Bangalore
Bangaluru
BANGaluru
You overwhelm me. Overstrain me, overexert me. Yet, inspire me. Strike me. Push me.. to.. speak out. What? The truth. Which is? I dont know yet, but it is for sure always twofold (see project description).
Every city is diverse, multifaceted and often contradictory. But I have never experienced it as much as in Bangalore. This city, the Garden City, Naked City, Silicon Valley of India is grey and green, dull and colourful, it's wild and settled, fast and slow. Bangalore is clean and dirty, bright and dark, old and modern, lazy and disciplined. It's packed. Super packed. Cars, motorbikes, people, cows. Yet, it's empty. Is it? Yes, you'll find a sort of emptiness to this city, too. Maybe not with the bare eye, but if you dig deeper, you'll feel a gap, a void.
"Never try to change India." Of course not - why should someone do that? It's the "closest to life" place I have ever been to. Here you see the true survival of the fittest. This can be harsh and shocking. But it's the reality. The real world we live in. And if you now think: "Oh god this is the wild wild East" - then no: Actually, you are West. Numerous shopping malls, bling and gloss, consumerism from "Death by chocolate" ice-cream to hummus and craft beer. If you are looking for that, Bangalore will serve it with pleasure.
© Sandeep TK
But what is much more charming and appealing is the other part of Bangalore. The original, local and honest everyday life: Smoking backyards and intrusive sounds. Here you can find hidden silk dyeing and fortune-tellers. Fresh sugar cane juice, dirty fish markets and little shrines. Look out for the numerous little details in every corner of the city that can tell you something small but new. Look up to see the birds flying circles to catch the next rat, look down to see the beautiful
kolams on the floor but also really look down in order not to fall into the next road gap or step into some cow (or other) shit. Look left to see a stranger smiling at you and look right to watch out for the cars and motorbikes. No sorry: look right, left, front and back to watch out for the cars and motorbikes. Even though it is a left-hand traffic, it does not mean that driving right or diagonal or upside down is not possible. "Everything is possible in India." You will shake your hand, you will wonder why. But it wont help you. "If you ever wonder WHY the hell?" then "always think about the population and you’ll have the answer". Twelve million inhabitants in a city that is the size of Berlin. Of course this means that people have to find solutions, ways and detours, options and opportunities.
They will also try their luck with you. "Madam, another (very important) chess game for you?" You will most likely say no thanks, but think twice. When will you be in India again, having the chance to buy handmade wooden treasures that from the price sounds super expensive but in the end it will cost you as much as a coffee in Germany. Is that right? Is that fair?
What is right? What is fair? You will ask youself these questions very often once in India. Contradictions, oppositions, extreme differences between life-styles and incomes, ways of living and ways of behaving. Is that right? Is that fair? I dont know. The truth is always twofold. And so is Bangalore.
Thank you, Goethe-Institut and Shanthi Road for this life-changing experience.
BANGALONE
© Sandeep TK
How do we cope with rapid urbanisation and changes in our environment? How does it affect our everyday lives? Our daily state of mind?
Bangalore faces an aggressive urban development and at the same time a dissolving of its original appearance as a Garden City. Lakes diminish, trees vanish - little remains of the natural cityscape. Bangalore of today, the IT hub and its fast-paced life leads to a disconnection of the place and its people. And then, loneliness creeps in.
One can feel lonely anywhere. Even in a city packed with other people, vehicles and animals. Urban isolation doesn’t necessarily require physical solitude, but rather a lack of meaningful relationships. Those who then migrate from other parts of the country are confronted with even more difficulties when it comes to cultivating strong social bonds.
Almost half the people living in Bangalore are migrants who come for the purpose of work. And it's their work which takes over their lives.
BANGALONE gives an insight into this reality. A state of mind, which on the surface remains invisible. But when looking beyond materialism, decelerating the city’s rush and by taking a distant bird’s-eye view, one might see a complaining city that is losing its most profound substance: its nature and its people. The publication BANGALONE seeks to document and expose, not the unknown but rather the unseen.
