Big city lights

Big city lights
New INdian Express

There is a reason why Brigade Road is such an important part of Bangalore history.

It nutshells Bangalore like nothing else does. From being the hub of a sleepy cantonment, it now glitters with the neon-signage of a new world.

It showcases all that Bangalore has come to represent. Foreign brands. Coffee shops. Pizza haunts. Five-rupee softees.

The bustling Nilgiris supermarket. The smell of cakes. Inexpensive Chinese food. Beer bars. Computer shops.

Steaming idlis and sambhar in Darshinis. Corn on the cob. Pop corn. Export surplus clothes. Readymade curtains, towels and napkins.

Shopping arcades. Chinese toys. Indian toys. Trinkets. Guavas. Track-suits and T-shirts with inane messages.

Glitzy music stores. Large, iridescent hoardings. Cheap leather bags. Young boys and girls in trendy clothes. Too little parking space and too many vehicles.

Whizzing cars. Peak-caps and belts sold by the roadside. Too much wealth and too much poverty. The hum and buzz of a city pleased with where it has come. And where it is going.