Bangalore, India is quickly becoming known as the Silicon Valley of India. In my short stay, I saw offices for all the major players in the hi-tech industry. Companies like Sysco Systems, Intel, HP, and others can be seen in large new buildings. The company I was working with on this particular trip, MindTree Consulting, was busy building 2 new buildings for their expected grow this next year.

Bangalore is a very crowded city, where two-stroke vehicles are the normal mode of travel. Saddly, when it comes to lasting impressions, the smell of gasoline and kerosene will forever come to mind. We started out using taxi's but quickly changed to using autocabs. Taxi's move too slowly through traffic and the fumes get trapped inside. Autocabs wiz in and out of traffic with full ventilation. Unfortunately, the polution problem contributes heavily to a severe respitory problem for the people living there.

The uniqueness of Bangalore can be attributed to the open minded progressive nature of its citizens. It is a true melting pot of different people, cultures, and languages. Bangalore is known to be the only city in India in which you will hear Kannada spoken as much as Tamil or Telugu or Hindi. The city is also home to some of the most high tech industries in India. As a result of its cosmopolitan nature, Bangalore attracts people from all over India and is among the fastest growing cities in Asia.

The Central Park Hotel was a fantastic hotel for only being rated as a 3-Star hotel. I got the opportunity to stay in a corner executive suite on the top floor of the hotel. The suite contained a large living room and a large bedroom with large sitting room. There were two of everything including TV's, refrigerators, and bathrooms.