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'Two weeks in Bangalore have annihilated my health’: Founder explains why
A Delhi-based founder claims that two weeks in Bengaluru ‘annihilated’ her health
A Delhi-based founder claims that two weeks in Bengaluru ‘annihilated’ her health, leaving her exhausted despite being impressed by the concentration of talented people in the city. Abhilasha Purwar, an investor with Hunch Ventures & Investments, said she was struck by how far ahead Bengaluru’s startup talent appeared to be in areas including product and technology.
However, she said navigating the city — even across relatively short distances — took a severe toll on her health and left her questioning how the city’s infrastructure serves its residents.
Founder praises talent in Bengaluru
Purwar said that while almost every event and conversation she attended in Bengaluru impressed her, the city’s traffic and commute was difficult to sustain.
“Every single event, every single conversation, was miles ahead of what I have in Delhi/ Ggn,” she wrote on X, adding that the tech hub of India trumped Delhi in terms of talent and knowledge.
She said founders, builders, product managers and software engineers she met appeared to have significantly more experience and familiarity with startup functions and terminology than even the top 10% of founders in her Delhi catchment.
“The product, tech, growth, marketing, revenue, business development understanding / lingo/ experience/ knowledge of every founder/ builder / PM/ SDE was miles ahead of even the top ten 10% of my founder catchment in Delhi,” said Purwar, who previously founded Blue Sky Analytics and served as its CEO for five years.
Bengaluru’s exhausting traffic situation
For Purwar, however, the contrast between Bengaluru’s strong talent ecosystem and its infrastructure became increasingly frustrating.
Purwar said that even short journeys within Bengaluru left her exhausted. She cited travelling between Koramangala and Koramangala and between Koramangala and HSR as examples.
“But any commute whatsoever, even the 15 mins within Koramangla to Koramangla or 20 mins of Kora to HSR has killed me,” she wrote.
She also described her experience travelling to and from RMZ Ecoworld, despite enjoying the amenities around the business district.
“As good as RMZ Ecoworld area was… getting in there from anywhere in BLR to out of there annihilated me,” she said.
(Also read: Bengaluru founder spends 1.5 hours covering 3-km stretch, asks: ‘How are businesses supposed to operate like this?’)
Purwar questioned why a city that attracts such a large concentration of highly skilled professionals continues to have what she sees as inadequate infrastructure.
“Why do we have such poor offering of infrastructure to the highest concentration of talent in the country,” she asked.
‘Everyone in BLR is choosing to suffer’
The Yale-educated investor also pointed to what she described as a strong ‘pull effect’ created by Bengaluru’s startup ecosystem. She argued that the city’s talent density is itself a reason people continue to put up with its difficult commutes.
“Also man the pull effect of talent - that everyone in BLR is choosing to suffer through BLR simply to be close to everyone else in BLR,” she wrote.
Purwar said she wants to spend more time around Bengaluru’s startup talent but is struggling to figure out how people manage the city’s daily logistical challenges.
She said she largely stayed within the Indiranagar-Koramangala-HSR-APR circuit during her two-week stint, yet still experienced what she described as the worst fatigue of her year.
“I did only Indiranagar - Koramangala - HSR - APR circuit and I am at the worst of my health and fatigue of entire 2026,” the Delhi-based woman declared.
‘Bangalore corridors killed me’
Purwar compared her Bengaluru experience with several other travel routes, saying those journeys had not affected her to the same extent.
“Jaipur - Delhi - Dehradun or Delhi - SF corridor doesn’t kill me as much as Bangalore corridors killed me,” she wrote.
Despite that, she made clear that she does not want to give up on Bengaluru. She said she both needs and wants to remain close to the city’s startup ecosystem and ended her post with a tongue-in-cheek question about how people cope.
“And I really need to be and want to be around the Bangalore talent. What supplements are yall taking?” she asked.
(Also read: Bengaluru man ditches ₹150 auto, walks home after 30 minutes in traffic: ‘There was no option’)
