Life in Bangalore
November 27, 2006
We came
to Bangalore, India at the end of August 2005 after
living in Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam, for about six months. Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka, is located between the states
of Kerala
and Tamil Nadu in the southern part of India. Due to its elevation at 920m
above sea
level, Bangalore enjoys a pleasant and equable
climate
throughout the year. With this mild climate, it was once a popular
retirement
place.
|
Jazmin, Julius, Amy and her mother at Doddabetta, the highest peak at 8640ft above sea level, in the town of Otty, a five-hour drive from Bangalore. The temperature was 10°C. |
Bangalore is also the floricultural capital of the country, accounting for almost 70% of India’s total flower exports, earning it the name of “The Garden City”. As can be expected, flowers are very cheap here but an unusual sight is that all flower shops are male dominated. One thing that impressed me a lot, given that I love looking at trees, is that greenery conservation is implemented very well here; many trees are well preserved over the years — in the parks, gardens and most parts of the city.
Bangalore is now ranked fourth in the world among technology clusters, after Silicon Valley, Boston and London. It is a city much sought after by investors and professionals, locally and internationally. This gives rise to a thriving real estate and other businesses. The escalating urbanisation and migration has inevitably led to increased traffic flow and the noise pollution of incessant honking. A common bumper sticker seen with words: “Sound Honk — OK”, so honking is a must if you are a road user.
India is a religious country with many temples and shrines, big and small, and some even located at very busy streets. There are many mosques and Catholic churches everywhere and many different festivals of different faiths being celebrated throughout the year.
English is widely used here along with their state language Kannada and the national language, Hindi.
The first church we attended was FGAG — Full Gospel Assemblies of God. There are six services on Sunday, including two English services, with about 2,500 members in each service. To get to the church on Sundays, we have to pass through city traffic, which is busy even in the early morning. Upon arriving, we have to queue up for about 30 minutes outside the building just to secure a seat. Immediately after the service of one-and-a-half hours, we are advised to leave quickly to facilitate the next service. This change-over sees an assembly of a multitude of people, from food and toy peddlers and beggars of all ages lining the streets to the continuous flow of honking traffic… phew!
Recently I prayed to God to lead us to another church as I found it rather stressful attending this church. A few weeks ago, we were introduced to another church by a parent I met at the school. The Banaswadi Bible Church is located in Banaswadi, a suburb 16km away. It has about 100 members and worship is traditional — we sing quite a number of hymns.
Bandh — meaning a demonstration or strike, is part and parcel of life in India. Our first encounter with it happened at the death of a legendary film star, during which a group of people overtook the funeral service. This group was at first mistaken as his fans wanting to pay their last respects. However, they turned out to be union employees from the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu protesting some issues. Joining in the crowd was a group of ‘gate-crashers’ who torched a few buses and threw stones, damaging some office blocks.
Following this incident were some small bandhs in various parts of the city now and then. Last month, a big bandh took place over the issue of state demarcation; the whole city came to a standstill for a day with offices and schools closed and traffic coming to a complete stop.
Our children enjoy the school life here — Jazmin is now in high school Grade 8 while Julius is in elementary Grade 6. The Canadian International School (C.I.S.) had just moved to a new campus when school re-opened in August. There are about 350 students from more than 20 nations; Asians consist mainly of Korean and Japanese. For now there are not many choices of international schools in Bangalore, with C.I.S. being the better one. Andy, my husband, is occupied with work and frequent business trips. During weekends, he will take time to have a game of badminton with the children or go cycling in the housing area.
Through Newlife International Malaysia I have recently signed up for a Holistic Nutrition programme by Global Institute For Alternative Medicine (GIFAM) USA. As I am interested in nutrition, this is a good opportunity to acquire knowledge.
Since arriving in Bangalore, with the help of my mother I am learning to cook Chinese food. With the nutritional knowledge, I have also experimented and made some discoveries of healthy cooking. Indian food is generally salty and their desserts and sweets are extremely high in sugar content. Each time we eat in the restaurant, we have to remind the chef to use less salt.
There are about 100 Chinese immigrant families living in Bangalore, the majority do not speak Mandarin. English is their first language and Hindi, their second. Whenever I meet Chinese people, I will usually approach them and speak to them. Recently I met a Mr. Chen who supplies bean curd and bean sprout to the market. He invited us to his home to meet his wife and to sample some fresh bean curd. He lives very near the Banaswadi Bible Church and I asked them to join us for Sunday service. He said he needed to do deliveries on Sundays and he suggested that we take his wife instead. His three grown children are Christians and two of them live overseas.
The best part about being in Bangalore is the availability of a 24-hour Christian TV channel, which originates from the US and had recently set up an office in Jerusalem.
One programme I watch regularly Mondays to Fridays is Enjoy Everyday Life. This is a 20-minute teaching by Joyce Meyer who has been teaching the Scriptures since 1976. She has also authored more than 60 inspirational books. She teaches Bible-based principles on practical righteousness for everyday life. She shares a lot about her own personal life experiences and challenges; and how God has led her these many years. During childhood, Joyce was sexually abused by her own father for many years; she was later abandoned by her first husband when she was delivering their first child. She now has four adult children and two of them are serving full-time in her ministry. During my most depressed moments while still living in Malaysia, a close friend, Anne Marie, gave me one of her books, Managing Your Own Emotions. This book has helped me tremendously and I have read it three times. Later, I was given another of her books by Ps Reynold and Florence, The Secret Power of Speaking God’s Word. It is a pocket-sized book categorised by subject, e.g. anger, anointing, anxiety and worry, among others. Under each subject are all the relevant Scriptures, which is very handy whenever I need to proclaim God’s Word for a particular moment. One chapter under the heading ‘Confessions For Wives’ that I would like to share with you and which I practise myself is: “I am submissive to my husband so that he may be won over without words, but by my behavior, when he sees the purity and reverence of my life. I have the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. This is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.”— 1 Pet 3:1-5
Joyce Meyer’s teaching on TV has enabled me to experience the power of God’s Word and His promises. It is especially powerful when she shares how it can be applied directly to our daily life. During summer break in Malaysia this year, I had a personal issue to sort out and I remembered Joyce Meyer’s teaching that we should “go to the Throne instead of the phone.” So I took time to pray, using her book, The Secret Power of Speaking God’s Word, to proclaim God’s victory in my life. After many days it brought healing to me.
Joyce Meyer’s teachings can be viewed via her website at www.joycemeyer.org. The Asia headquarters of the Joyce Meyer Ministry is located at Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh and the website is www.jmmindia.org.
Enjoy Everyday Life!
By Amy Lee