My rapprochement with B'lore

BANGALORE : What is the first thing that strikes most people when they think about Bangalore?IT-Hub? The heppest place in India? The place where Western culture's influence is growing rapidly?
Well.. lemme tell u wat I think of when I hear about Bangalore.. This city of Gardens signifies the most important turning point in my life... my maiden job.. I was campus-recruited into Wipro Technologies from college.. By the time I got my appointment order I was pretty excited about leaving home for the first time.. and Bangalore, they said is the best place to live for guys in the IT Industry... So i was all rearing to go.. I wanted to be independent, earn my own money, behave like a big girl , make all important decisions and basically become an adult...

So what actually happened? of course, I grew up.. but it was not as pleasant as I thought it would be...
I HATED B'lore (note the past tense).I was culture-shocked in the initial months that I came here.. I hail from the small city of Coimbatore (which is called the Manchester of South India) and my values were quite old-fashioned and traditional..- no tight tops, no sleeveless clothes, no jeans even ..( But know what, I should admit that even at that time I secretly wanted to act WILD and behave like a total freak..haha..).. The first time I went to M.G road was SHOCKING..Girls with halter-necked tops and those tiny skirts and dangling onto some guy's arm as if they would DIE if he were not there to hold them.. I was disgusted.. What a horrible place!!! Was there no respect for Indian culture?
And yeah, of course I have to mention the traffic jams... After being in Coimbatre where traffic jams are a rare phenomenon, I found the long hours commuting from work to office and back home unendurable... I was just waiting for it to become the second week of every month so that I could go home..

and then there was no mom to pack food, no mom to wake me up in the morning, no mom to make me a cup of that awesome filter coffee, n dad to chide me for wasting time, no brother to fight with for the computer/TV, no computer and TV even
and I was home-sick most of the time...

And I couldnt imagine that i was actually asked to WORK.. and it was no joke.. my supervisors were at my throat all the time..give them weekly updates, status reports, bashing me up a lot of times for not working at the deadlines..I felt like asking each one of them to go to hell.. Man, have I ever listened to anybody in my life?

Then slowly I realised that I have to GROW UP .. I think, when I realised this, my process of growing up was 40% complete.. I started accepting responsibilities, stopped whining about things.. if I'm expected to do something, then it has to be done, NO EXCUSES accepted..
I made new friends, and ACCEPTED Bangalore as my second home town..I realised that Bangalore gives me the independence to be what I want.. I can dress the way I want, I can go with who I want, I can go where I want and be myself... It is upto me to utilise this independence in a thrifty manner..
The competition out here is fierce..being good is not enough, u have to be the BEST.. Only tenacity and persistence can get one through... This is the home of the top IT companies of the world... they pay like crazy but your work has to commensurate your pay.. there are several avenues to explore, several new things to do.. This is the centre of very important educational institutions like the IIM and IISC.

And somewhere along thw way, I even became more socially active with these people of Bangalore who, I initially hated... I started going out more and enjoyed it too.. though I havent still come to wearing halter-neck tops and tight skirts yet :) :)

So, finally what changed?I guess it was my attitude towards life... My life changed and I changed along with it..
Have I grown up?? maybe a little, but I still have a long way to go.. I guess, it will happen at its own pace and then I would be regretting for the lost little girl who had her own view of the world around her (for thats what people say when they grow up.. that they want to be a kid again :))