My answer: Could you define that, please?
Growing up, I spent ten years in Chandigarh; then six years in Delhi; then three years in Chandigarh; then five years in Delhi.
Then I got married and came to Bangalore; and here I’ve been ever since, apart from a brief interlude of a few months in the US.
In terms of time spent in a city, Chandigarh is the clear winner, with 16 years. But, it is also the place I left first, in 1993. Delhi, where I spent a total of 11 years, I left in 1998. Bangalore I still haven’t left, though of the three cities I’ve been here the shortest time, “only” nine years.
If you define “belonging to” as being the place you grew up in, for me it would have to be Chandigarh. If you consider where your parents currently are, and likely will be for life, again, it would have to be Chandigarh. If you factor in “culture” in terms of the food you like and/or make at home, or the festivals you have been used to celebrating, it could be Chandigarh or Delhi, as the two places are not very different in that respect. All these factors clearly make me a “northie”.
On the other hand, if you think about where you have stayed most recently, it would have to be Bangalore - by a long chalk. If you consider the city where you have the maximum friends, or general support network such as bank, hospital, tax consultant etc, again, it would have to be Bangalore. If you count knowing your way around a city and being familiar with its highways and byways, it would still be Bangalore.
If you consider language, I don’t really belong anywhere. My Hindi, which used to be Delhi/Chandigarh Hindi, has been polluted by Amit’s Bombay+Kolkatta Hindi and further degraded by his consistent disregard for gender in the language. Additionally, the influence of Bangalore Hindi has crept in, so that my Hindi now really lies in the vast grey area of no-man’s-language. My Kannada, on the other hand, though much more rudimentary than my Hindi, is far better than my Punjabi. (My Bengali leaves much to be desired, but since I cannot be considered to belong to Bengal by any criteria other than descent, I can summarily reject that option.)
So, when people ask me, “Where are you from,” I’m usually quite at a loss to give them a short answer. “India” would probably be most fitting, but if the question is posed by an Indian or in India, then it is hardly the answer they’re looking for.
So what I really want to know – and this has implications far wider than just me – is how do you say of someone who has moved around a fair bit in their lifetime, or even of someone who has just migrated away from their home town, or native country, how do you say just where they belong to?
If you were to ask my opinion, I’d claim to belong to Bangalore because:
- I’ve been here several years and don’t feel any desire to leave
- I like the people in general (particular auto-wallahs excepted)
- I have good friends here – and more friends here than in any other single city anywhere
- I like the work environment in general (particular colleagues excepted)
- I like the climate
- I generally feel safe
- I’ve picked up enough Kannada and everyone else knows enough English or Hindi for me to get by
- I know my way around – not just the roads, but, like I said, the support structure – tax man, insurance, doctors, banks
- I hate the traffic, but I accept it as being Bangalore and because no place is perfect
- My bike is registered here
- So was my old bike
- So is my car
- So is my flat
- All my bank accounts are here, so is my locker
- If I’m wandering down Brigade Road or MG Road on a weekend, I’m quite likely to bump into someone I vaguely know
There may be other reasons – but you get the gist of it. I feel I belong to Bangalore – despite not knowing the local festivals, not cooking the local food, not speaking the local language so well – just because I like Bangalore and I’ve been here a while and I feel settled here.
Is that enough to make me a Bangalorean? I’d like to think so.
