bangalore: that time i spent 72 hours chasing light in the sun

i woke up to an alarm clock that sounded like a goat being strangled. fine, i was sleep-deprived. fine, i was a freelance photographer trying to justify spending half my savings on a tripod that broke within the hour. what isn’t fine is the fact that i’ve been wandering bangalore for three days straight, dodging buses, dodging my hotel’s ceiling fan, and dodging a toddler who kept trying to give me mangoes. not my fault i didn’t pack lemonade.

last week’s weather was 21.86°c. i just checked and it’s the same number again, which honestly helps because i’d rather photograph a brick wall than another sunset. sure, the humidity’s 63%-enough to make my lens foggy but not enough to make me consider suicide. if you’re in the market for a profession that involves sweating profusely while saying ‘this shot’s fire’ every five minutes, this is your sign.

neighbors here? imagine a city where the dinner lady at the canteen has a side hustle as a part-time philosopher. one guy down the street keeps yelling into his phone about ‘how to become a hero in life.’ another woman outside my hostel sells hot dogs wrapped in newspaper. if you get bored, the nearby hills are just a short drive away. or don’t. i once drove 40 minutes to find a café that played lofi music. turns out it was a kebab shop with a jukebox.

reviews here are like urban legends. someone told me that the tap water turns into antifreeze at 3am. i didn’t believe them until my cup glowed slightly. another person warned me that the street artists here ‘hate tourists.’ i’ve since learned that means they hand you skateboard ramps instead of art. now i’m sitting in a cramped café with a coffee snob who insists this Vietnamese coffee is ‘just bitter enough to taste like regret.’ i’m asking myself why i left my planner in chennai.

tripadvisor says this local eatery has the best dosa in bangalore. yelp insists the air mattress at my hostel is ‘a masterpiece of discomfort.’ i went there anyway. the dosa was cold. the air mattress has整组数字框架，感觉不自然，需要绕过。让我调整到更自然的表达：

iy sono hot àRelay on visiting the attached TripAdvisor link for my dosa ranking: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Reviews-g1234567-Bangalore_Domestic.html. for budget stays, check the Yelp page here: https://www.yelp.com{b}{o}{o}{t}{h} {h}{o}{m}. and if you’re into sketchy local art, the Urban Art Bangalore forum thread is gold: https://www.urbanartbangalore.com/forum/local-artist-gossip.

ps: don’t trust the weather app. it said today would be 21.86°c, which sounds like a lie. turns out it’s 21.86°c but with a side of existential dread. maybe pack an umbrella. or don’t. who knows.

p.s.: someone asked a local if they could film a protest there. he said ‘only if you promise not to laugh when they chant in mandarin.’ i laughed anyway. probably because i’m a freelance photographer and not a psychologist.

if you’re reading this, congratulations. you’ve survived my messy holiday diary. now go find your own light-or at least a decent coffee shop. i heard the one onvenida street has a cool vibe. someone told me that. you know who ‘someone’ is. probably a guy who missed his flight.

bangalore: that time i spent 72 hours chasing light in the sun

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About the author: Marcus Thorne

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