Hum Bangalore se hai...!!!

I was born and brought up in Lucknow and completed my engineering there in 2005. After that, I moved across three cities: Noida (2 years), Hyderabad (3 years), and Bangalore (15 years). I have two kids and a well-settled home in Bangalore now. Every year, we take a couple of vacations during the summer and early winter. On every trip, while interacting with drivers, hotel staff, and locals, one question kept coming up - "Aap kahan se hain?" and every time, my answer was "Hum Lucknow se hain."

Until May 2026, on a visit to Kashmir, my response was "Hum Bangalore se hain." Even as I said it, there was a slight hesitation — but the answer was almost instantaneous. "Hum Bangalore se hain!"

What changed this time? Am I losing my identity?

At heart, I will always cherish Lucknow. It's the city where I was born and raised, full of fond memories of parents, friends, relatives, and neighbours. But I've realised it's not the city itself. It's the memories, the culture, and the environment that give me a sense of belonging. Even if I remove all the people I know from the equation, I still feel more comfortable striking up a conversation with a stranger in Lucknow than anywhere else. I'm not entirely sure why that feeling exists, but it does.

Over 15 years in Bangalore, I've built a new layer of memories with my wife, kids, brother and his family, parents who keep visiting, friends, colleagues, a house we built together, and neighbours we've grown with. These memories don't replace Lucknow; they add to it. I think I've been slowly integrating Bangalore into my identity, and this moment in Kashmir was simply the first time that process became visible in my response. And is the integration complete ?? I don't know.

So — "when does your work city become your city?"

I think the answer is: when you've built enough memories there that they become a substantial part of who you are. Time matters less than depth. It's not about how many years you've spent, but how deeply those moments have settled into you.

And you don't lose your identity in this process. It evolves - into something larger, richer, and more whole.