5things I learned after moving to Bangalore

Moving to Bangalore is one of the best decisions that I ever made in my life. I was confused and have no clued what I really wanted to do with my life that is when the opportunity at Enable India opened up.

After my post why I live alone in Bangalore I thought a lot and decided to write this post

5things I learned after moving to Bangalore

Using the cane

First important thing I realized after I moved to Bangalore is to move around freely and I found that is only possible if I learn how to use the white cane. I know that I am blind and cannot see, but how I can I convey the same message to other’s on the road and I got lost while I was trying to find my way to the hostel, so I decided to get the cane and do the necessary training. It was a hard decision to make because I never considered that I would require it and felt bit uncomfortable when I started using it. People look at you as if you landed from another planet and if there is any group there will be a murmur and short talk or a laugh. Soon I mastered using the cane and I was all independent travelling all over Bangalore through public transport. In Hyderabad this would have not been possible as I got a car and a driver to take care.

Attending events and metes

While I was in Hyderabad I never attended any event because I was scared and felt shy with regard to my disability. I always use to think what will other’s think about me if I bump into them or ask for any kind of help. First event I attended in Bangalore is the Indiblogger meet and I felt comfortable and started going to blogger meets and other events which interested me. It was tough at the first and then I started learning new methods of networking, talking to people around and asking for help. It was my shyness and fear which pulled me back and I mastered it slowly in last 2yrs. Still I feel uncomfortable when I walk into any event but I slowly try to get control of my situation and try to make my way out of my worse fears. Any how once you attend couple of events in Bangalore you keep meeting at least one person whom you already met in the previous event or on any social media channel, so it is easy once I find one person whom I know.

Asking for help

As a person with visual disability I always need help while I travel or step out of my house for some or the other reason. While I am in Hyderabad I use to feel shy asking for help, but when I landed in Bangalore a friend who is also visually challenged told me that if you want to be independent in Bangalore the first thing you need to learn is how to ask for help without any hesitation. I tried couple of times and failed, but my friend took me out and trained me. Slowly I started asking for help and today I am comfortable saying I am a blind person and need help to catch the bus or cross the road. Some times you get the help and sometimes you don’t so I keep trying.

Managing the finances is one of the most important things which I learned after I moved to Bangalore. When I first came down to Bangalore I was careful enough not to spend all my money and use to make a complete note of daily expenditure. After I got into work I learned how to pay my phone, broadband and current bills. While I am in Hyderabad I have a fixed amount of money in my pocket and my sister sorted out the money for me, but in Bangalore I have no clue how much I got in my pocket and how to identify the coins and notes. But slowly I found my own way of identifying the notes and coins by feeling the size and today I can easily identify my money with out any problem. This is helping me to process any small transactions without any hesitation or else earlier I use to only give 100rupee notes for any kind of transaction and come home with all the change, sit and count all the money slowly and then sort them out.

I always thought that watching movies, going to parties & pubs, spending time with friends is a waste of time, but Bangalore crowd has turned and proved me wrong. Once I got the taste of Bangalore night life along with couple of friends now I spend a lot of my weekend entertaining my self by one or the other way. This helped me to improve my relations with a lot of people and I made a lot of new friends. I learned that there is no point in achieving the goals if I did not enjoy the work and one cannot be successful all alone by himself.