Mall mania

Sundays in Bombay are meant for sleeping in, having late breakfasts, watching the afternoon movie that had been resurrected from the deep dungeons of the local cablewalla's archives, frantically calling friends to find out what homework is due the next day - if you are in school or deciding whether you really want to attend classes on Monday - if you are in college. Malls, multiplexes and coffee shops are things that my friends and I discovered in college, the neighborhood chaat stall and walks down the main market road were our favorite haunts though.

Sundays in Indore are quite different. In first year, it was the only day without classes. But second year isn't so lucky. After the day's work, nearly the entire batch can be seen at TI or Treasure Island, the first and only mall in Indore city.

TI is your average mall, but in a city that is yet to discover Planet M, Landmark and Lifestyle, it is THE place to be seen by friends and relatives. Families turn up in their Sunday best, bright sarees, loud makeup, jazzy pants, sequined slippers - the weekend calls for dapper dressing by the city's standards. So that's where we were headed this Sunday too. After the usual pit-stops at Lakme and Fab India, we ended up at the mall too.

The problem with staying so far away from the city is, that every trip has to be milked for all its worth. Friends who can't make the pilgrimage hand over shopping lists and take-away orders (TI houses McD, Pizza Hut, Bombay Blues, Moti Mahal among other eateries). But the weekend is the worst time to be there. Luckily for us, the cab drops us at the main entrance, saving us the nearly half-hour wait for a parking space. Negotiating the crowds that spill outside, getting through the security check and regrouping inside are another matter.

Watching the Indoreans 'strut their stuff' can be quite amusing though. As a friend once noted, he has till date not seen anyone wearing classic, well-fitting, blue jeans in the city, in the fifteen months that we have been here. The weirder the better seems to be the motto here.

McD and Pizza Hut are perennially crowded, Big Bazaar resembles a fish market and is one place I avoid as much as possible. The escalators seem to be the biggest draw though. The first mall where I have seen a human traffic-jam, children and adults take their own time stepping onto one.

But stepping into TI is like a momentary trip back home. A cup of Crazy Corn, a free cookie from Cookie Man (wonder if they ever sell anything!), hot-chocolate or a Dark Temptation at Barista bring back memories of college and close friends back home.

I love TI and I hate TI, but until I am back home it's on my Sunday list of things-to-do.

P.S. Went go-karting at Landmark City near Hotel Sreemaya and it was awesome! :)

A friend had a little crash but was soon back in the chase. A lil shaken up, but not one to shy away from a race ;) Celebrations - Sreemaya's coffee shop was our last stop. Their food and drinks are some of the best in the city. Do all Sundays have to end so soon??