Lifestyle
Time to Leave This City to Start Anew
Chayanika Misra·Apr 28, 2025·5 min read
To good times 🥂
Later in the blog, I will share my experience living in Bangalore. But first, let's start with the important things.
I came here as an intern right out of college. Moving from Vellore to Bangalore felt like a dream, so much freedom, so many new experiences. All the VITians would know what I mean. I also had this misconception that the airport was within the city, so I would reach faster than Vellore to Chennai airport. A misconception it was.
After coming to Bangalore in 2019, I started a completely new life, made new bonds, let go of some (regretted it later, but it was too late). Anyway, when I landed here, I had my best friend waiting for me in the city. I couldn't believe we would be in the same city again. During my internship, I stayed in Whitefield and my best friend in Koramangala, 18 km apart. But we still managed to meet every weekend, traveling all the way. I can't believe how broke I was then. I was earning 12k a month, and still enjoyed so much.
Oh, the city. Exploring Bangalore with my best friend was a whole other level of fun. Walks at MG Road, shopping at Church Street, that momo place right in front of BOHO (we always forget the name, and I think it has changed now), 1 AM walks through Koramangala, spontaneous stops at Corner House for Death by Chocolate, discovering Meghana biryani and Truffles burgers. I am a big foodie, and this city fed that love in the best way possible.
Professionally, at the internship I was doing back in 2019, I felt very unsatisfied. I got a PPO, but I didn't see myself working with average people. I wanted to code and build, but as an ECE grad, I didn't know what to make of my coding skills. Then I started hanging out with software developers and knew: this is what I wanted.
Then Blinkit happened. The best years of my life. Blinkit was full of insanely talented people. I was constantly building something or the other, starting initiatives, pushing limits. I even kickstarted Women in Tech, where I connected with some amazing women software developers (yes, the rare species). Work was fun, learning was fun, post-work walks in Koramangala were fun. As soon as I joined Blinkit, my manager Adit gave me an entire service (Drop Shipping) to build. It was amazing, from rollout to fixing customer issues. I did it all.
But a lot happened in the covid years at Blinkit. It went through structural changes. I was working like crazy. That's when the hunger for growth really kicked in. The term SDE2 stuck with me. Some friends got promoted, I didn't. I missed that cycle. Desperate for growth, I decided to switch. I became a Senior Software Engineer at Myntra, pretty quick.
During covid I went back home. But meanwhile my personal life had other plans. I hit depression. I adopted two tiny puppies. I traveled a lot. It was healing, and taking therapy helped a lot. But I hit rock bottom again, multiple times. I was constantly asking myself, what's wrong with me? Professionally, I was stuck. I had lost interest in software development. Traveling became an escape. But deep down, I knew I had to get my life together.
Then in 2022, I was back in the city. This time all my friends were living with their partners. While I felt bad about that sometimes, I knew I didn't want to share my space with a stranger. So I chose to live alone. Living alone as a woman raised quite a few eyebrows. "What a loner." Did I care? Nope. I needed it. I needed to be alone and break the cycle of codependency. And honestly, I loved it. Doing everything on your own gives a different kind of confidence. I had close friends in Bangalore, but I treasured my personal space.
What that space gave me was priceless. I started saying no. To people, to situations, to things I didn't like. For years, I struggled with people overstepping my boundaries. I had to take therapy to even understand how to stop that. But finally, I got it. It's not being self-centered, it's being self-interested. Living alone also gave me the discipline to prep for GMAT. I made the most of my time, and I did pretty well.
And then, I let go. I let go of close friends, people who had felt like family. It hurt, but I believe in Panta Rhei: everything flows. I won't chase.
In 2022, Zepto happened. I was skeptical about jumping from Myntra to a very early-stage startup. I had completely lost interest in software development by then. But the pay was too good to pass up. So I jumped. Working for Zepto was intense. I would wake up with my laptop, work all day, and fall asleep next to it. Coding, testing, product managing, everything for the PAS rollout. That's life at an early-stage startup. But honestly, it was fun. It felt like the Blinkit days in some ways.
And now, I'm closing this chapter, letting go of the city that gave me everything.
I came in as an average grad who wanted a 50k job, just enough so I didn't have to work under my dad (his words: "If you earn less, just be my assistant"). Bangalore gave me growth, gave me money, gave me the confidence to travel extravagantly and still save enough to afford a break. I was always the solo female software developer in the organisations I worked for, and that gave me a different kind of confidence. I started speaking up against everything that felt unfair as a woman.
Thank you, Bangalore. Bidding you adieu, with the hope that I won't have to come back.
If you're a solid software dev, there's no better place to start than this city in India. The pay is wild, and the opportunities are unmatched. I've had my share of highs and lows here, but in the end, it all worked out. My journey wrapped up on a great note.
If you're into startup ideas, boring finance stuff, or just want to chat about software development, hit me up. Always up for a good conversation.