26 Years in Bangalore

December 16, 2025

It’s hard to believe that exactly 26 years have passed since I first started my professional journey in this city. Bangalore was a different world on December 16, 1999. It was still holding onto its title as the "Pensioner's Paradise," a city where the trees outnumbered the traffic jams and the air carried a cool, crisp promise of rain rather than the hum of urban chaos.

Today, as I look back at over two and a half decades of life and work here, I realize my story isn’t just about career growth—it’s about growing up alongside a city that was transforming itself into the Silicon Valley of India. From the quiet charm of Cunningham Road to the relentless energy of Bannerghatta Road, this is a chronicle of my 26 years in Namma Bengaluru.

The Beginning: TCS and the Charm of Cunningham Road

My journey began at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Cunningham Road. For anyone who knows Bangalore today, Cunningham Road is a premium commercial stretch, but back in 1999, it had a distinct old-world elegance. It was lined with canopy trees and colonial-style bungalows that were slowly being converted into offices.

Landing that first job at TCS felt like arriving at the gateway of the future. The IT boom was just gathering steam. We weren't just writing code; we were part of a cultural shift. I remember the thrill of walking into the office, the camaraderie of fresh graduates, and the feeling that we were on the cusp of something big. Lunch breaks were less about rushing to a food court and more about exploring the quaint eateries nearby, enjoying a city that still took afternoon naps. The traffic was negligible compared to today's standards—you could actually predict your travel time!

Climbing the Ladder: HP and Ness Technologies

As the years rolled on and the Y2K bug became a distant memory, my career moved forward. I transitioned to Hewlett-Packard (HP) and later to Ness Technologies.

These were the years of rapid learning. The city was expanding outward. The IT corridors were shifting from the central business district to the suburbs. Working at HP gave me exposure to global corporate culture, while Ness Technologies honed my agility in a competitive service environment. These stints were the bridge between my rookie years and the long haul that was to come. They taught me resilience—a trait I would need as Bangalore’s infrastructure began to groan under the weight of its own success.

The Long Haul: 18 Years at CSG on Bannerghatta Road

If the first eight years were about exploration, the next 18 were about putting down roots. I joined CSG (CSG Systems International), and this became my professional home for nearly two decades.

I spent most of my time at the Bannerghatta Road office (Divyasree Towers). Bannerghatta Road is legendary in Bangalore, not just for the IIM campus or the National Park nearby, but for being a microcosm of the city’s explosion. When I started at CSG, the road was busy but manageable. Over 18 years, I watched it turn into one of the city's most critical (and congested) arteries.

Spending 18 years in one company is rare in the tech world, but CSG was different. It was where I matured from a young techie into a seasoned professional. I saw teams change, technologies evolve from legacy systems to cloud-native platforms, and the office itself transform. We weathered recessions, celebrated project go-lives, and became a family. The Bannerghatta office holds memories of late-night deployments, chai breaks at the stall outside the tech park, and the collective groan of commuters whenever it rained and the traffic stood still.

The Soundtrack of My Commute: Radio City 91.1 FM

You cannot talk about surviving Bangalore traffic without talking about FM radio. For me, the soundtrack of those years was Radio City 91.1 FM, which launched right around the time the city’s traffic started getting serious.

My mornings and evenings were defined by the voices of RJs who felt like friends sitting in the passenger seat:

• Vasanthi Hariprakash: Her show was iconic. She had this incredible ability to connect with the city's pulse, switching effortlessly between English and the local flavor. Listening to her "Good Morning Bangalore" was the only thing that made the slow crawl at Jayadeva Flyover bearable.
• RJ Darius: Darius Sunawala’s wit and energy were infectious. He brought a certain coolness to the airwaves that resonated perfectly with the young IT crowd.
• RJ Sunaina: Her shows were a mix of fun, warmth, and and great music choices that helped unwind after a long day of coding and meetings.

There were days when I would reach my destination but stay in the car for a few extra minutes just to hear the end of a segment or a song. In an era before Spotify and podcasts, these RJs were the curators of our moods.

The Electric Pulse: IPL and Chinnaswamy Stadium

No memoir of Bangalore is complete without mentioning the obsession that unites us all: Cricket. Living here meant being swept up in the IPL fever. The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium isn't just a cricket ground; it’s a cauldron of emotion.

I have fond memories of heading to the stadium, often straight from the office. The atmosphere inside is indescribable—the "sea of red" RCB fans, the deafening chants of "RCB! RCB!", and the collective gasp of 32,000 people when a wicket falls. Even when the team broke our hearts (which, let's be honest, happened often), the spirit never died. Watching matches there, under the floodlights with the cool Bangalore breeze blowing, remains one of the quintessential experiences of my life here.

26 Years Later

Today, as I sit here in 2025, Bangalore is a megacity. The Metro zips above the roads where I once waited for hours. The skyline is unrecognizable from 1999.

But beneath the glass facades and the metro pillars, the soul of the city remains. It’s in the filter coffee that still tastes the same, the weather that forgives all sins, and the memories of a 26-year journey that took me from a fresh-faced graduate on Cunningham Road to a veteran on Bannerghatta Road.

Here’s to Bangalore—the city that gave me a career, a home, and 26 years of unforgettable memories.

© 225 | A Bangalore Journey