Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
told I'd been mistaken: the Derby was run in February. It turned out
that Bangalore had two Derbys per year, since the climate permitted
two racing seasons. Indians still resented Bangalore its climate and
its freedom from the urban problems other cities faced.
The climate was changing, though. Increased industry and
population were raising the temperature. The city's tempo was rising
as well. Arriving at the new airport terminal, which would soon
handle international flights, I could see that Bangalore wanted to
make an instant impact on visitors. The place was a riot of artificial
foliage, walls were festooned with framed and illuminated posters
announcing high-tech business operations that welcomed you to
their base of operations. But the city was still trading on its 'Garden'
reputation. A huge sign read:
INDO AMERICAN HYBRID SEEDS
WELCOMES
DIGNITORIES & DELEGATES
TO THE
NATIONAL SEMINAR ON FLORICULTURE
PRESENT & POTENTIAL
The place was still dark at night, too, except for new shops lit up like
film sets: KIDSKEMP -
The Largest Kids' Clothes Store in the World
.
The window mannequins were life-size Indian Kens and Barbies -
wearing pretty much the same calibre of doll's clothing, too. And I
can think of ten childrens' clothes shops twice the size of Kidskemp
in Toronto alone. Chinese restaurants had sprung up everywhere,
along with off-licenses - something you never saw in the seventies -
and literally countless computer software outlets.
Brigade Road was no longer a seedy street of ill repute, but a lavish
mall of proud new shops for the proud new Indian consumer. One
out of three sold computer stuff. I wondered who was using all these
diskettes and Accountech programs. Peanut and roast-corn vendors
still hawked their wares on barrows by kerosene tapers, though.
But an air of easy affluence hung over everything and everyone
except the beggars. Almost incredibly, I recognised the sweet-faced
boy with the reef knot tied in his spine, still squatting in the dirt
