'Bangalore is a runner's paradise'

Bangalore is one of the most favoured cities for a large number of expats. Yasuhiro Honda, who hails from a small town called Nagoya in Central Japan, has been here for the last two years. He works for Toyota Motors as a Project Management Member. His connection with Bangalore is almost a decade old. “I came to Bangalore in 2001 for the first time with my family. Because of my children’s education, I had to move back to Japan with my family,” he says. He returned to the City in 2008.

Apart from working for Toyota Kirloskar Motors, he is also one of the endurance athlete runners and has run for many events. “Bangalore is absolutely wonderful, it has been a great place for runners and expats like me. The weather has been salubrious and that is what makes Bangalore a runner’s paradise. The people here are very friendly, sweet and helpful,” he says.

Running is a passion for him and he has been doing it for the last two decades.
“Due to hectic work schedules in Japan, the companies there encourage employees to work out and indulge in stress-busting activities. That’s how I developed the passion of running. It gives me a great sense of relief and keeps my mind calm and cool. I’m glad that I’m getting to do the same here for a different cause,” he says. Ask him about the similarities between Japan and Bangalore, and he quickly says, “I think the culture and customs followed here are very similar to that of our country.

Especially, the Hindu marriage customs, which are akin to ours. I was surprised to know about that from a colleague of mine. This has increased my curiosity to know more about the customs,” he says. His favourite pastime during weekends is to venture into new restaurants in the City. “Bangalore has a great pub culture and it has many restaurants that cater to different tastes. My favourite restaurants are Fujiana, Virano Italiano and Ping, which offer good Japanese and Italian cuisine. I also like going to Forum, Total and Mantri Mall since I get everything under one roof at a reasonable price with a great quality,” he says.

Ask him if he likes Indian food and he eagerly says, “I like samosa. It is my favourite snack since it has great filling inside. I also like masala dosa, which tastes divine.” Indian food has different tastes and is also spicy and tangy, which makes for a great combination of flavours,” he adds.

About what he doesn’t like about the City, he says, “The traffic jams are quite irritable here and I think lane discipline should be followed to control traffic in the City. People should also have some civic sense and should not rush when there’s heavy traffic.” He claims he has not had any hassles travelling in autos since the auto drivers have been friendly and nice to him.

On India and its culture, he says, “I think the diversity in India can not be found anywhere else in the world. Every festival is celebrated with great fervour here, which is rarely found in other countries. The youth here are a zealous and energetic lot. They have the power to transform everything and bring about a change in the society. And that is what makes India a heterogeneous place to live in,” he sums up.