It is not exactly the way families in
bureaucratic Delhi conduct their lives, nor does it go with the lifestyle of commercial,
cosmopolitan,' 9 to 5' Mumbai, centred around the city's famous suburban trains and the
BEST buses. It is certainly different from the culture-driven ways of Calcutta's family
life, and although predominantly South Indian, family lifestyle in Bangalore does not
carry the strong conventional, flavour of Chennai either. All the same, family lifestyle
of Bangalore has the basic elements of metropolitan life of India in general, while yet
retaining its own reputed brand.
One major characteristic of family life in Bangalore is its extreme sensitivity to the
winds of change blowing across the socio-cultural landscape of the world at large. You
think of the waves created on the technology and market frontiers across the globe, and
you will find instantaneous ripples of them in Bangalore, unlike anywhere else in India
today. Bangalore is now the best barometer of the social impact of globalisation,
corporatisation, consumerism, nuclearisation of families and such other basic social and
economic shifts taking place in India now.
The lifestyle of an average Bangalore family could be viewed against the background of its
professional or occupational core, income, age mix, and even its location inside the city.
Take the aspect of income, profession and today the city--one of the strongholds of
computer software in India--is witnessing an unprecedented change in the lifestyles of
families whose income is derived from computer software. For instance, nuclear families
with both husband and wife earning fabulous salaries as software engineers in
multinational companies in the city, have a lifestyle that is utterly different from that
of, say, an average state government official, managing an extended family which is not
uncommon in the city. And then there are many families in Malleswaram whose bread winners
all stay abroad, with only their old parents staying back home and contacting them daily
through e-mail. (Many of them have personal Internet connectivity) Some of them keep
shuttling between the U.S. and India quite frequently, and their language, dress, food
habits, holidaying styles all show so much of American influence that they seem a world
apart from their fellow citizens in, say, Yeshwanthpur, their immediate neighbourhood in
Bangalore. Increasing influx of foreign nationals, non-resident Indians and even north
Indians (mainly businessmen and students of medicine or engineering) is also having its
own effect on the overall lifestyles of Bangaloreans, particularly in the higher economic
brackets.
And the typical Kannadiga family in lower and middle income groups in, say, Chamarajpet or
Basavanagudi is undergoing a change too, in its own way, with the growing influence of
double-income, nuclear families and the reducing influence of public sector employment.
Although PC and the Internet are still mysteries to them, TV has become the centerpiece of
their lives. The Kannada TV channels, for example, have been noticeably impacting family
lives at the level of housewives. While soap operas on TV are rewriting family routines,
the commercials there are changing the spending and shopping habits of average women
radically. The womenfolk are also getting increasingly conscious of beauty and figure,
leading to a spurt in beauty parlours, cosmetics and fitness centers even in average
income localities.
While clubs, pubs, bars and TV have been consuming most of the off-the-field time of
elders, the children are finding it increasingly tough to divide their time between TV and
"tuitions." (More about it under a separate head.) Educationally, they are
having to manage not only their routine, but also take up computer training, Karate,
disco-dancing or similar co-curricular pursuits, in addition to participation in quizzes
and sports contests as an allround preparation for the fiercely competitive days ahead.
Marriages, festivals and other social events have also been making heavy demands on the
private time of the families, and many of them are turning more and more to religion too,
a clear indication of which is the growing number of temples, gurus and increasing
incidence of religious observances and rituals in the city At the same time. rising income
levels and standards of living and global awareness are reshaping the leisure habits of
the people, resulting in the rapid growth of holiday resorts and timeshare facilities in
the environs of Bangalore.
Although the youth in particular are calling the shots in reordering traditional
lifestyles, old people too are joining them quietly and slowly. And with the city getting
more and more open to newer trends and tastes, the family life in Bangalore promises not
to give up its image as the showcase of shifting lifestyles in India.
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