Karpagambal

For some reason, the Karpagambal Temple in Mylapore, Madras has been in my thoughts this morning. The wonderful Dravidian temple built by the Pallavas in the 7th century is one of favourites. Unlike some of the great temples in places like Madurai and Trichy, the Karpagambal is right in the heart of an Indian metro city.

It was a pleasure for me to visit the temple and the area during a hectic business trip in February. Away from the usual crowds of Chennai, Karpagambal and its pond take you back to another era. The simplicity, charm and cleanliness of the area are also a major turn-on.

As much as I love Banganga on Malabar Hill, the feeling at the ancient Madras temple is different. It's one of continuity, of traditions that have been passed down through several scores of generations. Another temple that has that kind of aura is the Bull Temple in Basavanagudi in Bangalore. I wrote an article about that temple and the area a couple of years ago.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2009/08/28/us-bangalore-neighbourhood-idINTRE57R0TG20090828

An Austrian in Devanahalli

Gunter from Graz had been in India for a whole 2 months and didn't have a single encounter with a stray dog. His upmarket suburban Bombay locality didn't have the menace and he was pleasantly surprised to see that Bangalore took care of its problem. That was until his final hour in the information technology hub of India.

It was a windy and pleasant evening in Devanahalli, outside the airport, but Gunter was exhausted and starved. After all, the Bangalore trip was tiring and full of meetings. He hadn't even managed to grab a bite for breakfast or lunch that day.

With the flight being a few hours away, Gunther decided to indulge in a large kaati role. It was at that moment when the last stray dog of Devanahalli made an appearance. The mutt was ugly, skinny and deprived of its hair. The diseased creature was knocking on hell's door but the smell of the role drew the drooling mutt towards Gunter. However unlike Jhandelwalan, which had its share of stones, the area outside the airport was clean and bereft of missiles. Gunter's appetite reduced as he saw the saliva dripping from the mouth of the disease-infested mutt.

He had to do something to chase away the mutt. So in a flash, he grabbed his bag containing the tripod and flung it almost like a javelin towards the dog with a loud grunt. The frightened mutt ran for cover evading a couple of Meru taxis and staying alive for another few hours. It was when Gunter bought a sandwich at Subway to assuage his hunger that the mutt returned but all it had to do was see the rage in the Gunter's eyes to realise that its own hunger wasn't worth a pounding from the big black bag.

Two days later, the mutt died and Devanahalli lost the last of its stray dogs.

The rise of Young India in Bangalore

From what I have seen in the so-called Silicon Valley of India, there is an increasing number of young people with an entrepreneurial spirit and great ideas. I met a 24-year old CEO of a company that provides web solutions to small and medium size companies in Europe and North America. He started at the age of 14 from a cyber cafe and is now on the World Bank's advisory board as well as a regular on the World Economic Forum circuit.

The same day, I met the co-founder of Flipkart. This is a young man, who was educated in IIT Delhi and instead of running off to America, moved down to Bangalore and set up a company that is essentially India's own Amazon.com. Books on Flipkart are sold at a discount that retailers can't match and with 10 million titles in stock, it would be tough to not find a book there.

I also met people who are actively involved in tele-medicine and the use of technology that ensures that the rural population has access to the best of doctors. Others involved in making sure that cell phones have perfect Indian language settings and enable us, Indians, to learn each other's languages.

The "ecosystem" in Bangalore is conducive to entrepreneurship and new ideas. The city is full of angel investors and the Karnataka government helps those with ideas. This is a sea of change from the days when the city was nothing but the world's back office. Start-ups in the city employ many enthusiastic youth who don't just want to slave for a big multi-national until retirement age.

The change is happening and is being driven by technocrats.

Bangalore's energy is stimulating!

Yup. That's right. I am back and actually saying these nice things about Bangalore.

Letting go of some of the not-so pleasant events that occured in 2008-2010, it feels wonderful to be back in Bangalore. I love the buzz and energy of the place and the weather is as wonderful as ever. Yes, the trees are flowering across the city :)

I have met some wonderful entrepreneurs and people involved in start-ups here. These are well-educated professionals who left well-paying jobs in big companies to pursue their dreams. People whp believe they can use their expertise to help people and make India a better place. Given the number of VCs and Angel investors here, the situation is ideal to bring about an entreprenurial revolution powered by research and development.

As an Indian, I feel proud of all I am seeing on the wonderful southern trip.

Southern Odyssey

I am about to embark on a one-week tour of the south. I start with Madras or Chennai as it's officially known now. I have always had warm sentiments towards the city and it's nice and courteous people. Of course this is a business trip, but I will try my best to wake up early in the morning and get some nice shots of the city at dawn.  Not to be missed are Chettinad cuisine and a nice Tamil meals-packet for lunch.

Then it's my return to Bangalore, a city that I have not had the best history with. In all fairness, I was happy there for most of the two years I lived there and it was a great experience. There's a lot I love about the city: it's youth, it's tree-lined avenues, flowers, lal bagh, Cubbon Park and the charming neighbourhoods of Basavanagudi and Malleshwaram.