So the plan for Sunday was to go to Lalbagh for the morning walk, and then meet Sesh, Ajay-an old friend and Kavan, a colleague, at Vidyarthi Bhavan for breakfast. Lalbagh, Cubbon Park, MTR, Vidyarthi Bhavan are all iconic and every Bangalorean would have numerous memories of them. In today’s world of Malls & Play areas, hope future generations do too.
Other than the annual famous Lalbagh Flower show, I think, this was the first time that Aditi was experiencing Lalbagh – she was totally taken in by the scenic beauty as we started walking along the periphery of the lake. It was indeed a visual treat – the serene lake, the flowering trees with yellow, pink, red and purple blossoms, the chirping birds and the playful squirrels. There were ofcourse many many more people here than in my park – did you notice that – in just 10 days, I have started calling my neighbourhood park as my park. How easily we form attachments.
During the walk, I could recognise atleast six languages and people of three different faiths. This diversity has been our strength and hope remains so. I pass an elderly man tying his wife’s shoelaces, a middle aged couple holding hands and walking together, a father carrying his daughter on his shoulder and a mother running behind her children – don’t all these speak their own stories.
There was also this young man persuading his 5-6 year old son to walk independently without holding his hand. The mother, sitting on a bench close by was watching them with a sleeping infant in the pram. The boy looked unhappy, was maybe overwhelmed with the number of people or maybe it was his first time in Lalbagh. Ironical isn’t it, as parents we first teach our kids to be independent & then feel lost & left out when they start taking their decisions themselves, and then comes the stage, when we wish they would hold our hands- the cycle of life.
Aditi stopped at many places taking photographs. Do you know different parts of Lalbagh sound and smell different. I hope schools as they reopen bring students here – so important to inculcate love for plants and animals early on in life. Else, Global warming and animal rights, become just a subject for a grade requiring project or essay.
Today also marked my 5km walk – the beauty of Lalbagh made it effortless. If you had told me that I would be able to walk 5 km in a day even, a few months back, we would have both laughed. Sometimes, this change scares me, makes me think if I can sustain it. But, someone wise told me today that once you start seeing changes, its difficult to stop. Hope he is right.
Happy with ourselves, Aditi & I decided to try a new park every Sunday. Any recommendations? We were already getting calls from Sesh, who had predictably reached 15 minutes early @ Vidyarthi Bhavan – such an annoying habit.
It was my first visit to Vidyarthi Bhavan and unfortunately not to be so. Looking at the queue and with Ajay having to reach his neighbourhood temple for a friends son’s Ghatam recital, we opted for Dwarka, another eatery close by, celebrating its 50th year. Good food in good company is a marriage made in heaven – we treated ourselves to their famous Khali dosa, Vada with sambhar, Masala Dosa, Carrot Halwa and ofcourse hot steaming coffee. There is a comfort and warmth that comes with old friends – it had been over a year since we had met Ajay – infact the last time was when Ajay & Kavan had accompanied us to get Kaaju.
A Sunday morning well spent and time to get back to Kaaju. He was peeping from the balcony grill and happily announced our arrival to the entire street. Andal used to say that Max would welcome me each evening as if he was worried that I would lose my way back home. Can anything ever compare with that?
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