With their bundle of joy

Bengaluru holds a special significance in many people’s lives. For Vikas Malpani and family, they have a great attachment with this City as they have been here for more than a decade. Although a Rajasthani, Vikas was born in Assam and spent most of his time in Gujarat. His wife Sapna was born in Kolkata but lived in Gujarat and Rajasthan for most of her life.

“I did most of my schooling in Surat, and lived in Rajasthan only when I was studying at the IIT. Apart from being my hometown, my connection to Rajasthan is just about burying myself in books for a minimum of 14 hours a day. However, it surely is one place that’s close to my heart. But I’ve had the maximum fun in Gujarat, thanks to the lifestyle there,” says Vikas who is also one of the co-founder of the real estate platform, Commonfloor.
As for spending their leisure time here, they try planning trips when they can. But due to Vikas’ busy schedule, they don’t get much time. “There are a lot of options for vacation spots near Bengaluru. We’re hoping to go to Hampi for the Dasara vacations — it’ll also give us an idea of how much we can actually travel with our five-month old Naisha,” he laughs.

During their weekends, they like exploring restaurants in the City. Some of their favourites include Mainland China for Chinese, Benjarong for Thai, Little Italy for Italian and Mamagoto for Pan-Asian cuisines. He says, “Everyone in the City likes to go to other places but somehow end up at a mall. It would have been nice if there were other interesting places for one to visit without having to be stuck in traffic for so long.”
Just like every other person in the City, Vikas and his family are also not happy about the traffic. “It would have been nice if the City was well planned. It used to be green and peaceful a decade ago. The infrastructure is now out of control and the traffic is just insane,” he says. When asked how he is planning to celebrate Dasara this year, he says that the plan has not been made yet. He adds, “It doesn’t really make sense to plan something spontaneous being in the City, especially because it takes half a day to even reach there. Till last year, we used to go for community ‘Dandiya’ events and had fun there. But this year is going to be a lot more difficult because of our little one.”
The couple visit their hometown at least twice a year. While Sapna tries to go every month, Vikas usually does not stay there for more than 15 days. He says, “She was brought up in a joint family, so it’s difficult for her to manage everything on her own here. She loves going there because of all the pampering she gets.”

When asked to compare life here and in Gujarat, he says, “Life in Gujarat was definitely a vibrant one. Being a vegetarian, I always had a plethora of choices to satisfy my cravings. It’s also a place where people are happy-go-lucky.”

He shares how he misses the life there because Bengaluru is all about individuality. “Bengalureans make it look like it’s more important to be a couple than to just hang out with a bunch of friends. In Gujarat, we randomly make plans and go places, it’s a lot more complicated here.”

But keeping all the “it would have been great if...” thoughts away, the Malpani family is thankful for the good environment, exciting young crowd and great opportunities that have been bestowed upon the people here.

“We’ve made our small family here and it’s everything we’ve ever asked for,” says Vikas.