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Tale of two cities
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Hyderabad and Bangalore have come a long way from just being referred to as `City of Minarets' and `City of Gardens' respectively. In an almost neck-and-neck race, both cities are striving for a unique identity that spells progress and development. SYEDA FARIDA reports.
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SPEED KINGS: Deep Purple rocks Bangalore
EIGHTEEN TILL I Die echoed the crowd at the Bryan Adams show at Bangalore and it reflected the vox populi of the people in the garden city. For a die hard Hyderabadi, a visit to the city sets in a tone of comparison, and clichéd one liners spring in the mind which can successfully pass for any detergent ad, while one tries to figure out the grey areas where Hyderabad has to work upon.
Agreed both the cities have dynamic C(EO)Ms who are focused on growth and development and are in sync with global trends, be it IT or biotechnology. But sans the comparisons of the parameters economic, demographic or others, the immediate cluster of elements termed as lifestyle, comes up for one to see as step one on the comparing train.
"You work hard in Hyderabad but you work smart in Bangalore,'' says Rupesh who has seen both the work cultures. With state of the art amusement parks such as the newly sprung Amoeba, which has a 12-lane bowling alley and a host of interactive games, there is an unwinding evening that the Bangaloreans look forward to.
This apart, the city has a lot of eateries serving exotic food such as Japanese, Thai, Parsi, and one observes the mushrooming of theme restaurants picking up in the twin cities here. "Of late, people are trying out new cuisine in Hyderabad, though they still prefer a multi-cuisine food. People haven't grown up from biryani," says Atul Bhalla, F&B Manager, ITC Hotel Grand Kakatiya. What is biryani and Irani café to Hyderabad is the pub to Bangalore. With the draught beer flowing from the UB, the people in Bangalore couldn't ask for more. With a manhole for a logo, Urban Edge reflects the undercurrents of the city and is popular with the youth especially for the gizmos-solid state lasers et al. Coffee based liquor apart, shooters served in a test tube are a rage.
While for the hard rock buffs, the Purple Haze offers Pink Floyd, Scorpions and INXS apart from the brew in the pitchers.
As for Hyderabad where the home parties are more common, the public drinking place concept is slowly catching up. In a soon to be competitive market the new pubs in the twin cities are going to be more innovative such as the Irish Pub Dublin or the cricket theme oriented Out Swinger.
While at Bangalore, one comes across cerebral discussion at the pub or the Barista or Koshys. A mention here of the numerous evening newspapers goes without fail, which provide information about the party machines -- the people here don't need a reason for partying -- to fashion to events. With popular hubs such as the Bangalore Club matched by the socialites around - Mallya, Prasad Bidappa and haute couture showcases such as the Folio, the city is alive on the fashion and art front. It is no wonder that the concerts of Deep Purple, M.C. Hammer, or the `Journey of Romance to India' -- a piano concert by Richard Clayderman or the Global Fusion Music concert featuring Kavita Krishnamurthy and Dr. L. Subramaniam, have been received with great enthusiasm.
At Hyderabad, it has been a hectic month for the Grand Slam Group with P.C Sorcar, Jagjit Singh and then the event of the lifetime - `Lata Mangeshkar Live' taking place one after the other. "Hyderabad's cosmo nature is picking up. Earlier it was dull and prosaic but with the economic activity, new companies, NRIs and varied mind sets which are receptive to new ideas, all have given a push to the entertainment industry," says Abhijeet Bhattacharjee, Grand Slam Group which pioneered event management as a concept way back in 1996.
But a majority of ad agencies and PR houses feel that Hyderabad is a city of freeloaders "You have the infrastructure to create events in Hyderabad. What makes Bangalore stand out, as the best venue for events apart from being close to all southern cities, is the attitude, be it of the sincere ticket paying public, or the cooperative administration. The uproar created for the Vengaboys show at Hyderabad does send bad vibes around the world. In Hyderabad the administration must be forthcoming and the audience should recognise the value by purchasing a ticket as they would do in London or any other foreign country," observes T. Venkat Vardhan, Managing Director of DNA Networks Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, who have had successful concerts such as `One World One Rave', `Global Fusion Music' and `Salsa Power Blast' featuring the Latino pop icon Ricky Martin.
One notices that music pulsates through the veins of Bangaloreans. It is no wonder that the city stands as the headquarter for the satellite radio World Space and boasts of the first private FM to go on air, the RadioCity 91FM. The broadcast is feel-good and has a lot of colloquial `damal dimal' or the hulla gullah with shows featuring international and national chartbusters. "We conduct opinion polls such as the best of Bangalore, take up issues such as roads in the city, talk to civic agencies," says Suresh Venkat, who anchors the popular show Hot Air on Radiocity 91FM.
Public awareness has been one of the driving factors for the infrastructure and amenities here -- be it the lakes and gardens in the heart of the city or the traffic in parts of the city. The streetscape is fascinating with the grilled gardens giving a feel of space and freshness, and the city has a 40 per cent green cover not to mention the green buildings.
In fact the new concept in housing `in and out' has been popular with the people. "Here the houses are designed in such a way that the trees in the plot are not chopped and the house is aesthetically constructed keeping the trees intact. Real estate is bullish with demand for larger spaces. With international standards and quality here, it is expensive when compared to Hyderabad," observes Guru Prasad, Joint Managing Director, Chaitanya Projects Private Ltd, Bangalore. "Good infrastructure, pleasant climate and a good condition for living for the employees," says Tina, spokesperson for Infosys on the reason for the choice of Bangalore. Infosys incidentally has the biggest software service campus in Asia sprawling across 55 acres. IBM, WIPRO and NASDAQ located here, and the ITPL and electronic City, have enabled putting Bangalore on the global IT map.
In comparison, it is Hi-tech City and Microsoft, Compaq IDC and Oracle with IIIT and ISB that add to the intellectual and business culture of the twin cities. "Both cities are absolutely comparable when it comes to IT talent wise as also since the IT sector is deadline driven," observes Amit Gupta who has worked with leading IT companies in both the cities.
Today it is the political will which is driving the twin cities on a growth path - growth which is visible in terms of better roads, MNCs and telecommunication, say observers.
"The developments in recent years in the twin cities answer the `is there a change in my life?' with a yes, be it better roads or the parks for an evening out with the family," says Anand V, of Perfect Relations who hails from Hyderabad and worked at Bangalore for a commendable time, deputed to Hyderabad to open the branch of the PR Firm.
Yet another born and brought up Hyderabadi who heads an MNC in Bangalore feels "Hyderabad is showing remarkable development over the past few years and it is at a stage where Bangalore was five years ago. Bangalore has always had the trappings of a metro and it dates decades back when Brooke Bond and other companies moved in from Calcutta following labour problems there. They brought in the employees from other states who were happy to relocate here owing to the climate and the comparatively smaller distances -- any place is between 15-30 minutes drive time. The local institutions began producing quality students. Thus the city had a head start much earlier."
"Karnataka has been a pioneer in starting private engineering and medical colleges because of the enterprise of many people such as M.S. Ramayya and others. The IISc, HAL, NAL, School of Aviation Medicine show a rich mixture of education and R&D," observes Dr. Brahmaji Rao, who served as Director of Medical Education, Andhra Pradesh and is settled in Bangalore today. He says that there is a great similarity in the two cities in terms of R&D, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics and CCMB here, plus on historical and cultural front -- both being princely states, the commonality of diwans Visweswarayya and Mirza Ismail who had the opportunity to serve both the states and the richness in culture and tradition in both the cities.
The people in both cities are familiar with each other's cultures and they know the Charminar and the museum but it is strange when they refer to a Chowpatty at Hyderabad - our beloved Tank Bund. It is sometimes so amazing how people perceive things so close to our hearts, in distant lands. But while Bangalore city tries to catch up with the real Chowpatty city of Mumbai, we at Hyderabad make our strides slow, steady and firm towards progress and development.
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