un voyage à Bangalore

When I was 12, back in 2012, we got an invitation to a wedding in Bangalore. The wedding was on a Monday, but till Sunday afternoon, none of us were really interested in going. Then, around 5 p.m., my father got a call from his colleague, Afzal sir. He said, “If you want to go to Bangalore for the wedding, I’ll join you.”

I overheard the conversation and immediately started begging my father to attend the wedding and take me along. After half an hour of non-stop pleading, he finally agreed. By 6:30 p.m., my father, Afzal sir, and I left home and caught the Yeshwanthpur Express at 7:30 p.m.

And that’s when the real struggle began. We didn’t have reserved tickets; we only bought general compartment tickets. The compartment was packed, so crowded that there wasn’t even proper space to stand. After about 100 km, we managed to get one seat, which we gave to Afzal sir since he was older.

There was no internet back then (2G era), no seat, and barely any space to breathe. I stood in those conditions for nearly 250 km, but my excitement to visit Bangalore kept me going. Finally, after 250 km, my father and I found some space on the upper berth to lie down. It wasn’t even a proper berth, just four iron rods. Somehow, we managed to sleep for 2 hours.

By 10 a.m. the next morning, we reached Yeshwanthpur station. From there, we took a city bus to Majestic. The person who invited us had given us everything along with the invitation-route maps, train and bus numbers. Since it was 2012, the internet wasn’t something we could rely on.

Even though we were new to the city, we didn’t take an auto. Instead, we traveled only by bus. Around 11 a.m., we reached Majestic, checked into a room, freshened up, and had lunch at a nearby hotel. After that, we visited a famous museum and a park. Later, we took another bus directly to the wedding.

The event was amazing, and dinner was hands down the best buffet I’ve ever had. I still remember the taste of the haleem I ate there. It was worth the 500 km journey! 😂 And the bride's father gave me 1000 rupees and said, "Do some shopping in Bangalore."

After dinner, around 10 p.m., we started heading back to Majestic by bus. That’s when Afzal sir said, “Let’s just take the Hyderabad bus and we’ll be home by tomorrow morning.”

Hearing that, I literally started crying on the bus. It felt so unfair, we had just arrived in the morning, and by night, we were already leaving. I begged my father to let me stay at least one more day. At first, he said no, but as always, I managed to convince him. 😅

We reached the Majestic bus stand, which was huge. My father told me to stay in one place while he and Afzal sir went to check for Hyderabad buses. I stood there silently for 10 minutes, not moving an inch(afraid was not even in my mind at that time, but now if I imagine myself standing alone, a minute in any place scares me to death). When my dad returned, he said Afzal sir had taken the Hyderabad bus and left, but we would be staying back and going by train the next day. I was so happy!

We went back to the hotel, had a good sleep, and the next morning, after breakfast, we went out to roam around Bangalore. We tried street food, did lots of shopping, and what surprised me most was that so many people spoke Telugu, it felt no different than being in Andhra Pradesh.

At lunch, I tasted the most amazing curries, especially the dondakaya fry, I can still remember the taste. By 5 p.m., we boarded our return train from Yeshwanthpur, and by Wednesday morning, we were back home.

P.S.: The picture below was taken by my father at the park in Bangalore.