JOIN USThe city’s culture has been so inviting that many who come here in search of a better job opportunity stay longer and eventually settle down here. The same happened with Samar Singh Billawaria who hails from Billawar, Jammu, and came to Bengaluru looking for work. Samar, who is the co-founder of ‘Chalknpaper’, is now happily settled here with his wife Eva Jamwal Billawaria, a manager with a bank.
Recollecting his journey, Samar says that he has pleasant memories of his hometown. “Since I come from an Army background, as a family, we were used to travelling around the country. But during the time I spent at home, I have had warm nostalgic moments. Our village is a very close community in a hilly area,” he details.
Samar belongs to a group called Dogra, who are from the Rajput clan. “Our mother tongue is Dogri. Of the sights that the place is known for is the Sukrala Mata Temple,” he says. The place is a bit like Kashmir with similar flora and fauna, he adds. “People are very simple there and all of them live together. We have our own community area where our relatives, including my grandfather, his brothers and their children, live,” he says.
Coming from a closed community but being exposed to varied cultures was an eye-opener for Samar. “This is also why adjusting to a new place has always been an endearing experience for me. We don’t belong anywhere and we are used to this nomadic lifestyle. This is an inbuilt trait in me. Thankfully since Eva, who hails from Gaur, is also from the same background, we adjusted well here,” he adds.
It was work that brought Samar to the city. “I had done my engineering from NIT, Silchar, after which I was searching for good work opportunities. I had heard that Bengaluru was the perfect place for IT professionals. It is a city of opportunities. I immediately made friends here and things became easier,” he says.
Having stayed in different places like UP, Punjab and Assam, Samar feels that the city has a charm like none other. “I love this city. I don’t think there is any place which is more suited to my attitude. I wouldn’t be comfortable in a city like Delhi, which is more about showing off and where the language is rough,” he says.
Samar and Eva feel that Bengalureans have always been very accommodating and welcoming, which has added to their wonderful experience. “People here are very simple which makes the journey smoother. We feel like we belong here. Everyone is very open-minded and one gets a feeling of independence here,” says Eva, who feels that the city is similar to Pune, where she has stayed for a while.
Samar believes that it is the adjusting nature of the people here which has seen the city growing immensely.
Apart from the appealing weather, the couple find the city a great connecting point to other places of interest. “We’ve gone to many places like Bandipur, Coorg and Ooty. Bengaluru is probably the only place from where one can go to the jungle area, hill stations and other cities,” adds Samar.
When the couple have some time to spare, they like to visit UB City and have brunch at ‘Cafe Noir’. “It isn’t very crowded there and it is a great place to relax. We like going to ‘Sanchos’ too. We also frequent places in Indiranagar like ‘Toit’, ‘Loft38’ and ‘The Black Rabbit’. I’m a movie buff, so we visit the cinemas as well,” adds Eva.
Samar likes the nightlife of the city and feels that the city’s mood suits the happy-go-lucky type of person that he is. “The people here are so nice that it more than makes up for the lack of anything else. Even though the city has changed a little since we came, one doesn’t give up on their home, right? Bengaluru is where our heart is,” he adds.