JOIN USIn praise of a culture
It has been 8 years since Roshni Chakraborty and husband Arunangshu Banerjee from West Bengal shifted to Bengaluru. Like many others, they moved here in search of better career opportunities. The couple has a 5 and a half-year-old daughter, Samriddhi. Roshni and Arunangshu are software engineers with the same company.
“I am from Kolkata and was born and brought up there. After completing engineering there, I got my first job in Bengaluru. However, a change of job later made me move to Orissa. But I came back to this city after marriage. My husband is from a place called Vardhman which is a few kilometres away from Kolkata,” says Roshni.
On what they like about Bengaluru, Roshni says, “The professional atmosphere here is great. The city has a cosmopolitan culture. Outsiders who settle here become
comfortable with the new environment in no time. Bengaluru is very accomodating when it comes to accepting people from different backgrounds.”
Recalling the days when the couple first landed here, Arunangshu says, “When we came here, the picture was very different. Finding authentic Bengali food items like fish and spices was a difficult task then. However, things have changed now. From ‘hilsa’ fish and ‘bori’ to Bengali sweets like ‘kheer kadam’, ‘laddoos’, ‘langcha’ and ‘sandesh’, one can get everything here. In fact, there is a Bengali store online as well, which is making an effort to reach out to the Bengali community in the city.”
Listing out their favourite restaurants here, Arunangshu says, “Sahib Sindh Sultan’, ‘Barbeque Nation’, ‘Esplanade’ and ‘Nagarjuna’ are some of the restaurants here that top our list.”
Weekends are precious for them as that is when they get to spend time with Samriddhi. They have also made their own small group of friends, and during weekends, they make it a point to catch up with them.
The couple are fond of travelling too. “We have visited Mangaluru, Mysuru and Ooty. This is the best thing about Bengaluru — there are so many places one can drive down to within a couple of hours,” says Roshni.
“We love going for long drives and travelling to far-off places when we have longer holidays. We have also been to Kanyakumari, Munnar, Puducherry, the belt of Nilgiris, Hampi, Ballary, Chennai and Rameswaram,” details Arunangshu.
In spite of their love for the city, there are still a few things about Kolkata that the couple can’t stop reminiscing about.
“The charm of Kolkata and the grandeur of the place during festivals like ‘Durga Pujo’ can’t be seen here. There, the entire Bengali community is connected even though each ‘pandal’ could be a kilometre away from the other. Even when it comes to food, though we have many Bengali restaurants here which are doing well, the authenticity
of Bengali food that we get back home is something that we surely miss. Back home, life is a little laid back as well. It is not as fast paced as in Bengaluru.
People have time to talk to each other,” he says.
Bengaluru, he feels, is the epitome of a tolerant city.
“It is like a mini-India. The city has given us a lot and we are happy for that. We feel safe and are thinking about a wonderful future here!” says Arunangshu.