Off the Beaten Path

In the past several years I have met more people from Bangalore than from any other part of India. Could it be because most of the people I meet are IT professionals and Bangalore is the IT capital of India? The first question I ask when I meet someone who hails from Bangalore is “Where in Bangalore is your house?” The responses vary. “Hosur Road,” say some, “Basavangudi” say others. “Indira Nagar” says a third set. However, the response that most thrills me is “Koramangala.” That’s because this is the only part of Bangalore I am familiar with. Actually, let me correct myself. I am only familiar with Koramangala’s 8^th block. Logic tells me that if there is an 8^th block, there must be 7 other blocks before that. Where do these blocks begin? Where do they end? Who decided which was the first block went and which were the following ones? How does a person who is new to the city [and the suburb] figure out all these details?

Whenever I visit Bangalore, I stay with my “langotya” [desi for diaper-days] pal, S. She is my hostess and my guide during the few days I spend in the “garden city.” I bow down to her genius as she sashays confidently [with me riding pillion] through the lanes and bylanes of this fast-growing city in her tiny efficient Scooty. As I see her maneuver through the tricky streets I marvel at her powers of adaptation. How did a girl who grew up in Mumbai learn to get by so well in a new relatively unknown city? She seems to drive using a mental map. I’ve never ever seen her use a real map, however.

I, on the other hand, use maps on a regular basis to get oriented with places I know nothing about. When I moved to the US of A after I got married, this is the first habit I picked up. I figured out quite early on that “road trips” are the done thing here. Every weekend, MOH and I would head out to new and exciting places in a rental car armed with nothing more than a change of clothes and some detailed maps we’d picked up from the local AAA [of the automobile, not the alcohol fame] office. Yes, here in the US, it is easy to figure out how to drive from one place to another. All one has to do is google a particular address, or do a mapblast exercise. All car rental companies have fairly detailed maps available for the first time visitor. The local AAA offices also have detailed “triptechs” that are free for the taking. This is not the case in India.

In all my years of living in Mumbai, I don’t ever recall anyone using any kind of map to drive to any place. In fact, the only maps I ever saw [of Mumbai] were in our Geography textbooks when we were in middle school. This is the case in other states as well. I’ve often wondered how people get around from one place to another. How do auto-rickshaw, taxicab and “tempo” drivers get from point A to point B without getting horribly lost? How do railcar operators [are they known as drivers or motormen?] maneuver from one station to the next with unfailing aptitude?

This brings me to my next point. I know a gazillion engineers, several doctors and a bunch of teachers. I know a few veterinarians and some military officers. I know fashion designers and gemologists. I even know a geologist. Yet, I cannot recall ever meeting a cartographer. Are there cartographers in India? What does one do to become a cartographer? What kind of degrees do these people need in order to enter the field? Are there colleges that train them? How much do they get paid? Drawing up precise maps seems like such an intriguing way to spend one’s life. Do the people who chart out maps ever travel to the places they draw up? I wonder…

In another day and age, I might’ve enjoyed pursuing map-making as a profession. For now, however, I must limit myself to finding out more about these unsung heroes.