Bengaluru, often in the headlines for its notorious traffic, infrastructure issues and weather, has ticked a foreigner’s list for all the right reasons.
Jack Heaton, a travel content creator who shares videos on Instagram, recently spent nearly two weeks in Bengaluru. His now-trending clip shows him navigating busy streets, exploring cafés, relaxing in parks and experiencing the city’s everyday life.
At one point, he says Bengaluru “feels ahead of its time”, putting the spotlight on its mix of global lifestyle and local culture. He also points to the city’s energetic startup ecosystem and the presence of young professionals shaping its fast-paced environment.
However, he does not ignore the downsides. Traffic, he notes, remains a major challenge. Yet, despite this, he describes the city as highly liveable, largely because of its people.
His posts on India have also caught attention. “Well I think social media has done India a little dirty honestly, don’t get me wrong some of the stereotypes can be true in places – not everywhere is clean or safe etc – but I want to balance the argument a little…” he says.
He adds, “Show the positives of every state I visit whilst also still being realistic with how I felt. India as a country truly fascinates me & this is my way of expressing that.”
Speaking about his Karnataka experience, Heaton says, “Onto Karnataka – I had no real expectations for Karnataka, but it surprised me, I found Bangalore incredibly liveable (minus the traffic), full of hardworking young people trying to do the best for themselves whilst also still being pretty friendly. I also had a couple of friends in Bangalore, so I got more local insights & spent Holi there, so it holds a special place for me & for that reason it takes over Tamil Nadu.”
He also clarified that his views are based on personal experience: “I definitley know some people won’t like the rating but it’s based on my enjoyment & experience as a traveller – not any numerical statistics and for both states so far I’d love to come back & experience more.”
Here’s how social media reacted
“Definitely not living in the future, but it’s the perfect blend of modern living while preserving a rich culture… we are working hard in cleaning up…but people refuse to stop throwing their trash and traffic is an issue, but we hope that once our metro is better connected, traffic will get a little better…but tell which city does not have traffic and restaurants and people are the best in India,” a user wrote.
“As a Kerala-born person, Malayalees pls show some culture… north east states are really a gem… even Himachal and so on,” another user wrote.
“Nobody beats Karnataka bro,” a third user wrote.
