m u n n u d i - t h e p r e f a c e

there are not several places within India that i have visited. at the most it has been calcutta towards my north or kanyakumari and kerala towards the south, vizag, hyderabad and chennai to my east and mumbai to my west. cork in ireland, dallas and santa clara have been my abode outside India for few weeks. unfortunately i have not been able to explore my state even half of what i have explored outside. though it's tourism tagline goes by "one state, many worlds", i have not been fortunate enough to experience the many worlds referenced above. most of my travel within the state has been during my school days or as part of religious trips.

belonging to the state of Karnataka helps inculcate within you a sense of down-to-earth'ness and honesty. people are friendly in nature and helpful, but on the other hand are also very protective of their heritage and culture. and when it comes to my birth place, this city is a pot-pourri of languages, cultures, traditions and cuisines. you could easily make a stranger your friend within a span of five minutes over a smoke or coffee or few pegs.

though it was known as the "pensioner's paradise" or "garden city", these sobriquets have other takers in today's declining greeline and increasing lifelines. during my school years it was known for it's high standards of education with several institutions churning out several personalities that don today's successful worlds.

Bangaloreans are known for their ability to speak several languages. it is very easy to come across a local guy who can speak languages like english, kannada, tamil, malayalam, telugu and hindi. while me and most of my friends can speak all the above, we also can read and write in all languages except tamil and telugu. this is what to me is the unique most feature that seperates us from any other part in the world.

it's climate is also well spoken off by visitors from other cities when they settle down here, but ask any bangalorean about today's climate and he/she is always appreciate about it's beauty in the late 70's and early 80's. it's still is one of the most calmest place to be in, even with the exploding vehicular movements.