Somewhere in the middle of nowhere
Since the last 3-4 months , I have been roaming the interiors and outskirts of Bangalore hoping for a good deal for my own chunk of land in the Goldmine called Bangalore..
From 3 bedroom houses, 30 kms away to 80 Lac Penthouses, from 9th floor apartments flats that give you a panoramic view of the IT city to houses that can allow a sneak-peek into the neighbor's bedroom 3.5 feet away..
The Pool side at the Palm Meadows
Sometime in the middle of this, my attentions shifted to owning land, and maybe building my dream house myself.. but here too the stats are very crazy, the deals far more vague and dangerous and the lack of visible cues that surely add to the discomfort. You were used to seeing the owner talk tall tales of Land appreciation and unbuilt 80 feet roads to Metro stations to Circular City Rail faster than the Bangalore Development could even imagine. The best part always used to be the castle building exercise of any plot right in the middle of nowhere, and you would end up arguing 15 or 16 Lacs beside the cow that would be cheerfully enjoying the conversation, with a tuft of grass it would have just denuded from your to-be-property, in its mouth.
"Tavern Something"?? Dont remember the name
Language problems, Tall Promises, False claims, Mental hassles, or just the distance of it all, made me think, of a prebuilt house, at not so close , yet close portions of the city.. The work's still in progress, and to tell the truth ,
the trials and tribulations havent lessened by an inch, yet when my company wished me to attend a conference in Palm Meadows, one of the first and poshest Row House, 50% utility land residential complex, believe me, the conference agenda was the last thing on my mind, when we entered the club house for Breakfast at 7 am
real..
Palm Meadows is barely 2 kms from Marathahalli. Maybe around 15-20 mins from the airport. This is not an advertisement or real estate review blog and I am sure you would find dozens of links on the net, there are even blogs of people talking about their homes. So I will spare you the cost / benefit analysis and other paraphernalia.
Anyways, 2-4 crore villas are surely out of reach for the non-genius next-doorlike, non-industrialist lineaged, non decades-expat experienced, dermatologically "brown" classified like me. But the day long experience was worth it. The place looked like the proverbial Hollywood celeb locality, and though I ve seen farm houses or Posh localities in Delhi, but this had the additional flavor, the typical
Bangalorean setting. Lovely spic and span houses, with manicured lawns and trees bending on the weight of their blossom. Clean pedestrian Walkways, and Driveways, with precision planted palm trees, and villas all around you with the similar architecture/feel bringing with it a sense of one-ness. Even Bangalore's typical cumulus cloud setting that you normally overlook during your everyday motions looked picturesque.
"Sorry, Sir - This is a without permission photo of your place.. "
We started our conference on time, and the tea sessions and the food were pretty good, though the wireless internet connection wasnt the best you would find and intermittent power outages (which would make you switch to the energy saving light profile in the club house) made you realize that sometimes even the rich and the powerful cant escape the pressing common problems of the nation, well atleast in some minimal way.
What immediately strikes you though is the stark contrast which the place shows you. You have these multi-millionaire villas and CEO residences, yet , the place is filled with the worker men, in their thatch-settlement garbs, working accross the road, mowing the lawn or just maybe standing outside the gate. Where ever you saw, there were splendid villas, yet the people , were just workers going about their work, doing some chore, or just standing in attention, the odd Hero Cycle commuting beside the parked cars, as if it was a world where houses ruled humans and made them maintain themselves, where the houses were fashion worthy and the people out of it :) and it was the most conspicuous aspect. 
A view from the top
Even before you enter the premises, you go through low-economic zones and then across a small railway line.. the middle- class slums- Huge cities being constructed by Purvankara overnight, columns and columns and columns of 20 storey - ish apartments, stacked one after the other, which are maybe selling for 40 lacs a piece without any visual assurance of any supporting infrastructure, roads or schools or parks or community centres, and here just 1 km and a wall away, was this peaceful, picturesque setting, a BMW here and a merc there, with 3 helpers and gym or pool and the garden to sit and breath the same air that the construction workers breathe as they sweat about building a like minded dream house of some other resident of the city, and within his strength and finances.
My mind was occupied in the intricacies of the task at hand in the seminar, but then, I took some time away to click some photos and collect some from others.
Mr. Gopalakrishna at the conference
On the way back, waiting for our conveyance to start back to our destination, as the sun was speeding its downward journey, I looked through the bus window to see a father collecting dozens of tennis balls and throwing them to his 3-4 year old daughter holding her racquet across the astro turfed lawn tennis court. It was Saturday evening time and it seemed the realization of one of my dreams itself, the setting , the place, the pastime , (even the cute little kid ;-) ) . Though maybe heritage, color, overseas bank balances , or exponential successes arent my forte.. though maybe the 40 Lakh apartment on the 6th floor still seems an expense too many, on seeing those dream houses, thankfully my dreams and wishes didnt undergo a reality check , that evening... They still are the same, :) and I am still striving for them.. Wish to realize them, somewhere... someday...
Currently on the juke box - "Dry County" - Bon Jovi..
