Bangalore, India
Gayathri's Hometown
Cultural Highlights
Festivals
Deepavali, the "Festival of Lights", transcends demographic and religious lines and is celebrated with great vigour. Dussera, a traditional celebratory hallmark of the old Kingdom of Mysore, is another important festival. Other traditional Indian festivals such as Ganesh Chaturthi, Ugadi, Sankranthi, Eid ul-Fitr,Eid ul-Azha,and Christmas are also celebrated.
Languages Spoken
The main languages spoken are Kannada (the official language of the state of Karnataka) 31%, Tamil 27%, Telugu 17%, Hindustani/Urdu 15%, and other languages 10%. However, English is the lingua franca of the city's workforce. Bangalore Kannada is a vernacular dialect of Kannada, popularized by the Kannada Film Industry, spoken mainly by people residing in and around Bangalore.Cuisine
The diversity of cuisine available is reflective of the social and economic diversity of Bangalore. Roadside vendors, tea stalls, South Indian, North Indian, Chinese and Western fast food are all very popular in the city. Udupi restaurants are very popular and serve predominantly vegetarian, regional cuisine.
Favorite Sport
Cricket is the most popular sport in Bangalore. A significant number of national cricketers hail from Bangalore, including current Indian cricket team captain Rahul Dravid. Many of the city's children play gully cricket on the roads and in city's many public fields.
Arts
Bangalore is a city encouraging the arts - Nrityagram is a standing example of it. This village was established in the early 1990's to revive Indian classical dance under the auspices of well-known Odissi dancer the late Protima Gauri. It offers the long-term study of classical dance and its allied subjects, such as choreography, philosophy, music, mythology and painting. This brings the students as well as the connoisseurs and common man in touch with the best musical talents in the country.
Western Influence
Bangalore is a popular venue for rock concerts, with Mark Knopfler, Jethro Tull and The Rolling Stones, Joe Satriani, Bryan Adams, among others, having performed in the city.