'No one can ever feel lost here'

Ritesh Jain and wife Rajani love the City to bits. Hailing from Assam and with roots in Rajasthan, the couple who have been in the City for almost a decade can think of nowhere else they would rather be settled in than Bengaluru.

While it is individual choices that brought the duo here, their love for the City has convinced them that this is home.

Ritesh, who hails from Jorhat, Assam, works with Infosys as a senior consultant. He says that it was work that brought him to the City and he has enjoyed the stay since then.

“Hailing from a small city, I miss the close-knit culture,” he says. He was in Delhi just before he moved to the City and says that Bengaluru has its own charm which makes it stand apart.

“Bengaluru is a smaller city compared to Delhi but it is very different. I have never heard people getting abusive or argumentative here. Most people are very cooperative,” he says.

Rajani’s first stint with the City was when she came here for graduation, but she left for Ahmedabad soon after and came back to Bengaluru only after marriage.

She recollects, “The City has treated us well. Something great about Bengaluru is that it has never treated us as strangers. No one can ever feel lost here.” 

Rajani, who hails from Guwahati, is the Assistant Vice President with a private bank. She always felt that Bengaluru was a safe place to reside in.

“My parents always thought of it as a calm place and it turned out to be just that.” She adds that people are more traditional back home, compared to the open and cosmopolitan culture of Bengaluru. “People have a very broad outlook to life here and they accept others wholeheartedly.”

About his hometown, Ritesh says, “In Jorhat, one is more socially active when compared to Bengaluru, where people live a disconnected life. It’s more about friends here.” Ritesh adds that Jorhat is just 300 kms away from Guwahati and is known for its tea business.

“It is also close to Nagaland and a lot of trade happens there,” he says. Ritesh adds that apart from the scenic beauty, Kaziranga National Park is the biggest attraction and is just 100 kms away.

On what he misses about home, he says, “Apart from family, I miss how everything was close by back home. Here, just to shop one has to plan a lot.” Ritesh adds that he misses the grandeur of the festivals there.

“‘Holi’ is really big back home. Everything is closed and everyone plays with colours. But here, people are not even used to it being a holiday. Most work on the day.” The duo say that ‘Bihu’ is another grand festival back home. “It is fun to be a part of the festivities,” says Rajani.

The duo do not miss food from back home and say that the City provides great culinary options from all across the globe.

“From authentic Marwari food to Italian, anything is available in Bengaluru,” they say. They add that since they are foodies, they love visiting the newest restaurants and trying different dishes.

“For authentic Rajasthani food we go to ‘Rajdhani’. We love ‘Nagarjuna’, ‘Nandhini’ and ‘Taaza Thindi’ in Jayanagar. One of our favourites continues to be ‘Skyye’ in UB City,” says Rajani.

Despite the traffic, they say that they love Bengaluru. “Everything about the City makes us fall in love with it, again and again,” says Rajani.