The preferred choice

Melting pot

Even before he moved here, Bengaluru was Vinayak Chakravartti’s favourite city. Hailing from Kolkata, he worked in Kolkata and Mumbai before settling down in the City. “I shifted here in 2001 along with my family but prior to that, I used to visit the City often,” he recalls.

He used to work with Wipro and would often come to Bengaluru on work. “It was way before the IT boom hit the City and those days, the weather was just lovely. I would enjoy the chill in May and June and it would be a respite from the 40 degrees of Kolkata. It used to rain everyday those days in Bengaluru and I loved the chill during the peak summer time,” he laughs. So he gradually sought a transfer and came to Bengaluru. Currently, he works with iMerit Technology Services as the Vice-President of Sales and Marketing and feels that the City has changed a lot for both good and bad.

“The weather  and the roads have definitely deteriorated. There has been a population burst and probably, the City wasn’t geared up for this kind of boom. But on the positive side, it has definitely grown and is no doubt the best City to live in,” he notes. “While those days, there were probably two ‘Durga Puja’ functions in the City, now there are as many as 30! Such is the growth of the cosmopolitan culture of the City.”

His wife Jessy, who is from Mumbai, likes to call herself a “complete Indian”. Reminiscing the fast-paced life of Mumbai, she says, “Bengaluru is definitely slower.” But she has picked up Kannada very well. “The fact that she was a teacher and that we stayed in Malleswaram for many years helped,” notes Vinayak. Jessy is now the in-charge of web management in a start-up. “I travel between Babusapalya and RT Nagar everyday and the public transport system here has to improve. But the best part about the City is its weather,” she says.

Food has never been a problem and they call themselves “spice eaters”. “We are ‘green chilli people’ but are adjusting to red chilli now,” jokes Vinayak. While Jessy’s favourite restaurant is Chillies, Vinayak loves indulging in the Andhra meals of Nandhini and Nagarjuna.

    “When we were in Malleswaram, we would often go to Hallimane. But I really wish the nightlife was as active as it was when we first came here,” he says.
The couple has two sons — Karan and Aayush. While Karan is studying computer science engineering, Aayush is in the tenth standard. With a keen interest in photography and football, Karan is quite happy at the prospects the City has to offer.
   “I enjoy clicking photographs here. Many a time, my dad is my model,” he laughs.
The younger son Aayush was in a boarding school in West Bengal and came to
Bengaluru only five years ago. “Though I enjoyed staying away, it’s a lot of fun here too,” he quips.

While Vinayak and Jessy make it a point to travel to places around the City like Bandipur, the boys who can’t travel much due to studies enjoy playing with the other two important members of the family — Sheldon and Ziya — the two adorable Labradors. No prizes for guessing, the family enjoys watching ‘The Big Bang Theory’. “We actually wanted to name them Sheldon and Penny but realised that it would be too cliched,” laughs Vinayak.

Speaking of pets, the City is extremely pet-friendly, according to them. “Be it pet doctors or dog shows, there is a lot more awareness about animal welfare here. I have seen people in other cities with pets complaining that they don’t have as many facilities,” says Vinayak.

Though they miss their relatives here in Bengaluru, they can’t wait to come back whenever they go on a vacation. “It’s our City,” sums up Vinayak.