I have been sort of 'out of commission' for the last couple of days. Which means I had not come to work and hence had no access to Internet. Instead on Tuesday, ie. 2 days ago, I spent an entire day walking certain familiar parts of Bangalore and reading comics. The day started with me having a grand total of Rs. 110 to spend the entire day for myself. I had no work cause it was Bakri-Eid and corporate houses are shut, unlike bloody law firms. So I headed out to the nearest bus station and caught a ride to MG Road. The conductor cut me a 10 rupee ticket for a 7 rupee ride (I was enlightened to this fact by a kind elderly gentleman sitting next to me. If anyone wants to live in Bangalore on budget, my advice is LEARN THEIR FUCKING LANGUAGE!).
So anyway I got off at my destination, and headed to a bookstore on Residency Rd. where I had found a copy of this comic that I had started reading the previous day but couldn't finish (Berlin : City of Smoke, Vol-II by Jason Lutes...brilliant, sequel to Berlin : City of Stone which I haven't read). I was sitting in the comics section with another pony tailed young man, who too like me, seemed alone and impoverished. I was absorbed in my reading and did not notice when he left. However, a while later I felt the urgent need to fill my stomach and lungs (I needed food and a cigarette). There is this place called 'India Coffee House' on MG Road, a little walk away from Cauvery Jn. Its the place to hit in that entire area when you want to eat and have a maximum of 50 bucks to spare. The food isn't great, but its fine, and the ambience is brilliant. The place is also frequented by foreigners and pretty women (the latter is another reason a man should drink coffee there even when he's 'not broke'). So I entered and placed my order and lo! At the table next to mine, seated was the ponytailed man. He recognised me and we exchanged nods. Also we were the only 2 people sitting alone so we decided to share our table and time. His name was Pravin something. He was a mallu engineer with a taste for comics.
After this I headed out to Rest House Rd. to my regular 'panwallah' who sits outside Pecos. Pecos is a pub I used to frequent very often during my earlier stints in Bangalore. In fact it was my favourite joint in the city. But of late it has become a place I can't seem to have a good time in. A lot of things about it has changed/unchanged that has taken my heart off it. Firstly the old black and white sign board on top with a collage of rockstars, especially containg a stunning image of Syd Barrett in the center (yes I used to like Barrett, but that was then). Now they have a bright red sign board which has images of Zappa, Barrett and Hendrix that to my taste looks really cheap. Also their Menu card used to be in the shape of an enlarged guitar pic with quotes from various musicians on every alternate leaf. This too has been replaced with a regular 'book style' menu. Plus their traditional 'free popcorn' with the pitcher is no more. Fortunately for me they recognise me here and often get me popcorn with my pitcher. However, I wish it were all the same.
The thing that hasn't changed is their goddamn playlist. They've been playing the SAME music in the SAME order for 3 years now!! I mean 9 out of 10 times in Pecos you'll find Skynyrd or Rolling Stones in the evenings, followed by maybe a dash of CCR (unless they've played it in the aftrenoon), then move on to Nirvana/Pink Floyd/Led Zeppellin, followed by The Doors post nine o' clock, and maybe Jimi Hendrix before shutting down. Fuck I have that place by heart man! I can never go in there anymore. (Note : Good cheap pub available mostly for men right next door to Pecos, and guess what, you can smoke in there. In fact they still supply customers with their own matchbox. Something thats gone from most pubs in the city, thanks to Mr. Ambubani I-will-decide-whats-good-for-you-beta Ramdoss. This place is called Brigade Fuel. Very very cheap too.)
However, it was nice having a smoke outside the place where I have had millions of memories, in fact the best memories in this city. I was woken out of my reverie by a tiny kid, sandwiched between his mum and dad on a bike that stopped right infront og me for some reason, waving something shiny at me. The kid held out on of those multi-coloured windmill thingies on a thin wooden stick that you used to find in the random fairs/melas that used to take place in Calcutta when I was a kid. You don't get those melas anymore, atleast not in Calcutta, nor do you get these windmills or whatever you call them. I'm sure there's a term for it, but I forget what.
Anyway, it started drizzling and I headed back to the bookstore to finish reading and I was in the middle of a comic called '100 bullets', thats like something out of a Tarantino action film spoof when out popped before me an angel!
Ok 'It' was no angel, not in the traditional winged, beautiful (hehe), sexless way atleast. Rather 'It' was what always comes around when there's no one else to come aorund. So off we went, 'It' and I, to gulp down more coffee ('It' paid ofcourse!!) and bitch and laugh and reminisce and discuss current politics and terrorists.
It was a nice day, day before yesterday, but its an old day now. (Sorry Mr. Anderson, I know I can get real corny sometimes).
Nothing worth talking about happened yesterday. I bunked work to read a comic. Felt damn proud that I'm still capable of such impulsive behaviour, though my mother wouldn't approve.
Today I'm in office wasting time.
So anyway I got off at my destination, and headed to a bookstore on Residency Rd. where I had found a copy of this comic that I had started reading the previous day but couldn't finish (Berlin : City of Smoke, Vol-II by Jason Lutes...brilliant, sequel to Berlin : City of Stone which I haven't read). I was sitting in the comics section with another pony tailed young man, who too like me, seemed alone and impoverished. I was absorbed in my reading and did not notice when he left. However, a while later I felt the urgent need to fill my stomach and lungs (I needed food and a cigarette). There is this place called 'India Coffee House' on MG Road, a little walk away from Cauvery Jn. Its the place to hit in that entire area when you want to eat and have a maximum of 50 bucks to spare. The food isn't great, but its fine, and the ambience is brilliant. The place is also frequented by foreigners and pretty women (the latter is another reason a man should drink coffee there even when he's 'not broke'). So I entered and placed my order and lo! At the table next to mine, seated was the ponytailed man. He recognised me and we exchanged nods. Also we were the only 2 people sitting alone so we decided to share our table and time. His name was Pravin something. He was a mallu engineer with a taste for comics.
After this I headed out to Rest House Rd. to my regular 'panwallah' who sits outside Pecos. Pecos is a pub I used to frequent very often during my earlier stints in Bangalore. In fact it was my favourite joint in the city. But of late it has become a place I can't seem to have a good time in. A lot of things about it has changed/unchanged that has taken my heart off it. Firstly the old black and white sign board on top with a collage of rockstars, especially containg a stunning image of Syd Barrett in the center (yes I used to like Barrett, but that was then). Now they have a bright red sign board which has images of Zappa, Barrett and Hendrix that to my taste looks really cheap. Also their Menu card used to be in the shape of an enlarged guitar pic with quotes from various musicians on every alternate leaf. This too has been replaced with a regular 'book style' menu. Plus their traditional 'free popcorn' with the pitcher is no more. Fortunately for me they recognise me here and often get me popcorn with my pitcher. However, I wish it were all the same.
The thing that hasn't changed is their goddamn playlist. They've been playing the SAME music in the SAME order for 3 years now!! I mean 9 out of 10 times in Pecos you'll find Skynyrd or Rolling Stones in the evenings, followed by maybe a dash of CCR (unless they've played it in the aftrenoon), then move on to Nirvana/Pink Floyd/Led Zeppellin, followed by The Doors post nine o' clock, and maybe Jimi Hendrix before shutting down. Fuck I have that place by heart man! I can never go in there anymore. (Note : Good cheap pub available mostly for men right next door to Pecos, and guess what, you can smoke in there. In fact they still supply customers with their own matchbox. Something thats gone from most pubs in the city, thanks to Mr. Ambubani I-will-decide-whats-good-for-you-beta Ramdoss. This place is called Brigade Fuel. Very very cheap too.)
However, it was nice having a smoke outside the place where I have had millions of memories, in fact the best memories in this city. I was woken out of my reverie by a tiny kid, sandwiched between his mum and dad on a bike that stopped right infront og me for some reason, waving something shiny at me. The kid held out on of those multi-coloured windmill thingies on a thin wooden stick that you used to find in the random fairs/melas that used to take place in Calcutta when I was a kid. You don't get those melas anymore, atleast not in Calcutta, nor do you get these windmills or whatever you call them. I'm sure there's a term for it, but I forget what.
Anyway, it started drizzling and I headed back to the bookstore to finish reading and I was in the middle of a comic called '100 bullets', thats like something out of a Tarantino action film spoof when out popped before me an angel!
Ok 'It' was no angel, not in the traditional winged, beautiful (hehe), sexless way atleast. Rather 'It' was what always comes around when there's no one else to come aorund. So off we went, 'It' and I, to gulp down more coffee ('It' paid ofcourse!!) and bitch and laugh and reminisce and discuss current politics and terrorists.
It was a nice day, day before yesterday, but its an old day now. (Sorry Mr. Anderson, I know I can get real corny sometimes).
Nothing worth talking about happened yesterday. I bunked work to read a comic. Felt damn proud that I'm still capable of such impulsive behaviour, though my mother wouldn't approve.
Today I'm in office wasting time.
1 comment:
This puts inflation in perspective. In 2004 I survived everyday for three months on 50 rupees a day in Bangalore. Of course it was parle g for breakfast followed by 10 rupee dosa for lunch and dinner.
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