Entrepreneur Shares Reason For Calling Bengaluru "Loneliest" City: "No Inspiration For Idling"

Entrepreneur Harsh Snehanshu, who founded Cubbon Reads and Pint of View, recently called Bengaluru the "loneliest" city, sparking an online debate. He said all his friends there are "lonely" even with company. In a LinkedIn Post, he claimed that the city offers "nothing to watch".

"Of all the cities I have lived in, Bengaluru is the loneliest. All my friends here are lonely despite the company. I blame it on the city somehow," his post read.

"I have lived in different cities. Patna, Paris, Dhanbad-Delhi-Dharamshala, Mumbai, Manali, Glasgow, Goa but none felt this lonely."

"Fundamentally, there's nothing to go see in Bengaluru. The city offers nothing to watch, just a lot of things to do."

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See his post here:

"Doing is a filler when options of seeing aren't enough. As long as we are busy doing things, the city and its great weather seem perfect," he added.

"The moment the ennui of idleness takes over, the city offers nothing. One always has to substitute it with something to do. A pub to go to, a park to visit to read, paint or knit (I take the blame for starting Cubbon Reads!), a paved lake to do a 5k run around, a nearby getaway to do something."

He further said that the city provides no inspiration for idling, like having chuski at India Gate at midnight in Delhi or sitting by the sea at Marine Drive in Mumbai.

"In Bangalore, you got Toits and Empires, and thankfully, houses of friends with the necessary escapes to run away from this city's half-hearted hold, but all of them demand conversation, disallowing you to sit with your thoughts and face the existential doom. With that, we lose the rare chance to find a way to our peace too. Loneliness becomes the ground state," he added.

Cubbon Reads was founded in January 2023 by marketing professional Shruti Sah and Snehanshu. The duo began cycling from Indiranagar to Cubbon Park every Saturday to read under the trees, away from home distractions.

Unlike book clubs, there are no reading lists, no discussions, and no memberships. Attendees bring their own books, spread mats and read silently.

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Social Media Reaction

The post gained significant traction and drew mixed reactions from the online community, especially those who live in Bengaluru. "I would disagree. Bangalore has alot to offer in seeing aswell. It has so many niches at so many different places that a person can spend months literally exploring. There is something that will take a lot of time to explore thoroughly for everyone in and around Bangalore," one user wrote in the comment section.

"You should really get out and explore the city. By that I mean outside of Indiranagar and Koramangala," another user added.

"The word you are looking for is 'soul'. Bangalore has absolutely no soul, it's put together artificially, forced into Cosmopolitanism which it was never ready for, thanks to its 'weather'," a third user slightly agreed to what he claimed.