Market madness and a fall

Not unusually, I didn’t know much about my new location, Bangalore. To get me started, I asked ChatGPT to recommend ten things to do in Bangalore. Local markets are always a good way to see a thriving place in India. I picked KR Market.

For Bangalore, I’d booked an apartment. This was nice. However, it was about 50 minutes from the centre, which made it inexpensive to stay. It also had a downside, which I’d later discover.

Instead of getting a taxi or auto-rickshaw (locally called a tuk tuk or auto), I decided to get a bus. There was one leaving from around the corner.

At the bus stop, I got talking to three students who were just graduating in electronic engineering. They were doing intern jobs currently. They said, despite Bangalore being the Silicon Valley of India, the job market was deflated.

I eventually got to KR Market and later Avenue Street. They were busy! I bought some bananas because I had had no breakfast.

This was a reminder of the India I remembered from my previous trip. It was manic, busy, and colourful!

At one point, I came across the “red people”. They well selling tomatoes and apples. I asked one person if I could take his photo. After nodding, he pointed to another stall. Then another. We had a good laugh as I took photos.

For dinner, I had found a vegan restaurant called Simplifry. I made my way there on the metro. Bangalore has two metro lines: blue and green. They are building two more.

When I got near Simplifry, I couldn’t find it! I went backwards and forwards, following Google Maps. But I still couldn’t find it. Eventually, I called them. A woman, Sahana, answered. They were on the first floor of a building! What’s more, they’re not a restaurant! They’re a kitchen that delivers food. However, Sahana said they have a table, which they let people use, if they’re comfortable eating in a kitchen!

Sahana directed me to the first floor. It was dark and I should have put my phone torch on. Or, as she later said, she should have switched the outside lights on.

As I was going, I trod on something which collapsed. It was a cover over a ditch. I fell. One foot ended up in a pool of liquid! Luckily, it was just muddy water, not something worse!

Before entering the kitchen, I took off my shoes and socks, one of which was soggy. Sahana was very concerned but I was fine. I could easily have been injured. I went in the kitchen. It was spacious.

Sahana turned out to be the co-founder of the kitchen. Whilst my food was being made, we had a long chat. She said the main idea behind the kitchen was to make healthy vegan versions of familiar Indian dishes.

I had a tofu rice dish and a chocolate banana cake. This was accompanied by a drink that contained roses in some form. It really tasted of roses!

Whilst talking to Sahana, I asked about their recipes. She would ask the chef and translate. At one point, the chef gave me a curried, lightly fried tofu coated in peri-peri!

I also asked them to pack some chocolate cookies to take away.

For my homeward journey, I tried to order an Uber. However, no driver accepted the ride. I tried to hail an auto. They all said it was too far to go at that time of night. They’d be unlikely to get a return passenger.

So, I decided to take two buses. When I was waiting for the second bus, an auto driver asked me where I was going. He quoted 500 Rs, double the usual amount. Of course, he wanted to cover the return journey. It was now 11.30pm. So I accepted the ride. It had been a long, exhausting day in the heat.