through the streets of Bengaluru...

Day 4: 11th june 2010


“A large courtyard…crimson rays of the setting sun falling in the beautiful marble mosaic flooring…a man playing santoor….a little boy of 14 or so playing tabla and a young girl dressed in red n yellow lehenga dancing to its tune…I cant remember the tune…then some horsemen….sands….a huge fort…a big white wall with mirrors embedded in it…I look into my face through 1 of those mirrors and smile….some broken glass bangles…fire….a boy drowning in water n fumbling for breath…huge waterfall…………..stop!”
……………………I wake up…….!
I can’t exactly say since what age I’m having this very same dream but it occurs at this ghastly hour of the day….I sit up all in sweat…look for my mobile and then see the time…
Its exactly 10 mins to 4 am…Is my body biologically designed for this dream plot and timing?. I really wanted to do research on this. I look to my side….kakima and Aneesha sleeping quietly. All I hear is the fan above rotating with some rhythmic sound. I feel it raining outside. Looking out of the window, I stare at the sky. Its not morning yet. Some birds r already up while luxury buses ,noisily plying through the road. I look out and as usual try to remember something related to this dream. Its useless. I have no problem with the whole plot, neither repetition of the cast and crew year after year,but the question is what am I doing in those mirrors?Did I watch some Ekta kapoor stuff?or no no…I cant be…kono serial ei toh erom dekhay ni..!....I imagine some re-incarnation theory upon which I myself do not believe. Is it so?...i was born before?...as human?... does that mean I dint get any promotion this birth??...how irritating?...i dint get promotion in terms of birth even?...This is not fair. !!! I drink some water n tiptoe back.
Returning to my bed , I retry for another nap before its morning. I lay wide awake. Have you ever counted success and failures?.... I am sure u dint…Its not possible…ab sab cheeso ki hisab toh nahi laga sakte…isn’t it? Lying so far away from home when I had almost forgotten all joy n sorrow coz of this IISc stuff, miraculously,I don’t skip this dream. I feel so sad n think of calling someone… shud I call maa?...or maybe my sis?....no no…they must be sleeping…it shall be a mean thing to do so. Restlessly taking turns and twists in my bed, ultimately I switch off my phone to delete my thoughts [ I wish my brain was formatable and re-programmable]. Sleep is kind enough to rescue me at this miserable state….thanx to God….

This time m back 2 my Lazy-ritu form. Its 9 n everyone’s up . I pull myself off the bed and decide today’s plan with kakima. Last night me and kakima went to the market and got some b’ful gajra before dinner. Since I stepped in Bangalore, I wanted to wear a gajra but due to lack of traditional wear, time and most importantly my mood…I couldn’t get one. I swore to wear one before I leave. Kakima had well bargained it with some “amma” last evening in a kanadda tone n she gave in. We divided the gajra in 3:2 ratio coz of our hair lengths n somehow adjusted it to our hairs. No clips, hairpins….but as u know” necessity is the mother of invention”…we somehow beautifully adore it. This time I scrutinized myself at the mirror. I team it up with my interview kurti which was carrying sour memory of the interview with it. Flaunting a South Indian look, we gladly click sum pics at the hotel balcony…
Plan A: Breakfast at the street corner dhaba
Plan B: Sri Sai Mandali
Plan C: shopping
Plan D: lunch
Plan E: Swathi gardens or Mantri Square at Malleshwaram.
This was our plan serially without skipping any of it. It should work out like some metabolic pathway seriously coz this was our last day at Bangalore.
Doesn’t that sound great?
We headed towards the dhaba at some what 10 am or so…
I ordered Idli-samvar, kakima n aneesha shared a dosa [ aneesha just nibbled].Then we had coffee. I cant do without this morning dose of coffee or tea, neither kakima while Aneesha being a cute starer. Well…I had become a show stopper that day…reason???
Reason is I spoke fluent Bengali….ate south Indian dish peculiarly n looked like a south Indian girl [ too thin to be 1 I guess] . Yesterday, on the way to nandi hills, swapratim pointed out that only married women wore gajra just like kumkum among Hindus. So it was my main job to spot unmarried gals with gajras. That guy had just made me a fool to shun my uncontrollable urge for buying a gajra..maybe. While eating our food we enquired a nearby fellow customer about the direction of the the sai mandali [ it was shameless me who asked the auto fare also, in case they charge tourists more]…
Walking out of the dhaba, we caught an auto….as usual I bargained and dropped at the temple. It was a serene place in comparison to the hustle bustle of the street outside. What I liked was the people’s maintenance of order. They were reciting verses in Sanskrit. We spent a few religious moments and had halwa as Prasad there. It was sooooooo tasty. It reminded me of manikaran gurudwara ka Prasad. .. outside the temple we bought some sri sai framed pics. The women who sold knic-knaks were native…only spoke kanadda…how we explained them what we wanted is a story in itself….
“Excuse me…wud u please translate hindi or English to them….???’...I smartly caught a well dressed woman who looked resident. She helped happily.

Next plan C….shopping. I am addicted to shopping. When m sad or worried, its just an escapism but other than that m an impulsive shopper. This time I had to control my urge as I swore 2 control my budget, as it is it has become an useless visit…! 
We walked down the street back towards Sheshadripuram along Sampige road, Malleshwaram. A very orderly set market place with all types of shops. Banana chips was the main target but we got more than that in our bags. Suddenly kakima complained of her loosening sandal n then it gave……basss!!! A bewildered kakima looked at me and Aneesha. Her Bata had betrayed !
In the middle of the streets when there were only souvenier shops , we searched for shoe store!…ultimately we found one after asking shopkeepers. BATA…it read. We got inside spending 1 hr on shoe selection and quality differences with price satisfaction. we came out ‘happily’ spending 500 bucks and leaving kakima’s shoe behind at the store door.

For men: let me mention one thing u shoud remember all ur lives.

“ Either u have a wife..or u have a life..
Coz if u have a wife…u have no life..
If u hate shopping, u wud soon know its consequences..
If ur wife loves it….u wud soon land up into monetary absences..
When she is out to buy biscuits and she chooses to go to the mall..
Don’t be shocked…ur bank will soon give u a credit card call…
And when its end of the month…n she pines for more..
Be a man!!!!…and show her the door….”



Ladies, no offences [ I myself is an avid shopper but I do save] and gentlemen, try this..it works wonder.
By the way…back to OUR shoping spree, we head towards the market. I spot a souvenier shop selling sandalwood and rosewood showpieces.
‘ how much is that for?”
Madam 5,000.
Well guys, ummm….. I was pointing at a sandalwood frame-carving used to place gods…It was just the size of a gift-box. Don’t panic. I dint buy.
I looked through many things and ended up buying a rosewood piece to place my Krishna. Suddenly it came to my mind I dint take the sai baba frame while I paid for it…Oh no!!!
I and aneesha made kakima sit near a mehendi shop and ran back.Guess what???
They had already closed down the shop and had gone for lunch. Enquiring a few florists nearby …we sadly headed back. Ominous me considered it a bad omen . I thought of returning after lunch and getting that frame. We bought many other things and searched for lunch.
“Hallimana”…..that was the place suggested by some shopkeepers to us…
It was a beautiful 3 storeyed cottage-shaped restaurant. The whole Bangalore met there to have lunch as if. It was so busy and crowded. We went upstairs. All meals were served. Pure South Indian dishes….served in banana leaves…and men and women dressed in their best sat eating in groups while many families waited. It reminded me of some Bengali marriage party …. I rushed downstairs. Aneesha n I decide to have food their some other time if we visit Bangalore. I really want 2 eat there if I visit again. We end up eating at Krishna Bhavan, and then treat us with mitha paan…..
It was 3 in the afternoon. Swathi gardens was still closed…oho…abar dekha holona, dhokaholona…..uffffffff…!
Instead we get inside Mantri square. Aneesha wanted icecream. Kakima prefers to wait outside n sit with our huge shopping bags. It was like any other kolkata malls. When we return, kakima relates her sleep-saga to us. She fell asleep and some woman was kind enough to tell her that her bags were falling off…Thank God she didn’t….coz in the place she was sitting, rather sleeping, on the other side there was a small artificial fountain.
Now stop laughing!!!!... Its not funny if she would have fallen….
We return to that shop to get my frame back. Then, returning to the hotel, with kakima being hell tired ,Aneesha n I decide to sneak peek Bangalore again in late evening. At 7 we went to mantri mall again, this time Aneesha sporting a west- Indies look .

Aneesha: “Ritu give one more rubber band…pls…”
Me: “No way aneesha….u r not going to do this…”
Aneesha: Pls pls pls pls…………
Her peculiarity increased with her no. of pony tails…and so did my anxiety…she was to sport that look that evening as well as the next day at the airport.
Since it was Bangalore…I dint have any prob. I was just worried with the post effect of opening her hair after loosening those pony tails…which my dear calcuttans have to visually suffer.
When her numerous pony tailing was done [maybe her hand started to ache, that’s why she stopped!!!]…me n kakima stared in awe at her…. Oh My God….!!!! We were spell-bound. Since kakima was already shockproof by now, she related her more peculiar incidents…
Anyways….we stepped out of the hotel for some more girlie time….!
When we returned it was already 9. Long lusted noodles was our dinner that day while we also got cakes for tomorrow’s early brkfst.
Huh….it was the last day at Bangalore..2morow I wud be in kolkata talking to my parents about my trip n silently missing Bangalore. Sometimes, we don’t realize the value of certain things in our lives until we loose it. It must have happened with all of us…But do we need to loose that valuable thing to know its value??...what crap…!! Who decides?..
Sitting in the hotel balcony I felt melancholic…I have traveled miles from home and I still feel homely. The monsoon winds blows in my face and the cloud laden sky asks in dismay..” Are u leaving something behind?....” I really don’t know myself…what do I answer…! I write a short verse in memory..

Sometimes distance cant degrade..
Or time wont dare intervene…
Such memories are preserved
And questions unanswered…!
May thoughts do defy..
While uselessly I try/
………………..ummmmmmmm….bass! that’s it…Its 10.30 pm almost. The caretaker will switch off the balcony lights. Me,the budding poetess must retreat to her room. If u guys are interested u can complete this verse… . I am feeling sleepy n tired.
I pack my things and all of us talk about our experiences in Bangalore in the last few days…I set my suitcase-trolley and put my bed to go to sleep. I felt so sad. Whether it was for not getting through IISc or leaving this place or what, I cudnt make out…. Aneesha switches on the TV and sets the channel for a cartoon movie. I fall asleep unable to concentrate on the movie. Today I don’t pray to bed. He cant always planfully set pains for me…again mother Sleep rescues me from this entangling feelings…

…………………………………………………………………………………………the last issue day 5 will soon come up…!!! Happy reading..