• 28 Dec, 2025 *

i spent my last 4 years in delhi for my undergrad studies and then got the opportunity to move to bengaluru for my first job. i had initially resisted the idea, particularly because of how i perceived the town as an “active twitter user”. delhi was a dream - fun, bittersweet, and full of memories.

i remember the last days when i was dropping my girlfriend at the airport. she was finally placed, had the best offer on campus, and was heading back to vadodara. standing at the gate, almost crying and holding back, i realized delhi would never be the same. then i moved out.

five years back someone had said to me, when you get raw carrots in veg momos, auto-walas charging 5x, and pudina water instead of imli water and chole instead of salted mashed potatoes in pani puri, it would be your “welcome to delhi.”

it takes 30 minutes to reach the delhi airport from hauz khas, and it took me 2.5 hours to reach my hotel from the bengaluru airport. that was my “namma bengaluru!” moment.

delhi is great if you love romance. it has great restaurants and lots of options for pasta, cheesecakes, and tiramisu. you might want to avoid chole bhature and momos if you know what authentic taste truly is. against all the hype, a lot of street food lacks substance.

i personally believe delhi has an affinity for ruining simple foods while executing sophisticated dishes well. it also has a lot of cafes, but most of them are date spots where you hold hands and giggle with your significant other. they have monuments, museums, bookstores, and obviously better sunkissed winters. but that never justified to me a 100 rs jalebi, 200 rs paratha at chandni chowk, or a 200 rs paneer roll. though buying 5 books for 200 rs at delhi gate was fun!

bengaluru feels different. unlike delhi, it has pretty, very walkable streets, amazing cafes, cool/chill people, and it’s the best place in india to be if you’re young and in your 20s. there’s less chaos, small buildings, lots of trees, lakes. it’s cleaner, and it feels very much like my hometown - hazaribagh. the only add-on is the town is full of series a–z startups and money being thrown around. you go to a cafe, look at a 220 rs cafe latte, and realize it’s worth spending if you’re going to spend the next 3–4 hours enjoying that corner space with a charging point.

then i think about twitter and how i built my perspective of this town without being here, based on the ragebaits i’d come across. i think people whose first city is bengaluru, and those who’ve never been to another tier 1 city before, will always fail to fully appreciate this place. i’ve been to delhi, spent considerable vacations in kolkata, did a lot of solo travel around punjab, rajasthan, and uttar pradesh, and walked across many streets just to “understand a town”. i guess before moving to bengaluru, it helps to experience other big cities to truly appreciate the energy.

the past 2 weeks in bengaluru have been awesome. both cities have their own respective cultures. thanks to pathik and dev for meeting me the next day, taking me out for a beer, and sharing their traumatic memories which still make me think if i made the right decision about where to get my apartment. also, super thanks to people who dm’ed me, and those i reached out to and made plans with in the past 2 weeks!

i have high hopes for this place. i hope i don’t jinx it all. every place asks you to change your ideas a little, and that’s for the good. a small place teaches you community and friendship, and perhaps a big city teaches you etiquette and taste. maybe cities don’t need their warriors, they just need time and a little more walking.

happy new year!