so right now i'm concentrating on the screen in front of me and i'm about to write about the very first thing that strikes me. alright the south city mall. this is the place where i spend half my existence (still cant call it a life) here at home. it's this luxuriant air-conditioned 'four tier-ed' mall with polished floors and gleaming walls which boasts of the impressive tag of the largest shopping mall in india.
it might be the fact that it has both a shopper's stop and a pantaloons,or the fact that it has the biggest brands in the marketing chain vying for the shopper's attention or the icing on the cake (note: 'four tier-ed' ; a term normally used for wedding cakes) - a mega 6-screen multiplex (fame adlabs) on the second floor, that draws the residents of the city to it like a magnet. consecutively, the incredible amount of traffic on the road on which the mall is located(prince anwar shah road) is a common and not-so-pleasing sight. for the same reason, it has been described as 'evil' rather than good for the city where traffic congestion is an increasing problem. "a necessary evil" say the die-hard shopping fans.
that, again, strikes me as weird. because the exorbitant (to say the least) prices associated with the 'big daddies' in the brand market make shopping impossible and even a harmless bit of 'window shopping' embarassing. ritu kumar's for example. i think the salespersons in question would pass out if an interested customer(?) ever entered the place.
one of the very few stops (:|) for a regular south city-goer is spencer's. the MRP tag has never looked sweeter. it is common to shop for groceries and general necessities there. there is also a candy stand with a multi-coloured display of brilliantly wrapped chocolates and sugared candies, that lures kids (and their hyperventilating parents) like the proverbial lorelei (sirens,who lured lost sailors unto jagged rocks to their doom). i say 'doom' because the prices are so extravagant that they should be illegal. :|
then there's my favourite stop. starmark. *sound of trumpets*
once you arrive at starmark, you stop for a moment to take in the sight. the breathtaking sight of books, arranged to mesmerize the eye. it's a world of colours. bags, games, remote controlled models of airplanes,cars - a child's dream. the average adult seems pretty bowled over too.
it is a favourite pastime of mine to pick a book and enjoy a quiet read on one of those quaint wooden chairs...a blissful couple of hours.
phew! all that typing's made me hungry. here's what i shall do. i shall take three consecutive escalators to the very top floor and go for a chicken arrabiata (pasta) at the food court!!
yes the food court. you can ask some random person for directions or do the smarter thing and follow your nose. the delicious wafts of the vast array of dishes you get there is hard to miss. there are all sorts of counters, categorized in terms of dishes (pasta, kebabs, etc) or in terms of regions (republic of china, state of bengal, state of punjab) complete with a fast food counter. though panipuri-s are much more fun when they're made with grossly unhygienic water and served in quaint leaky,leafy cups.
the thing that sets apart the new kid on the block from the rest of it's kind is the overtly pleasing layout of the place. the infrastructure is similar to that of a ship, with the showrooms on each floor built on the periphery leaving a clear space in the middle. there are certain locations where leaning against the railing, one can get a "titanic view" of the entire mall (reason i said ship). at the very least, there is no other mall that i have seen, where it's a common sight to see people generally standing around drinking in the awesome sight.
well you get the picture. :D. the south city mall is basically a (slightly misleading) picture of what the upper middle class of the city can achieve.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
ISN'T IT INCREDIBLE
Isn't it incredible how three whole years seemingly whizzed past without anyone actually noticing? Well noticing maybe, but not taking little notes in a little diary as we all should've done. Maybe it wouldn't have hit us right at the end with the force of a mini bombshell if we had. Ah well, a week ago I was dying to get done with these stupid tests and right now I feel like I can sit through ten times as many if only to get back to the old place in august with the rest of 'em lucky bastards.
I swear it seems like yesterday when we were these weeny little first years, all starry-eyed about living on our own and with set ideas about what is cool and what isn't. :D. Attending classes belonged to the latter category and so we all missed classes religiously. Of course it wasn't as funny when the sum total of our cgpa-s barely made 7 but we had a shitload of fun anyway.
Since I set out to be nostalgic and all, shrestha(/sithlord/stompy) can hardly escape a mention. To those who dont know her (and that includes even the ones who were actually present during our first sem at BITS, cuz she hardly ever left her room and preferred to watch movies/documentaries/sitcoms in peace rather than mingle with her batchmates who, according to her, had the collective IQ of a tapeworm) she was the awesome-est neighbour one could have. Apart from the fact that she was a walking imdb and a brilliantly reliable source of movies etc, she was the weirdest, wackiest, whiniest (throw in positively-insane-and-proud-of-it) person ever and I can go on writing but remain woefully unable to express just how much I miss that git.
I still haven't entirely forgiven her for scooting off to stanford as she did after passionate declarations to the contrary but I don’t think she particularly cares. So*heart*anyway.
Then there's ramu(/rithika/psychedelicgames). She remains the only one on campus who I can call a best mate and the rest can be deduced from the innumerable testimonials that I've written her over the ages. And there's a whole other string of memories there as well. For instance the day when we set out for panjim on an activa(just the two of us) to get karan(her boyfriend) a birthday gift. There were these embarassing moments when we were panting and heaving trying to kick-start the damn thing (cuz the auto start-up wasn't working) and she goes like "um dude…you're pushing…you're supposed to pull"... And this time when we went to 'Snips' (some kickass parlour there) and we were informed that just the 'top stylist' was available at the moment if we wanted something done. This was addressed to me and I went "oh...so will the top stylist do her too? ". I swear that none of this is made up. :D.
Aaand shilpa. Darling little shilpa. And her tumour of a nose (after you get over your first impression that she's wearing one of those false ones that come with glasses and a moustache and come up with an inconsequential 'there there' (?) :D). And her questions (so one night we're watching this particular video and she goes like "what is he doing?" *moves closer to the screen and stares with mouth open* "what exactly is he doing?" :| :| ). Aand her ability to socialise (:O). Aaand a million other things that are escaping me at the moment.
Then there's teesta. I should add a series of :O-s before I start on her. This was our very first conversation (I shall just copy the stuff I wrote for the yearbook thing for the benefit of those who haven’t read it).
Washroom; third semester; random day; 11.45 pm:
-silence, broken only by the sound of toothbrushes at work-
Teesta: hi...why do I get the feeling that you don’t like me?
Tonnishtha: chokes on a mouthful of paste and turns a very interesting shade of purple.
Yes. That particular anecdote was to tell you that this total nutjob (I’m suffering for adjectives here) is outspoken to a fault. And if I were to list the maddest moments I've had on campus, it would undoubtedly be with this insane…no…INSANE female. But AWESOME FUN as well. :D. The sudden whims, feverish attempts to lose weight (she'd be cursing me for writing this :D), the truckload of issues she has and this insatiable appetite for excitement (and she damn well doesn’t care just how she gets it). :D.
* forgive the messed up punctuation etc*
I shall miss you loads dude. Allll of you. Ten points if you can guess how much.
Phew! That was long.
Well by now, whoever's reading this shit will have passed away/resorted to banging their heads against the wall/made it their life's sole mission to track me down and strangle me/… So I shall stop and sign off with the inevitable...... Weevil love ye long time
I swear it seems like yesterday when we were these weeny little first years, all starry-eyed about living on our own and with set ideas about what is cool and what isn't. :D. Attending classes belonged to the latter category and so we all missed classes religiously. Of course it wasn't as funny when the sum total of our cgpa-s barely made 7 but we had a shitload of fun anyway.
Since I set out to be nostalgic and all, shrestha(/sithlord/stompy) can hardly escape a mention. To those who dont know her (and that includes even the ones who were actually present during our first sem at BITS, cuz she hardly ever left her room and preferred to watch movies/documentaries/sitcoms in peace rather than mingle with her batchmates who, according to her, had the collective IQ of a tapeworm) she was the awesome-est neighbour one could have. Apart from the fact that she was a walking imdb and a brilliantly reliable source of movies etc, she was the weirdest, wackiest, whiniest (throw in positively-insane-and-proud-of-it) person ever and I can go on writing but remain woefully unable to express just how much I miss that git.
I still haven't entirely forgiven her for scooting off to stanford as she did after passionate declarations to the contrary but I don’t think she particularly cares. So*heart*anyway.
Then there's ramu(/rithika/psychedelicgames). She remains the only one on campus who I can call a best mate and the rest can be deduced from the innumerable testimonials that I've written her over the ages. And there's a whole other string of memories there as well. For instance the day when we set out for panjim on an activa(just the two of us) to get karan(her boyfriend) a birthday gift. There were these embarassing moments when we were panting and heaving trying to kick-start the damn thing (cuz the auto start-up wasn't working) and she goes like "um dude…you're pushing…you're supposed to pull"... And this time when we went to 'Snips' (some kickass parlour there) and we were informed that just the 'top stylist' was available at the moment if we wanted something done. This was addressed to me and I went "oh...so will the top stylist do her too? ". I swear that none of this is made up. :D.
Aaand shilpa. Darling little shilpa. And her tumour of a nose (after you get over your first impression that she's wearing one of those false ones that come with glasses and a moustache and come up with an inconsequential 'there there' (?) :D). And her questions (so one night we're watching this particular video and she goes like "what is he doing?" *moves closer to the screen and stares with mouth open* "what exactly is he doing?" :| :| ). Aand her ability to socialise (:O). Aaand a million other things that are escaping me at the moment.
Then there's teesta. I should add a series of :O-s before I start on her. This was our very first conversation (I shall just copy the stuff I wrote for the yearbook thing for the benefit of those who haven’t read it).
Washroom; third semester; random day; 11.45 pm:
-silence, broken only by the sound of toothbrushes at work-
Teesta: hi...why do I get the feeling that you don’t like me?
Tonnishtha: chokes on a mouthful of paste and turns a very interesting shade of purple.
Yes. That particular anecdote was to tell you that this total nutjob (I’m suffering for adjectives here) is outspoken to a fault. And if I were to list the maddest moments I've had on campus, it would undoubtedly be with this insane…no…INSANE female. But AWESOME FUN as well. :D. The sudden whims, feverish attempts to lose weight (she'd be cursing me for writing this :D), the truckload of issues she has and this insatiable appetite for excitement (and she damn well doesn’t care just how she gets it). :D.
* forgive the messed up punctuation etc*
I shall miss you loads dude. Allll of you. Ten points if you can guess how much.
Phew! That was long.
Well by now, whoever's reading this shit will have passed away/resorted to banging their heads against the wall/made it their life's sole mission to track me down and strangle me/… So I shall stop and sign off with the inevitable...... Weevil love ye long time
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