The City I Failed To See Before

 The walks in Shivajinagar was a definite way of realizing that i knew nothing about my city.My real city,where livelihoods have been made from generation to generation,where there's everything available.I had been in and around Bangalore,but not to a place where the vibe itself sets it apart from all the other places. There's a very positive vibe about the entire place,which is welcoming and intriguing.Also,everyone seems to be doing something or the other,like they all have a purpose in life.The beggars are begging,children running around,vegetable sellers,meat seller,clothes shop owner,etc all busy at work.

      What fascinated me first were the smells,which were everywhere,right from the fresh smells of the flowers in the flower shops to the mouth watering smells of the kebabs and kheema samosas to the weird smell of metal waste and the list goes on.

Then i liked the crowded streets.Streets,which were the width of no more than an arms length filled with traffic,cows,cycles,sellers,garbage,and what not.

  Then it was definitely the sounds.Sounds of betel nuts cracking,sounds of wheels,sounds of samosa frying in hot oil,steel construction,voices,the ringing bells of the cycles.

The medium i kept using was my phones voice recorder,which was handy and i liked keeping evidences of a busy and lively street.It gave me a sense of the city just by listening to it again.

I also liked keeping an account of all the streets i walked in to,because it was completely randomly chosen and that way i discovered more places in the vast area.

I was drawn to taking photographs,because the place kept its promise of being an amateur photographers hub.I was excited by its historic ruins the most.Followed by,its other striking simplicities. 

I obviously couldn't use any medium to collect different smells,to my disappointment.

 Im developing the skills of being able to talk to people irrespective of language barriers,which is difficult to acquire in a short time.

   Im also feeling responsible to make the city known to me,,i feel im getting to know this place much better .

 My mapping and navigation skills are definitely improving,which is a big skill set for me.There maybe other skill sets and ones still developing which will help me eventually,which i might not be aware of as yet.

-  Anwesha Chakraborty.