SUNDAY MORNING, A FRIEND AND HUMBLE BANGALORE

My sleep was broken at an ungodly hour this Sunday morning, 0600 hours to be precise. The city was still sleeping at that time, waiting for the rooster to crow the alarm bell. I lolled on the bed for few more minutes and like a determined soldier going for a war, I resigned the pillow and blanket and headed to the bathroom. To me, the pot has always been the ideal place to introspect and do serious thinking. So I took a good ten minutes to figure out which course of direction my life is taking. Realizing it’s going to take some more time than a paltry ten minutes, I rose from my thinking pot, cleaned myself and went to brush my teeth and perform other morning jazz.

I got ready for my morning jog. Now unlike other days, this morning I had planned to go with my friend to Lalbagh garden, one of Bangalore’s famous botanical gardens cum jogging parks. I took the BMTC bus because finding an auto at 0700 hours was not easy. I was traveling by a city bus after a long time. I realized how becoming a salaried person has spoilt me to the extent that the bus journeys I used to enjoy earlier have become a thing of the past and autos have taken the place of the unassuming city buses. I got off at the stop, which was the “East gate”. Just so you know, owing to its large span and structure, Lalbagh garden has got four gates, namely North, South, East and West.

My friend was waiting for me outside the East gate. He was wearing a green t shirt and a rugged pair of jeans. His foggy eyes and disheveled hair only spoke about the difficulty with which he must have managed to get up this morning. I should not have made this plan, I thought to myself. My friend is not a jogging person. Well neither am I but I made it appear to him that I am one. Without further ado, we both started to walk and continued to do so for an hour. We kept talking and laughing and admiring the beauty of the morning. The faint light of the sun, the freshness of the leaves, the chirping of the birds, the shrill sound made by the squirrels… they all were just lovely. We sat for sometime on one of the stone benches. His green t shirt was blending well with the tone of the surrounding. We had never spoken so much before. I was getting to know him and him me.

We then, in accord with our plan, went to Koshy’s for breakfast. We took an auto and oh boy! What a ride it was! Bangalore was looking so much different with the masquerade of traffic jam removed. The long desolated roads were deprived of the usual hustle-bustle and people were commuting at their own sweet pace. Cubbon Road and MG Road which were otherwise ever crowded looked pretty in the Sunday morning sun. The few remaining trees, large stretch of roads and other objects which were unnoticed earlier, clearly stood out in the placid morning.

We reached Koshy’s in about fifteen minutes. Koshy’s is one of the oldest and finest restaurants in Bangalore and has a traditional, old-fashioned touch to it. High ceiling fans, wooden tables and sturdy chairs… nothing swanky about the place at all. It’s the ambience and the food that to this date attracts people of all age groups. We ordered our “english breakfast”, me eating the most of it. I couldn’t blame my friend for he ate like a bird. I however have put on weight but there was no chance that I could have missed eating the scrumptious bacon omlette, fried sausage and bread butter toast.

After a much delightful breakfast, we went to India Coffee House to have our morning dose of caffeine. We walked from St. Mark’s Road to Church Street. The streets were all deserted. Shops were still not opened. It was amusing to see how the old buildings built decades ago have wonderfully stood the march of time. We reached India Coffee House which is again a portrait of old Bangalore. The place, the stewards dressed in their customary uniforms and the coffee can’t help but make you smile each time you go there.

My friend and I were having a gala time, no doubt. We walked down the Brigade Road and talked about movies, marriage and family. It was an amazing feeling to just stroll and share views on various topics under the sun. We came across St.Patrick’s Church off Brigade Road where we both instinctively decided to go to. Sunday mass had just gotten over and people were coming out of the church. We made a late entry, not that we planned to and sat quietly inside the church for sometime. The serenity of the church was having an effect on us, a strangely good one. We left the place and then again started walking.

After close to four hours of walking and talking and sharing thoughts, we decided to go home. We took an auto and gave auto wala the direction where to go. While seated in the auto, I recapped all the events that had taken place since morning. I discovered a new Bangalore, a beautiful place whose charm still continues to impress me. I also discovered a wonderful friend who talks like a matured adult but behaves like a kid. All in all, it was a brilliant Sunday morning, a morning whose memories will be cherished for times to come and for reasons manifold.