It's a classic case of opposites attract. He is a die-hard foodie, she is not particularly concerned about what's on the plate, he loves the city for the pleasant weather while she is interested in exploring the sights and scenes of a new place, he is drawn towards calm and peace while she is fascinated by the lively nature of the city.
Meet Supriya Singal and Vivek Agrawal. She hails from Chandigarh and has mostly spent her life there, except for a few years in Delhi, while Vivek is from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. He has been in Bengaluru for around four and a half years now while Supriya is a recent addition to the city's populace.
"My first thought while coming here was that I will get to see some new places in the South. I had already explored the Northern part of the country so this was a welcome change," says Supriya.
"Bengaluru is a very lively place. You always find people on the roads, no matter how late. It is a much safer place when compared to Delhi," she adds.
Vivek adds, "I fell in love with the city as soon as I came here. I am kind of averse to heat so the North Indian summers were unbearable for me. It was a choice between Bengaluru or somewhere abroad. I picked this place."
Like every newcomer, language was one of the challenges they faced here, though Supriya admits she had an easier time as her husband had already figured things out by the time she came.
"I was able to get by because people are cooperative but it was a bit challenging initially when you don't know the names of certain things. I would be trying to buy something which has a certain name up North but I wouldn't know what it is called here. Then I would have to show images and all but even that wouldn't work sometimes," recollects Vivek with a laugh.
While they do yearn for their respective hometowns once in a while (Supriya admits to missing her family and the smooth roads of Chandigarh while Vivek regrets not being with his loved ones during festivals or marriages), Bengaluru has embraced them into its fold and gives them little chance to complain.
Weekends are usually spent at friends' places or in activities like late night parties, movie outings, a drive to Nandi Hills and so on.
"We try out new food joints in places like Koramangala and HSR Layout, which are closer. 'Over The Top' and 'Pappu Chaiwalla' are some of my favourite places. But I mainly go there to sit and relax, I am not much of a foodie," Supriya admits.
"I am so much into food, I can't tell you," exclaims Vivek. "My favourite restaurant depends on the kind of food I am going to have. If I am in the mood for sizzlers, I used to go to 'Yana Sizzlers' in Koramagala. For Italian cuisine, I prefer 'Go Italia' or 'Little Italy'. My North Indian preferences are 'Punjabi by Nature', 'Punjabi Rasoi' and 'Hello Delhi' while for South Indian it is 'Kamat' and 'MTR'. I especially like the 'thatte idli' in 'Kamat Lokaruchi' on Mysore Road."
Vivek loves cooking as well and enjoys trying his hand at new dishes. "I cook for my wife now. Last week I made a Gujarati dish called 'Khandvi' for her. I don't know if she liked it or not; she was more impressed by the fact that I cooked for her. Even before marriage, she told me that she was not that interested in food and I was like 'Ok, I will balance that'," he says with a laugh.
