A walk to remember..

Well what can be better than an atmosphere where are you are all relaxed, tuning into some old good songs and a cup of coffee. It’s time for a new post! As usual I begin this post with these words – Ankit bhai I dedicate this post to you because you make my life worth living in Bangalore. Guest appearance – Ankur  :D

This post is all about a trip which was planned 2 days before and executed on the day, while it was turning to dusk. Ankit and I planned to visit Avenue Road to check out books and novels as I heard about a vast sea of books available in that area. Actually the most important thing which led to this attraction was the “second hand” sale (quite an event for me to get something cheap in Bangalore). Besides this, Ankur had already been to the place before.

30^th May 2015 : The day........

I woke up reluctantly as usual and finished up all the “unnecessary works” and by 3.30 PM I was all set to leave for Avenue Road. I met Ankit at Leela Palace and from there we actually started thinking as how to reach Avenue Road. Tata Docomo service was too good to handle any of my queries in Google map. After 15 minutes of struggle (including on call support from Ankur) we finally managed to board 327-F (Ankit correct me if I am wrong) bus to “Cauvery Bhavna” (may be Bhavan). Within 20 minutes we reached Cauvery Bhavna signal. From there we took left towards Avenue Road and started walking.

We walked, walked and walked; passed by so many things that we started craving for more. We didn’t even stop at anything. Finally we reached to the other end that was S.J.P Road. We realized that we had already crossed Avenue Road. Well then the actual journey began. It was time to “rewind” the walk and live each and every moment.

To name a few, I can categorize these moments with objects, as follows:

Beauty at its best.

Flyover:

This was the beginning of the “return” journey. The flyover was built over the S.J.P road. The best part of this flyover was that it gave the best view of the bazaars of Bangalore; the lost beauty. 

Yaar bethne ka boht mann tha!!

On the way to flyover I captured glimpses of events which I didn’t get to see from last 8-9 months. Right from the local sabzi mandi to an old yet evergreen “tanga”, no scene was spared. 

The great entrance to Avenue Road from the exit point

One of the main purposes to walk up the flyover was to get a glimpse of the “exit” point of Avenue Road. The crowd was all ready to consume more and more people. After a beautiful session of many pictures and some selfies, we marched towards Avenue Road

Fancy Bazaar of Bangalore: 

The term “Fancy Bazaar” correlates to one from Guwahati, Assam. Starting off from exit, all we could see was an exact replica of Fancy Bazaar. It all began with vegetable markets. One could see vendors all around, calling upon people to buy their stuffs followed by the rigorous bargains (rare to see in a take for granted life). This was followed by a long queue of cloths, footwear put out for sale, some with fixed price and some too variable. We also found shirt pieces from Peter England being sold in “below poverty-line” prices. Fruit shops were common throughout the journey. Ankit was all absorbed looking for Mangoes and ended up buying them with a sheer uncertainty (Akash sun yaar ye aam mithe to honge na). In the midst of all these dwellings was a small yet beautiful Masjid that was the centre of attraction. All of these reminded me of Fancy Bazaar.

Glimpse of the past: 

I don’t know the exact number but I felt that this area was running 10 years behind the Bangalore which I see on weekdays and sometimes on weekends. I saw remains of vintage shops, some of them still functioning since 1916 and a small temple out of nowhere. The entire walk made me realise of the fact that there are still places in

my country where people from different communities are staying together in harmony.

Food of course:

The "Kokam Soda"

No journey can be completed without eating anything over there. So we went to some of the old bakery shops. To my amazement, I found the “8” shaped biscuits after almost 9 years. The last ones which I ate were from Sheikh Brothers Bakery, shop very near to Fancy Bazaar. The taste was as usual at its best and so did I had some packed. Now we needed to drink something. Cold drink was too modern for the place so we looked for something typical of the place. The search was short-lived as the oasis was near, named “Madan Sagar Lassi and Juice”. Soda drinks were on fire and so we opted for that. From a big list we found 3 categories of Soda out of which one looked different. “The Kokam Soda” was the name written on the list. Ankit asked the vendor, “Bhaiyya, ye Kokam soda kya hai?”. The vendor replied, “Bhaiyya, isse apka paet thanda rahega, sari kamzoriya mit jayegi!!” Ankit then said, “Bhaiyya par isme hai kya?”The shopkeeper brought out a bottle of red syrup which had no relation to “Kokam”. Finally we opted for it and trust me there is neither a good nor bad impact on stomach. In fact Ankit ended up saying, “All Indians are MBA graduates!”

Books available on footpath!!!!

Finally Books:

Well the first thing to be done (as planned) was executed in the end. Books, books, books everywhere. Shopkeepers were behind footpath sellers in this regard. One could find books all over the place, towered with all kinds. I even found some books so cheap, which were expensive to buy during the days of engineering. I walked each and every door looking for the books. Ankit was busy taking pictures of the books kept all around, at any place. It took time for us to find the correct as well as correct priced book.

The journey ended with a big smile on our face and a promise to return once again. These events are quite common in India. But the current life seeks shelter in big buildings, industrial parks and air-conditioned offices which has overshadowed the actual beauty of Bangalore. One must visit these places to feel the big beautiful life in a small area.