Boramma BengaLoorige bundaaga…

I am ‘stealing’ time from my holidays to scribble a few lines..

My visit to BengaLooru this time was a little tizzy at the start. I stayed with my bil and family at Koramangala and once our planned activities got over we statred freaking out to visit all the malls in the vicinity.

We circumambulated Forum, Star Bazar, Big Bazar, both the Lifestyles, Garuda …… Our footwears showed signs of wear and tear and by night my twice injured  left foot ‘sang’ songs . Once home I felt as if I was still precariously walking on the slippery mall floors…And  soon started expecting  an escalator in the next room or a Macdies in the  next floor ..

My senses were  revolted by the overdsose of vanilla essence near the cookie /cream and fudge  factories  ,the sight of dark red chaats in the roadside eateries, the open gutters in national games village, the kids ‘playing’ in barricaded play pens at the so called fun  place  in  one such mall.

The kids were being minded by teenagers who were more interested in chatting with themselves, or tossing the balls among themselves.I don’t blame them, however. The poor kids were in a make -believe playground. The slides and seesaws were all so cozy that it wouldn’t have been any fun !! There was no thrill in sliding down those slides as the gradient was so simple , the ‘plastic’ world around was exactly that!There was no sand for them to play with. Instead they had a wide array of coloured plastic balls to throw at each other or sink into.The place was quite tiny. Elsewhere it was full of virtual games letting out  screaming lights and sounds.Yeah, the lights were screaming too.. They were that obnoxious. Kids were  busy counting the tickets won and calculating what they would eventually get . They barely enjoyed the game as such.The ‘gifts’ on display included silly looking incorrect  rulers and  useless pencils. There was just too much of showiness and unreality in the whole place. Some grandparents were enjoying more than the kids. This was the only pleasing sight.

When I came down to Malleshwaram, I somehow felt I had come close to my old BengaLooru. The long , slow sojourns on Sampige Road and Margosa Road , the scents of mallige and grandhige angadies, the sight of MaakLi beru, nallikai, Amtekai , the discourses at Madhwa Sangha, the taste of Panchaamruta at the SP extension Rayara Mutta ,the slow climb over the 11 th cross , the gradual roll down of the 10 th cross , the lure of Sandiges from Loveluck Stores,the scented adike from Srinivasa Stores, the visually appealing Hurigaalu angadi, the beckoning happalaas of Radhakrishna Stores, the come hither looks from the second -hand , yellowing ,ageing ,books , the unputdownable Real cane (this was available at K mangala in an unappetising way ,though  ) the ‘aaseya dukhakke moola ‘ freshly unravelled jackfruits , the  unrelenting call of the friendly  hanchu, sowtu , baandle ,halguLu mane shops , the stop – pray and scoot shrines that abound here …….

…Oh!! Paradise revisited.