Mysore trip, we were able to dance to and with a folk group performing Dollu Kunitha, and I even got a chance to try out one of their drums. I missed dancing and it wasn't until I got back into it that I realized just how much that was.

5. Playing: On our four-hour bus ride to the airport, we spent about three hours playing a game called Psychiatrist. The day before, we'd also spent hours playing various other games and I found myself thinking about how long it had been since I'd played like a little kid. As an au pair last summer, I played UNO with my kids nearly every morning. But playing with friends your own age and playing because you don't want to stop, rather than because you want to keep your kids happy and entertained, is quite different. I found myself laughing whole-heartedly and getting frustrated at games I didn't understand. Experiencing such a wide range of emotions when the stakes were so low, and that too as the result of playing childish games, was so foreign to me and made me realize how I want to make more time actively and consciously having fun doing things that might be deemed as silly. Of course, this is easier said than done when you're in the middle of a busy semester, but maybe if I try to be conscious about it, I can implement this sort of behavior in my life in DC and over the summer at home with my brother.

6. Literature: My low-key role model Ella Cerón recently Instagrammed a pile of books with the caption, "Every writer has their bibles, the books and stories that made them pause in the middle of the page and say, 'I want to do that.' These are mine." Naturally, I began thinking about the books and poems and essays that made me feel the same. Among an incredible range of texts, Vonnegut tops my list. His books remind me that I write to make people feel something. I want my writers to feel understood, and so I try to write truthfully. I want my writers to feel overwhelming emotion; I often cry when I write pieces that really mean something to me and hope that I can pass along the sense of relief and catharsis I get from both reading and writing along in the pieces I create. Above all, I want my readers to feel reminded that they are not alone; their experiences and thoughts and feelings have value, are valid, and deserve to be heard. 

This weekend I started reading The Namesake, a book I had long put off for a wide host of reasons. I'm not far along at all, and here's why: over and over, I found myself overwhelmed. First, by the sheer prose. Lahiri's prose is clean and effective without compromising aesthetic appeal. She doesn't use a lot of dialogue, something that characterizes my own fiction writing, and that reminded me that lack of dialogue isn't necessarily something to be corrected. But beyond that, her story is so relatable. I myself have experienced nearly nothing that the characters have in the first 39 pages of the text. But there is no doubt that I see myself and my parents in Lahiri's descriptions of Ashoke and Ashima. I had to stop myself from continuing the book several times, one because I was emotionally overwhelmed, two because I didn't have my laptop with me and writing in my notebook on a bumpy bus ride is basically impossible. I was so inspired by her work and in her writing style, I found solutions for fiction pieces I'd been working on. There's nothing like the first read of a text you love, a text that impacts you heavily both in the time you read it and beyond, and so I decided to save the rest for a time in which I could leisurely and privately write my own work.

7. Travel: Needless to say, I love travel. Although I haven't quite overcome my mild aversion to traveling often after last summer's trip to Italy, this weekend's trip to Mysore really made me happy. It might've been the rut I'd been stuck in after two weeks of cancelled classes, but having something to do and constantly being around my friends was a lot more fun than my routine of sleeping in until noon and visiting the same spots in my side of the city. I also have a trip to Bangalore this weekend and the weekend after a trip to Mumbai with two of my friends, and I am excited out of my mind to show them parts of my home city, introduce them to my grandparents, and just be back in what I consider part of my complicated definition of home.

8. Working out: My relationship with my body hasn't always been great, but I'm at a place where I'm loving what it can do and have started to see some results. I've started running again and have some goals to work on in terms of kilometers I run per month and the time it takes for me to finish 5k. I've also started going to the gym a bit more regularly than my annual visit back in DC, and bi-weekly Kathak classes and yoga four times a week don't hurt either. Endorphins keep me sane. After all, exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, and happy people don't shoot their husbands—they just don't! I also don't have a weight scale here, and I kind of prefer it; I'm not working out to lose weight. In fact, I'm happy with my weight and it's taken a lot for me to be able to say that. I'm working out to stay healthy and for the endorphins. And I'm not one to complain about abs and biceps either.

9. Writing: It's hard for me to post regularly on OMS when I'm back at school. I could tell you that I don't have the time, but that simply isn't true. As I'm writing this, it's 12:30 AM, I have readings that need to get done, a 9:00 AM class tomorrow, and a few other pieces to write for other writing commitments I have. I write on here because I love it and because I need it; time doesn't matter because when something is this important to you, you make time. I think the real reason I don't post as often when I'm back at GW is that I'm not as inspired. My life revolves around my classes and internships and fitting in time with my friends whenever I can. I make time for myself, too, but that takes the form of cooking great meals or going on a run by myself or reading a book. My mind is generally focused on school in DC, but when I was in Spain and now that I'm in India, I have the ability to think about other things. I have more mental space and energy to focus on things that matter to me that aren't about Austen or my writing workshops or Disability Studies. I loved my classes this past semester at GW, but having the means to make writing here possible is almost better. I write because I'm able to be inspired and able to learn nearly constantly. 

And writing here is so rewarding. For one, I love being able to put my thoughts into words. It's very cathartic and it's nice thinking that you're being constructive and creative with the experiences you've had. At the same time, the messages I get from friends and family letting me know that they've read and liked my posts and the times people stop me in person to let me know that they're reading and have thoughts on what they've read just mean so, so much to me. Writing for me is beautiful and I strive to create something that holds value in my own eyes. Learning that other people care too just makes it that much better.

10. Food: I'm a big foodie, and the options here are amazing. I haven't gotten tired of eating Indian food every day, although there's such a wide range of foods throughout India that doing so would be quite an accomplishment. I miss pizza and the kind of cheese I get in the US, but that's more of a constant state of being for me. I usually have three types of cheese in the fridge at my place in DC and tend to avoid pizza that doesn't come from Jersey or New York. I'm loving how cheap the food is here, how often I get to eat really good Punjabi food, and of course, my chikoos and fresh coconut water.

~ V