>> Bangalore was and remains a more hostile place resistant to me as an >> outsider.
Is this the experience of many others on this list? I (perhaps mistakenly) thought Bangalore was (at one time, at least) a relatively easy place to migrate into (periodic loud identity/linguistic politically motivated protests & violence not withstanding) ... but perhaps not ? It is a pretty multi-lingual city - Telugu, Tamil, Urdu (of the Deccani variety), Hindi ... besides Kannada and English ... definitely all jostle on the streets. Malayalam too - in some parts of the city ... Also culturally, it doesn't seem to be a very monolithic place. Think of Basavangudi, Frazer Town, Austin Town, Shivajinagar, Indiranagar and then 'new' Bangalore such as the Koramangala/Sarjapur area, perhaps. All pretty different, culturally, aren't they? And except Indiranagar and the 'new' Bangalore - most of the others are definitely 'old' Bangalore. Not an expert on Gujarat, myself, but I've travelled there. Is there easy escape from Dandiya at Navratri/Dussehra? (or is the Dandiya now so culturally variegated that it incorporates all? Yes I've heard of all the fusion-dandiya flavours) I am 'migrant' too into Bangalore - although from so many years ago that I feel as assimilated as one can in our much stratified/multi-layered society (!) Vijay
