The Open Street initiative
yesterday was a fantabulous spectacle combined with simplicity, aesthetics and
smooth coordination…for once the average migrant Bengalurean (that includes me)
stopped whining about the traffic and the pot holes of the city and decided to
let their hair down, put a smile to their faces and simply be part of the
carnival that unfurled on MG Road!
While we see beautiful
city centers and open spaces in other cities of the world where the townsmen,
women and children simply congregate, do ‘their things’ or just stare at the
crowds…this was the missing ‘hole’ in the Bangalore social and weekend fabric…In
one stroke, that deficiency was wiped off yesterday when MG Road became the
center of festivities and the real ‘open space’ that the city badly needed…and
the street really kept its word…it was
truly an ‘open’ environment where everyone would have found something to
engage, amuse or enjoy..the tiny stalls for the shoppers amongst us, bursts of
entertainment ranging from Carnatic music to Bollywood numbers to folk
performances to enthrall audiences, steady flow of food and goodies to satisfy
the ‘gastro forces’ within us and of course an array of paintings for the art connoisseur
in us!
While I went to simply
explore and satisfy my curiosity..once I landed in the milieu of Bangaloreans…I
was truly amazed at the large turnout of Bangaloreans…the sheer magnitude and
masses who had come out of their Sunday laziness to participate in the revelry
was a real measure of the enthusiasm quotient of Bangaloreans and we definitely
did each other proud! The usually deserted and dusty metro and BMTC buses got
their share of limelight last evening and I witnessed a ‘near Mumbai local’
environment at the Bangalore Metro!
