Cunningham Road

I live on Cunningham Road, which is a bustling, centrally located street less than 2 km north of the main part of town. It is a convenient street to live on with numerous coffee shops, a choice of Indian and international restaurants, a small grocery store, a Chapters-like bookstore, and a mall.

Grand Sigma Mall is fairly basic (it is no Sherway Gardens). Its best feature is its movie theatre. Movies in Bangalore are in English, Kannada (the local language) or Hindi. The movie experience is fairly similar to at home with three notable exceptions: there is a short intermission in the middle of the movie (great idea, time to get a snack), metal detectors at the door (which are everywhere in Bangalore thanks to the threat of terroism), and popcorn is 75 rupees (less than $2). I haven’t yet been to a Bollywood movie, but I will definitely do that before I leave!

I have a love/hate relationship with the auto rickshaws (seen below on Cunningham Road), my primary mode of transportation. These three wheeled taxi-like vehicles are at times extremely convenient. It is relatively easy to flag one down and they are affordable (my 15 minute / 5 km commute to work is about 30 rupees, or $0.75). There are downsides however, most notable is dealing with drivers. Sometimes they don't want to go where you are going, or have no idea where you want to go (limited English). And although they are supposed to use metres to determine the fare, often they refuse and you have to negotiate a price upfront. This can be a trying and frustrating experience – and if it is the evening or you are going to an upscale place or because you are a foreigner – you sometimes have to accept paying double or even triple the metre rate.

Surprisingly, within a five minute walk from my apartment there are three American fast food restaurants: Domino’s, McDonald’s, and Pizza Hut. And yes, I have succumbed to both McDonald’s (sample menu variations: Maharaja burger, like a big Mac but with chicken, there are no beef hamburgers on menu) and Pizza Hut (sample menu variation: Paneer El Rancho Pizza with cajun spiced paneer, black olives, corn, capsicum, onion and cheese).

My apartment is on the eighth floor of Cunningham Apartments. It is comfortable, but fairly basic by North American standards (no T.V, couch, or oven). My roommate – Pallavi – is originally from Kolkata, and works in marketing for a dance studio. Five days a week, a maid sweeps the floors, cleans the dishes, and does my laundry by hand.

The view from my balcony at sunrise, and looking down onto the neighbouring apartment.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Although Cunningham Road is very busy, my apartment backs out onto Edward Street. This road is much quieter, with lots of trees and an adorable garden cafe. In fact, one of Bangalore's nicknames is the "Garden City" for its abundance of trees.