Back in Bangalore after a hiatus of 17 years, Kittur Nagesh is instantly at home in the city and well-informed about what’s happening where, thanks to his morning jog in Lalbagh, Bangalore.
This article was published in Deccan Herald Newspaper, Bangalore, India.
Every time I visit Bangalore I get into a morning rhythm of jogging in the “still-beautiful” Lalbagh. This month I suddenly realized that what happens in the mornings at Lalbagh is a microcosm of life in the city. I have effortlessly acquired immense knowledge during my morning jogs in a multitude of areas. From politics to personal matters, from match fixing in cricket to match fixing in real life, from technology to new TV channels, the list goes on.
During my morning jogs, I have involuntarily listened to daily conversations and discovered that people who visit Lalbagh fit into four major groups, — the “Just Do It”, the “Baby boomers”, the “MTR”, and the “Twilight at dawn” groups. Each group has its own unique profile, exercise regimen, and conversation interests, and uses specific areas of the park.
The “Just Do It” group is the under-35, Nike group. Members of this group dress in Nike or Reebok or Calvin Klein coordinated gear with an occasional cap, sport a good pair of sneakers, form many girl-boy teams, are interested in information technology, enjoy cricket, and typically jog around the lake, the innermost loop. Some younger members wear their jackets and fleece regardless of the weather conditions and spend over 10 minutes warming up in public! The Chicago Bulls jackets have given way to the LA Lakers jackets. Singles in this group blaze trails that provide opportunities for romantic interludes! The Nike group seldom arrives at the park before 6 A.M. as one of the implicit goals is to target exercise during prime time!
Profound statements come easily to the Nike group. For example, “Don’t bother to watch the game! There will be two run outs and we will lose by 16 runs” is pregnant with meaning about match fixing in cricket. I, being a professional in the networking field in the USA, was touched by the statement: “B2B now means Back to Bangalore” which captures the impact of economic downturn in the IT industry. Thanks to my morning jog, I attended the inauguration of a beautiful technology park on Mysore Road and even managed a two-minute chat with our honorable Chief Minister S.M. Krishna!
The “baby boomers” are in their late 40s or early 50s. Members of this group dress in regular shirt and pants, listen to Radio City to feel young, are worried about how to make enough money before their (two) kids graduate from college, and typically walk the sand trails amidst the trees. Some members of this group display a noticeable paunch and carry a baton to ward off stray dogs. This group usually arrives at the park just before 6 A.M.
For the baby boomers, discussions related to family matters, health, and business dealings take precedence over politics and sports. For example, “If they don’t respect my family, we will not respect their family” speaks volumes about a possible infighting. This group is conscious about health as evidenced by “100 is OK. But 110 you should be careful.” I am convinced this is a snippet from a discussion on diabetes and fasting blood sugar level. I was also impressed by the upper bound being 110, rather than 120, similar to the level recommended in the USA.
Finally, this group is an avid purchaser of sites in and around the city. One gentleman was bemoaning “My 40×60 site was actually only 38×58. The promoters easily created a few extra sites by cheating the members.”
The MTR group uses the park merely as a place of assembly rather than for any exercise. After the assembly around 7 A.M. and a few warm greetings, this group takes the shortest path to the MTR restaurant for guilt-free, sumptuous breakfast and coffee. People from all age ranges belong to this group!
The “Twilight at dawn” group consists of senior citizens who are 60 and over. The members of this group dress in traditional Indian dress with men wearing dhotis and women wearing sarees and are at the park well before 5:30 A.M. Those who have visited the USA, wear coordinated name-brand jogging suits, try to walk briskly and lead the pack. Some men use walking sticks for extra support while certain women, unfortunately, don’t mind limping along without any walking aids. (I have never understood the reticence of elderly women to using walking sticks!) The members usually take the asphalt roads within Lalbagh and in many instances sit down on the benches along the way.
The singles in this group listen to classical music on their walkman sets. While exercising, some members have a tendency to clap and let the sound reverberate amidst the trees while others join the yoga session near the glass house.
In general, the twilight group gets involved in highly emotionally charged discussions such as “match fixing.” They go out of the way to identify potential grooms and brides and weigh the pros and cons of the alliances they have in mind. “Mr. X is no good. He smokes a lot.” Families where the elders are not treated with respect are also a hot, but sad, topic. I have overheard many “twilighters” lament: “I have sinned in my past life to get this sort of treatment from my son”, or “My daughter-in-law goes to Baskin Robbins regularly with her parents, but not once has she invited me.”
In summary, I have to admit that every evening I long for my morning jog in Lalbagh. In just a month, I have felt totally connected with the rest of Bangalore and hardly feel like one that has been away for over 17 years. With only a week to go before my return to the USA, I will start my daily jog with the Nike group and end it with the MTR group! But no romantic interludes as I am a happily married man!