Bangalore Dreams: A Factory Sourcing Blog by Fiona Thomson Design
28-01-2008
This is our
last day in Bangalore and it's been quite a change of pace from the hot, lazy
beaches of Goa. The city is situated on the Mysore Plateau and is known as the 'Garden
City of India' due to the pleasant climate, which is said to be
getting hotter each year. Unfortunately, we have experienced only cloudy
days, rainstorms and even flash flooding (September, October and August
are the wettest months, in that order). We have found our way around the
city pretty easily, with most people having a smattering, if not good command
of English. The city has the 2nd highest literacy rate in India and is
home to some of the finest colleges and research institutions in the country. Prestigious
aerospace, software and telecommunications companies are also based here – this
seems in contrast to the lack of communication from various institutions! (The
Chamber of Commerce and several trade associations have been surprisingly
uncommunicative and I have not managed to arrange meetings with any of
them despite numerous e-mails and phone calls! This has not surprised
various contacts here and seems to be quite normal!)
We have
been advised to leave our hotel at 10am to catch our 2pm flight back to Goa.
This seems surprisingly early, but major delays on the roads at this time of
day are quite common. India's 'Silicon Valley' is constructing a rapid
transport system, but this elevated and underground network will not be ready
until 2011, so it's a taxi ride to the airport instead. Bangalore is now served by
many domestic airlines, such as DeccanAir, Kingfisher (they of the beer fame!)
and Jet, which has caused further congestion problems. Security checks are
becoming much more stringent and queues form at the entrance to the
airport, as all hold luggage is scanned and secured with tape. We get through
security surprisingly quickly – most Indian airports check tickets for
departure times before even allowing travellers inside, thus controlling
numbers, but creating long queues in the process! The airport itself is small,
with the few shops selling silk ties and pearl necklaces. As usual, the airline
staff are very friendly, especially considering a power cut has caused their
computers to go down and check-in has to be done manually, with hand-written
boarding cards! Hand-luggage is checked at Immigration Control and we leave on
time for our 45 minute flight back to the sun!
We have
found our trip to Bangalore interesting and highly productive and both
companies that we have dealt with have been extremely courteous and
helpful. I hope this blog has been of interest to like-minded
travellers/designers on sourcing trips.
Fiona,
Fiona
Thomson Design
Apsara
Silks
Chaitra
Prints
