Bangalore, as the lore goes, got its original name Benda Kaaluru after King Veera Ballala survived a long night in the jungle thanks to a plate of boiled beans. Playwright, filmmaker, actor Girish Karnad used this myth to cast his 2012 play, Benda Kaalu on Toast, in a wholly contemporary skin. Now comes an English translation, Boiled Beans on Toast (Oxford), inviting a new audience to a subtle study of the dichotomies of changing cities. In a chat with Neha Bhatt, Karnad exhorts Bangalore’s detractors to take a more nuanced view of the city that he believes is as chaotic as fascinating.