Never, never on a Sunday
Bangalore Times
Sunday. Day of peace and tranquillity. When you wake up late, not by default but by intent. Unwind lazily without the teeniest thought about deadlines. Become a dopey couch potato. And you want quality time with family. So you decide to take them out, and get the car out, and all hell breaks loose. Because you haven't reckoned with reality: there are traffic snarls that ruin your drive, long queues at restaurants for lunch and dinner that kill your appetite, and crowds on Brigade Road and Commercial Street and malls that make you feel mauled and claustrophobic. You return home, the day ruined. Ask Bangaloreans, many will agree.
Says Pavithra Ashok, "We are a working couple, busy through the week. So Sunday's the day for a drive or dining out. But it's just not worth it. If you go down Brigade Road, you can only inch forwards, pushed on by the surge of the crowd. Try cutting across into a shop, and you can't. You have to wait minutes, there are so many people in the way."
Reena Mathur, too, finds going out on a Sunday unbearable. "It's a nightmare. At malls and huge shopping plazas, you get pushed and jostled. The changing rooms at stores are full, the restaurants are overcrowded." For her, Sunday is the day for relaxation. "But when you have to shove through people in a mall, wait in queues at restaurants, fight for parking space and press through crowds at cinemas, you'd rather stay at home. If going out means getting hassled, what's the point? You've enough of it during the week."
Parking is another problem, says Pavithra. "We consider ourselves lucky if we get parking anywhere on MG Road, even if it's at the far end. Once the car's parked, we don't take it out. We walk from end to end if necessary. To visit Commercial Street, we go by auto."
Agrees Reena Mathur. "Parking's impossible at certain places. And it's particularly bad because drivers are off on Sundays. So, going out of the city to the outskirts is a better option; even then, you must go through the crowded central area."
Mridula Srinivasan who lives in Koramangala couldn't agree more. "It takes us 40 minutes to get out of Koramangala. By the time you've reached your destination, you want to kill 20 people, you're so frazzled."
Madhura Pai says visiting some malls and big shopping plazas on weekends can be harrowing. "Everyone seems to be on the escalator; there are so many events that the crowds make it a railway station. Now I prefer to stay home." Sunday, the day of peace and tranquillity?
Sunday. Day of peace and tranquillity. When you wake up late, not by default but by intent. Unwind lazily without the teeniest thought about deadlines. Become a dopey couch potato. And you want quality time with family. So you decide to take them out, and get the car out, and all hell breaks loose. Because you haven't reckoned with reality: there are traffic snarls that ruin your drive, long queues at restaurants for lunch and dinner that kill your appetite, and crowds on Brigade Road and Commercial Street and malls that make you feel mauled and claustrophobic. You return home, the day ruined. Ask Bangaloreans, many will agree.
Says Pavithra Ashok, "We are a working couple, busy through the week. So Sunday's the day for a drive or dining out. But it's just not worth it. If you go down Brigade Road, you can only inch forwards, pushed on by the surge of the crowd. Try cutting across into a shop, and you can't. You have to wait minutes, there are so many people in the way."
Reena Mathur, too, finds going out on a Sunday unbearable. "It's a nightmare. At malls and huge shopping plazas, you get pushed and jostled. The changing rooms at stores are full, the restaurants are overcrowded." For her, Sunday is the day for relaxation. "But when you have to shove through people in a mall, wait in queues at restaurants, fight for parking space and press through crowds at cinemas, you'd rather stay at home. If going out means getting hassled, what's the point? You've enough of it during the week."
Parking is another problem, says Pavithra. "We consider ourselves lucky if we get parking anywhere on MG Road, even if it's at the far end. Once the car's parked, we don't take it out. We walk from end to end if necessary. To visit Commercial Street, we go by auto."
Agrees Reena Mathur. "Parking's impossible at certain places. And it's particularly bad because drivers are off on Sundays. So, going out of the city to the outskirts is a better option; even then, you must go through the crowded central area."
Mridula Srinivasan who lives in Koramangala couldn't agree more. "It takes us 40 minutes to get out of Koramangala. By the time you've reached your destination, you want to kill 20 people, you're so frazzled."
Madhura Pai says visiting some malls and big shopping plazas on weekends can be harrowing. "Everyone seems to be on the escalator; there are so many events that the crowds make it a railway station. Now I prefer to stay home." Sunday, the day of peace and tranquillity?
posted by The Bangalorean @ 10/03/2004 04:10:00 PM
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