Coming down the hills

Hailing from the ‘Scotland of the East’ – Shillong – Debjani Bhattacharyaa and her
husband Ajitabh Dey, who is from Chennai, moved to Bengaluru in search of job opportunities. More than a decade later, the couple who stay in Adarsh Vista, Vignan
Nagar, is only happy to share their experiences and to have found a home here.

“Though I was born and bought up in Shillong, I am an Assamese by origin and I love to relish my taste buds with the authentic Assamese cuisine mainly consisting of rice, an important part of both meals — lunch and dinner, khar (an alkali base derived from banana peels), masor tenga (fish sour), aloo pitika (mash potatoes garnished with green chillies and onions) and Kaji nemu (Assam lemon),” says Debjani. 

“During my initial days in Bengaluru, when I faced problems in finding certain Assamese food ingredients like the ‘Pas Phoron’ (one of the main spices used in Assamese food, it is a mixture of five different spices), and ‘Kaji Nemu’, I used to ask my mother to send them across,” she adds.

Debjani recalls how Bengaluru was 13 years back when they first set their foot in this City.

“Bengaluru was then literally a Garden City.

It was green and clean with no pollution. It was less populated, safe and so beautiful. But as years passed by, more and more people started migrating into the city for different purposes, be it education or career,” she says.

“Now, it has become very polluted and the traffic is chaotic. I never used to miss home as the weather was so amazing then, just like my hometown. We never feared taking an auto in the middle of the night alone. I miss those days,” she adds.

While the City has definitely given job and educational opportunities to people from across the country, with time the infrastructure of the city has worsened.

“Also, it is sad to see garbage being piled up anywhere and everywhere. However, in spite of all the changes, we love this city, it’s our home," she says.

In her words, this city welcomes everybody and even though it is modern, it is rooted firmly in its culture.

 In terms of the theatres and cultural programmes that are organised almost every week in the City, she says the culture of the State stays alive in the minds of the old and young.

Debjani and her family usually hang out at home on a Sunday as it is the only day they get to spend time together.

However, they love to visit the Chai Bar at Leela Palace where according to them, one can sit in a quiet corner and read their favourite book while enjoying a great cup of exotic tea.

The ‘100ft Boutique’ is also one of their restaurants. Being foodies, their favourite food joints in the City are Shiro’s, Cafe Noir (where they relish on the strawberry tart), Toscano, Black Rabbit, Monkey Bar and Watson.

When taking a break from her office, she loves spending time with her son Rudraksh, read a fictional novel or simply play a game of badminton with her husband.

Her family enjoys travelling to places in and around Bengaluru for a perfect getaway.
They prefer going on a road trip to Masinagudi and other places on the outskirts of Bengaluru and to Goa. Debjani and her family want to see a better Bengaluru in terms of infrastructure and safety.

They justify their words by saying, “Bengaluru is known as the IT hub of India, which instantly gives people anidea that it is more developed and has better infrastructure than other cities, but it is very different in reality. We need to plant more trees and take a step to curb pollution.”