XLent times!

Thursday was a holiday here in Bangalore, because of the elections. Yes, it is probably shameful to treat an event of national significance as a 'holiday' but then I had strong reasons for not voting (or so I think). Because of so much regional politics, it is difficult to know what is being done by which party, in which state. So, I see no reason to vote in Bangalore, when I don't know enough. All my life, right from school elections to college elections, and to the Lok Sabha, I've voted 'rationally' – taking into account the candidate's profile, manifesto, the party's national plans etc. When I don't even know the names of the local candidates, I don't think I ought to vote.

So, it was a very pleasing feeling to have a day off. Consequently, on Wednesday, a friend from XLRI and I decided to meet up for dinner. Over a Subway meal, we were called over by another chap who is interning in Bangalore. So, off we went and parked ourselves at his serviced apartment. (The opulence of it all staggered me – a TV, a refrigerator, a cook, and an elegant apartment made me shut out the image of my cluttered single room with stuff strewn about untidily all across.)

After watching the Indian Premier League, we proceeded on a lengthy chat session (which went on till about 5 in the morning). Bushed by then, we were dead to the world (and our phones) for the next 7 hours. After that, we decided to go to Brigade Road in the afternoon and grab some lunch.

We got ready and reached Brigade Road, only to find that most eating joints were closed due to the elections! UGH!! So, we spent the next one hour roaming the streets and looking for a place to eat at. (And you thought that man foraged for food only in the Neanderthal or whatever ages.)

Anyway, I suddenly broke that despondently trudging formation that resembled a collection of Manchester United players after their 4-1 drubbing by Liverpool, and made a beeline for a nearby shop. Nope, even though my frame (and my exchange with Nikita) indicates otherwise, it was not a restaurant or a sandwich shop. It was a shop called 'Magazines' and it caught my attention because there was an alluring sign proclaiming that back issues of US/UK magazines were available at only a 100 bucks each. (No, you pervert! I wasn't after 'those' magazines… I was looking for something on football.)

But of course, football magazines were out of stock, so the formation reassembled itself, looking more and more like Arsenal's walking wounded at the end of an average football season. Finally, we found an open restaurant that was called 'Stars n Stripes' but was advertising 'sugarcane juice' and 'chicken biryani' on banners outside. Weird, huh?

Still, food is food, and some (disastrous)pizza, Schezwan noodles, and chilli mushrooms, washed down with chilled sugarcane juice and Thums Up sent us on our way. Of course, the waiters seemed to think that we had unlimited time and were very leisurely about the whole affair. So, we gave them a few decidedly unfriendly stares before we left.

Then, another friend was supposed to join us, so we went on to one of Bangalore's landmarks – The Corner House (that's an ice-cream parlour). As recommended by Bangalorean friends earlier, we ordered for a 'Death by Chocolate' aka DBC which was liked by two of us, and detested by another two in equal measure. Anyway, after some random discussions on DBC, the next argument was about where to go. One of us was very keen on going to a restaurant that had a karaoke night tonight, but the rest of us vetoed the idea and decided to go to some place where we could chit-chat. So, off we were to Garuda mall – where we sat for a while, ate, blabbered away and then decided to leave.

Of course, the damned auto rickshaw drivers had to put an end to what had been an otherwise perfect day. They were demanding totally outrageous fares, and refusing to go by the meter. One of us retorted, "Bhaiya, auto khareedna nahin hai, sirf jaana hai!" (I don't want to buy your auto bro, I only want to travel in it). Those chaps got irritated and started giving us gyaan. We walked off in a huff, with a couple of us constantly turning back, muttering angrily and glaring at them.

But eventually, it was good to get back home and reminisce about the lazy day.

Takeaways:

1. Bangalore is a paradise for book lovers. Every nook and corner has treasures waiting to be discovered. (Someone get those pirated books away, please! UGH!)
   
2. If I had my own conveyance, and my own cooking arrangements, Bangalore would've been the ideal city to live in.
   
3. I suck at air hockey. Gloating over my victory in the first match 4-2, I got thrashed 1-7 in the next one. K
   
4. One ought to do this kinda stuff more often. It was so much fun!