The Porcelain Express

My favorite pastime this week has been taking rides on the Porcelain Express :-) . Have been taking as many as four rides daily. Naturally, the past year and a half had been good to me. Home cooked food and proper sleep . Now, I am again at the mercy of the elements. Add to that my roomie's penchant for rich food and you get the perfect setting for a stomach on the loose.
The other day I met Pradeep's sister Deepa at my workplace. Had to do a lot of head scratching to put a name to the face(I am terribly bad with female faces). Finally when she introduced herself, I was left feeling embarrased. After all I have been to her wedding, her brother's wedding, her kids christening ceremony and God knows how many other such occassions. She joined the organisation I work for about a week back and coincidentally is in the same group that I work for. The world's a small place.
Bangalore is an absolute menace to anonymity. Every time you are out you run the risk of running into people you have been associated with at some point in your life. I have bumped into all kinds of people ranging from school mates, college mates to old sweethearts(just wishing :-)). I sometimes wonder, how the city coped with such a large transient population. The promise of a better life and better oppurtunities bring thousands of people to the city every passing day.
Interestingly, such a large migrant population has given rise to innovative strategies of making money. Natives have started converting their apartments into shared accomodation, making almost double the money they would have, if they had rented out the apartment as a whole. Interestingly the call it Paying Guest Accomodation, which I feel is a complete misnormer. Also Bangalore probably has more Andhra Style Restaurants than probably Andhra Pradesh itself. These joints offer Andhra style meals at low prices and are very popular with the migrant crowd. One thing I like about Bangalore are its Juice Centers. For as low as 10(20 cents) rupees, you can have a mug full of fresh fruit juice. Now thats real value for money. Another strange thing that I noticed about the place is that most of the petty businesses here, like convenience stores and eateries, are run by migrants from either Tamil Nadu or Kerala. I dont see any businesses owned and opearted by Kannadigas. Strange, isnt it?