Experience Himalayan chill in Bengaluru

Did you know that on Sunday, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a maximum temperature of 21.3 degree Celsius, Shimla in Himachal Pradesh recorded 20.7, while our own Bangalore, recorded a high of 19.8 degree Celsius? Cyclone Jal made city climes cooler than locations on the Himalayas! And Monday was wet too.

No wonder then that after a long and wet weekend, many Bangaloreans were reluctant to step out of the house on Monday morning. Regular Monday morning blues were worse than usual.

It was the day after Deepawali, and pedestrians had much to negotiate. Deepawali litter combined with pavements that were under repair and dug up in many parts, to create a royal mess.

There were potholes and construction material, litter and mud, all mixed into a fine broth by rainwater. Pedestrians leapt from one safe foothold to another.

“It’s the same scene each time, after a downpour,” said  Manjunath D, a senior citizen. “What is the government doing? What are civic agencies up to? There is so much litter on the streets, so much work remains always in progress. The footpaths are full of slush and water, the litter is everywhere, and rainwater just makes it all so much worse,” he said.

Children waiting for buses, vans or autorickshaws to get to school were wrapped up in warm clothes. There were older students who seemed to quite like the rain. Stuck in slow-moving traffic, many reached school and college late on Monday morning. “I was drenched, waiting for the school bus, and then walking from the parking lot to class. I was late too, but the teachers were kind,” said Sakshi Pradhan, a student.

Viren Reddy, a college student, described the whole experience with some pleasure. “I could not think of a better way to start the week after a long holiday. I enjoyed riding the bike to college. The roads were bare, and there was a light drizzle. I was late for college, but so were several of my friends, so we were all in the same boat.”

Many officer-goers, however, found the rains playing spoilsport. Many could not make it on time to meetings. Sandeep Bhat, a business analyst, said, “I had a meeting, and I reached office not just late, but also a little wet.”
“Students stayed home. If I could, I would too,” was the refrain of Ashley Jude Joseph, a teacher.

Dr Moksha Narayan, a dentist, said, “Patients don’t like stepping out to the clinic with the weather like this. It’s worse that it’s just the beginning of the week, and people are feeling lazy anyway.”

Among the office-goers who had no complaints were employees of IT firms who were provided cab facilities. Nazia H, an IT professional, said, “Yeah, I felt lazy about getting to work, but with the cab service, it was no more difficult getting in to office than any other day.”

Traffic police, however, maintained that there were no traffic jams. There were, however, several stretches where traffic movement was painfully slow.

At MG Road, Ulsoor, Mysore Road, Bannerghatta Road, Majestic and Magadi Road, traffic was seen moving at a snail’s pace