Pollution-hit Bengaluru pros opt for a second home in the suburbs

BENGALURU: Sateesh Heddese travels 14 km to his MG Road office from his home at Adarsh Palm Retreat on the Outer Ring Road. The head of AWS Support Services at Amazon grew up in Jayanagar 5th Block, a home he still retains. The need to stay in a plush gated community villa that is just a stone's throw away from his sons' international school could not be met in the city centre. Plus, Jayanagar was no longer what it was. "Children cannot play on the roads like I did. There is too much traffic. We have all comforts, security and amenities here."

Yet, he misses the city, whose charm, he believes, is impossible to replicate. "We are living in a bubble here. There is lots of space and calm, but we cannot walk up to darshinis, vegetable markets or temples. This keeps pulling us back to Jayanagar," he says.

The need for a comfortable, hasslefree life sans traffic, pollution and commotion is driving many young professionals away from the city. Not to mention the long-standing merits they see in investing in developing areas. The trend is supported by a recently-released residential market report by Knight Frank India.

It points out that a majority of residential project launches happened in developing locations like Chandapura, Electronics City, Begur and Hosur Road. Peripheral locations in North Bengaluru had a 45% share of total launches of premium houses priced over Rs 2 crore.

Much as the new affluent can buy comfort for a price, they are unable to cut the umbilical cord with the city.

Sunil Shankar, senior director, head of professional services for APAC at GT Nexus, is building his own villa in a 50x100 sqft plot in Whitefield. He says, "We cannot buy this kind of land at affordable rates in city centre. Plus, we wanted to live in a gated community and send children to an international school." He, however, regularly visits his parents in Jayanagar to retain connections with his culture. "Art, culture and music is unparalleled here. The community is tightly built. Not to mention authentic south Indian food."

Home maintenance in the absence of occupants is fully taken care of in gated communities, says Dr P Ranganath Nayak, cardiologist, Vikram Hospital. While work keeps him closer to his Koramangala home, he rushes off to his villa at Prestige Golfshire in Devanahalli at least 2-3 times a week.

"The idea is to ultimately stay there because it helps us switch off completely. The calm is so unlike Bengaluru," he says. "But we would retain our Koramangala home as I have lived there for 22 years and there are a lot of memories attached to it."