Forget Bengaluru traffic, rent or weather. Chennai man points out 5 'small things' he loves about India's Silicon Valley

Snarling traffic, expensive rents and unpredictable weather. The first city that comes to mind is Bengaluru, which often grabs the headlines as people complain about these issues. However, a Chennai-based migrant living in the Silicon Valley of India said that there is another side of the city that is worth appreciating. After living in Bengaluru for 1.5 years, the man took to Reddit to share his list of "small things" that makes his life in the city better. His post was less about defending the problems of Bengaluru and more about also taking notice of the good facilities and everyday conveniences that often go unnoticed.

Small parks that become part of everyday life

One of the first things the Chennai man highlighted was Bengaluru’s network of small neighbourhood parks. He specifically clarified that he was not talking about major attractions such as Lalbagh, Cubbon Park or Agara Lake. Instead, he was referring to the “small box or circular parks” tucked into streets and residential colonies. According to him, these modest green spaces can make a surprising difference to everyday life. He said the parks near his home had become places where he had gone on dates, jogged or simply “meandered around on lazy weekend afternoons” when the weather was pleasant.

Affordable vegetarian food that does not compromise on hygiene

The second thing on his list was Bengaluru’s culture of inexpensive vegetarian food. Coming from Chennai, he said he was already familiar with good dosa and idli. However, he pointed out that affordable food that is also hygienic is not always easy to find. He said some Bengaluru restaurants had become a “lifeline” for him wherever he had stayed in the city. From tiffin and rice to fresh juice, he appreciated being able to find clean food at affordable prices. The memory is particularly strong from his time as an underpaid intern, when he said, “the Rs 80 meals saved my life.”

Bengaluru’s connectivity makes exploring South India easier

The city’s location was another major advantage for the migrant. He described Bengaluru as the “heart of South India” and said people from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh could take overnight buses to their hometowns. The connectivity also makes weekend travel easier, according to him. He pointed to Karnataka and Kerala’s beaches and hill stations as destinations that can be explored from Bengaluru, while Goa is around 12 hours away. He also praised the KSRTC bus network, calling the buses “a boon.”

The 500 bus series is his personal Bengaluru favourite

For his fourth point, the Reddit user got particularly specific. He said he works almost all five days from an office on Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road and commutes from a residential area off ORR. While his colleagues frequently spend more on Rapido and Uber, he relies on the 500 bus series. “For me,” he wrote, an AC bus arrives roughly every five minutes and takes him to and from work for Rs 30. His enthusiasm was unmistakable. He joked that the bus would show up “be it rain or storm or even a zombie apocalypse,” adding that there was “No surge pricing nothing.”

Temples offer a quieter side of Bengaluru

The final point on his list was something that he felt gets overshadowed by Bengaluru’s reputation as an IT and pub hub. He highlighted the city’s temples and the markets around them, particularly in core Bengaluru. For him, these spaces offer something very different from the image of the city that outsiders often associate with technology, offices and nightlife. He said the city has “beautiful temple and temple adjacent markets” that can provide a sense of “inner peace.”

The Chennai-based migrant acknowledged that complaints about Bengaluru are often valid. He also pointed out that issues such as traffic, garbage and corruption exist in Chennai and other Indian cities too. But after 1.5 years in Bengaluru, he said he simply wanted to “spread some positivity” by drawing attention to the everyday details that make the city feel a little more liveable.

Netizens react

One user wrote, "Excellent post . Thanks for highlighting such beautiful small things of namma Bengaluru. Many times these things nobody highlights or gets masked off by relating everything to good climate of Bengaluru !" Another user who has stayed in 8 different cities felt, "the people in Bengaluru are very warm." One north Indian added, "As a northie living in Bengaluru, I definitely love it more than north." One said, "I echo deeply with this. I am South Indian, raised in the Gujarat and MP and by all logical means Hyderabad could've been the best place. But the last 1.5 years in Bengaluru, there is something that captivates me, the affordable and reliable restaurants, the parks that allow me to get my daily workout done, genuinely good people I see and there's this unique heritage I feel a part of. Had the real estate be more affordable I would've bought a house here not kidding."