Bangalore - The cool city

Few places in the world have an amazing power to attract people and Bangalore (also rendered Bengaluru) is one among them. I didn't know the past/present/future of this city when I first fell in love with this city. It wasn't love at first site, it happened even before visiting the city for the first time in May 2009. Bangalore has always been a dream city for many. This city which is also known as the Garden city is indeed a cool city - the people, the place and of course the climate being cool.

A demographically diverse city, Bangalore is a major economic and cultural hub and the second fastest growing major metropolis in India. Bangalore has another known name - the Silicon Valley of India because of its position as the nation's leading IT exporter.

A building in Infosys campus, Bangalore

For those who are curious to know from where did this name "Bengaluru" come from; here you go! The earliest reference to this name was found in a stone inscription found in Begur. In the inscription  "vīra gallu" (literally, "hero stone", a rock edict extolling the virtues of a warrior), Bangalore is referred to as a place in which a battle was fought and it was known as "Bengaval-uru", the "City of Guards" in Halegannada (Old Kannada).

Another popular, anecdote recounts that the 11th century Hoysala king Veera Ballala II, while on a hunting expedition, lost his way in the forest. Tired and hungry, he came across a poor old woman who served him boiled beans. The grateful king named the place "benda-kaal-uru" (literally, "town of boiled beans"), which eventually evolved into "Bengalūru".

On 11 December 2005, the Government of Karnataka announced that it had accepted a proposal by Jnanpith Award winner U. R. Ananthamurthy to rename Bangalore to Bengaluru. On 27 September 2006, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) passed a resolution to implement the proposed name change. And from then its "Namma Bengaluru".

As mentioned earlier, Bangalore is a "cool" city by all means. Owing to a higher elevation, Bangalore enjoys a more moderate climate through out the year. The coolest month is December with an average low temperature of 15.4 °C and the hottest month is April with an average high temperature of 32.8 °C.The highest temperature ever recorded in Bangalore is 38.9 °C(recorded in March 1931) and the lowest ever is 7.8 °C (recorded in January 1884).

Bangalore is currently twinned with four sister cities.

City	Country
Minsk	Belarus
San Francisco	United States
San Jose	United States
Cleveland	United States

By the way do you know what it means? Have you ever visited a city abroad and thought to yourself how much it reminds you of another place? New York City may feel like home, but there is something familiar about the fast paced lifestyle in London that makes you want to live there. Imagine those cities networking together and helping each other out; to promote tourism and cultural understanding. This is the main concept of Sister Cities International; connecting international cities in many interesting ways. So, twin towns or sister cities are cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.

This cute cool city has inspired my life and of many others'. Where ever I go, I will come back one day to be in this city. It is a Pensioner's Paradise.