Echoes from the valley

Dhruba Jyoti Das from Guwahati came to Bengaluru for a project during his college days. Little did he know that this would be where he would meet the love of his life and settle down.

Bengaluru turned out to be a pleasant experience for him and wife Sanghamitra Borah, who hails from Tezpur. Dhruba, who works as a technical lead with BORQS, and Sanghamitra, who works as a teacher with Deva Matha Central School, love the city for its diverse characteristics.

Immediately after his college project, he got a job offer. “My seniors from college were here and had told me about the cosmopolitan society that Bengaluru is. There was so much happening here and it was the perfect place for an MCA graduate,” he says.

When Dhruba came back to the city, it proved to be a land of opportunities and personal growth. “I was a very shy person. The city made me confident. It taught me to open up to different cultures and to interact with people. It  made me bolder,” he shares.

Sanghamitra, who met Dhruba here, says that the city had come as a blessing for her. “I met Dhruba here and we courted for a year, after which we got married,” she says.   

The people here have always reached out to them whenever they needed help.Sanghamitra recollects a particular incident wherein  her school staff stepped in when Dhruba fell sick.

“I called the principal and told him that I wouldn’t be able to make it to work the next day. Before I knew it, my school principal was at the hospital and  took care of everything. Despite our family and friends not being around at that time, he stayed on till someone else came. Many other warm experiences like these make us feel at home here,” she says.

Dhruba recollects how an accident involving his friends and him and the some other people had escalated into an unpleasant situation. “We were quite surprised when our neighbours turned out to help us,” he adds.

Sanghamitra vouches that she has always felt safe here. “I never worry about going out or being alone,” she says. “The city has a lot of energy to it,” adds Dhruba. “There is something happening all the time which makes it the perfect place to be at.”

The couple love the green spaces and they believe it adds to the character of the city. “We love going to Lalbagh Botanical Garden and Cubbon Park and flaunting it to family when they visit us. It’s nice to have such places to relax in an otherwise busy city,” says Dhruba.

Sanghamitra feels that  restaurants and pubs are  great for the young at heart. “The city is like the world on a platter. There is so much to explore here. One can enjoy a variety of delicacies, from South Indian to international food,” she says. When the couple have some time to spare, they visit ‘TOIT’ or ‘Hoppipola’ or grab a quick bite at ‘Mainland China’ or ‘Uttam Sagar’. “From Orion Mall to the Ulsoor Lake, we like to keep it different all the time,” she says.

“We love the city so much that we feel out of place whenever we are anywhere else. Bengaluru is our ‘ooru’ now,” says Sanghamitra.