Marathahalli and the Chocolate Factory

Well....3rd year in BITS was over, and there I was in Bangalore, ready to go into the IT world, a bit sooner than I thought. It was my first time, and I had some trouble finding the bus station. After a couple of days with my relatives, I reported at my PS station. Then came my first weekend at Marathahalli in Bangalore, where I was destined to stay for the next 5 months.
Hmm…let’s see… what can I say about that place? It would be a daunting task for me to enumerate the whole of it, but let me try and give u some glimpses of it. It’s a small “halli” at one end of Bangalore, takes an hour to reach from the city railway/bus station or even more if you get stuck in those huge traffic jams.
One of the many outstanding landmarks is the legendary “Tulasi Theatre”. The cost of the tickets can vary from day to day, from movie to movie and I can assure you that it would me a once in a lifetime experience. The projector uses the latest technology to project the movie on the walls and on the roof also, along with the screen and there is a good possibility that you might see a movie with the heads cut off. The audio also deserves a token of appreciation; the sound effects mixed with the roaring fans on the walls of the theatre can give u a headache. Nevertheless, that’s where our Saturday morning kicks off at.
Go a little further along that lane and u can find “Pavan Andhra Mess” on the first floor in a building to your right. Yup...That’s our next stop….lets go have lunch, Andhra Style. It’s the same thing over and over again dal, fry, sambar, papad and unlimited rice for 20 bucks (thanks to the inflation its now 23), but it will fill your stomach. Its obvious that u get bored after a couple of weeks, and feel like having a rich meal to satisfy your voracious appetite. There comes your next option “Biryani Day” and “Spicy House”. The look of biryani bears an uncanny resemblance to that of Hyderabadi, but you know it’s all an illusion once u start eating it. Nothing can beat Hyderabadi Biryani… but it’s a good substitute in such a place. Apart from these, there are many other spots to eat, but haven’t tried out many… but I am sure u can find the whole gamut of esoteric Indian dishes in that very street.
Hey….just forgot, breakfast... hmm… was never really a part of the BITSIAN life but here, got to get up early and work, u need something to keep u alive till lunch. “Udipi Upahar” might help you, but you will soon learn not to have breakfast at Marathahalli. Enough of eating lets go out for a bit of shopping. What can I say... it’s such a fish market out there. Typical shopping area; contains everything from Brand Factory to roadside tattoos at one stretch.
All this sounds real nice and fun; now, lets come to the bad part of it. The houses are crammed against one another horizontally; it’s quite difficult to know where one house starts and ends. The cell phone signal drops drastically within a few meters, and its only emergency mode once you enter your room thus lacking the luxury of chatting away to glory relaxing on your bed or giving missed calls to your cell if you misplaced it. If you are a smart guy, then by this time you would have understood that there is no possibility of sunlight and cool breeze coming into your room.
Then there are muscle men with hunters in their hands, to whip themselves and extort money from you (You might consider facing eunuchs instead for a change: P). The roads are pathetic, I am sure you can find better roads in villages; and when it rains, you would be hoping that you were a small kid, wearing shorts instead of formal trousers, especially if you have to wash your own clothes. It’s impossible to walk on the road with all that mud and dirt and crap without getting yourself dirty, and beware, you may always have a fall in a mud hole. The whole roads are covered with mud and dirt, and you stay out there for too long, even you will be given a garnishing of it.