My road trip to Bangalore was pretty normal. I say normal because there was nothing spectacular about the city that would convince me to move there although, there was nothing that would stop me from moving, if I had to. If I had to choose to live in either Chennai or Bangalore, it would result in a deadlock. Here’s why -

* Crowd

Bangalore is way too crowded and I cannot stress that enough. My friends and I visited the city on a Saturday afternoon and grabbed lunch at a local mall (Garuda Mall). We drove around for about 30 minutes, trying to find parking in a city, where you could park on the walkway and still be fine. We eventually gave up and parked in the mall’s parking lot for about 20rs/hour. Once inside the mall, I was (we were) overwhelmed by just how many people were inside it, at any given time. The traffic was crazy as well but not Chennai-crazy where people drive wherever and however they want, but crazy because the city was not built to handle that many vehicles. There were just way too many cars. I’d call a tie between how much better or worse Bangalore is, when compared to Chennai.

* People

I like the people in Bangalore. Its probably because the average age of all the people I saw was about 25 (as opposed to 40+ in Chennai). People seemed a little bit more patient and friendly in Bangalore. I think Bangalore wins this category hands down.

* Cost of living

I’d have to give this one to Chennai. The most annoying part of my road trip was to walk around Bangalore and notice that everything cost exactly as much (or more) than what it would cost me in the states. A cup of coffee is about 150rs($3), burgers cost 350rs($7) and so on. I don’t understand how an average person in Bangalore that makes about 40,000rs/month ($800) can afford any of this. I would hate to live in such a city and see all my hard earned money go waste because some people are obsessed with being (and charging in) American (dollars).

* Pollution

Bangalore felt much less polluted and there was hardly any road dust in the city for the amount of traffic that they have. I could walk about the city all day and still not smell like vehicle exhaust at the end of it. And people hardly honk (comparatively) in Bangalore and the cars definitely help in bringing down the noise pollution. Bangalore wins this one.

* Weather

The weather was really pleasant in Bangalore, this entire weekend. Chennai has been seeing some rains lately as well but I’m sure that Bangalore is much cooler (again, in comparison) than Chennai. I should say that Bangalore wins but I don’t want to.

Given all these factors, I can’t really decide where I would want to live (if I had to make such a choice). Bangalore is a fun city to hang out with friends but nothing more. Chennai has a much more wholesome feel to it that I can’t quite put in words. I’m probably biased because I grew up in Chennai and my family lives here but there’s nothing spectacular about Bangalore that would convince me to shift my base from Chennai.

The trip took us 6 hrs from Chennai to Bangalore (10pm-4am) and it was raining for about 3 hrs from leaving Chennai. We had a minor hydroplaning incident (thanks to poorly drained roads) to wake us up but no other scares. I actually like driving in the night in India because there are no people(walking) on the roads and no bikes either.

It took us 4.5 hrs from Bangalore to Chennai(3:30pm-8pm), on the way back and on the same route as before. We saved a lot of time by avoiding city traffic and good weather+road conditions helped this time around.

Tags: bangalore, chennai, comparison, life, living, road trip, traffic