Life in the Small City - After Life in the Big City

After living in a Cosmopolitan, as well as Metropolitan city like Bangalore for close to two years, moving back to my hometown of Cochin has not been very easy.

For starters, the climate at Cochin is a lot warmer and it's a lot more humid too, as compared to Bangalore i.e.

Everybody shuts shop by 8 pm, and the roads are pretty much deserted by 9 pm. Bangalore, in sharp contrast, comes alive only after 8 pm. This is a mainly because, being the IT city that it is, people come back home only around 7 pm - 8 pm. It is only after this that they get to step out for some fun. The crowd in Cochin, on the other hand, consists primarily of employees in small-scale businesses. To the people here, come what may, their work timings end at 6 pm. And since the crowd here is primarily in the age group of 35 - 50, they prefer to head back home to their families rather than party around. To give them some credit, the disposable incomes of the IT youth in Bangalore is many times the actual salaries of the average Cochin based employee. A simple example would be the scenario at my home itself - My dad retired, after 25 years of service, at Weston Electronics, with a annual salary of 3 laks P/A. With this pay package, he had to pay for rent, 2 kids education, save money for a house, etc, etc. On the contrary, just 3 years into my career, I already earn close to 7 laks P/A. And I have no responsibilities whatsoever. I hope the message is loud and clear!

People here are a lot less broadminded than I would have liked. But, that again, we can account to the crowd being primarily in the age group of 35 - 50. People expect children to be the docile, obedient, unadventurous, not-crossing-the-line-parents-draw types. Nett result, the children are as boring as their parents!

The babes are BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD. Seriously, seeing a girl in a jeans is a rarity. Seeing a good-looking girl in jeans in am impossibility! This particular aspect, after living in Bangalore - where the girls hardly wear any clothes, is a total total heart wrencher!

Liquor is a lot more expensive than at Bangalore. I blame the higher taxes in Kerala for that. Also, you don't get a lot of brands or varieties either. By that I mean - getting stuff like Tequilla, or good cocktails, or schnapps, or exotic drinks like Kahlua or Bourbon - is a virtual impossibility.

No pubs here. The only pub I've heard of is the one at Hotel Avenue Regent. And that is not even a Pub. It's a lounge bar. On the contrary, Bangalore has a pub at every nook and corner of the city. In a place like Brigade Road, you can find a pub every 20 meters even.


But, all that said and done, on the bright side, living in the Small City comes with a lot of luxuries that life at the Big City can never afford.


Traffic is a breeze. It hardly takes me 15 mins - 20 mins to get to my office (which is a good 15 kilometers away btw). Even during peak traffic hours - the drive hardly takes 35 minutes. This is a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig blessing as compared to what I had to face at Bangalore. A drive of 12 kms to work takes, at the very least, 45 minutes. If its rush hour traffic - 1.5 hours.

"Pollution ... What is that?" is what I have to say about Cochin. On the contrary, thanks to the polluted environment at Bangalore, I ended up with a host of skin eczema and rashes.

No "You're-From-Outside-The-State" Ostracization here. This could partly be because of the fact that I am a Malayali, and therefore, not an outsider. But, in my experience, I've never seen people from any state being ostracized here. But, on the contrary, one thing I realized during my stay at Bangalore is that the localities don't really like outsiders. Atleast, that's the sentiments localities at a much more grass root level (read as financially not well off) bolster. One of my colleagues - MB (He's a Gujju btw) - got beaten black and blue on a BMTC bus, because of this charged emotion amongst the locals. This could be because of jealousy-invoked anger amongst the localities (Economics calls it "The Difference Between The Haves And The Have Nots!"). But, whatever it be, it's just not fair!

The cops are a lot less corrupted (read as cheaper to buy out!) in Cochin. Seriously... I mean it! At Bangalore, if a cop sees a Non KA (Karnataka) registration bike, the first thing they'd do is run up to your vehicle, turn off the ignition, take the key and walk away. What would result is a 20 min - 30 min long begging and pleading session, which would be followed by him quoting an astronomical bribe (which increases depending on whether/not you work in a Global MNC/Indian MNC) to not fine you. I got caught twice, and both times, I was asked for bribes of close to 2000. I mean - who the hell asks for a bribe of 2000 bucks? In comparison, if you ever get caught by a cop in Cochin, at the very max, a 100 buck bribe is all it would take for him to let you go Scott-Free. Heck - if you're lucky - he might even give you a salute!
:D
Cost of living is cheaper. 2 BHK Rentals would cost a minimum of Rs. 12,000/- in Bangalore. The same sort of a house would cost Rs. 8000/- here. Which is a good 33% cheaper. Food is a lot more economical too. A decent family (of four) outing to a decent restaurant would cost you a minimum of 1000 bucks in Bangalore. Here, a max of 500 bucks, and you can be back home all happy and content!