Spirited Bangalore greets 2008

Spirited Bangalore greets 2008
By R Krishnakumar, DH News Service, Bangalore:
Playing out the year-end ritual, Bangalore on Monday hit the bottle to usher 2008 in. Shopping rush, temple jaunts, family dinners, out-of-town drives and the discotheque groove also formed parts of the whole.

But make no mistake, it was still another traditionally high-spirited welcome.

The policing was no dampener on the guzzler’s spirit, as the young and the not-so hit pubs and bars across the City, some of them as early as at noon. In another nod to the norm, it was the City centre that hosted the Big Rush. The celebrations, by and large, remained strikingly low-key and restricted to the dri-nking sessions elsewhere.

On MG Road, Brigade Road, Residency Road and Commercial Street – where walkers shared space with beggars, hawkers and cops – the new year buzz was on full play. On the eve of a year that promises a new government and big infrastructure projects, including the international airport in Devanahalli, it was work on Bangalore Metro that slackened the pace on MG Road, spilling the revelries over to approach roads. The ever-bustling Church Street, however, sported a dull look with some of the popular restaurants and ba-rs downing shutters much ahead of the party hours.

High-end hotels and lounge bars had on offer packages on prices running up to above Rs 10,000 per couple. Top DJs, masquerade balls and rich dinner spreads defined the night out in high-profile dos while the party continued in the wine shops and downtown bars, in some areas even after the midnight hooter.

While restaurants hosted groups of friends and families on dinner, parks, temples and movie theatres in many pockets of the City also sported the buzz.

The Central Business District clocked impressive returns, with traders reporting sale jumps as high as 300 per cent.

Without boulevard
With traffic restrictions in place, it was a free walk for shoppers in the city centre. Traffic and pedestrian movement was restricted to one side of MG Road, what with this being a new year’s eve without the boulevard.
Shopping, mostly for electronic goods and clothes, was the norm even in residential neighbourhoods in Jayanagar, Indiranagar and Malleshwaram, much ahead of noon.

Revellers, at the stroke of 12, did the customary jig on a traffic-free Brigade Road even as the policemen moved close, kee-ping a good watch. Hugs and hoots followed, with cracker bursts in the background. By midnight, the stretch from Kamaraj Road to the Opera House Junction was packed, as thousands gathered around to pose for the shutterbugs, screams and good cheer intact.

The mood was summed up in front of a Church Street wine shop, when a tipsy youngster slurred a new year greeting to a group of grim-looking policemen. That’s perhaps a shot he wouldn’t take till the next year’s ritual.