Hop, skip, jump & fly.... !!! ;-)

Hop, skip, jump & fly ….

Usain Bolt must have cringed out in shame when he saw that athletic figure running on the roads of Bangalore. Whats the fun running 100 mts in 9 seconds in a lane where there is no hurdle… he he !!! Usainbhai, how about running at full steam on the footpath lining up M.G. Road? Hmmm… bolo bolo.. ;-)

Boy, I have had the best fun walking on M G Road in the evening time. Its wonderful, I swear ! My office is on M.G. Road near Trinity Circle. And invariably once in a while I take a walk from there to the other end of the road i.e. Anil Kumble circle. Trust me, its such a good stress reliever ! you see so many people walking around – women, children, beggars, peddlers, old couples, pimps, policemen, rich & the poor, celebrities & commoners, businessmen & loafers, students & destitues….. so many of them !

It’s a study in contrasts. Seriously ! The road is the hub of shopping and business and yet it is green enough and spacious enough ( am turning a blind eye to the Metro Rail work ). All I do is just walk with a smile on my face. You would be amazed with the way people smile back sometimes and frown the other times. Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! the older people will always smile back at you, the young teenagers will always smile back. Its only the corporate rats who do not smile back as if they are the busiest people on Earth. Whew !

Then again, M G Road is a nice mix of people wearing all sorts of clothes… the hippies, the executives, the casuals, the semi-casuals, the skimpy, the burqas, the frocks, the shorts, the birthday suits and the Armani suits… all in one single stretch !

Of course the peddlers just add to the charm… I buy a guvava and munch on it while walking down and I cant help but look admiringly at the Bangalore sky, over the Manekshwa parade ground…. One side of the road is choc-a-bloc with buildings and structures while the other side is a huge open space used by the Army & NCC. Tree lined boulevard of the Cubbon road is close by and I can already see some children making their way to the cubbon park. I turn back and see Hard Rock Café on the wayside… hmmm.. well… been long since I made it to this place… I make a note of coming there.

But then a walk on M G Road can never be complete without a visit to India Coffee House ! lolz… this ramshackle coffee house is study in permanency… seriously I tell you…. The waiters, the soot on the walls, the dirt on their white uniforms, the limited menu, the dosa sans sambar, the anglo-indian menu… boy … with all the glaring mistakes that a retailer/restaurateur can make all presenting themselves in full glory at Indian coffee house, yet it’s a study in excellence of an idea. It got the first rule of Retail Marketing right. I was taught in my b-school… the first thing that a retailer has to get right is “Location-Location-Location”. And boy Indian Coffee House got the first rule bang on !

I quietly have a coffee, throwing glances at the contrasting crowd over there… yaaaa… here too, do visit, the neo rich and the commoners… what a nice mix ! some are reading and others are just relaxing over their coffee cups… I bet a Barista or a Coffee Day can never give you such pleasure.

Oh there is the shop that me and my sister came to shop…. I remember how amused the shopkeeper was when he was dealing with Shalu (my sister ) … sorry let me not reveal the idiosyncrasies of my sister or she might just not let me into Chennai the next time am there ! ( do you get a feeling that I am afraid of her… wel.. ummm.. errr… no comments ;-)

Coming to the best part of it all… you can walk on the road, staring at the motorist waiting at the signal. You see, you can have a clear look at them. Ever noticed how the face and disposition of a person on a bike or in a car is when they are waiting at the signal… or even of a person who is inside an auto … what goes through their minds when they are alone on/in the vehicle and looking around. ??? I always try and lock my eyes with them and try and see their reactions. Its interesting. I will maybe write more on this in a later post.

Another fun thing is when you are crossing the road over the zebra crossing and you see a swarm of vehicles, just waiting there due to the red light. They all would look at you while you cross the road… boy… its amusing… I try and look back at them and walk leisurely…. It’s a long stretch of zebra crossing and you can easily be caught in the jam, if you are not quick enough to cross within the stipulated time. And that is what happened to me… I was walking cooly over the crossing and suddenly I see the vehicles going vroom vroom…and I run for my life… I run like a mad man over the last 10 meters… he he he… while am running I catch a woman smile with a glint of mischief in her eyes as she is showing how not to cross the road to her 5 year old child. I smile back. Yeah right….. duhhhh !!

Whatever…. By the time am back at Trinity Circle, am smiling like a drunk monkey ! Chattering like a intoxicated baboon and looking haggard like a langoor . lolz !
That was fun ! and that is what I do every few days … I just disappear from office for half an hour or so. Switch off my phone and take a walk …. :-) all by myself and all for myself ! :-)